That metal door skin is about the thickness of the material in a beer can.
It’s been tested quite a bit. Birdshot is not very effective and should not be used for home/self defense. There’s not really an argument there.
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot22.htm
Wounding the goblin is the very last thing you want to do. Why anyone would bother with birdshot is totally beyond me. There are so many good tests available to show how poorly it performs. Yet it keeps coming up over and over again.
Birdshot is very inexpensive. If it were effective, police and military shotguns would be loaded with it.
If you want to fire birdshot at an intruder, then load your pistols with shotshells, too. It’s effective right? They make versions that will cycle in a semi, too. So go ahead and load up.
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot30_3.htm
Well, I would certainly never consider using it at any real distance but I don’t think a load of number eight at ten feet would be anything to be happy about. I’ve got a few birdshot shells along with some buckshot, maybe I’ll do my own test. As far as loading a pistol with it I would not even consider it.