[P8riot]

One last thing. Lot's of folks advocate using 00 or 000 buck for home defense, and those are adequate rounds, but they are severely limited in the amount of lead you can put on target. #1 buck is a better round for self defense, it may be a little harder to find depending on your area, but it has the advantage of more pellets at a slightly smaller diameter than 00 buck, but if you calculate the cross-section of each pellet and multiply it by the number of pellets you will see that it is greater than the 00 or 000.

Here is a good wright up on the advantages of #1 over 00, http://firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm

Whichever round you choose remember to practice, practice, practice.

And one last thing before I forget, the commonly reported saying that just the sound of a pump shotgun being "racked" scares off intruders is a fallacy. It puts you at a disadvantage, first it gives away you position, second it suggest that you are starting with an unloaded weapon (really bad in my book), and if so you loose the advantage of the extra round. I don't want the bad guy to hear me rack the slide. I want them to hear BOOM, end of story.

[P8riot]

Sorry about the language usage errors, the coffee maker just finished. Whichever you choose, good luck. A shotgun is a very versatile tool. Take care of it and it will take care of you.

[BigOrangeI]

Re: racking the slide

By the time the perp hears the racking of the slide you aren’t
unloaded anymore!!

[OKSooner]

" And one last thing before I forget, the commonly reported saying that just the sound of a pump shotgun being "racked" scares off intruders is a fallacy. It puts you at a disadvantage, first it gives away you position, second it suggest that you are starting with an unloaded weapon (really bad in my book), and if so you loose the advantage of the extra round. I don't want the bad guy to hear me rack the slide. I want them to hear BOOM, end of story. "

Thank you. The ol' "Rack the slide" has gotta be one of the most tragic ideas on earth. It seems to show up on every thread.

Okay, a teen-ager looking to make off with your TV will mess his pants. Same teen-ager or anyone else on some kind of drug might not even register the sound and their reaction will be unpredictable. Funny thing how the brain gets messed up when drugs are introduced.

A professional criminal will be armed and he'll shoot in the direction of the sound. Don't give away the best advantage you have on him - surprise.