Home Defense choice

[gdcleanfun]

Whatever is closest to us or "at hand."

[Oram Security Consultants]

Originally Posted by maybejim

Apparently there is some controversy about that.

A policeman told of seeing a guy shot at close range with a load of 12 gauge birdshot, and was not even knocked down. He was still walking around when the EMTs got there. It was an ugly, shallow wound, but did not STOP the guy. And that is what we want... to STOP the bad guy from whatever he is doing. To do this, you must have a load that will reach the vitals of the bad guy. Birdshot will not do this.

As a Marine with 15 years exp and with one tour in Iraq, I have seen men with center mass 7.62 hits not go down. Same goes for 9mm, .45 and 5.56.....Ive also seen them hit and drop like a bag of rocks. Its about shot placement. You can kill someone with a .22. There are tests that show that bird shot works and tests that show it wont. There are tests that show that 9mm is a bad round and some that say otherwise......
A .50 handgun should work right? But what about your wife who weighs 120lbs using it? You want a system that has functionality as well as usable by the people in your home. I can put 3 rounds down range with a .410 in the same time as I can with 2 rnds of a 12 gage. My wife on the other hand can do 4 with a .410 in the same time as 2 with a 12. and much more accurately. If a 20 gage can work for your family, great! With bird you get all the rounds in one room.... with 00 or 000 you will get the penetration of walls as well as bad guys. Choose what works best for your situation. But you need to look at all aspects.
my .02 and worth what you paid for it.

[festus]

Originally Posted by Oram Security Consultants

As a Marine with 15 years exp and with one tour in Iraq, I have seen men with center mass 7.62 hits not go down. Same goes for 9mm, .45 and 5.56.....Ive also seen them hit and drop like a bag of rocks. Its about shot placement. You can kill someone with a .22. There are tests that show that bird shot works and tests that show it wont. There are tests that show that 9mm is a bad round and some that say otherwise......
A .50 handgun should work right? But what about your wife who weighs 120lbs using it? You want a system that has functionality as well as usable by the people in your home. I can put 3 rounds down range with a .410 in the same time as I can with 2 rnds of a 12 gage. My wife on the other hand can do 4 with a .410 in the same time as 2 with a 12. and much more accurately. If a 20 gage can work for your family, great! With bird you get all the rounds in one room.... with 00 or 000 you will get the penetration of walls as well as bad guys. Choose what works best for your situation. But you need to look at all aspects.
my .02 and worth what you paid for it.

I have some of the reduced recoil OO buck for the Mossy if and when the wife needs it. Winchester made it and it functions well.

#8 birdshot at 10 feet moves as a single solid mass of lead. When it hits, it leaves what the medics call a rat hole. Hundreds of individual wound channels that all bleed independently of each other. It is a most gruesome wound that no surgeon in the world can fix. It takes a long time to pick all that shot out and start repairing the damaged areas (mostly shredded meat). The recoil is manageable, and the follow-up shot is quick. and you DID NOT use a tactical load that a liberal jury would assume you have to be a more effective killing machine. It is always good to ensure that you have done every thing you can do to alleviate legal issues.

[Oram Security Consultants]

Originally Posted by festus

I have some of the reduced recoil OO buck for the Mossy if and when the wife needs it. Winchester made it and it functions well.

Good idea as along as it is your standard load. Do not want her messing around with loading it in an emergency.

[Disciple]

I have a similar setup to most here so far it sounds like. If the BG is unlucky enough to catch me awake and I have time to get to the closet, he's going to meet my Mossberg 500. I mounted two hooks high up on the inside of my closet, over the door. This is where the Mossy lives when I'm home. This one came as a Cruiser model with pistol grip, but I put a SpeedFeed stock on it with some other goodies, like a Surefire up front. I finally settled on #4 Buckshot after reviewing comparissons. If I don't have time to get to the mossy, I'm going for my Glock .40 on the nightstand. This has a Streamlight light/laser combo, an alluminum CCF Race Frame, Tritium sights, and hours and hours of practice into it. (insert shameless plug here). BTW, any Glock fans out there, highly recommend the CCF Frame, drastically improved comfort and handling for me. The G22 never seemed to fit my hands well before the switch.

This is all assuming I'm in bed. Keep in mind I don't necessarily advocate keeping loaded guns out in the open. If I'm not in bed, the Glock is locked up in a small safe under the bed, and I live alone. Also, if I'm not sleeping, I always have my Smith 1911 on me as primary carry, even around the house. Long story short, at the very least the BG will be seriously considering a swift career change.

[Glock Fan]

Originally Posted by festus

I have some of the reduced recoil OO buck for the Mossy if and when the wife needs it. Winchester made it and it functions well.

#8 birdshot at 10 feet moves as a single solid mass of lead. When it hits, it leaves what the medics call a rat hole. Hundreds of individual wound channels that all bleed independently of each other. It is a most gruesome wound that no surgeon in the world can fix. It takes a long time to pick all that shot out and start repairing the damaged areas (mostly shredded meat). The recoil is manageable, and the follow-up shot is quick. and you DID NOT use a tactical load that a liberal jury would assume you have to be a more effective killing machine. It is always good to ensure that you have done every thing you can do to alleviate legal issues.

Different schools of thougt. I use 00 buckshot when hunting deer and other game mammals. These hunting rounds also double as my SD ammo. I'd rather have a SD round with 9 pellets rather than a few hundred (like a birdshot shot shell). Regardless of what ammo you're using for SD, you're supposed to ensure that you have an adequate backstop, so over penetraton shouldn't be an issue.

As firearms owners, we need to evaluate all available information and make decisions on what would be best for our individual needs. As long as the we make "educated" decisions, there's really no "wrong" answer in our ammo selection. Whatever we do, we need to be sure that we'll be able to back up our actions should we ever end up in court.



gf

[festus]

Originally Posted by Glock Fan

Different schools of thougt. I use 00 buckshot when hunting deer and other game mammals. These hunting rounds also double as my SD ammo. I'd rather have a SD round with 9 pellets rather than a few hundred (like a birdshot shot shell). Regardless of what ammo you're using for SD, you're supposed to ensure that you have an adequate backstop, so over penetraton shouldn't be an issue.

As firearms owners, we need to evaluate all available information and make decisions on what would be best for our individual needs. As long as the we make "educated" decisions, there's really no "wrong" answer in our ammo selection. Whatever we do, we need to be sure that we'll be able to back up our actions should we ever end up in court.



gf

You are correct in that assessment. I was trying to back up ORAM's birdshot claim. I grew up in the peoples republik of illinios. I left and never looked back. We had a farmer in the next county sent up on murder charges for shooting some teens that broke into his house when I was a kid. I am not sure of all the details but for me it was a harbinger of things to come. God help us all if the wrong judges get appointed and legislate from the bench.

[netentity]

Here are my choices;

• Shotgun
  If it's legal in your jurisdiction, short barrel it and install a folding stock. The shorter barrel will make it easier to navigate in your home. Just be forewarned that with the shorter barrel comes a reduced magazine capacity so have a methodology to reload it.
  
  
• Handgun
  Have at least two spare magazines.

As for shotgun ammo choices, 1 buck with 00 coming in second. My rationale is in this article.

[Oram Security Consultants]

Originally Posted by Glock Fan

As firearms owners, we need to evaluate all available information and make decisions on what would be best for our individual needs. As long as the we make "educated" decisions, there's really no "wrong" answer in our ammo selection. Whatever we do, we need to be sure that we'll be able to back up our actions should we ever end up in court.
gf

Very true and well written.

[chuckmanley83]

Ideally, I'd like to have both. Like it has been said in this thread, a handgun and shotgun both have pros and cons.