I have but have not recently. Given current events. Need to refresh. I have two 870's that have been to Vang Comp and two Benelli M1's I need to redo. Federal LE Buck with the shot cup for all guns. The 11-87 I have gets Hornady TAP Buck. it also has been to Vang Comp.

Ten yards. The two holes on the top and left of center are slugs and the large hole below center is three rounds of Federal LE low recoil flight control. Fired from my Mossberg Shockwave with the birds head grip. I’ve since got the tax stamp and put a real stock on the gun.

Yeah and I threw the flight control bullshit in the garbage because of it. I WANT spread at home defense distances, not all the shot still in the shot cup entering the bad guy like a slug.

Regular shot gives you fist size groups or smaller at home defense ranges. Flight control gives you slug size groups.

Three is not a realistic 25 yard shot at my home where the flight control would be beneficial.

The flight control is doing what it is supposed to do. Keep shot closer together, longer.

Probably not what you want inside a house, but at the same time pattern your regular buckshot without it. Its not remotely as far apart as one might think and nowhere close to the 'just aim in the general vicinity'.

https://www.theboxotruth.com/t...0-buckshot-patterns/

https://www.shootersforum.com/...kshot-vs-slug.49476/

Some examples from the second link. Granted, it can depend on the load / weapon, but you aren't getting a huge spread regardless.

I like the flight control. I think I’d rather the shot stay together even for HD, but I use a rifle for that purpose anyway so it’s a non issue to me.

For predator hunting, mostly coyotes, my favorite was/is Remington ‘HD’ ‘T’ size shot. It’s like ‘Hevi-Shot’, but round, heavier than lead. It has great penetration on coyotes.

Since I was interested in longer ranges, I used a .680 choke out of a Benelli M2. So yes, I patterned at 45 yards.

Did my Vang Comp 870 after I ran a qual one of my officers last September, 25 yard headshots I continue to be impressed with this shotgun

870 12 gauge 18.5 Imp. Home defense.

Federal Personal Defense #4 pattern the largest at about 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" per yard from 2-7yds.

I truly don't get the concept of chasing a tight group or the Vang Comp mod for a home defense shotgun. Doesn't that defeat some of the advantage of a shotgun for home defense?

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
Generally speaking, I find my light modieifed chokes pattern the best.

3.5" 00 buck and Light Mod from my longer SBE was putting 5 to 7 pellets on a paper plate consistently at 56 yards. (for coyote hunting)

The best thing about 3.5" 00 buck is they always seem to be in stock. Wonder why?

Vote yes but not recent. Federal flight control is the tightest.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I have never patterned a shotgun in the traditional formal sense per se, but when familiarizing new officers with duty shotguns, I have them fire buckshot at 7 and 15 yards so they know how the shot spreads at those distances. There are many myths and misunderstandings about how buckshot behaves. Some people believe a single shot will clear an entire room and that no aiming is necessary.

I also point out the holes the wads make and their erratic flight that could pose a danger to hostages or bystanders.

Wads typically have the aerodynamics of a parachute and are also quite light, especially the plastic wads. At 10 or 15 feet they can tear a hole in paper but that is about the most they can do. So I would not be very concerned about a wad causing harm to a hostage or bystander. What you need to be concerned about is the shot string, that is one very serious cluster of Lethal moving at something north of 1200 fps. I'll also note that at 30 feet or less it doesn't matter if you are shooting 00 Buck or #9 Bird shot both will be in a tight cluster and both will be quite lethal.

I have, but not recently. I've done it on both indoor and out door ranges. I highly recommend it. My personal recommendation is to pattern at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards. Use a common aiming point and mark the spread at each distance. You'll wind up with a series of circles that will demonstrate the progressive spread of the rounds. You'll also be able to spot any consistent flyers. YMMV. Also, doing it out doors is more comfortable IMHO.

None of the above.

Not recently but I used the Federal 00 buck with the Flight Control in a 18 inch 870 and FN SLP. I had results similar to everyone else. At 25 yards the spread was about the size of a volleyball. I think it would devastating in an actual shooting.

I did under for trap, skeet and upland bird hunting. Good friends father, basically insisted I do it if I expected to be consistent at matches. Since he was in the top 5 globally for about 50yrs on the live pidgeon circuit I didn’t question. Yes it made a world of difference

A better question to ask might be "who's taken a training class with their shotgun?"

From some of the comments in this thread, I'd imagine very few.

How 'bout who's given one?

Thought this post by Mrgunsgear was relevant. I can't figure out how to embed it, sorry. It's an instagram post of police officer vs. bad guy with buckshot.

video from instagram