What Is The Best 12 Gauge Shotgun Load for Home Defense?

Me ^ | November 5, 2001 | NoControlling LegalAuthority

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I would like opinions on the best shotgun shell load for use in a 12 Gauge Shotgun when being used for home defense. I have heard of using bird shot, buck shot and slugs - standard or magnum loads. I have heard of progressive loading such as first round-bird shot, second round-buckshot, third round-slugs.

Considerations seem to include whether you want to blow the door or wall down in the process of stopping the intruder.

[logos]

I guess velocity was not the .44/40's strong suit.

No, but it sure has knock-down power, and with proper sights it'll reach out there a surprising distance. I don't know what it was exactly, but the gun Tom Selleck carried in Quigley Down Under looked like it might have been a 44/40. More likely a .50, though.

[Orion]

When I was in college, we took all the worthless textbooks we could not sell back up to the National Forest. My buddy, Steve, had a shotgun with an 18 1/4" barrel. When loaded with #8 shot, at close range, the destruction penetrated a 2" textbook, and the result was a book with a big hole and lots of confetti.

Methinks anything coming out of a shotgun at close range will do the job. It's the follow-up shot to the head at close range that closes the deal.

I've taken down Staffordshire Terriers with a wrist-rocket and fishing weights (former paper-boy in a bad neighborhood).

[clee1]

Mossberg pump with #6 birdshot

[brewcrew]

For home defense, you can't beat this baby:

Remington 870 Marine Magnum

Who needs a hacksaw?

[Liberty Ship]

Mossberg, either 590 or 500USA (which was a special DOD contract version of the 500 designed for heavy sustained use.) Mossbergs have AMBIDEXTERIOUS SAFETYS mounted on the top of the receiver. Cross-bolt safetys like on the Maverick or the Remington are a real problem for lefties or if you are having to use your left hand for some reason. Stick with pumps because you can keep the mag loaded and rack one in when appropriate. It's more complicated with a semi-auto.

Snap on a HiViz or TruGlo front sight ($20) wich will illuminate brighter than ambient background in almost all conditions. You can have a tactical flashlight mounted on it, but remember that can work both ways!

As someone said, skip the pistol grip.

00 Buck (recommended), nothing smaller than #4 Buck. No magnum rounds for personal defense. Buy a bandolier to hold extra rounds on the move and put a few slugs on it, separate from the rest. Reload (top off)whenever you are not shooting.

If you have to use it, aim it like a rifle and don't count on the spread.

[ggraziano]

Be a MAN! Use the rock and roll party mix: alternating double aught buck and deer slugs. They're practically giving away home improvement loans these days, so why worry?

[Doc On The Bay]

"Rock Salt,"--the "Perps" NEVER forget!

Doc

[hoot2]

"Get one that makes a nice loud noise when you cock it."

speak softly, n carry a 12 guage...
load? in town? how close are your neighbors? slugs are for "drive-by's"....they'll go thru the car doors...
need more info, Audio

[Lib-Lickers 2]

C4 under the welcome mat,,,,

[nomad]

I don`t suppose anyone has ever heard of a "cut round" or a "ringed load"? From what I have heard its when you seal the nose of the shell and then cut almost thru the base above the brass towards the middle on both sides. The whole foward part of the case, shot, and wad hit your target as a single projectile and then fragment. I`ve heard of it being successfully used in break-actions, but have never tried it, sounds dangerous though, any comments?

[armourup]

Forget about the bird shot!!!Anyone who recommends birdshot has never seen someone shot with it.

I treated a gangster kid in ER shot from 15 feet with birdshot. He raised his arm in defense as he turned to run and was hit in the right lateral chest and armpit area. Except for 2 pellets that could not definately be ruled out as not in the outer lung field he could have went straight home from ER! He was admitted overnite for observation. The weapon was a sawed-off shotgun which lent to a lower velocity but any home defense shot-gun should be a short barrel anyway. The above gangster would have been DOA or Dead on the scene if the perp had used OO.

I say use OO--slug--OO--slug--OO--slug. This is the load my brother used in his 12ga Browning Autoload in Alaska in the Bush. He figgered one shot mabe two at a Grizzley charging from 20-40 ft.

[wooly_mammoth]

Actually you'd be much better off with #00 buckshot versus slugs at 100 yards. Even the very best rifled slug guns aren't accurate to more than ~4-6 inches at 100 yards. More likely you'll be off by 6-12 inches average at 100 yards with a properly sighted high quality slug gun. Now with a fancy muzzle loader and some patience you can get 1-2 inch groups at 100 yards.

[hoot2]

LOL!!! FDR's contribution to homeland defense? Is it morally acceptable to sharpen the edges?

Perhaps a blunderbuss with a barrel full of broken glass...

its from a movie....Audio

 punch line; "keep the change..."

[Shooter 2.5]

The Henry rifle was manufactured in 1860-61. The rimfire cartridge was pathetic in that it had a 200 grain bullet and only 26-28 grains of powder. The Quigley rifle, if I remember, is a 45 caliber with 120 grains of powder.

[Dogrobber]

OO buck is the most routinely used. Vietman era flechette rounds are interesting, but hard to acquire. To be blunt, just about anything out of a twelve guage within the confines of the modern american home will mess up anyone's day.

[armourup]

Treated a gangster shot in the chest from 15 feet with birdshot and we almost let him go home straight from ER! Hell he walked to his gurney plopped his big butt down in absolutelyl NO distress!!! Given, the perp used a sawed-off shotgun lending to lower velocities but a home defense shot gun should be of the short barreled variety also. (not illegally so but a scattergun none the less) OO-slug-OO-slug-OO-slug...or mabe all OO except the last one slug. This is a close quarters weapon not mean't for shooting down the street or even across a wide road.

[gortklattu]

I keep my Browning loaded with skeet rounds for a good reason: An attorney can make a case out of your using 00 Buckshot, but sporting rounds make no case of a person 'waiting for somebody to shoot.'

Any shotgun round will do well against a person. If you're a lousy shot, the first will surely get their attention.

[Kevin Curry]

The Henry rifle was manufactured in 1860-61. The rimfire cartridge was pathetic in that it had a 200 grain bullet and only 26-28 grains of powder.

Ours apparently belonged orginally to my father's great uncle, a civil war veteran (and survivor of Andersonville Prison). It made its way into the Rockies when some of the family packed up stakes and moved there. My grandfather kept it around as a utility rifle on the farm. My dad took it out when he was 16 and bagged his first deer with that slow, sorry bullet. He moved up to a Winchester Model 72 shortly after that.

Still, it's nice to be able to heft that Henry, crank it, and hear the ghostly whispers of my ancestors in the action.

[thorshammer]

Doesn't matter if it's PerpShred or 00 buck. It's better to be tried by 12, than carried by 6! Still in civil litigation from an 1998 "ON DUTY" fatality shooting with Sheriff's Department issue 00 buck. I live in an apartment with nothing but sheetrock seperating the rooms. I want something that will not cause an innocent to become a victim. If anyone is involved in a shooting of any kind, be ready for civil litiagtion. It's a lawyer's world out there.

[Kevin Curry]

Winchester Model 72

Whoops. Model 70.