Winchester Defender 00 Buck (SB1200PD)

Winchester Defender SB1200PD 00 buck rounds out the trio of purpose-built defensive buckshot loads alongside Federal FLITECONTROL and Hornady Critical Defense. It uses copper-plated, buffered shot rather than a specialized rear-braking wad, so its patterns are not quite as tight as the FLITECONTROL or Versatite loads, but plating and buffering still produce consistent, controlled patterns well suited to home defense. The nine 00 pellets leave the muzzle at 1,145 fps, a reduced-recoil-class velocity that keeps the gun controllable.

The copper plating does two things: it reduces pellet deformation in the bore for tighter, more uniform patterns, and the granulated buffer between pellets cushions them during firing to further preserve their shape. The combination is Winchester's approach to the same goal FLITECONTROL pursues with a wad.

One important distinction: Winchester also sells a PDX1 combo load (S12PDX1) that stacks three 00 pellets on top of a 1-ounce slug. That is a different round for a different purpose. The load here is the buckshot-only Defender (SB1200PD). If you want a straightforward plated-and-buffered defensive 00 load and prefer Winchester, this is the pick.