When a Wyoming state senator quipped that a shotgun might be the best way to deal with an annoying drone, turns out he probably was right.
During a Wyoming Senate floor discussion in January 2023 regarding a bill to possibly classify intrusive drone flights as trespassing, Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, gave his blunt opinion.
“I thought maybe a shotgun would be an appropriate legal weapon to take a drone with,” he said at the time.
Since then, footage of some battlefield action of soldiers in Ukraine using shotguns to obliterate drones has proven that shotguns are a good weapon of choice for the task, Aaron Dorr, policy advisor for Wyoming Gun Owners, told Cowboy State Daily.
In making that statement, he also said his comments should not be construed as legal advice or a recommendation. Shooting at drones remains patently illegal here.
The temptation to shoot drones down is a hot topic as of late. Drones have been reported flying in patters all over the United States, including in Wyoming, and nobody seems to know why.
Way Too Much Liability With Rifles, Handguns
Scott Weber, owner of The Gunrunner Online Auctions in Cody, also said that shooting at drones is dangerous, illegal and highly unadvisable.
“It would be very, very dangerous in almost any part of the country to fire at a drone,” he said.
But, speaking purely hypothetically, he agreed that a shotgun might be the best way to blast one out of the sky.
It might be just too darned hard to hit one with a rifle or a handgun, he said.
And besides, firing those sorts of weapons into the air is stupid, dangerous and quite possibly a good way to end up in prison, he said.
“You would be liable for any of those bullets coming back down,” he said. “A bullet could come down miles away and kill somebody.
“I think it would pretty hard to hit them with a rifle anyway. And if you’re dumping a whole mag at the drone, where are all those bullets going to go?” Weber added.
That’s an important point. Many people might not realize just how far bullets will go once fired from a rifle or a handgun.
Considering that a mile is 1,760 yards, the distances that bullets can fly from some common calibers is jaw-dropping.
For example, the .22 long rifle cartridge is likely the most popular for beginning shooters, target shooting and small game hunting. But even the relatively tiny .22 can send a 40-grain bullet flying for 1,588 yards, according to charts published online by the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Now consider the flight distances for bullets fired from other popular rifle and handgun cartridges: A 158-grain .357 magnum bullet will go 2,398 yards, a 124-grain 9mm bullet will go 2,130 yards, and a 130-grain bullet fired from a .270 can sail 4,795 yards, according to the NRA.
What’s The Best Shotgun Load?
So if a shotgun is the best choice in this purely hypothetical scenario, what’s the best ammunition?
That could be a tough call as shotguns are about the most versatile small arms on the planet.
On the heaviest end of the scale, they can be used to fire a single projectile, or slug – essentially a gigantic bullet – which makes them handy for close-range deer hunting.
But, as mentioned before, trying to hit a moving airborne target with a single projectile can be mighty tricky. And shotgun slugs will also travel about as far as many handgun bullets.
There’s buckshot, or large round balls, usually around .32 caliber each. A 12-gauge 00 buckshot shell contains 8 or 9 of those.
At close range, each of those might hit with about as much force as a 9mm bullet. Certainly, enough to take down a drone.
But, with relatively few projectiles, it’s likely the shot pattern will simply miss the drone.
When it comes to birdshot, things get counterintuitive – the larger the number designated to a shot size, the smaller the pellets are.
So, #9 shot will be smaller than #6 shot, for example.
A shotgun might put more pellets in the air with #9 shot, but the pellets might be too tiny to deliver a fatal blow to a drone.
So, it becomes a matter of choosing a shot size small enough to create a dense pattern, but big enough to bring the drone crashing to earth.
Heavy Game Loads
Dorr said his choice would be “#6 shot, heavy game load.”
That’s a popular load for large, tough upland birds such as pheasants or sage grouse, so it indeed might be handy for drone-blasting.
Weber said he’d prefer a heavy waterfowl load, perhaps a goose load, like BB shot in a magnum-length shell.
The range on any such loads would be limited.
The heaviest magnum waterfowl loads available on the market can take down a large Canada goose out to about 50 yards.
“You’re not going to have much range,” Weber said. “The drone would have to be right over your head.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
