I’m a shotgun nerd, like a hardcore shotgun nerd. I like testing shotguns, training with shotguns, and exploring new concepts around shotguns. Unlike many other firearms, you can do some interesting ammo testing with shotguns. A round of buckshot from Federal shoots differently than a seemingly identical round of buckshot from Winchester. With that in mind, let’s look at the Herter’s Defensive Buckshot.
Herter’s Defensive Buckshot – What’s The Point
What drew me to this round was its affordability. It was $10 for 15 rounds of defensive buckshot, cheap enough to try even though I knew it wasn’t going to replace my Federal Flitecontrol. Beyond the prices, the specs looked good. It’s a 2.75-inch round that holds eight 00 pellets.
Eight is preferable to nine due to the 9th pellet flyer. This magical 9th pellet will often depart from the rest of the cluster and can create a major issue regarding pellet accountability. Eight pellets make a tighter pattern overall.
The Herter’s defensive buckshot is a low-recoil load. It’s throwing those eight pellets at 1,145 feet per second. Low recoil means you can shoot faster since you have less recoil, so we want a low-recoil round. However, low-recoil rounds also tend to pattern better than high-velocity buckshot.
Additionally, the round might have low recoil, but it has nice high brass, which can help with extraction with some guns. The price, features, and specs seem to make it a great defensive load. It’s clearly a well-thought-out load and not just a generic buckshot round.
Shooting The Herter’s Defensive Buckshot
Specs can be read, but how does the round perform? A defensive shotgun cartridge must be reliable, have low recoil, flash, and be consistent. It should feed, extract, and eject with ease. It also needs to be patterned well and consistently. Let’s talk about patterns.
Don’t expect anything all that fancy, but it patterns well, especially for the price. At seven yards, the pellets are very tight and very close to each other. They are nearly all touching. At twelve yards, all the pellets will stay within the eight rings of a B8 target, which is quite small for a target. Finally, at 15 yards, six of the eight pellets remained in the B8, with two landing low. That’s still an acceptable defensive pattern.
The Herter’s Defensive Buckshot had very low recoil and was soft-hitting on the shoulder. It fed easily and ejected with ease. The load functions in the Mossberg 940 and Benelli M4 without an issue. I’d assume it functions just fine in most modern semi-autos.
Worth the Cost?
The round performs on par with most defensive loads that lack a special wad to keep the patterns tighter. It’s priced to move and to train with. This type of load falls into the same space as rounds like the Fiocchi Defense Dynamics buckshot. It’s fine.
Fine is fine, but I prefer a specialized load with a tight patterning wad. However, that stuff can be pricey and hard to find. Herter’s is a Bass Pro/Cabela’s load, making it more available and easier to find. The Herter’s defensive buckshot load works and works well, but won’t blow your mind.
It’s not cheap enough to be training buckshot, but it’s not pricey enough to keep it out of your hands. A box of fifteen gives you enough for your gun and enough to pattern and test, which is just enough to get a bare-minimum home defense option.
