 The facts are grim. Violence is on the entries. More and more criminals are armed. They have access to some of the most deadly types of ammunition made. In this video, we will be looking at shotguns. In particular, we will examine the various types of ammunition available to the public. During the next few minutes, we will look at shotgun ammunition, how to identify the different types and what they can do. Our program is divided into three segments, conventional, specialty, and exotic ammunition. In this segment, we will examine the type of ammunition most often used by law enforcement and the public. Conventional rounds include bird shot, buck shot, and rifled slogs. We will look specifically at number nine bird shot, number four buck shot, tactical buck shot, rifled slog, and the tactical rifled slog. Here is a cross section of a number nine shot shell. It consists of a brass head, which contains the primer and the gunpowder, and a one-piece plastic hull, which contains the wadding and shot, and is crimped at the top. All shot shells have these same components, although tactical buck shot may also contain filler material. The difference is in the size of the shot. As you can see, number four buck is a much larger pellet than number nine bird shot. Therefore, a shot shell containing number nine bird shot will contain more pellets than one with number four buck. A shot shell with tactical buck shot may contain even less. The rifled slog has a similar composition. The main difference is the payload. A solid projectile. Variations of the rifled slog include the sabote and hollow point slog. Now let's look at the firing characteristics of these conventional rounds. This target was shot using number nine bird shot at 15 yards with a typical cylinder bore or improved cylinder choke. Notice the size of the holes and the overall pattern. Compare this pattern with the one on the right, which was shot with the same shotgun and ammunition at seven yards. The tighter pattern shows the destructive power of shotguns at close range. Now let's look at the patterns you get with other conventional ammunition. Buck shot with its larger pellet size is even more effective. Here are the shot patterns using number four buck shot at seven and 15 yards. Tactical buck shot will hold an even tighter pattern than its conventional counterpart. Various size buck shot is typically used by law enforcement. The thing to remember is larger pellet size results in greater stopping power. However, buck shot pellets are typically very limited in range. As the distance increases, the hit probability decreases. However, there is a shotgun round that will extend the hit probability, the rifle slug. Here's what happens when you fire a rifle slug at 50 yards. Compare it to what happens when you fire a tactical rifle slug. As you can see, there is little difference in the hit effectiveness. Both the conventional and tactical rifle slugs are extremely powerful rounds. The tactical round, however, has less recoil when fired. So what do these characteristics mean in the field? To find out, let's watch as conventional rounds are fired into various mediums. This vehicle door is typical of those found on any commercially produced car or truck. We begin with number nine bird shot at seven yards. Now let's see what happens with number four buck shot. Number four buck shot will penetrate the outer shell of most vehicle bodies. As you can see, bird shot tends to be less effective in this instance. Now let's take one more shot, this time with a rifle slug. The rifle slug will not only penetrate the vehicle door, it can pass through with enough force to cause casualties. A typical wood frame door offers little resistance to either buck shot or a rifle slug. But what about number nine bird shot? It too can effectively blast through wood doors at close range. Ballistic gelatin is a material that simulates human tissue. Shooting into it will show the effect of individual ammunition on tissue. We start with number nine bird shot. Now let's try number four buck shot. Here's the same medium shot with tactical buck shot. The impact is spread out while the penetration decreases. Now let's see the effect of a rifle slug. Now let's see the effects of a tactical slug. Notice the damage is similar, but with less penetration. Obviously unarmored tissue presents little resistance to conventional shotgun ammunition. The situation changes when you add soft body armor. We try it first with number nine bird shot. Now number four buck shot. And finally the mannequin is shot with a rifle slug. Even the powerful slug does not defeat all soft body armor. Steel plate is another resistant material. Here you see the effects of number four buck shot on the left. And a rifle slug on the right. Notice the difference. Now let's see how bullet resistant glass holds up. We shoot it with number nine bird shot. Next we fire the rifle slug. As you can see both rounds penetrate into the glass. Only the slug completely passes through it. This is tempered glass. It will be shot with number nine bird shot. Number four buck shot. And a rifle slug. Now let's switch to laminated glass. Once again number nine bird shot. Number four buck shot. And the rifle slug will be fired. This completes our look at conventional shotgun ammunition. By knowing what these rounds can do, you should have a good idea how they can be used and what constitutes effective cover. In this segment we will explore specialty types of shotgun ammunition. These include flares, CS gas, smoke and dust busters. We begin with flares. The ones that burn red, like this, are used to indicate distress. Flares come in various colors for specific purposes. Burn time will vary. Oleo resin capsicum, OC, or CS powder, are also available as a shotgun round. Better known as tear gas, OC gas is often used by law enforcement for crowd control and room clearing and by the public for home protection. One note of warning. Flares and smoke canisters are flammable. Be careful how and where you store and shoot these rounds. Smoke rounds are another kind of specialty ammo that delivers long range smoke deployment. The last specialty round we will discuss is called the dust buster. The round is made up of a 575 grain projectile of compressed lead dust which completely disintegrates upon impact. For this reason, eye protection should be worn when using this ammunition. This is what happens to a framed door when hit by a dust buster round. Let's take a second look. Minimal ricochets, few if any penetrating projectiles, but the damage is significant. The same is true when a dust buster round is fired into tempered glass. Shooting the dust buster into ballistic gel has an equally devastating effect. We cannot close this segment of our program without looking at the possible effects of other specialty ammunition on tissue as simulated by ballistic gel. Obviously shotgun rounds, no matter what their primary use, can be devastating on the unarmored human body. Even those not commonly considered defensive ammunition can cause great injury and damage. There is a large variety of shotgun ammunition available to the public. Some can be found in stores, others through mail order catalogs. In this segment, we will explore some of the more exotic shotgun rounds. These include the dragon's breath, dragon's slug, armor piercing rounds, flashettes, buck and ball and strong buck. Dragon's breath is advertised to torch all organic matter in its path. Its payload consists of magnesium pellets which ignite when shot. It may ignite anything flammable including clothing. A variant of the dragon's breath is the dragon's slug. This round contains an incendiary projectile that ignites upon impact. As with the dragon's breath, effective distance is about 25 yards. Perhaps most disturbing to law enforcement is another military design round called the flichette. One shot shell contains approximately 20 hardened steel darts or flichettes. As we will see, soft body armor cannot protect someone from this kind of ammunition. Buck and ball is advertised as ideal for hunters and home defense. It delivers tremendous stopping power due to its construction. The load is composed of a fragmenting 7 eighth ounce slug followed by six double ought buckshot. Upon striking the target, the slug is designed to break into three pieces, increasing the surface area of the projectile. The buffered buckshot then impacts the area. Another double load round is the strong buck. This round consists of two 54 caliber hardened lead balls attached on six inches of four-strand wire. Strong buck can be uniquely damaging. How damaging will be seen as we explore the effectiveness of these exotic rounds. This is what happens when a single dragon's breath round was fired. Despite the protection of body armor, the round still caused the target's clothing to ignite and would most likely burn any exposed areas. Now let's compare this to what happens with a dragon's slug. The incendiary projectile not only creates blunt trauma, it burns the impacted area. Conventional ammo seems mild when compared to exotic rounds. Soft body armor should not be relied upon to stop armor piercing rounds. Whereas conventional shotgun ammunition, such as buckshot shown here, can be stopped. The flichette, on the other hand, is far more dangerous. Soft body armor will not stop this round. Depending on the distance fired, some of the steel darts will penetrate completely while others will only go partially through. A trauma plate insert is the only thing that can prevent the flichette's penetration. Remember the effect of buckshot on ballistic gel? Here is what happens when a flichette hits it. Double loads, like the buck and ball, were designed to devastate tissue. Here's what conventional buckshot does to ballistic gel. Now watch what happens when strong buck is used. Exotic rounds can be many times more damaging than conventional ammunition. And they are available to the public, which means you need to know about them. Officer safety and survival includes knowing the different types of shotgun ammunition and what they can do. Only then can you use appropriate force and take suitable cover. With shotguns, many situations can be lethal. Knowledge is your best way to survive.