You should get a 22 revolver. You can shoot thousands of rounds through it for little money and actually get to where you are very comfortable with it. If someone is in your house and a gun goes off and he realizes he has been shot, he has absolutely no clue if it was a 22 or a 44, he is leaving. Your chance of hitting him with a gun you are very very confortable with is much greater. Your chance of an actual intruder in your house that you want to shoot is very small anyway
I could shoot an intruder in the eye with my S&W 22.
I could shoot an intruder in the eye with my S&W 22. Works for you. Kill the lights and use a pair of night vision goggles with an IR illuminator, and you rule the world indoors, at least until the sun comes up, unless they brought flashlights. In which case, anyone with a light is your first target.
In the daytime, though, the shotgun would be the way to go, at least initially. The muzzle blast from some loads can be real hard on your night vision however.