What shotgun rounds do you recommend for home defense?, page 2

I carried a Winchester Model 12 that had been cut down and was stockless in Viet Nam. In heavy jungle, there is little as lethal as double-ought buckshot. Across a living room, there is little as lethal as 00Buckshot.

If you have a family, you don't want to be blowing holes through two or three walls, and if only one single buckshot gets through to where your child is sleeping, you can kill them.

In my home, beside my bed I keep a Model 1911 with laser sights, and a pump shotgun with #6 shot. #8 shot isn't bad either for using inside a dwelling.

Try this: Take measurements of the likely distances within you home you'll be using the weapon. Write them down, and take your weapon with a few different loads to a range. The vast majority of encounters are less than 15 feet. Put your target at 15 feet, and say 10 feet. Note the shot pattern.

Anything less than ten to fifteen feet is almost a "loose slug." The perp would thus absorb all that energy, rather than having a significant portion pass right through them.

If you really want to be accurate in a scary situation, then a simple laser sight, grip activated, enables you to be dead on target without aiming.
I can assure you that in some of these moments, many supposed experts have missed their targets at distances as short as six feet. Unbelievable, but true.

One last thing. You don't aim for the head or face. You don't aim to wound. You don't aim for the center of mass. Aim for the pelvic area. Lots of bone, which transmits to the nervous system the shock of the rather significant impact. Another reason is that there are very vulnerable components contained within the pelvic area.

And third, if the intruder hits you in daytime or when the lights are on, and he sees you aiming a shotgun directly at his doo-dads, 999 out of 1,000 will immediately unass the area. It's a man thing.

Test these rounds loaded with different shot at these close distances for yourself with your own weapon. You'll then absolutely know within your own residence, exactly what your shot spread will be, and you'll feel confident of your expectation.

One last thing, and I know I'll likely catch a lot of crap.

Anything worth killing is worth killing twice. Dead is good, but deader is better. And in such a manner, there's only one side going to be told.

Good luck, and I hope you never, ever, have to use deadly force. It never sits real well on your appetite the next day. But at least you have one.