What shotgun rounds do you recommend for home defense?, page 1

www.cheaperthandirt.com...

There are a good 4 pages of buckshot and slugs for ya.

www.cheaperthandirt.com...

This is a great site, and they have lots of good stuff.

Avoid birdshot at all costs. It does not penetrate deeply enough to reliably incapacitate a subject. This is widely documented and proven as a bad choice. The average penetration is about 6(yes six) inches. This is in ballistic gelatin. So that doesn't even consider bone, clothing, body fat, or a drug addled/ intoxicated perp.

You ideally want 12 inches minimum of penetration. You will not find a birdshot that will do this. Ideally you want #1 Buck, then 00. Ballistically, the best performing round is #1 Buck. More pellets than 00 = more wound channels. But #1 Buck has very limited offerings so it's probably just easier to find a 00 Buck that you'll like and will do just fine. The below links are excellent sources with buckets of info on shot choice(as well as why not to choose birdshot) with charts, graphs and gelatin data to back it all up.

www.firearmstactical.com...

www.tacticalshotgun.ca...

reply to post by mlmijyd

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That's a good idea.

I wanted to get some less-lethal rubber ball stinger type shot a while back but was told I had to be a law enforcement officer to purchase them. I thought how stupid? It's like whoever made the idiotic laws would prefer I eviscerate an intruder than incapacitate them?

reply to post by sir_chancealot

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Nope. She's small. She practiced a few times with high-power loads and she developed a terrible flinching reflex. Now what good is the gun if when she picks it up she hesitates to pull the trigger because she's expecting pain? What good is it if after the first shot she's thrown off balance or drops the gun and can't follow through?

You go ahead and be the big man with hot loads. I'll mind my own business and make sure the people I care about can effectively handle a firearm in a stressful situation with calm and control.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
reply to post by sir_chancealot

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Nope. She's small. She practiced a few times with high-power loads and she developed a terrible flinching reflex. Now what good is the gun if when she picks it up she hesitates to pull the trigger because she's expecting pain? What good is it if after the first shot she's thrown off balance or drops the gun and can't follow through?

You go ahead and be the big man with hot loads. I'll mind my own business and make sure the people I care about can effectively handle a firearm in a stressful situation with calm and control.

I'm sorry, did I totally lose reading comprehension for this thread? The OP was asking about the best DEFENSE LOADS, not PRACTICE LOADS.

Had the OP bothered to ask about PRACTICE LOADS, or shooting on the range, I would agree.

Your response CLEARLY wasn't about shooting during practice, but about during an actual firefight.

I state with absolute certainty that in a real firefight, where you have to actually shoot someone, a bruise on your shoulder is going to be the LEAST of your worries, and the very last thing on your mind.

reply to post by sir_chancealot

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Unless the OP plans on practicing inside his home it sounds like hes asking both questions.

reply to post by ANNED

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For home defence you don't concern yourself with how long it'll take to pull the shot out afterwards or whether the wound becomes infected later. Your concern is simple;

Will this shot stop the attacker quickly before he hurts my family or me?

However we must bear in mind the legal consequences of our actions. Load a cartridge with small pellets that are designed to cause suffering and that will scream of pre-medetation. While this may not concern you during the incident, the attackers lawyer will ensure that you think of little else in the months following the shooting. The attacker will sue the living hell out of you and make your life agony for the forseeable future. There are plenty of regular loads on the market that are much better suited than the one you suggest and will not cause you the legal difficulties that your little home-made one will.

Also, very small birdshot like this will not stop an atacker. It may slow him a bit, but won't cut deep enough to damage muscle, bone and organ sufficiently to reliably stop an attacker. At the same time you don't want any missed shots over penetrating and injuring a third party. Here shotguns are unique in that loads can be tailored to suit these needs.

[edit on 27-9-2008 by PaddyInf]

It all depends on what you want to accomplish. In SitX self-defense, against a single person, daeoeste took my answer: Rock salt. You get multiple penetrations of very sharp crystals, and every one of them feels like hell itself has hit them. But on the other hand, it's not (usually) lethal, so if there's a court battle later on, you have the defense of not shooting to kill, just due to the type of load. Yeah, he'll live, but everyone who he tells will think a couple dozen times before playing with gunpowder-administered rock salt.

On the con side, you have to load them yourself (although anyone serious about shooting should have a reloader), and you better clean that barrel real good after use. Rock salt is corrosive to steel as well as flesh.

Back to the shot size, it all depends on your situation. I'd recommend keeping a supply of #8 or #6 for small game hunting as well as scaring off the average wanna-be looter. They do hurt, even if not as lethal as larger shot. You also want some #4 or #2 for larger game or for those who look to be a little tough for the bird shot. Both of these are usually lethal, if not from the immediate damage, from the subsequent bleeding.

I try to keep a supply of 000 buck on hand as well. You have a better chance of hitting something vital/painful with shot and 000 is big enough that I doubt the recipient is going to have much chance of not doing the bleeding to death quickly thingy. Slugs are also good, but don't expect them to slam through things like an armor-piercing rifle round; they will stop soon enough, just not before blowing some really big holes in whatever was in front of them.

It also matters whether you are using a full-choke or a modified choke shotgun (except for slugs of course). Full choke concentrates the shot over a smaller area, so you can use smaller shot with the same results. You have to be a bit more precise on the aiming than with a modified choke, though.

Shotguns in general are great for fast shooting (aim is not as critical as a single round rifle) and for the fear factor (that hole in a 12-gage can look huge when you're staring down it). But for immediate lethal damage or medium/long range, I'd take a rifle or good handgun any day. Less recoil to allow you to re-aim quickly in changing conditions, more exact penetration, and handguns are easier to swing quickly and easier to hide than a big bulky shotgun.

TheRedneck

edit to add:reply to post by mr-lizard

I don't think it's all that (although I will admit some people have that mindset), it's more a desire to be prepared in case of something. I have plenty of firearms and other weapons, and all of them are there in the intense hope that they will never be used.

That said, I would rather have them and never need them, than need them and not have them. I have a responsibility to protect me and mine, and I have no intentions of abrogating that responsibility to anyone else. The stakes are too high.

TheRedneck


[edit on 27-9-2008 by TheRedneck]

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