look at post 47.
Birdshot at 12-14 foot can easily kill you with a body shot.
Really small shot, such as #8 might not, if no vital organs are hit. Heavier shot, like number 4, can penetrate 6 inches.
Here is a whole article on the subject.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2010/02/robert-farago/shotgun-penetration-with-various-rounds/
I do not think birdshot is an optimum defense load, but it is very dangerous and deadly under 15 feet.
Thanks for the link. Yeah - I was thinking of the light stuff used for trap shooting. There was a shooting at my son’s college a few years ago. The guy (from off campus) used a shotgun with light bird shot. One guy he killed - he had the barrel against the back of his neck.
He shot three other students that were on their feet walking back to the ambulance. One photo shows a guy with a red rash about 1-foot in diameter. There is video of the gunman entering a building. A girl is shot in the chest from about 6 feet away - she turns and runs away from the gunman. She was also treated and released that same day.
Right after the gunman shoots the girl, the building monitor (boy student) sprays the guy with pepper spray as he was reloading and takes the gun away. Then tackles him and knocks the guy’s knife away.
Hmm - another learning lesson. With a double-barrel, better make sure the bad guy is down and out after the second barrel. And that he is alone. Don’t want to get jumped as you are reloading.
And another learning lesson. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. The hero student was a small Asian kid. And he is a fan of “My Little Pony” (a “Brony”). Also is a fan of martial arts, firearms, and iirc is planning on the military after college.