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

use what you shoot best, I'm good with a pistol even though I don't practice much anymore, I won't miss. I have an AR, a pistol and an 870 in arms reach of my bed. I'd probably grab the pistol first.

So Duck should we call 911 or deploy riot gun?

I've got an 870...the one pictured earlier here, right in back of me from where I type this. In back of me on a table are my 44 Mag. Mountain Gun, my .40 M&P along with five or six loaded mags and a Ruger Mk.II with two loaded mags for varmints. The S&W AR is only feet away in the Hall. Mama's .357 Mag. Detective Special is in our bedroom.

I like a shotgun for self defense too. This one rides in the truck with me, along with my Springfield Loaded model.

Since we are talking home invasion.....

The police don't prevent crime. Nor does 911.

We protect ourselves. You call 911 to report the dead intruder, and the police investigate the scene.

Our personal protection is OUR responsibility. Not the police, not 911, not anyone.

But you know that.

Just remember, to be Super Deflave compliant the Red Dot has to be Aimpoint, and the Light a Streamlight.

LOL, hell of a home SD program there, and with your campfire handle, I had no doubt you'd shoot ; ]

So to stir this a little more...

What's best on the 870 for home defense....standard stock or pistol grip (with stock/butt)?


Regarding reliably....Letting a fairly new shooter shoot an 870 Friday afternoon resulted in a lock up on the first shot with cheap dove loads. Shot, he couldn't work the pump.....we'd walked through how to work the action several times and I only loaded 2 for him, let him chamber the first..... I had to disassemble...but I didn't drop the butt or pull on it very hard. Just sat it to the side. I've run a lot of standard 2 /34 00 through this and never had a problem. I'm guessing it's the bottom $ low brass dove ammo but I may need to polish it. Not a good feeling as this has always been my first choice "in the house" if I had time.

Were the cheap dove loads made in China?

Not sure there is a “better”. I got a good deal on a Benelli M1 Super 90 once, with the pistol grip stock. It was a good gun, but I found that FOR ME, the 870 worked better. Others’ mileage may vary.

MadMooner,

You might appreciate these videos.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...king-youtube-recommendation#Post14785798

Lots of gun writers in the same era got away with the same type of bullschit.

Rex Kwon Doe. LOL

I know that you and the lieutenant probably agree on a lot of things.

Enjoy your absolutes.

If you told The Duck to grab the Shockwave, he'd return with his vibrator.

LOL.

Holy hell that's funny.





I must say though, I don't agree with this, unless you're not referring to guns or ranges measured in feet.
I carried a Benelli M1 on my first tour, and did so for a reason. A fair amount of our contact was in bayonet range.
Whether a shotgun is better than an AR for self defense I think has a lot to do with what you're comfortable with, as well as your specific circumstances, but from an utter destruction standpoint from a single shot (or even a magazine) and normal loads there's no comparison.
Besides, I've talked to plenty of vets that do not know dick about guns, but think they do because they have experience with a M16. I'd be curious to know more about the specifics of how those vets you talked to came to their conclusions.



.

It's fine to not agree.

But it doesn't make those that prefer an M4 ignorant or stupid.

Very true...and I assume you're referring to ltppowell there, and not myself.
I was focused specifically on qualitative destruction and it looks like you were referring to the "effective, and safest" part of his post. I see what you're getting at, and fully agree.

Correct.

I don't but if I had to guess probably late 1800s.

Fairly common back in the day to see patrol point men carrying a Win Mod 12. Quite common on the jungle trails.

My thoughts on a shotgun vs handgun-rifle for home defense.
I choose a shotgun. A Mossberg riot gun to be exact.

If you did a random survey of gun owners, 90% would tell you they were good or very good with a handgun. Most of them would be wrong. Same results with a rifle.
You need training. With a handgun or rifle, lots of training.
One can acquire basic shotgun skills much, much quicker.

I have the training and experience with handguns to claim to be very good, but I still choose a shotgun.

A home defense shooting most likely happens by surprise, at night when you are ½ asleep, and pumped up on adrenalin.
I want simple, instinctive and effective. A shotgun fit that bill better than a handgun/rifle.

“You still need to aim a shotgun”. Well yes and no. You really need to ‘aim” a handgun, and even trained professionals miss more than 50% of shots fired at bad guys. Just review police shootings.
With a shotgun, you just need to point and with a 12 inch pattern close counts.
Another point to consider, most exterior walls will stop anything smaller than 00 buckshot.
Most handgun rounds or any rifle will go right through and who know where it goes after that.

Some years back, I took my ten-year-old son shooting. He had never fired a shotgun in his life, but he wanted to try the “Riot gun”

"Your arms are not long enough to shoulder it, you’ll have to shoot from the hip".
"I don’t care, I want to shoot it".
"It’s heavy, and kicks like a mule".
"I don’t care, I want to shoot it".

I put a chest sized cardboard box 20 feet away and showed him how to work the action.
In less than five seconds, he hit the box solidly with all three shells, shredding it into confetti.

Like I said, not much training necessary.

The fact is, I am that good with a handgun. 10 years of shooting IPSC Action Pistol will do that.
But when something goes bump in the night, I’m reaching for that Mossberg riot gun.

Whole lot of nonsense in this post.