Gonna test some buckshot, what distance?

So I am wanting to buy some bulk buckshot and have narrowed it down to 4 different loads and 2 different brands. I have ordered two 5 round boxes of each one to test out. I will shoot one box out of each of my two main shotguns I plan on using the ammo in. (benelli M3 and mossberg 590A1)
The ammo is not going to be used for hunting, so extreme long range tight patterns is not important, as well as their performance on deer. It is not the dirt cheap crap, but far from the expensive stuff. I will mainly use it for plinking and range fun, but I want to see if any 1 of the 4 types I ordered perform noticeably better than the others out of my guns. They are all the same price and I could not pick one over the others based on limited online reviews. So that is why I decided to just try a couple boxes of each for myself to see what my guns like.
I will pick up couple packs of some cheap poster board to use as a target. I will use one poster board per load for each gun (that's going to be a lot of targets!). I will probably fire 2-3 shots at each target. I just need to know what would be a reasonable distance to test them at? 20 yards? Is that too far? I do not want to be so close I can not tell the difference between the patterns, but I do not want to be so far away, half the pellets miss the target. Both shotguns have cylinder bore barrels.
So can anyone recommend a good test distance?

I also ordered about 3 different types of slugs as well for the same purpose and test. (both shotguns have ghost ring sights) so I want to test those as well. They are smooth bore (I do not have or plan to get any rifled barrels). So what would be a good distance to test the slugs at as well?

If ya'll want, I can post up the results after I am done. (not sure if it would be of any interest to anyone here)

With cylinder bores you should be good out to at least 25yds. In all of my law enforcement training our shotgun targets were at 25yds and was not difficult to keep all pellets on a standard silhouette.

When I first became a cop in 1997, we shot 12 pellet 00 buck shot. Usually had some flyers at 25 yards. Years later, we went to 9 pellet 00 and I would have an occasional flyer at 25 yards. Now, we shoot 8 pellet 00 and I can keep all pellets in the scoring ring at 25 yards (20" cylinder bore). My Remington 870 Police Magnum has ghost rings too. With Remington rifled slugs (the barrel is smooth bore, not rifled) I can hit a small pepper popper at 200 yards. The 200 yard shot with 12 gauge slugs was a part of the course when I went to firearms instructor school. Our department does not even issue shotguns anymore. They now issue AR-15s in lieu of shotguns. I'm old school and believe that a 12 gauge shotgun with 00 buck in the magazine and a side saddle full of slugs in our best weapon!

The standard for patterning shotguns is a 30 inch circle at 40 yards. But for buckshot 25 or 30 yards should be a good indication.

This area was slug shotgun only for whitetail for some time (right up to two years ago) and 100 yards is the long-end for those. 75 yards would be fine for most. Even with my delightful old pump Ithaca M37 Deerslayer (tight smooth bore with sights) I could hold a 5 shot 5" group at 100 yards from a rest with Federal slugs. And be sore for a week afterwards.

I Think Walgreens has Advil on sale. :boink:

20-25 yards should tell you what you need to know.
For home defense purposes there are lots of loads that are adequate and then some.
Ever since I saw what a 3" 2oz load of copper plated #4s through an extra full choke do to a hog while turkey hunting at about that distance I have kept some on hand. I have no doubt that a good duck load or #4 buck would also be more than adequate for most "self defense" distances

Odd story but I killed a 200 lb fallow deer with #5 high-brass pheasant shot and a 20 gauge double. From 4 yards it left a hole I could put both fists in where it's heart was. Inside the house 1-1/4 ounce of ANYTHING across the living room will be lethal. Buckshot may carry through walls . . . if you want that.

I understand one of the preferred loads in Vietnam was #4 Buck (0000). Made a big mess up close in the greenery when you just wanted close cover. That's what I would choose for a defense shotgun. But I use #5 High Brass handy beside my double.

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like 25 yards will be the distance I use.
The ammo should be here today. Hopefully the weather holds out and I can do some testing this weekend.

Well after doing a full days work saturday, and some sunday, I had some time sunday afternoon to test them out.
This is my unscientific and unprofessional test.

I used 2 different shotguns for the test, a Benelli M3 Super 90, and a Mossberg 590A1 SPX (model 50771):

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7859/...dfd058e5_b.jpg

Both have 20 inch cylinder bore barrels and ghost ring sights.

I set up my target stand at 25 yards using a laser range finder. Target was plain white poser board with a orange 3 inch stick on target as the aim point. I fired 2 rounds of each type at a target, changed targets and performed the same thing with the 2nd gun. I was standing and unsupported, so keep that in mind. The benelli can shoot pump action or semi auto, but I left it in pump action mode to keep the test as even as I could.
Before anyone says something, yes, I need to adjust the sights on both of them. The Mossberg I need to adjust the elevation, and the Benelli I need some windage, and maybe a little elevation. The mossberg is brand new and this is the first time I fired it. The benelli I have not shot in probably 10-15 years, and back then, all I had ever shot was some birdshot at some skeet, so I had no idea how the sights on it were going to hit.
I will post them in the order of what I feel like was the worst to the best.

First up was some remington tac-8 00 buck 8 pellet:
https://www.targetsportsusa.com/remi...00-p-4314.aspx

From the mossberg:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7853/...1e5e7fa8_b.jpg

From the benelli:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7879/...f2b4e1b7_b.jpg

Next up was some remington express 00 buck 9 pellet:
https://www.targetsportsusa.com/remi...00-p-2472.aspx

From the mossberg:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7823/...45aaaf73_b.jpg

From the benelli:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7898/...b8d808b6_b.jpg

Next up was some federal power-shok 00 buck 9 pellet:
https://www.targetsportsusa.com/fede...00-p-3169.aspx

From the mossberg:
The large holes are from the wads, for some reason they went through the target when all other shots fired did not.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7822/...60e1d979_b.jpg

From the benelli:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7910/...9c8b40fb_b.jpg

Of the 3, I would say the federal had a noticeably better pattern from both guns by a small amount. It would also seem my mossberg has better patterns than my benelli. Out of the 3, with the same price point of $2.99 a box, if I buy any, I will pick the federal. The tac-8 did have a noticeably lighter recoil than the others, but it seemed like it performed the worst (just my opinion).

Now last but not least, I saved the best for last. It is not the same price, as the above at $3.29 a box, but still not super expensive.

Federal law enforcement tactical 00 buck 9 pellet with the "flite control" wad:
https://www.targetsportsusa.com/fede...00-p-3082.aspx

From the benelli:
Best pattern of the day from this gun.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7915/...5dffcd53_b.jpg

From the mossberg:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7809/...7b3e0c95_b.jpg

Holy cow that is a tight pattern! The best of the day. It would appear that my mossberg really likes this stuff! I found the wads laying on the ground in front of the target and they are a very interesting looking wad. More like a solid cup with some fins on the back (they shot a picture of it on the box)

Whatever I buy, I will be getting 3 cases. I am trying to figure out if spending the extra $41 is going to be worth it. Like I said, range fun and plinking will be my main use for it, and the regular federal power shok did not do real bad. But the performance of the flite control was very noticeable and kinda impressive. I kinda almost would feel bad burning through it just for plinking.

I also purchased some of the same price point slugs I also plan on doing the same test with. I will update when I get a chance to do that test also.

Wow!!! That's an impressingly tight group there (last one)

Based on what you have written above, it seems like you are going after a tight pattern. People seem to get obsessed with tight patterns. Tight patterns are great in some instances, turkey hunting to be one. However, in self-defense situations where massive adrenaline dumps happen, tunnel vision, etc., it's good to have a pattern that has some scatter. If you're off on your aim a little, you are probably going to still have some pellets hit the target. I would rather some .33 caliber pellets hit the target than a complete miss because the pattern is too tight. Loud noises do not stop gun fights. So if your goal is a tight pattern, good job!

I always carried Federal rounds in my Beretta FP-1200 when I was still an active LEO. Usually kept a slug up as the first round, with the remainder in the tube being buckshot.

Well I decided to try out some slugs while I was at it. Same guns, same targets, same standing unsupported. For the slugs, I fired 3 rounds of each instead of 2.
I just put two dots on each posterboard and shot the top dot with the mossberg, and the bottom dot with the benelli.

First up was some federal power-shok
https://www.targetsportsusa.com/fede...-p-109133.aspx

Either one of the shots from the mossberg went through the same hole (highly unlikely) or one completely missed. The other holes are from the wads.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7876/3...483fd57b_b.jpg


Next up we have some federal vital shok I found setting in the back of my gun safe. No idea where they came from, but figured I would try them out.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...-slug-box-of-5

https://live.staticflickr.com/7920/4...04ef3e59_b.jpg

Next we have some remington slugger.
https://www.targetsportsusa.com/remi...s-p-58615.aspx

https://live.staticflickr.com/7907/4...4775908a_b.jpg

And last we have some remington slugger "LE"
https://www.targetsportsusa.com/remi...b-p-59039.aspx

https://live.staticflickr.com/7871/4...abe2013c_b.jpg

The two remington sluggers seemed to preform pretty well. I did not see much difference between the slugger and slugger LE. With lots of searching online I still could not find if there was a difference. I did find a description on one site stating they are colored blue to quickly differentiate them from buckshot when used by law enforcement. So is the color of the hull the only difference? I asked target sports and they said the color of the hull was the only difference.
While the federal premium with the truball performed pretty well, it seemed to prefer the mossberg over the benelli. While the remington sluggers seemed to perform well in both. So for the price coupled with the performance, I think I will pick the rem sluggers. For $2.99 a box ($2.75 with prime) I do not think you can beat the slugger.