Why a Home Defense Shotgun?

[Furyataurus]

Don't spend the money on a new shottie. Just put 00 or 000 or whatever you want for a HD shottie. A light would be preferable IMO though. Do you have a pump or semi??? What's wrong with a side saddle shell holder????

[fickman]

I wouldn't tell anybody who is happy with their handgun for home defense to get a shotgun instead. I got a tactical shotgun for a few reasons:

1) In an emergency, I'd like my wife to have the Kimber 1911 .45 ACP that stays beside the bed. The Sig .40 and the two .357 magnum revolvers are often in other locations depending on where we've been and where we're going the next day. The last time we thought we had a real break-in occurring, I grabbed the hunting shotgun and found many corners too difficult to effectively navigate. . . this will vary based on the floorplan of your house. Now I can leave her in the bedroom or send her to the kiddos room while I check the house. If one of the other pistols is nearby and I have time, I might take it as a backup.

2) Somebody is considering telling me I can't have one, which made me want one more.

3) It was relatively inexpensive.

4) I love shotguns.

5) In a real situation, I plan to rack the slide before I leave my bedroom. . . so if I find a BG in my house, the BG doesn't get the "warning" unless he were close enough to hear me discover his presence. While I'm racking the slide, my wife is chambering the Kimber. If I find a BG, I have some pretty serious stopping power (2 3/4" #4 buckshot).

6) Handguns are harder to aim precisely in an emergency in the dark with your adrenaline pumping. You have to aim the shotgun, but the "data plots" are father apart, giving you less variance in the final destination of your ammunition for each degree of error or movement while aiming. I'm all for handgun proficiency, but a lot of people have sub-compact guns for concealing. There are many reasons most LEO use a full size sidearm instead of a sub-compact (capacity, recoil, fit-in-hand, acceleration of bullet in longer barrel), but one of them is that the sights are farther apart and give you a better percentage chance of being on-target. This point is going to be an element of fact and an element of personal-preference.

7) It's simple and reliable.

I guess that's it. Again, I'm not advocating this position for everybody, but this is my home-defense plan.

[fickman]

They do sell Mossberg 500 Home Defense / Field with both barrels. . . a 28" barrel for hunting/skeet/trap and an 18.5" barrel for home defense. Two shotguns in one. . . not bad. Agree with earlier poster who said that the extra barrel costs around $100.

[WarHawk-AVG]

I am just wondering why I would need a short barelled HD shotgun with ghost ring or halo sights, pistol grip stock, mounted laser and flashlight, heat shroud, sling, saddle with 6 extra rounds, with mag extension bringing my in gun round count to eight when I have an effective nightstand gun? Are there that many home invasions which involve multiple intruders or massive gun battles? Is this just a fad or something? If I needed a shotgun for protection in my home, would my mossberg I use for hunting work just as well? Don't bash, I am trying to figure out if I am equipped wrong for home protection or if I need a tricked out $600 dollar shotgun at the house too.

Because you CAN!

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

[Hos]

All good points. I am considering the Taurus Judge with the portability of a pistol with a shotgun bang. I wouldn't say it's the "best of both worlds" and some will consider it a novelty but it has its place. Unlike a shotgun, it's made to spread the buckshot over a shorter distance too. Might make a good BUG to the shotgun.

http://www.taurususa.com/whatsnew/revolvers.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maybe put shot shells as the first 3 rounds then close the deal with the .45 in the other 2 shots.



http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot41.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
EDIT: Not a good review here. Oh well, still might buy one as a portable varmint gun.

[WarHawk-AVG]

All good points. I am considering the Taurus Judge with the portability of a pistol with a shotgun bang. I wouldn't say it's the "best of both worlds" and some will consider it a novelty but it has its place. Unlike a shotgun, it's made to spread the buckshot over a shorter distance too. Might make a good BUG to the shotgun.

http://www.taurususa.com/whatsnew/revolvers.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maybe put shot shells as the first 3 rounds then close the deal with the .45 in the other 2 shots.

Some say due to the rifling for the .45LC it makes the .410 effective to like 10 feet...NOT that useful in self defence...unless you shot 00Buck or slugs.

[Hos]

Yeah, I did more research on this and edited my post. Even with buck shot it didn't get that good of a review. Does 12 or 20 gauge penetrate that much more then a 410? I know it's more but enough?

[dihappy]

If you got the money, do it.

IMO all the talk about a shotty for home defense is over rated.

First there is hardly any spread in pellets when speaking of the distances involved in home defense situations. (12' = 1 3/4'' - 4'') hence, you still have to aim.
Second, its larger than a pistol and requires two hands.
Third, not practical for small or weak individuals.

Nothing against it, however i dont think its as good as a good pistol.

A pistol will allow you to defend and fire at the same time.
A pistol will allow you to maneuver better
A pistol can be handled by weaker, more frail individuals
Hollow point pistol rounds will be less likely to go through an individual and hit something else.

my $ .02

It's not about the spread, it's about the devastation. My HD shotgun is loaded up with 3" 00 buckshot. That's Twelve 8.38 mm 54 grain pellets hitting the BG all at once. You're essentially pulverizing an entire area a few inches in diameter, making a vital hit much more likely than a single shot from a handgun bullet of any caliber.

While not as portable or maneuverable as a handgun, the shotgun is quite superior in its effects against an intruder. I do not see how you think a handgun is more appropriate than a shotgun for a "weaker" person. If someone has trouble holding a shotgun, they're likely going to have the same issue with a handgun, except they have no shoulder to steady against with the handgun.

As far as over-penetration is concerned, the only time I think you're really going to see that kind of issue is with slugs.

A handgun does not need a shoulder to steady against, nor does one need two hands to handle most handguns. You can defend an attacker and shoot him at the same time with a handgun, a woman or man being overpowered on the ground with an attacker on them can wield a handgun in self defense easier than with a shotgun. etc..etc.

Im all for the devastation a shotty produces, but i dont think its what i would grab first in a home invasion.

[dihappy]

IMO all the talk about a shotty for home defense is over rated.

First there is hardly any spread in pellets when speaking of the distances involved in home defense situations. (12' = 1 3/4'' - 4'') hence, you still have to aim.
Nobody said you didn't have to aim a shotgun
Many people believe it to be so, this is why there have been some tests analyzing spread pattern for home defense

Second, its larger than a pistol and requires two hands.
Granted
Third, not practical for small or weak individuals.
It can be very practical - it just depends on the caliber/gauge and the individual's training. Something which will put 8 or 9 9mm-size pellets in a single shot - it's kinda hard to argue against that
Tests have shown that an effective load should ONLY be 0 buckshot as the minimum to penetrate vital organs, but not slugs as it will over penetrate. That being said, even 0 buckshot can be difficult for some individuals to handle effectively.

Nothing against it, however i dont think its as good as a good pistol.

A pistol will allow you to defend and fire at the same time.
So will a shotgun
Yeah, so will an RPG, with training. A shotgun is more maneuverable than an RPG and a handgun is more maneuverable than a shotgun.

A pistol will allow you to maneuver better
Debatable - depends on expertise, but yes, a pistol is overall easier to maneuver if this is required
Better safe than sorry.

A pistol can be handled by weaker, more frail individuals
So can a shotgun - again, it depends on the caliber/gauge and the individual's training. Even a little .410 loaded with slugs would be similar in effect to a .41 Magnum to the bad guy.
So then if its the same, then the better choice would be the lighter .41 Magnum which would free your other hand if its required.

Hollow point pistol rounds will be less likely to go through an individual and hit something else.
Most shotgun pellets, even 00-buck, tend to be quite soft and generally don't penetrate as deeply as a lot of pistol rounds.
Very true, but even if you hit an intruder with a shotty, you could very well miss him at the same time. That is if your capable of wielding a shotty to begin with and dont have a problem with your other hand, arm, or shoulder :)

my $ .02

[fredtubbs]

2) Somebody is considering telling me I can't have one, which made me want one more.

Exactly. I'm right there with you. Although I don't think Barry and his friends are going after shotguns first, but they are coming.

[flintknapper]

Yeah, I did more research on this and edited my post. Even with buck shot it didn't get that good of a review. Does 12 or 20 gauge penetrate that much more then a 410? I know it's more but enough?

For individual pellets/projectiles….the difference would be minuscule.

By comparison, the velocity of the “shot loads” are very similar, hence we may expect similar performance in terms of penetration.

The real difference is found in the number of pellets contained in each shotshell…and the relative mass that can be delivered.



WINCHESTER 410 3" MAX DRAM 11/16 OZ. #4 SHOT
Manufactures Number: 00024
Game & Field Loads
11/16 OZ #4 SHOT
Shell Length: 3
Velocity: 1135 fps @ 3 ft.
Powder Dram Equiv: Max
Shot Size: 4

WINCHESTER SUPER-X GAME & FIELD 20GA 2-3/4" 2-3/4 DRAM 1OZ 4 SHOT
Manufactures Number: 00021
GAUGE: 20
Game & Field Loads
1 OZ #4 SHOT
Shell Length: 2-3/4
Velocity: 1220 fps @ 3 ft. Powder Dram Equiv: 2-3/4
Shot Size: 4

WINCHESTER 12 Gauge Super-X® Waterfowl Loads 1-1/4 OZ #4 SHOT
Manufactures Number: 00767
WINCHESTER 12 Gauge Super-X® Waterfowl Loads 1-1/4 OZ #4 SHOT
Product Symbol: XSM124
Shell Length: 2-3/4
Velocity: 1275 fps @ 3 ft.
Powder Dram Equiv: Mag
Shot Size: 4

[xpur3l0g1cx]

I find this really interested. I debated on this one for 2 years trying to figure out which one is going in the safe and or coming out. I was using a ak for home defense with good hollow points, then some days a shotgun then some days a pistol. I just couldn't figure out which one I felt the most flexible with and comforted with as far as follow up shots and firepower. I then took into consideration of noise moving around etc. I have about 10 acres behind my house and about 2 sideways. One day I came home from work and I noticed crap flying out my storage building about a half acre from my house when I went to check my mail. I ran in and grabbed the shotgun I had (saiga 12) and went to check it out. As I was walking out there I noticed a person walk out then in real quick so I knew it wasn't a dog. I learned something really quick then. Time slows and having a shotgun instead of a pistol is really comforting. It ended up being some crack head stealing our stuff and no shots fired. The rifle wasn't practical then for being fairly close by the time I knew he was there. I just knew to them the shotgun was really scary and they said sorry and I called the cops. Thats a long story short. Now I sleep with the shotty next to me at night and sleep well I might add


Oh I had 3 inch magnum buckshot in a 5 round mag

[kimber909]

Oh I had 3 inch magnum buckshot in a 5 round mag

That would have left a mark.

[Weg]

For me the issue is, the simple fact that in my opinion a rifle or shotgun is always better than a handgun if i'm going to be in a gunfight. At home, I keep a AK handy, in addition to my .45. I would much rather have the AK if someone forcibly enters my home, than my .45 or .40. I live a very rural, densly wooded area, so for me over penetration is not an issue. If I lived in town, a 12 guage would probably be my first line of defense in my home. The same line of thinking is why I always have a loaded rifle behind the seat of my truck.