Rifle Vs Shotgun Which is Safer?

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An interesting topic that comes up from time to time is a shotgun that much safer? If you look around the country you would think it has to be given the fact that many states require the use of shotguns in more urbanized areas and ban rifles. I was reading on the Hog Blog earlier about the Hound Hunting issue and the topic of use of rifle only from elevated stand. Although in theory it may seem safer but that fact remains it is only as safe as the person holding the gun is.

Then tonight in my reading I stumbled across this interesting article on Buckmasters that talks about studies that now show that shotgun slugs are much more susceptible to ricochet then rifle bullets;

According to Mountaintop Technologies of Johnstown, Penn., who conducted a study with the assistance of ballistic experts at the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, say that shotgun slugs are much more prone to ricochets than rifle bullets. Because of that phenomenon, shotgun slugs can travel farther than rifle bullets in common hunting scenarios.
According to a summation of the study, when shots are fired holding guns level at 3 feet off the ground, a shotgun slug will travel 0.99 of a mile; 16 percent farther than a .30-06 rifle bullet under the same circumstances. The study asserts that the reason is that slugs tend to hold together better and lose less energy during ricochets than rifle bullets. This leads to the conclusion that slugs actually travel farther than rifle bullets.

Wow that is really interesting and I’m sure will add more fodder to this on going debate. No matter where you come down on this issue you got to admit that safe gun handling rules are far more important then the gun you have in your hand.

http://www.hog-blog.com Phillip

Impossible and foolish to argue with your point… safety is in the hands of the person holding the gun. Amen to that.

But for perspective, when I discuss shotgun hunting, particularly in NC, I’m talking mostly about the use of buckshot, not slugs. Here’s where I’m coming from.

When I started deer hunting, most of my early experiences took place on a club down in Brunswick county (NC). The club was pretty big, and set in a fairly isolated area. Odds of anything we did on that club impacting local residents were slim to none. I think there were two houses for the miles and miles surrounding the place. Even so, the rules of the club were designed so that there would be no impact.

One of the rules was that anyone hunting from the ground would shoot buckshot only. Centerfire rifles or shotgun slugs were to be used from treestands. Anyone breaking this rule would be ejected from the club.

Now this seemed restrictive as all get out, considering that us club members were the only people around…and during the week you could have the whole place to yourself. But it was a good rule, because the club was reliably safe. My dad had no qualms about putting me on stand as a child, because he knew the most dangerous person out there would be me.

If hunters still regulated themselves like that, I think a lot of the negative opinion that we hear in NC would disappear. The conflict about road hunters would not exist, because the clubs would not hunt beside busy roadways… and the stray bullets going through people’s homes and outbuildings would decrease to almost nothing. When someone complains about high powered rifles in close proximity to homes, then the easy counter is that the rifles are shooting down, into the ground. With the exception of a possible riccochet, that’s as safe as gunfire can be.

Slugs vs Rifle bullets… yeah, I saw that University of PA research also, and it didn’t surprise me. The biggest difference is still the range of the riccochet. A shotgun slug is only gonna carry so far…even the new “super sabots”.

The other consideration is the shot that doesn’t riccochet, but carries over flat, uninterrupted ground. In the hills or mountains, this isn’t as big a deal… but down on the NC coastal plain and areas like that, there’s nothing but trees and houses to stop a bullet, sometimes for miles. In those cases, I have an issue not only with centerfire rifles but with slug guns too. If the bullet can go further than you can see, there’s a safety consideration.

Areas that are very lightly populated may be different, but especially on the East Coast, that’s a rare commodity.
Moose

Thanks for your reply Philip I agree with much of it I just question whether or not we need a law that says that or if individual clubs like in your experience should make them. I have a few tracts of land that during the week there is no other club members hunting so I can get out and roam a bit and do some still hunting. A law like that would outlaw that style of hunting and all because another group of hunters don’t have the sense to hunt safely? Many are currently breaking the law by hunting on public roadways and trespassing lets get some stepped up enforcement on those issues before we pass a law that really only effects the law abiding anyways.
http://www.skinnymoose.com/southernadventures/ SouthernAdventures

Good common sense would go along ways with this issue. There are places that a shotgun would be far safer than a centerfire rifle. If everyone would use good judgement we would never have the need to discuss laws like this.
I personally have a few spots where I use a shotgun with a slug, but according to the link you posted, it appears that might be more dangerous than my rifle.
Jim Binder

I was asked to write the proposal to allow the use of rifles in Waupaca County Wisconsin, before I did, I did and in depth study on the subject. You have to accept that everyone is a safe hunter (no shooting uphill, no shooting towards buildings, knowing what’s behind your target etc.). With that as an accepted, I feel rifles are much safer. One other issue, my 120 lb daughter feels the recoil of a shotgun (even with a recoil reducer in the magazine), the physics show that a .300 Win mag has exactly 1/2 the felt recoil of a 2 3/4″ rifled slug. So, my point is, she is more accurate, and more likely to be successful with a gun that she is comfortable with. Finally, Wisconsin statistics show that even though we only have 27% of shotgun only areas, 77% of accidents occur with the use of shotguns….not sure why that is though.

Just my thoughts/opinion.

Rifle Vs Shotgun Which is Safer?

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