Riddle me this (vanity): if you have a home invasion...

[b4its2late]

Yeah, me too. Scatters a wide shot plus less likely to go through walls and hit someone you might not want to hit.

[Robert357]

My Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 rifle only has a 5 round integral, single stack magazine, but it has a bayonet longer than my leg.

It also makes a nice war club

MOSIN NAGANT

[bravo whiskey]

12 gauge coach gun for starters, backed by S$W 9mmm

[Dutch Boy]

There are some neighborhoods where you should start with a claymore at the front door backed up by shotguns and a bear trap. Certain areas of Detroit come to mind.

[moondoggie]

I’m with you on using a 12 gauge! That’s our weapon of choice, too.

[lacrew]

The standard invasion crew in my neck of the woods is 8 hoods.

[Repeat Offender]

Saiga 12 gauge - 20 round drum for all scenarios.

[sassy steel magnolia]

“The standard invasion crew in my neck of the woods is 8 hoods.”

(clearing throat and responding softly) Around my neck of the woods it is rumored that once it was 8 men wearing white hoods and carrying their own weapons that were the standard invasion crew.

but that was back in the past of course...

[familyop]

"how many rounds do you want in your cartridge"

12 ga., double-ought buckshot.: 9 rounds in the cartridge (load), and a few more of those. ;-)

Rifles are kinda limiting for self-defense, unless someone in the middle of nowhere is attacked by snipers. Even then, expensive optics/lighting, good protective cover and quite a few other considerations would probably be more important than sprayer capacity. A good, retained lawyer, BTW, is one of the most wisely recommended pieces of self-defense equipment.

[familyop]

On a firearms enthusiasts’ discussion board, someone said something to the following effect. After WWIII, there will be nothing but Mosins and cockroaches. ;-)

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I remember a boxing match at a karate school. The students were very kicking-oriented, so when they had to box, and had gloves strapped on, they focused on boxing and their gloves, though kicking was permitted. They did not do well because their training was for kicking, not boxing. Finally a senior student totally ignored the gloves and kicked seven bells out of his opponent.

I relate this because, like boxing gloves on a kicker, if you have a gun, the tendency is to focus on the gun, not the far more important “mission” of what you are doing with the gun, of which the gun might be just a small part.

So when you pick up a gun, pick up another weapon as well. And a cellphone as well, if one is handy.

Imagine the surprise when you cap a drugged up armed robber a few times, and he still has a chutzpah to charge you, only to get a really good *smack* in the center of his forehead with a claw hammer? Southpaw, no less. It still works.

[TexasTransplant]

****** “A good, retained lawyer, BTW, is one of the most wisely recommended pieces of self-defense equipment.” *******

Hate to say it ... but I agree (I do not recommend my EX)

TT

[henkster]

The left-hand 870 is handy, loaded with alternating 00 buck & slugs. The K bar knife comes along as back up.

[metalurgist]

Even an 870 doesn’t have that many rounds ;-)

My Saiga holds 20 rounds. :} It sure will be messy.

[astounded]

Question for Freepers:

For home defense and whatever else happens down the line, I am considering two 12ga shotguns.

Remington Versa Max Tactical

Beretta TX4 Storm

Advice? Critiques? Suggestions?

[Robert357]

“..For home defense and whatever else happens down the line, I am considering two 12ga shotguns...Remington Versa Max Tactical...Beretta TX4 Storm...”

Call me old-fashioned, but I believe in KISS (keep it simple). As such I would favor a pump action 12 guage. Both shotguns you are looking at are fine quality weapons.

For me, I prefer (1) a simpler action (pump), (2) something that a DA or worse a mad-dog private attorney in a civil wrongful death lawsuit can not make me out to be a monster, i.e. a shotgun that screams bird hunting, not self defense (I want my attorney to ask if I have ever gone duck & goose hunting with it and have an expert witness answer an attorney's question on if that isn't a popular hunting shotgun—I don't want an opposing attorney ask if that shotgun was only designed to kill people, as juries sometimes make bad choices) , and (3) something for which parts are going to be available for the next hundred years.

For me, that means Remington 870, Mossberg 500 or Winchester 1200 (or variant).

[astounded]

Thanks Robert. Your wisdom is well-taken. I suppose the simpler pump action weapons will be fool-proof. I like the shorter length of the tactical weapons, for home use. I will continue to look for pump weapons with shorter barrels. A standard 870 I think is 28-30”?

[Billthedrill]

Multiple firearms constitute defense in depth. I used to like my Mossberg 500 for the task but Santa brought me a 930. With 2 3/4" shells I get a bonus shell in the magazine! Ghost ring sight. Rack 'em.

Backup is whatever pistol I have at hand and I always do have at least one. Or grab the other Mossy. Or the tomahawk. Nothing says "Welcome to Chez Drill, Mr. Criminal!" like a tomahawk between the eyes.

[Robert357]

Many pump action shotguns can be purchased with an optional “slug barrel” to be used for deer hunting in certain parts of the country. Those optional barrels are usually quite a bit shorter.

You can also remove the “wood/plastic plug” that limits the tube magazine to two rounds so that the shotgun can be used to hunt federally protected migratory waterfowl.

My opinion (not everyone) is that if worst comes to worst, you have something that your attorney can rightly claim is basically a hunting firearm and that you were not some killer looking for a victim to step into “your trap.”

There is a place for purely tactical weapons, however, I don't believe that they do well in the court system in front of sympathetic juries. With criminals being able to sue their victims that shoot them in civil court for damages or their relatives for wrongful death, a self defense confrontation starts with a firearm and ends before one or two juries.