Best Shotgun Shells for Home Defense
There have been eras where the shotgun has been seen as the perfect home defense weapon, then the worst, then a not-so-bad option. Shotguns are very effective fighting weapons in close-range environments. Home defense, for most of us, is a close-range environment. Combine the two, and you will get a very simple weapon that can be had at a very affordable price.
One of the most important considerations you’ll have to make is ammo. When it comes to shotguns, it’s not as simple as finding the right jacketed hollow point and calling it a day. We want to be picky and peculiar and willing to test the ammo to make sure it’s the right choice for our shotgun. To help you find the right load, you can profit from my addiction to shotguns.
I shoot shotguns a lot. I test various ammo types just out of curiosity. I’ve finally found a way to spread my experience and knowledge to you, the reader.
What Makes a Good Shotgun Load?
For a home defense load, we are specifically looking for several features. Let’s break those down.
Buckshot – For defensive use, we want buckshot. Specifically, we want a buckshot capable of penetrating at least 12 inches through ballistic gel. The minimum size buckshot that achieves this is No. 1. We want to stay away from anything smaller than that.
Tight Patterning – For home defense purposes, you want a pattern that tends to be tighter. Tighter patterns reduce the risk of errant pellets that could miss the target and strike a loved one.
Low Recoil – Shotguns are not the most pleasant recoiling guns. For that reason, you want a reduced recoil load to improve control and offer faster follow-up shots.
Sized Right – It seems pretty simple that 2.75 inches is 2.75 inches, right? Well, shotgun shells are measured after they are fired, which means the crimp is undone. Unfired shells can vary in length depending on the crimp. Shorter is better, and shorter ensures your seven-round tube can hold seven rounds.
With that in mind, let’s talk about my favorite home defense shotgun loads.
The Best Shotgun Shells for Home Defense
- Federal LE FliteControl
- Federal Premium No. 1 Buckshot
- Federal Personal Defense Shotshell Force X2
- Hornady Critical Defense
- Fiocchi Defense Dynamics
- Monarch No.1
- Remington Ultimate Defense .410
Federal LE 2 ¾ inch 00 8 Pellet FliteControl LE133
The absolute best home defense shotgun ammo is the Federal LE133 Fltiecontrol load. This specific load gives you eight pellets of buckshot loaded into a FliteControl wad. The Flitecontrol wad is the magic behind this load. This specific wad forms a cup around the buckshot load. After the round is fired, the cup remains around the buckshot load. As the load exits the barrel, the Flitecontrol wad deploys wings to brake and depart from the load.
The end effect is creating a very tight pattern. The pattern is tight enough to be confused as a slug at home defense distances. It forms a hole roughly the size of a 50-cent piece. This super tight pattern allows you to have total pellet accountability. You don’t need to worry about stray pellets at home defense ranges.
As the eight buckshot pellets hit the target, they spread within it. This creates multiple wound paths and gives you the advantage of a shotgun. The pellets are devastating and give that hammer-like power shotguns are known for.
While it’s not necessarily a concern indoors, the Flitecontrol wad also improves the overall effective range of your shotgun. I live in a rural area and may have to respond to external threats like hogs, aggressive dogs, and other situations where an outdoor shot might eb warranted. I like the additional range offered by the Flitecontrol round.
The LE133 load is a specific low recoil eight pellet load. Federal makes plenty of Flitecontrol options, but the eight-pellet, low recoil design makes the LE133 the best overall choice. Sadly, it can also be one of the tougher options to find. While the nine-pellet loads are everywhere, this eight-pellet load can be tough to find.
The Federal Flitecontrol rounds offer the tightest pattern possible with low recoil, excellent reliability, and premium components. If I could only have one option for shotgun ammo, it would be Federal LE133.
Federal Premium No. 1 Buckshot
When we talk about buckshot, we aren’t talking about one projectile size. Buckshot comes in various sizes, and the smaller the pellets, the more you can get in your shotgun shell. The smallest acceptable buckshot that consistently meets the FBI’s penetration requirements is Number 1 Buckshot. Number 1 has fallen out of favor, but by trigger pull No. 1 is the most efficient shotgun shell.
While most 2.75-inch defensive buckshot shells hold nine pellets at most, the Federal 2.75-inch No. 1 load holds 16 pellets. The size difference between pellets is .03. That’s not a big jump in pellet size, but it’s a big jump in the amount of pellets you’re launching. The Federal No. 1 buckshot is designed for hunting but works quite well for defensive purposes.
The patterns remain quite tight and consistent. At home defense ranges, there is little risk of an errant pellet. The copper-plated pellets resist deformation and help improve the overall pattern. Additionally, the smaller pellets tend to penetrate through less drywall material than 00 buckshot.
With a velocity of 1,325 feet per second, it sits between low recoil and full-powered loads. It isn’t a shoulder thumper, but you should practice good recoil mitigation techniques. In a semi-auto shotgun, this round tends to be very pleasant to shoot and easy to handle.
Since you have 16 pellets, you get 16 wound tracks. That provides a greater chance of the pellets hitting something vital and ending the fight quickly and efficiently. Most of us use shotguns for their one-shot stop power, and the No. 1 buckshot and its increased payload increases that chance.
Like most Federal Premium loads, the No .1 will run like an absolute champ. It’s reliable, consistent, and capable. The downside will eb that increased recoil. You’re not just dealing with 1,325 feet power second velocity, but having to move more lead with that same velocity.
If you don’t mind the recoil, you’re getting a premium grade, 2.75-inch load, throwing 16 pellets per trigger pull. It’s an excellent example of what a shotgun is capable of.
Federal Personal Defense Shotshell Force X2 12 Gauge 00
This is the third Federal load, and I promise it is the last. Federal produces a ton of innovative, well-made, premium-tier defensive ammunition. Admittedly, I rolled my eyes when Federal released the Force X2 shells. It seemed like a silly gimmick to shove a shotshell full of what appeared to be fishing sinkers. Then, I started seeing the testing.
The pellets are initially cut in half and then copper-plated. The idea is that when the pellets hit a soft target, they break in half. The benefit is one projectile turns into two. While we only have nine pellets, we get potentially 18 wound tracks. More wound tracks increase the chance of hitting something vital but also prevent overpenetration.
The pellets breaking in half creates a braking effect on the pellets that slows them down, causes them to tumble, and slow. This prevents the pellets from leaving the threat and harming others. If the people do leave the threat, they have lost tremendous energy.
In testing, the pellets will always break in half through bare gel and thin layers. Thicker layers can affect this breaking-apart action, but most tests show that most pellets will stick and break in half. In terms of penetration, almost all of the pellets, including the half pellets, meet the 12 inches required. Some may not, but that’s fairly rare. The majority will meet the penetration depth requirement.
The rounds are low recoil with a 1,145 feet-per-second speed. This creates an effective soft recoil that allows for quick follow-up shots. The rounds don’t pattern as tight as Flitecontrol but stick well within an IPSC-sized A Zone at 15 yards. That’s well outside of the typical home defense ranges.
The downside is that we do have tests showing some pellets lack the penetration to meet the FBI standard. These rounds are also very expensive. I’ve seen them cost upwards of 2.4 cents per shot. That’s a pricey buckshot.
For those who have a fear of overpenetration, the X2 does offer a fairly unique round. It’s almost like a hollow point for buckshot. The X2 comes with the same quality control we expect from Federal. It’s reliable, properly sized, and is a unique take on an old concept.
Hornady Critical Defense 12 Gauge 00 Buckshot
Hornady’s Critical Defense Load and Hornady Black 12 gauge are the exact same load. I’m not exactly sure why they do it this way, but I just know the two rounds are interchangeable. This is a frustrating round to me. It’s an excellent round, but it’s clocked at 1,600 feet per second for some reason. I can’t think of a good reason to have a defensive load at 1,600 feet per second.
The closest excuse I can come up with is that it will work with any semi-auto shotgun, regardless of how picky it is. Still, most modern shotguns are fine, even with reduced recoil loads. The downside of that high level of velocity is recoil. The recoil can be rough. Rough recoil does equal less than stellar follow-up shots.
That’s the frustrating downside up front. The upside is the Versatite wad. It works a lot like the FliteControl wad. In fact, they seem to work identically. The wad wraps the load of shot in a polymer cup, and as it leaves the barrel, it brakes, and the pellets continue on. The good news is that the patterns are very tight. It’s not quite as tight as Flitecontrol, but it’s close.
We’ve learned lately that velocity can affect patterns, which a 1,600 FPS velocity does. It keeps the load from patterning as tight as it possibly can. Luckily, it’s still smaller than your palm at 15 yards. Tight patterns increase pellet accountability and ensure good tight shots on target. Sadly, another step they could have taken was to copper plate the pellets, which would prevent deformation and help tighten up patterns.
I’m complaining a lot, especially about a laid, which is the second-best defensive buckshot on the market. Call me frustrated because I’d love to see some competition to the Fltiecontrol loads. The Versatite Wad does offer the advantage of being able to work with most chokes. Flitecontrol is isolated to cylinder bore designs, but Versatite works with Improved and Modified chokes. However, you should avoid full chokes with the cartridge.
Fiocchi Defense Dynamics 00 8 Pellet
Every load listed above isn’t exactly cheap. If you want to train and test the ammo through your gun extensively, then you’ll feel a bit of pain in your wallet. If you’re looking for a more friendly budget-priced load, the Fiocchi Defense Dynamics 00 8 pellet buckshot is an excellent option. It’s not fancy, but it’s remarkably affordable and surprisingly nice for defensive purposes. The Fiocchi Defense Dynamics 00 8 pellet load works better than its lower price point should allow.
We don’t get any fancy wads or projectiles. It’s just a well-made, reliable defensive buckshot load. The pellets aren’t copper-plated, but instead, they are chilled lead. The chilled lead pellets are a bit softer and tend to deform. The benefit of this pellet is its deformation.
It hits a threat and begins to deform, which prevents overpenetration, and can even grow to create larger projectiles. The Defense Dynamics load uses eight pellets, which helps prevent the famed 9th-round flyer. The patterns are surprisingly nice for such a cheap round. Between 7 to 12 yards, the pattern won’t exceed 8 inches.
Shotguns all pattern uniquely, but that’s the average I’ve observed through a Remington 870, Mossberg 590, and Benelli M4. The pattern qualifies as more than suitable and certainly capable of home defense use.
The round gives us low recoil and consistently reliable performance. The Fiocchi Defense Dynamics rounds provide a modern tactical round that works well, and is also cheap enough to train with. Becoming an expert with your shotgun and load will make you a very efficient shotgunner, and affording efficiency is part of that spectrum.
Monarch No.1 9 Pellet
Federal announced a 20-gauge FliteControl at SHOT Show, but I have yet to see it pop up on the market. I reserve the right to swap this entry in the future if the round works. My choice for the best defensive buckshot load is a budget load. Monarch, a brand sold exclusively at Academy, produces an awesome 20-gauge load.
This Monarch load packs nine pellets of No. 1 buckshot. As established, the No. 1 load is the smallest buckshot that consistently penetrates 12 inches through ballistic gel. We get nine pellets of No. 1, which makes this seem like a slightly smaller 12-gauge load.
We get nine pellets of very capable buckshot. The 2.75-inch length of these shells means we get our tubes to full capacity. We don’t get plated buckshot, and we don’t have any fancy magical wads. It’s a very plain load, but it still performs quite nicely. Pattern-wise, we see very acceptable results at home defense ranges. We get an eight-inch pattern at 12 yards, which is a fairly far shot indoors.
We get very light recoil. In one second, I can put two rounds of this Monarch load into an IPSC A-Zone. That’s a lot of lead in very little time, and I’m all about it. The Monarch laid wouldn’t be tough to beat, but the current crop of defensive buckshot seems stuck on No. 2 and No. 3 buckshot loads.
The Monarch load doesn’t dig anything fancy, but it works. It’s also very affordable, and affordability is nice to have. The Monarch buckshot load makes it cheap to stock up on and cheap to train with.
Remington Ultimate Defense .410
If you’re using the wee little .410 for home defense, you might feel a bit underwhelmed by your defensive options. There are a few, but they are often designed for revolvers rather than real shotguns. Luckily, Remington is back! Back and ready to provide one of the best defensive loads the .410 ever saw. The Remington Ultimate Defense load provides shooters with four or five 000 buckshot pellets.
You can’t double stack pellets in a .410, so Remington used the biggest pellets possible. The 000 pellets penetrate deeply and provide nice-sized wound channels. If you can’t use a lot of pellets, you might as well use big pellets. Remington offers the cartridge as both a 3-inch and 2.5-inch cartridge.
The 3-inch gives you one more pellet but decreases your capacity by a single round with most guns. That’ll be a decision you’ll have to make. Personally, the 2.5-inch and the extra round seems more beneficial to me. The 3-inch has nominally more recoil, but not enough to really matter. I do find that the 2.5-inch rounds tend to pattern a bit better than the 3-inch rounds.
The Ultimate Defense shells are very controllable, and you can rip off a string of three from a pump action in less than two seconds. That’s twelve 000 buckshot pellets and should make any threat a lot less threatening. The rounds are reliable and feed well with their high brass design. These are consistent, capable, and easy to shoot.
They aren’t cheap or all that easy to find, so when you find them, stock up!
What You Don’t See
As you cruise through this list, I hope you found the round that will work for home defense. As you’ve likely noticed, every load suggested is a buckshot load. We don’t see the other two major shotgun shell options, birdshot or slugs.
Birdshot is a joke. Unless you’re living in an Alfred Hitchcock movie, birdshot shouldn’t be in your defensive shotgun. It cannot effectively penetrate deep enough to reach the vitals of a threat. I’m not saying it’s not deadly. Any gun and any projectile can be deadly. However, we want consistent penetration for consistent, reliable performance.
Slugs are not a joke. They will penetrate the threat deep and hit hard. However, they might penetrate too much. A big ounce of lead might go right through the threat and will certainly chew through your drywall. They just aren’t the best option for home defense.
Also, you don’t see any mini shells, do you? I think minishells are a fun novelty, but they neuter a shotgun. I use shotguns because I like the payload they fire per trigger pull. Why would I neuter that payload?
That’s not to mention reliability issues. They work perfectly with some guns with adapters, but you’re limited to just Mossberg 500 series guns. No semi-autos function with minishells. I wouldn’t use minishells for defensive use.
I’m not afraid of new, but I prefer proven payloads.
The Shotgun Conundrum
Don’t just take my word for it. Choose some ammo, go to the range, and test the ammo through your gun. Shotguns are weird. Every gun patterns differently. You need to go to the range, shoot the gun at your home defense distance, and observe what happens. Make sure it runs in your guns, and ensure it’s reliable and consistent.
One of the big downsides to shotguns is that they aren’t always plug-and-play. They take some thinking, some effort, and a good bit of training. If you want a plug-and-play weapon, an AR might be better for you. If you want a shotgun, be prepared to do the work.
About Travis Pike
Travis is a former United States Marine Corps Infantryman and currently a firearms writer, instructor, and works in Emergency Management.
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