50-yard Buckshot Performance

[Roscoe's daddy]

For those who know, is there any research for gel penetration by Federal LE132 00 (Flite control) and the new LE132 1B at 50-yards?

Years ago, the FBI did study the older Federal Tactical Buckshot at 25-yards, but not further. Around 17-inches @ 25-yards as I recall.

Now that the Flite Control wad is something of a game changer, just how does that buck fare at 50-yards?

While I realize that a carbine, rifle or even rifled slug would be the better idea, a lot of cops have to "fight their war" with what's in their hands at the moment.

This question is for them.

[Ech0Sierra]

UPDATE:

Additional pics of 35, 40, 45, and 50 yards:

35 Yards:


40 Yards:


45 Yards:


50 Yards:


At 35 yards I only counted 13 holes but a couple might have been 2 so I'm not sure if I was missing pellets. The group still looked pretty good despite being a bit high. At 40 I only had 11 pellets on target and the shot was really high. You can see some very wide spread. There is still a main cluster of pellets with several spread out and by themselves. At 45 I found 13 pellet holes and the shot was better than at 40 (closer to center) but the loose grouping is still apparent. And finally at 50 I still counted 13 pellets with several in center mass of the target.

In short, if you get past 30 yards you need to expect pellets to miss the target. Sometimes they spread evenly and sometimes one or two seem to stray. Regardless, it is certainly not a crap shoot at 50 as I think it is still very reasonable to expect hits on your target. You just need to be very careful about backstop and what is near your target at longer ranges as those stray pellets have to go somewhere.

Been done before.

EDIT: Oopsie, that's the #1 Flitecontrol buckshot, not the 00. Still a good sign that some experimenting with 00 could yield good results.

[bzdog]

I think RD was looking for penetration info.

-john

[DocGKR]

At 50 yds, the pellets will still penetrate more than 12" in gel...

[Roscoe's daddy]

I think RD was looking for penetration info.

-john

Thank you for the posts. But it is gel penetration that I was looking for.

[Roscoe's daddy]

At 50 yds, the pellets will still penetrate more than 12" in gel...

Thank you very much! I had suspected it might exceed 12-inches after doing some pattern work, but I couldn't certain. This comment is very reassuring and I will share with it with my co-workers.

[DocGKR]

Some pellets may miss the target at that range and pose a downrange hazard--I know of at least one west coast officer who was killed due to this issue...

[Roscoe's daddy]

Some pellets may miss the target at that range and pose a downrange hazard--I know of at least one west coast officer who was killed due to this issue...

I concur and I am aware of that sad case you mentioned. That event is one of the main reasons I have such a hard time with #1 buckshot as an LE load. I don't doubt the ballistic advantage, especially with an adversary in motion, but there are so many additional projectiles to account for, the #00 or even #000 loads seem to offer a little more assurance, especially at the mid-ranges.

[DocGKR]

Pellet spread is the same. I think the take home message is have slugs if you are going to engage at ranges beyond 25 yds or so...

[jpgm]

Roscoe's d,
Fortunately I am issued both slugs and b-shot and can choose between the two. The slugs afford easy long shots with a heck of a punch without the liabilty of multiple projectiles from the shot.

jpgm