I recently picked up a case of the new Federal #1 buckshot  from ammoman.com

Those of you that follow trends in defensive ammunition know that testing has shown #1 to be the optimized shot size to balance penetration and tissue damage for a defensive shotgun.  

I patterned my 11-87P 18" improved cylinder with the new #1 Federal buckshot, here were the results:

5 yards in the head, 10 yards center mass:


15 yards:


20 yards:


25 yards:


30 yards:


As you can see, a hostage head shot is very possible with this load at 5 yards as the pattern (if you can call it that) is still one hole and exactly at point of aim.  At 10 yards all pellets were still in the X-ring, at 15 yards all pellets were still in the 9 ring, at 20 yards only one pellet was out to the 8 ring with the rest still in the 9 ring, at 25 yards there was one pellet in the 7 ring, one in the 8 ring, and the rest were in the 9 ring, and at 30 yards all pellets were still in the 8 ring except one that was high just above the 7 (but my whole pattern was high, probably my fault).

Needless to say, this stuff patterns very well out of my gun and I had no cycling issues, though I've only gone through 10 rounds so far.  I did prove, with a shot timer, that I can put 4 rounds of this into the center of a silhouette target in under 2 seconds (1.91 to be exact) at 15 yards from the low ready.  

60 pellets into one target in under 2 seconds ought to do the trick for home defense, especially since it was at least 5 yards farther than I'm ever going to shoot in my home.  And people wonder why I like shotguns for close work...

Yeah I'd say it's a keeper!  I love the federal flite control 00 so I will for sure try some of this in the ole Mossberg.  Great post and review

I use the 00 flite control in my patrol shotgun by policy.  It patterns similarly to the new #1.

The #1 is way too new for my department to approve its use on patrol, but that won't stop me from using it in my personal weapons at home.  If this load takes off, I hope to switch to it for patrol as well.  The only downside would be that it certainly won't perform as well on barriers such as car doors or windshields.  To be fair, buckshot in general does poorly with intermediate barriers and slugs should be used in those cases anyway.

Excellent report, thanks.  Those patterns look like they'll really ruin someone's day.


Fixed

No argument with the rifles, but if you already have a shotgun in your hands might as well make the best of it.  Most guys have one or the other, not both, in their car and certainly will only have one when out on foot.

Thanks for the report! I recently purchased LE 132 1B, but haven't had a chance to pattern it as yet. I have been using LE132 00, with excellent results. Out of an 870, 18" CYL barrel, with a King Armory KA-1212 brake/suppressor, I get 3"-4" groups at 15 yds. If the 1B does as well, it will replace the 00 for HD.

My results were similar to yours when I tested it out to 25 yards.  Below is a 15 yard group from a 18" 870 with a vang comp barrel on a stardard FBI Q target.

That is impressive OP.

We've been using the 00 with flite control for some time at my department.  It gives similar results so I was hoping for these groups from the #1 as well.  I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed.

The trouble has always been that to keep the versatility of using slugs, you had to use a cylinder or improved cylinder choke.  This lead to very large patterns at anything over 20 yards.  IMO this ammo really helps make the shotgun a viable option for patrol work.  I've always liked shotguns for very close quarters but didn't like the large groups when I was outdoors.  This really helps.

I would have loved to see a run to failure on these, backing out until you start loosing pellets.

I don't think it will be much farther than 30.  It seemed there was always one pellet that strayed just a little more than the others.  when I get some time i'll try it and see.  I expect usable groups to at least 40 and maybe 45 but I think I'll see a missing pellet at least every now and again at 35+.  We'll see.

tag for later

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.

Where can someone buy just a few boxes and is it a reduced recoil load?  Great pics.

Outstanding. I would not want to be shot at with those at 50. Are you running rifle or bead on you 11-87P? I love my 11-87P, but would like to get these and run them through one of you 870's with a modified choke.

I haven't gotten an answer to that question yet but they are one pellet below the standard load of 16 #1 buck and they are not high brass shells so possibly.  That said, the low recoil 00 buck will not reliably cycle my 11-87P but these will so I'm not sure.

As for buying just a few boxes, I haven't seen any for sale like that yet.  I've only seen it by the case and it usually sells out quickly.  Hopefully if interest remains steady that will change soon.

I've got the ghost ring sights on mine.  I have an 870 with choke tubes and might try a couple just to see if anything changes.  My 11-87P is improved cylinder.

Thanks for posting the results.  Looks like a great load.  I have an 11-87 Special Purpose with choke tubes.  Can't wait to try this load out.

MidwayUSA has it listed in 5 round boxes, both reduced recoil (1145 fps) and hotter loads.. They are sold out today but I did buy a few boxes 3-4 weeks ago.

FWIW I was in a shotgun class with one of the Team Benelli guys a few weeks ago where we spent sometime patterning buckshot loads. He mentioned that in their testing of 00 the 8 pellet load was tending to pattern more evenly than the 9 pellet load. The configuration of the pellets inside the wad seemed to be seemed to allow one flyer from the 9 pellet load that did not happen in the 8 pellet shells.

Again, this was with the 00 load, but the conditions / results seem similar to what you are finding.

I was only able to find the 00 buckshot on Midway, do you have a link?

Not listed on MidwayUSA or Ammoman's websites currently.

I ordered mine from Kyle's Gunshop.

I've been doing a feasibility study to see if these might be a viable long range (50 yards) coyote round.

My patterns @ 45 yds. open and close, so I'm thinking i'm right on the ragged edge.

These were all shot through an 870 with an 18.5" fixed mod barrel and rifle sights.

















There were some sight adjustments and a little flinching as I progressed.