When I was in the military (Coast Guard) and we trained with the 870, our purpose was to shoot people. We used 00 Buckshot. When I hunted deer with buckshot, I tried everything. I found 00 and 000 to work best in 3" cases. I suppose that people would be no tougher than deer. At ranges under 50 yards, most 000 buckshot will pass completely through a deer.