Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Home defense shotgun and ghost ring sights ?

For those who have experience using them ,what is your experience using ghost ring sights on your home home defense shotgun ?
Do you like them,not like them?

Tritium bead up front is my preference for an inside the house shotgun. Add a white light and that combo is about as good as it gets inside the castle walls.

Why would you need a ghost ring sight to hit something inside a room with a shotgun? Why would you even have to shoulder it in most cases?

I have zero experience with ghost ring sights on a shotgun, but know at 30 feet and less they wouldn’t do anything for being quick.

There are those shooting a pistol instinctively for defense and hitting center punch.

If using a sight on a scattergun you’re doing it wrong.

My closet gun is a rem 870 express tacticool with ghost ring sights and its great.

I like them because I screw in a turkey choke and its my short gun for the blind.
Nice for slugs too.

I cant speak for home defense, but I like them.

Have you used ghost ring sights on your Home defense Shotgun ?

I have but took them off because they offered nothing. Course I only used it in simulation at the range. Can't see what they bring to the table.

Yes that is true but I am more than sure that only comes after MANY rounds .
I am 61 and have killed a lot of squirrels ,Rabbits and dove ,but have not practiced shooting instinctively with a shotgun,
And I do not have the Amount of shotgun rounds that it would require to become a decent instinctive shooter with a shotgun and the small patterns that Buckshot provides at home defense distances.

Why is that ?

Fair enough
When you say that you used them at the range did you use them at home defense ranges ?
Say at 10 yards and less ?
If so how did they compare to just a bead as far as speed and accuracy and placing the small Buckshot pattern where you wanted it to be ?

Thanks

If you killed Doves and Rabbits then you were shooting instinctive...Place empty quart plastic pop containers on the ground at room distance....look at them, throw the gun up and hit the trigger without looking at the sights. I would be surprised if you didn’t blow them up on the first shot....or come close enough that it made no difference..

You can get good by practice mounting with an empty shotgun and looking at a spot 10 yards out. It will be a lot quicker than squinting down a hole.


Heaven forbid you would have to use it for home defense...but the reason is you may not have the time luxury of being second.

Buckshot also isn’t the best choice if you have to worry about someone in the next room. Few can shrug off an ounce of 8’s at 10 yards.

Well instinctively to me means doing something instinctively without thought and I was definitely thinking about mounting the gun properly and looking aver the top of the barrel or rib.And still Managed to miss a lot !!
Instinctive as in being born able to do something such as cry ,crap,eat etc.

I have managed to miss on game that was not moving at all,with a shotgun and its larger spread at a distance.
Which I imagine most have if they are being truthful.

Without a point of reference for the gun whether it be the end of the barrel or a bead or a ghost ring sight or a Laser or a red dot hitting would be very difficult.

The closest thing that I can imagine to be true instinctive shooting would be to shoot a gun without being able to see any part of the gun even in the peripheral vision.

Imagine shooting a pistol with out being able to see the pistol at all and without the muscle memory of holding the gun properly,tucking the arm or elbow into the body a certain way etc. That is muscle memory and not instinctive and muscle memory comes with practice.

It 61 yers of age I don't have the amount of shotgun shells that would be required to practice enough to be able to hit with a shotgun without at Least mounting and looking over a shotgun to hit where I want to hit effectively and repeatedly with the
Shotgun and small pattern of buckshot at close home defense ranges.
Heck, I might not have the time or skill level required even if I had a Lifetime of buckshot !!

I do have a Mossberg Shockwave that I can shoot and hit were I want to even from the hip BUT it has a Factory Mounted Laser on it.
But I have to turn the Laser on to be able to do so and cannot do so on a consistent basis without the laser.

I am going to setup a Semi Automatic shotgun with an 18 1/2 barrel for use with Buckshot as well and just curious as to peoples Experience with with Ghost Ring Sights .

Thanks











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Good luck...

Addition: It’s as easy, and no different, than pointing your finger at a chair across the room. You need a sight to do that?

Duty shotgun, yes.

If a shotgun fits properly you have know need to aim. Look and shoot, both eyes open. Successful bird and clay shooters will tell you they have little if any recollection of seeing the bead when they shoot.

Don’t use buckshot for interior home defense. #4,5,6 shot is far better for several reasons.

Bird hunters and clay shooters have the advantage of using a large pattern which buckshot at home defense ranges does not have.
Essentially one ragged hole at 5 yards.

I always shoot with both eyes open even when using a scoped center fire rifle for deer hunting.

No I won’t be using birdshot for home defense .
There have been enough penetration studies conducted over several decades to prove that birdshot does not penetrate enough to reliably reach an attackers vitals .
Test mediums from water ,ballistic gel,meat targets etc.

Mebbe you live in the Taj Mahal, but in my current and past homes it would be unlikely to be faced with a shot over 30' or so. If you think a load of # 6 shot won't put someone on their butt at those ranges we're not living on the same reality plane.

I can go with DD’s 6 shot-or less-but that is not the point. At your stated 5 -10 yards, 6’s or 8’s will also be one ragged hole. And most likely more destructive because of the greatly increased number of pellets concentrated onto one area.

6’s, 7.5’s or 8’s out of any choke at 10 yards will essentially be a open hand size blob of lead at 1100fps....penetration won’t be your problem.

Here is hoping you can play around with ghost rings and buckshot and never have to use them.

For a visual, take a load of 6’s and wack a watermelon at average room length..

No we do not live in the Taj Mahal and never indicated that we did ,apparently you think you read something that indicates I said anything about using buckshot at over 5 to 10 Yards.

I am including some pics
These pics are of a foot,My foot .
I was shot when I was 13 by another 13 year old while we were rabbit hunting.
I was taking a step and when he shot me.
12 Gauge 2 3/4 inch #6 shot at a range about 3 yards.
One pic shows the entrance on the bottom of my foot and the other pic shows the exit on top of my foot.
The shot went through the bottom of my leather lace up boot at approximately bore diameter the wad hung in my foot.The shot did not exit the top of the leather boot.
I was standing on my right foot taking a step and the shot did not even knock me off balance .
I told him that he had shot me and he said he did not as we could not see a hole in my boot looking down at it.
I took several more steps and said well something is wrong as my foot felt like it does when your foot goes to sleep and sat down and took the boot off.
At that point we layed our guns on the ground and I leaned on his shoulder and we walked back to to the vehicle about 1/4 mile and he drove me to a local hospital,where I sat on the floor of the hospital and waited for a doctor to come see me.

At no point in time was I "Put on my Butt" by the shot or incapacitated of shooting at him .
Granted the shot was not in the Torso but it does show the limited penetration of birdshot at close ranges though.
In addition I have picked a lot of small shot out of birds and rabbits and squirrels shot at close ranges that shows the limited penetration of small shot through even small game at close ranges.

Had the same load been on a home intruder with a Jacket or holding his arms in front of him or through the side then I doubt that it would have had enough penetration to reach vitals and put them down right now.

You are right about us living in a different reality Plane.

Shoot Birdshot from your home defense shotgun if you want to
My reality Plane tells me to use a shot load that has been proven to penetrate enough to reliable penetrate enough to the vitals and stands a lot better chance of stopping the threat right now.
And that is Buckshot as proven both by Gel test,Meat target test, water Jug test and my own experiences.

Thanks for you input though