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How far does shot carry?
tapwater
Member Posts: 10,335 ✭✭✭
..Specifically, no. 7 1/2 trap loads. Just one of those things I take for granted but don't really know. At optimum angle, how far will the shot carry? I have pipeline workers 1/2 mile away and I "know" they're safe, but I wonder.
Comments
I got hit with a couple when I was a kid, must have been over 150 yards away. Didn't hurt.
..Same here. I heard it ping on the tractor hood but they didn't
leave a mark on me. I saw him swing on a pheasant. He got his
butt chewed, good and proper.
Nice chart here that shows energy, max range, etc.
I think the conventional wisdom is that normal bird-shot is "safe" after about 200 yards. As a matter of practice, even if the shot can't really cause injury at that distance, you'd really rather NOT have pellets falling down where maybe they "shouldn't". EG, even if there isn't any injury, someone could get annoyed, panic, and there could be problems.
You'd probably have a hard time getting any individual birdshot pellet to go more than 300 yards, let alone cause injury at that range. Half a mile (ie >800 yards) and whomever is downrange should be more than safe, unless they wander WAY away from where they're supposed to be.
As some sort of real world example, I've seen a duck hit by normal #7.5 shot at a range of only about 65 yards (no. . .I wasn't the shooter. . .the duck was sort of an "innocent bystander" of a shot directed elsewhere!). Duck appeared annoyed, but it didn't die and kept swimming!
I'd add one more thing. Sometimes you have "trick" shooters breaking clays at "extreme" distances (ie greater than 70 yards). While that certainly can be done, its worth noting that clays are BY DESIGN fairly fragile. EG, you can break one with just a good tap. Just because a pellet can break a clay at a given distance, doesn't necessarily mean its going to cause serious (or any) injury to a person at that same distance.
Got hit with birdshot at about 75yds and it hurt like hell, only things that saved me from an afternoon of bourbon and Bactine was my canvas jacket and boonie hat [:(!]
Thanks for the info KAM. Looks like I'll be selling my canvas jacket[;)]
quote:Originally posted by KAMsales
Got hit with birdshot at about 75yds and it hurt like hell, only things that saved me from an afternoon of bourbon and Bactine was my canvas jacket and boonie hat [:(!]
Thanks for the info KAM. Looks like I'll be selling my canvas jacket[;)]
Don't do that, the Bactine tastes horrible and doesn't give ya much of a buzz [:o)]
It _is_ long, but well worth reading, because the analysis is good and the conclusions are striking. Here are two paragraphs:
"A posting said two men were hit by 00 buckshot at a measured distance of 155 yards. On man was hit in the throat and killed, the other was hit in the leg and injured. (Each man was presumably hit by a single pellet.) The question was whether this was reasonable? How hard would 00 buck hit at that distance? "
...
... (much analysis and reference to literature)
...
"Because of safety reasons the extreme range of a shotgun should be known. The distance to which the pellets will range depends on the size, that is the weight of the pellet, and on the angle of elevation of the gun. As with the rifle, the extreme range occurs when the barrel is elevated at an angle of about thirty degrees. At this angle large buckshot, round balls, and rifled slugs, when fired at a muzzle velocity of 1300 f.s., which is about the average, should be assumed to have a range of about 900 to 1,000 yards and to be more or less dangerous at these distances."
I was surprised, at both the 155 yard deaths and the 1,000 yard dangerous range.