Home defense shotguns

[Alaska]

Finally....

I found some Federal LE 00 buckshot, the low recoil 9 pellet load (LE132) Flite Control at a price I could stomach.

I wanted this for my wife... had to get it by the case to get the reasonable price, I got 2.

Shouldn't need any more though, she practices with my reloads.

If you have cylinder choke that load is great and tight due to the flight control wad

 

[salmonchaser]

They have door breaching loads just for door hinges . The Cooper plated Fed Turkey loads are excellent for home protection No smaller than 4 shot or the coyote loads with BB.
My home defense guns are hidden in each room of the house from Hanguns to Shotgun to M4 carbine ………..for me rule of thumb you use your handgun to get to your long gun.

Your pistol is for fighting your way back to where you left your rifle!

 

[truck driver]

Little late to the party but nothing like a good short barreled 12ga pump. Just racking the slide will put the fear of God into most people and those it doesn't deserve what comes out the end of the barrel.

 

[noslerpartition]

Your pistol is for fighting your way back to where you left your rifle!

Which you should not have left behind in the first case!

 

[Vince]

I had the misfortune of having to use a shotgun to stop a driver when I worked corrections.

Shotguns work. That’s all I’m going to say.

 

[KinleyWater]

Your pistol is for fighting your way back to where you left your rifle!

Your rifle is for fighting your way back to where you left your blooper!

 

[JD338]

UPDATE...
Picked up an 870 knock off 12 ga 3 " magnum cylinder bore.
I'm impressed with the Federal LE 2 3/4" 00 Buck (9 pellet) load with the flight control wad.
Shot distance was at 35'

JD338

 

[Alaska]

UPDATE...
Picked up an 870 knock off 12 ga 3 " magnum cylinder bore.
I'm impressed with the Federal LE 2 3/4" 00 Buck (9 pellet) load with the flight control wad.
Shot distance was at 35'

JD338

No need for choke with flight control wad
I use cylinder choke tube for years. Any conscription of wad will interrupt the flight control wad purpose keeping the load together.
I noticed a shorter ranges you have to zero and shoot it like a slug. Very devastating! The 8 pellet 00 Tactical load typically provides the best pattern. This was my issue load but refused 00 for duty went all slugs in my 870.

Good Group
Are those pencil holes ?

 

[Vince]

Contrary to popular opinion it wasn’t the Colt Peacemaker or the lever action rifle but the lowly shotgun that was the gun that won the west.

I fail to see why what worked for the majority of settlers in the west back then wouldn’t work today. I read somewhere that the majority of settlers going west had a shotgun. The reasons are many but cost and availability of ammunition played a large factor in this.

Vince

 

[SpirePoint]

I’ve always kept a shotgun next to the bed and a hidden pistol or two in other parts of the house. A few years ago, I got a 20 gauge Shockwave. Added an Olight Baldr Pro laser light combo mounted with a CDM picatinny light mount and a Mesa Tactical aluminum 6 shell carrier. That gives me 12 rounds on board in a little bitty package.

I got the 20 gauge because I wasn’t sure what the recoil might be with a 12 gauge. As it turned out the 12 gauge would have been fine, but now glad I got the 20 gauge.

I gathered up some slugs and various buckshot and tested them on paper. I found out that point and shoot from the hip doesn’t work very well if you want to hit center target, you have to aim. The laser takes care of that 100% of the time. The farthest I shot slugs was 20 yards and out to there I kept them within a 6” circle, so probably good out to 25 yards. The farthest I shot buckshot was also 20 yards, but the spread was all over a 30” target. From 15 yards to up close was a different story. With 2 ¾” no. 3 buckshot, between 7 yards and 10 yards, all 20 pellets stayed inside of 13” and 15”. Up close they got a lot tighter. That’s 468 grains of lead per shot, almost twice the lead in a round from a 44 magnum.

I put the Benelli in the safe.

 

[grry10]

I agree with Bruce, a 20 ga pump with a skeet choke and #2 or 4s is just about perfect. My wife would be intimidated by it either.

 

[diverdown]

I'm not much into shotguns for home defense. I know that sounds foolish to some but if you have occasion to check on a noise or someone breaking glass to get in you are probably going to see what's going on. When you go through doors you are going to have to lift the shotgun to get through. A handgun avoids that. Number two and pretty important is the light you are going to take with you. If it is attached to the weapon (as some have indicated) remember, wherever you point the light you are pointing the barrel of the shotgun which could be at a family member. A hand held light covers my bases. I learned how to use it in this manner while on the PD and it worked well. As has been said, you are going to have a pretty tight pattern and a miss can happen. Noise wise, I won't even get into that. I trained with muffs inside a building using a shotgun and I can tell you things shake when the trigger is pulled and the muffs were only partially successful. Just some thoughts for everyone.

 

[375hh1973]

My lady is a decent shot with a shotgun but does NOT do well with pumps.

Got rid of the Mossberg 590 and upgraded to a Benelli M4

Amy does much better with it, since she is used to her semi auto skeet gun.

As far as that whole racking thing, I always kept the 590 chamber loaded and ready to go. Under a stress situation, I could see myself screwing that up!

Benelli is fully loaded, safety on. Winchester #1 buck

 

[3 Meter Para Bellum]

Noise wise, I won't even get into that.

I think noise is something that the typical person doesn't think about when it comes to home defense. If at all possible I would prefer to use only suppressed firearms for home defense, but that is a setup I can't currently afford, plus length can become an issue if it is a rifle, and even a pistol gets less maneuverable with a can. My Dad has a Tavor, which being a bullpup, is an excellent host for a suppressor, and I'm hoping he'll be able to get one eventually.

 

[Vince]

Putting a light and red dot optic on my Mossberg pump shotgun.

From a barricaded position in the home I like the shotgun. It’s kind of like playing Alamo but we ain’t playing. Travis, Bowie, and Crockett, along with their brave comrades, held off vastly superior numbers for thirteen days from a barricaded position.

Being single I don’t have to worry about other family members in other parts of the abode. If I am certain my perimeter has been breached I’m not going to go seek what went bump in the night. I’ll let the maker of the noise come to me.

If I have to go see what made that noise it’s a handgun and handheld light. Once I determine the noise maker is indeed a threat that’s when the light on the gun comes in to play.

Rifles are great, and certainly have their place in home defense, but I’ll opt for the shotgun in the confines of the home, from a barricaded position, in most cases.

Being profoundly hard of hearing I keep electronic muffs next to my gun.

Vince

 

[JD338]

I picked up a retired state police 870 with an extended tube and tactical light in the forend.
It seems to like the Federal LE 00 Buck with the flight control wad. Shot at 16 yards was pretty impressive.
I may add a fiber optic front sight and maybe a ghost ring. This rig would pull double duty as home defense and tracking a wounded deer in the swamp.

JD338

 

[RL338]

That’ll put a hurtin’ on the receiving end.

 

[SpirePoint]

I picked up a retired state police 870 with an extended tube and tactical light in the forend.
It seems to like the Federal LE 00 Buck with the flight control wad. Shot at 16 yards was pretty impressive.
I may add a fiber optic front sight and maybe a ghost ring. This rig would pull double duty as home defense and tracking a wounded deer in the swamp.

JD338

I like the setup! Adding the fiber optic front sight and ghost ring sounds like a good idea.

Other than that one stray, looks like about a 5 inch group. That’s at almost 50 feet. Most of us won’t have a shot more than 20 feet inside the house. So, at 20 feet that group is going to shrink to probably half that size.

My point is, with a shotgun you can miss your target if you don’t aim well.

The best gun for home defense is the one that you are most confident in that you can hit your target. Stopping power is important, but hitting your target in a stressful situation, in tight quarters, probably in the dark, is the most important. Everyone should target practice with their home defense gun simulating the worst of situations. This might change their choice of gun.

Below is the pattern of my 20 gauge shockwave with a Federal Premium 2 ¾ #3 buckshot at 7 yards. All 20 buckshot in a 13 inch group made this my choice of all I shot. A little looser pattern than some, but this is likely my farthest shot.