00 Buck vs #4 Buck for Home Defense: Which Shot Size Makes Sense?

Two shells, two philosophies

Walk the buckshot aisle and you'll see the same argument printed on two boxes. One says fewer, heavier pellets that go deep. The other says more, smaller pellets for more hits. Both have their fans behind the counter, and both can stop a fight. The question for a house is narrower: which one does its job at across-the-room distance without asking more of you than you can give at 3 a.m.?

The quick numbers, from Lucky Gunner's buckshot primer: a 00 ("double-aught") pellet is about .33 inch across, and a standard 2¾-inch 12-gauge shell holds 8 or 9 of them. A #4 buck pellet is about .24 inch, and a 2¾-inch shell holds roughly 21 to 28. In between sits #1 buck at about .30 inch, usually 12 to 16 pellets.

Don't confuse #4 buck with #4 shot. Number 4 birdshot is a much smaller pellet meant for birds. The box will say "buck" or "buckshot" if it's the defensive load.

What the penetration tests show

Defensive ammunition is usually judged against the FBI's benchmark. As American Rifleman's history of the FBI tests explains, the Bureau set 12 inches in ballistic gelatin as the minimum, based on anatomical averages, after the 1986 Miami shootout. Anything that stops short counts as a failure.

Three published sources line up on the same picture:

• Lucky Gunner's buckshot primer puts 00 at roughly 1,100 to 1,200 fps at 18 to 20 inches in gel, and #1 at the same speeds at 15 to 18 inches. For #4, it gives no gel number but calls typical 1,300 to 1,400 fps loads "on the very edge of adequate penetration."
• Shooting Illustrated (Jeff Johnston, December 2020) fired through two sheets of half-inch sheetrock into gel at 7 yards from an 18.5-inch Mossberg 590M. A 9-pellet Winchester Super-X 00 load averaged 13 inches, with pellets ranging from 8 to 15. A 3-inch, 41-pellet Remington #4 magnum averaged about 8 to 9 inches, with some pellets reaching 13.
• Gun Tests (Todd Woodard, 2021) used water jugs rather than gel, so its numbers don't compare directly. Its top 00 loads went 16 to 20 inches of water; its #4 loads went 13.5 and 15.

Put plainly: 00 clears the 12-inch line with room to spare. #4 sometimes clears it and sometimes doesn't, depending on the load and what's in the way. Johnston still called the #4 magnum "the most impressive performer" in his test for the damage it did, so this isn't a case of #4 being useless. It just has less margin.

Pattern size at room distance

Pattern matters because every pellet that misses keeps going. In a hallway or bedroom you want the whole charge landing where you aimed.

Here the two shells behave differently. Dr. Martin Topper's patterning for Personal Defense World, shot from a Remington 870 Express Tactical with a modified choke, measured a 21-pellet Remington #4 load at about 2 inches at 7 yards but 5.5 inches at 15. A 9-pellet Federal 00 load held about 3 inches at both distances. His summary: "#4 buckshot patterns get larger very quickly as the distance from the gun to the target increases."

Gun Tests saw the same trend at 10 yards. Its top-graded 00 loads printed patterns about 4 inches or smaller, while a 27-pellet Winchester #4 load spread to about 19 by 17 inches, the widest in its test. That's one gun and one sample, but it shows why "more pellets" can mean "more pellets going places you didn't intend."

Modern wads, like Federal's FLITECONTROL, are why 00 has gotten so tight. They hold the pellets together for the first several feet before releasing them, which keeps patterns compact at house distances. Topper noted the FLITECONTROL load also had the lowest felt recoil of the loads he ran in his 870.

The overpenetration argument, honestly

The best case for #4 buck is usually overpenetration: smaller pellets carry less momentum, so they should be less likely to go through walls into the next room. There's some truth to the physics, but the tests don't let #4 off the hook.

An Athlon Outdoors wall test (Frank Melloni, 2020) built a standard interior wall from 2×4 studs with 5/8-inch drywall on both sides and fired from 21 feet. Birdshot got through the first layer of drywall only. Both #4 and 00 Remington Ultimate Defense loads went through both layers. Neither went through a stud.

Lucky Gunner says the same in plain words: #4 may be a sensible pick for apartments and townhouses, but it "is still going to go through at least a couple of interior walls." There is no buckshot that both reliably stops a threat and reliably stops at drywall.

So the real overpenetration control is the same no matter what's in the tube: know where your family sleeps, know your backstop, and plan where you'd shoot from. Our apartment home-defense post goes deeper on shared walls.

Which shells to look at

If you choose 00, the strongest home-defense candidates use a modern wad:

• Federal Tactical reduced-recoil FLITECONTROL 00 buck, 9 pellets. A law-enforcement load that Ammunition Depot lists for home defense and duty use.
• Federal Tactical full-power FLITECONTROL 00 buck, 9 pellets. Same wad, more recoil.
• Hornady Critical Defense 00 buck, 8 pellets, with Hornady's Versatite wad, listed for pump and semi-auto shotguns.
• Federal Power-Shok 00 buck, 9 pellets at 1,325 fps per the listing. A conventional-wad load that's useful for practice and patterning comparisons.

If you want to try #4 buck, start with standard 2¾-inch loads rather than 3-inch magnums:

• Federal Power-Shok #4 buck, 27 pellets.
• Winchester Super-X #4 buck, 27 pellets, listed at 1,325 fps.

Johnston's 3-inch, 41-pellet #4 magnum produced about 57 ft-lbs of recoil, more than double the roughly 25 ft-lbs of his 00 load. He said he'd choose a 27-pellet 2¾-inch #4 load instead. That's sound advice for anyone.

How to choose for your house

1. Start with 00. It has the most published data behind it, the most margin on penetration, and the tightest patterns with modern wads. Wikipedia notes 00 is the most commonly sold buckshot size, which also means it's the easiest to keep stocked.
2. Pattern both if you're curious. Shoot your gun with each load at the longest distance inside your home, plus a few yards. Our pattern-it-yourself post walks through a simple method.
3. Pick the one that stays tight. If a #4 load holds a fist-sized group at your longest shot, it's a defensible choice. If it opens into a dinner plate, go back to 00.
4. Check that it cycles. Semi-auto owners should run several boxes of the chosen load. Some reduced-recoil shells don't cycle every action.
5. Buy enough to stay consistent. Once you choose, stock the same load so practice and the staged gun match.

The bottom line

00 buck is the default for good reasons: it penetrates with margin, patterns tight with a modern wad, and every major maker loads it. #4 buck isn't wrong, but it gives up depth and spreads faster, and it doesn't solve the wall problem. Load a reduced-recoil FLITECONTROL or Critical Defense 00, pattern it in your gun, and spend the energy you'd have spent debating shot size on knowing your home's backstops. For the wider shell lineup, browse Ammunition Depot's 12-gauge ammunition category.

Editorial note: This is an independent editorial overview built from manufacturer specifications, retailer listings and published sources. We have not performed hands-on testing of the products discussed, and nothing here is a performance guarantee. Verify specifications, compatibility and the law where you live.

Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links to Ammunition Depot. We may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial choices are not influenced by commissions. Check current price, stock and specifications directly with the retailer.