Why get a 20 gauge when 12’s are the same price? Get 00 buck and rifled 1 oz slugs.
Why get a 20 gauge when 12’s are the same price? Get 00 buck and rifled 1 oz slugs.
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Right! Why make a little hole when you can make a bigger one?
As long as over-penetration of walls and doors isn't an issue in your house (or neighborhood), why not?
I live in a typical suburban house and have a family of six. I load my home defense 12 gauge with birdshot so I don't accidentally kill a family member or neighbor while shooting at an intruder.
My recommendation was for women not some testosterone loaded 6’ 225 pounder guy with size 14 shoes and triple large hands. Hell, why stop at a 12 gauge, go for a 10 mag.
The women in our family are not midgets, they are 5’6” plus or minus a few inches and about 130 pounds medium hands.
They don’t do well with 12’s. All have done well with 20 gauge pumps.
Why the 20 Gauge is Plenty of Gun for Home Defense
By Chris Christian September 3, 2013
Anyone looking for an effective home-defense shotgun is often directed toward one of the many 12-gauge law-enforcement-grade tactical models. A number of self-defense experts, however, disagree.
“The 20-gauge is much easier to shoot than the 12-gauge, produces significantly less recoil, and is lighter and more maneuverable,” says retired SWAT team leader and multi-level certified self-defense instructor Steve Denney, who currently serves as the general manager of Pro Arms Inc., in Live Oak, Fla.
“It’s a shotgun that virtually any member of the family can master, and at the ranges that are encountered in home-defense situations, it is just as effective as a 12-gauge.”
The average 12-gauge tactical shotgun weighs between 7.5 and 8.5 pounds. The average 20-gauge tactical model with the same barrel length tips the scales at between 5.5 and 6.5 pounds. Home-defense situations are normally close, quick, and fluid. The lighter gun has an edge in handling and is especially suited for smaller-framed family members who may have to wield it.
The 20-gauge also has plenty of stopping power.
The 12-gauge load most often recommended for home defense is the standard 2 ¾-inch No. 4 buckshot load holding 27 pellets, launched at 1,100 to 1,200 fps. Each pellet is .24-caliber, weighing approximately 20 grains. It’s a very effective close-range load.
The standard 2 ¾-inch 20-gauge buckshot load contains 20 No. 3 buckshot pellets, launched at 1,100 to 1,200 fps. These are .25-caliber and weigh slightly more than No. 4 buck. It’s also a very effective close-range load. From a cylinder-choked gun, they normally deliver an 11- to 12-inch pattern at 10 yards, and with less recoil than the 12-gauge.
This has not gone unnoticed by gunmakers. Remington, Weatherby, and Mossberg currently produce highly effective tactical/home-defense 20-gauge models. When it comes to home defense, the 20 makes plenty of sense.
https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gun-shots/2013/08/twenty-plenty/