Remington 870 20 gauge with #4 shot to minimize o er penetration.
Agreed with the shotgun as best choice.
Find a place where you can try various loads and see if the 20 or 12 gauge is easiest for you to handle. BB turkey loads are a good choice. I alternate 3” 12 gauge turkey loads with 00 Buckshot in my magazine.
The idea of “no need to aim - just point and shoot” is pure BS. You HAVE to aim. Shot doesn’t spread out that quickly - unless you own a mansion and are shooting down 25 yard hallways. I recommend a tactical light be mounted on the weapon - helps in aiming and can sufficiently “dazzle” the target so that you may have a few more seconds to choose what to do.
Just sayin' since threads of this kind never give any thought to that aspect.
Alot of good advice here. And welcome to the carolinas. The suggestions of the mossberg 500 are good ones. Wanting a long gun addition, I went with the poor mans 500 and got the Maverick 88 12G made by mossberg(The reviews tell it all). 8 rnds in case of zombie attack... Maybe you should hit one of our local firing ranges and rent some different ones and see what makes your eyes sparkle..lol
Thank RINO Christie for not having the spine to straighten out NJ’s idiotic gun laws – no guts at all. Anyway – the 38 Special will do fine. Use any of the commercial “FBI loads” – 158 grain LSWHP loaded to +P velocity – no “exotics” such as Glasers or the such. Teach the 7 year old to leave it alone. A short barreled shotgun would be fine, but in 12 gauge, not 20. Bigger payload & easier to hit with. Not a pump – the whole premise of “letting them hear me rack the slide – maybe that’ll be enough of a deterrent” is utter and complete BS. The first and ONLY sound I want an intruder to hear would be the LAST sound he ever heard – BOOM! A good semi auto makes more sense by far, especially for somebody unfamiliar with weapons – keep it loaded with one in the chamber and a full magazine. Just push off the safety and shoot to kill. Remember – shoot to kill – dead people cannot sue anybody. And DO NOT say anything more to the 911 dispatcher (you’ll be recorded and it WILL be used against you) or “Barney” (when he finally leaves Krispy Kreme and eventually shows up) other than what you look like / what you’re dressed in, that you will be waiting with your weapon in a safe condition, that you were IN FEAR FOR YOUR LIFE and that you’ll answer all questions the donut boys have AS SOON AS YOUR LAWYER IS PRESENT and not one second sooner – remember – EVERYTHING you tell the cop (who’s eagerly looking for a pat on the head or a promotion) WILL be used against you. Good luck.
A baseball bat or stick or metal rod or kitchen knife handy at each door.
A chain bolt at each entrance.
A “safe room” to retreat to, with heavier duty stuff at the ready.
BTW, my go-to weapon for home defense is a pump-action Benelli Nova. It’s a 12 gauge chambered for up to 3.5” Magnums. I have extended the magazine, added a tactical light and an in-line mercury tube inertial recoil reducer (mounts inside the butt stock)...
really takes the bite out of firing a round.
Yes, Mossberg 500 or 590, loaded with #4 Buckshot will suffice.
You, your wife and child need to practice where the “safe room” room is. Upon hearing or feeling there is an intruder, the command “safer room” or “code black” is given. Everyone goes to safer room. Head count is performed. All accounted for, stand your ground with weapon from here. NEVER pursue intruder. Wait them out.
Head count does not add up, you or your wife, goes to room retrieves child returns to safe room or alternate.
Study it and practice it.
Gun safe? I grew up in farm country. There was a loaded shotgun in the kitchen, two or three in different parts of the barn and out sheds.
By the time we were old enough to walk, we knew that you didn't put your finger in the electric outlet, you didn't mess with kitchen knives, and you didn't TOUCH the weapons.
Discipline is the absolute BEST safe. Oh yea, when we were kids, curiosity got us too. But all we had to do was just ask any adult, and oh sure, out to the back yard you went. You fired the weapon, it kicked your butt, slapped you upside the head, busted your shoulder, and then insult to injury, you were "taught" how to CLEAN it.
And that last piece of the puzzle was the kicker. If you shot it, you cleaned it. Kids don't like cleaning things like that. Once or twice and you were cured of ever wanting to touch the damn thing ever again.
All the neighbor kids had the same upbringing. Messing with a firearm, any firearm, was just outside of our thinking.
12 gauge shotgun:
Remington 870 w/ 8 round, synthetic stock (may want to buy separate short stock for wife’s quick use), 18 inch barrell
beaded sight, pump action. Sweet. Got one for my wife ... Sleeps well when I’m gone with that nearby ready to go... She loves it.
With regards to the wife. The most important thing is to figure out what kind of grip strength she has. Many women can't function the slide on an automatic. I was shocked one day when I was in the Navy. We went to the range and were shooting M11's (Sig 228 9mm). We had two women that couldn't pull the trigger double action. I had never seen that before.
I recommend finding a local pistol range that rents out guns. Let her try a few. If you can't find that then consult some local shooting clubs and find a women's shooting class. Gun selection is something they will go through in those classes.
Last is gun storage. All of these gun threads have plenty of people that claim their kids know better and they don't need to lock up their guns. What about house guests? Doesn't everybody have a niece or nephew that is a holy terror and never follows rules? What happens when you come home and you interrupt people ransacking your house? Do you want to provide them with the means to kill you?
I highly recommend appropriate gun storage for the kind of use you intend. For me that means all my long guns and my collectible handguns go in a standard gun safe. I'm a LEO and carry handguns and a TASER everyday I go to work. In a cabinet next to the door I installed a pistol safe that takes 1.5 seconds to get into. That makes it convenient to follow my own rules, I walk in the house and those guns go into the safe (loaded) before I do anything else. My kids patiently wait for me to complete that task before rushing me for my welcome home hugs. In my bedroom I have another pistol safe with a hand gun and a flashlight. Easy access when I need it, security when I don't.
My little boy just bought me a Mossburg 535 combo pump 12 in Mossy Oak Breakup. I can shoot slugs or shot with it. It’s only 6 pounds so I can lift and carry it around with no trouble. It racks so easily and sweetly—and it makes the most horrible noise while doing it. A bad guy would have to be seriously full of PCP to keep coming when he heard that in a dark hallway. It was only $400.
I bought my daughters and sisters Winchester Defender 20 gauge pumps. Price is reasonable and they work. Mine is 12 gauge but my wife really can’t handle it and she’s about the same size as your wife.
My “Plan B” is a secondary weapon. No “safe rooms” - that concept is DEFENSIVE - if somebody breaks in MY home, I become the agressor. The lock on my door is there to protect anybody stupid enough to break in - not to protect me.
Almost forgot - hollow point bullets are illegal in fatass Christie’s New Jersey. Some conservative HE is .... Of course, any IDIOT with a tin badge can carry them, though....
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