Reply #79: ammo

[one-eyed fat man]

In RVN we were getting 00 buck, nine pellet, in all brass cases (a lot of it loaded during WW2.) Paper shotgun hulls sucked in the tropics. We also had a buckshot round for the M79 but it would only dent an ammo can at 10 paces. Truthfully, the shotgun was good if there was nothing but air between you and the target, and not too much of that. Those nine pellets were spread around a 4 foot circle at 40 yards. However, at room clearing ranges, it is devastating.

The modern military grade plastic hulls shoot better patterns than the all brass case unbuffered loads did.

Riot control was 1-1/8 ounce, 7-1/2 birdshot. The drill was to bounce it off the pavement into their legs.

Guarding prisoners, on work detail or from the stockade towers, MP's used #4 buckshot.

There was a special manufacturing run of M1917 bayonets in 1969 just for the Winchester shotguns in use.