Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Maybe a shotgun is better for home defense...

Yessir, I have one of those in the back too, it wears it's 24 inch slug barrel, full of three #1 Bucks and two KO slugs, a sweet swinger that has never hinted at a jamb.

I almost bought military version of that (long one piece factory magazine tube) that was originally used in Rhodesia or South Africa. I passed because one has to adjust recoil spring when using between heavy vs light loads. Modern semi-auto can cycle 70mm, 76mm and even 89mm shells w/o any adjustments.

Easier to hit with a l9nf gun and if the user is a wingshooter, a moving target is no nig whoop with a shotgun.

Thinking that just looking at him might make them chitt, the 870 is just for show

I have the same package except it doesn't hold 11 rounds and mine is stoked with 000 and #4 buck. I would not want to be on the receiving end of it.

LOL, they wont see me, I be in the dark, the flash BOOM now................................ and your setup will work too, I cant imagine catching a chest or gut full of blue whistlers! it's going to suck, hard!

Hard to hit 'em with a pistol. Also hard to hit 'em with a shotgun.
We are not talking about 40 yards, where your buckshot might spread out over 4 feet.
We are talking about inside-the-house range. Ten feet, maybe fifteen. Before you change your defense arms over to shotguns, take your shotgun out and see what kind of pattern you get at 15 feet. I have tried it with a 20 gauge shotgun and the pattern was 1.5 inches. Hardly different from a pistol.

Most likely will need to get the sheetrock guy in to hang a few sheets .

Mackey, That’s a nice set up you have, Looks like it’s been there and done that.

Yessir, and a 55 gal drum of wall putty. it's fun to joke around, but hope like hell it never happens.

I ranged the furthest distances in the house, 18 and 22 yards, I split the difference and set a box at 20 yards, then had at it with my 870 and #1 Buck load, iirc it has the mod choke installed, the pattern was centered and evenly disbursed, measured around 12 inches, so yes, even in a house a shotgun HAS to be aimed.

I like the 20 better. Cerekote 870, Wilson combat sights, youth stock with the soft super cell pad. Accurate with slugs (4 of which reside in the Mesa side saddle).
Hope I never need it but I’m sure it will work.
Remember what Clint Smith says: “Inside your house a shotgun is a rifle”.

Very few people practice enough with a handgun to be effective in a high stress environment. For that reason a pump or semi-auto 12 ga is a better choice for home defense. A 3 inch magnum shell loaded with 2 shells of #4 or #2 shot followed by 3 shells loaded with buckshot is more effective. And before anyone decries the use of #4 or #2 shot, get some and shoot them into a sheet of plywood at about 20 feet and look at the damage they do. No man can survive a chest hit at that distance with those shells and you could easily knock the legs out from under someone if you don't want a kill shot.

I base the above on more than 25 years on active duty. Even for military people that shoot a fair amount, few of them are really good. They use a pistol to fight their way to a long gun. When the lives of your family are on the line go straight to the long gun in the first place. As always, feel free to disagree.

I have an 1100 with a magazine extension. It had a 20” barrel. Lots of pellets can come out quick. Isn’t a double ought about the size of a .22 bullet?

No, 00 is 60 grains, so 9 sixty grain bullets coming at you at once.

The interesting part about Browning Auto-5s is that when they came into play, the United States was at the tail end of fighting the Indian Wars. They have been in use in one degree or another all the through the Vietnam war, where some SF guys used them. They have been in use all over the globe. Most Americans don't realize the extent of their martial use. Lots of use in Africa and various jungle locations.

00 buck is roughly 33 cal iirc Hanco.

00 is roughly .33 caliber

you think missed handgun shots are blowing hell out of your sheetrock , wait till you have a bunch of 12 gauge holes in the walls

a shotgun blast in close confines can also miss


that said use whatever gun you feel will do the job

Mossberg 930 SPX loaded with Winchester Defender Elite 12 gauge 2 3/4 1oz rifled slug 3 - 00 buck pellets. In the event of a home invasion hopefully I'll have a back stop. Shoot him in the mid torso and the slug will stop about his back.

He was a good boy ,he loved his moma , he didn't do nuffin.

MAC: "A 3 inch magnum shell loaded with 2 shells of #4 or #2 shot followed by 3 shells loaded with buckshot is more effective. And before anyone decries the use of #4 or #2 shot, get some and shoot them into a sheet of plywood at about 20 feet and look at the damage they do. No man can survive a chest hit at that distance with those shells and you could easily knock the legs out from under someone if you don't want a kill shot."

You are correct, sir. I worked many years as a paramedic in a small Georgia county. Our EMS was hospital based, our barracks were out in the ER parking lot. Many injuries are brought in by car, so, besides the hundreds of GSW I worked in the field, I worked many dozens more in the ER.
I was fascinated to see what kind of damage the different guns did to people. I loved to see the xrays of the GSW, a bullet really shows up on an xray.
Down South most people keep a loaded shotgun, in the closet or behind the door. Loaded with bird shot, maybe number 8 or number 6. Might have to shoot a rabbit in the garden, might have to shoot a bad guy. Or, might get drunk one night and get in to an argument with your daddy, and shoot him.

I saw 14 patients hit at close range torso shots with bird shot, I am talking a range of 10 to 15 feet, and every one of them died. A 1 1/2 inch "rat hole" entrance wound, no exit.
I never saw anyone hit with buck shot but, I would imagine, whatever bird shot would do, buck shot would do even better.

Close range shotgun hit is the most lethal load a person can be hit with.

That looks like it might have a story behind it.