Whats the best home defense shotgun?

Answer 1

O.K. since the question is which is the best shotgun for home defense, not should I get a shotgun or handgun, I will address the original question.
In my opinion it would be a 20 or 12 Ga. double Barreled shotgun, preferably of the Coach Gun type. (As used in cowboy action shooting) They are compact enough to allow you some movement indoors, but with enough length to assist you in pointing, as aiming will be a secondary thought. It is a simple mechanism to open, load, close and fire.
Understand that inside a room you will not 'scattershot' everything in the room. The shot spread is still fairly compact so you are basicly shooting a large projectile. you will need to be fairly accurate in pointing the weapon to hit your intended target. Forget the movies or T.V. dramas that have the width of the door being plastered by shot from an inside the room firing.
One thing that has been noted by many others is that the mere sound of a weapon action being worked is sometimes enough to deter the intruder. No matter the type, pistol being ******, pump shotgun being racked or the slide of a 1911A1 being pulled, it is a unique sound and seems to be recognizable by vertually everyone. That is one reason the slide action shotgun is recommended by many, it's intimidating, but for ease of use I still recommend the double barrel.

Answer 2

Really any 12 gauge pump shotgun will do well. If I had to take an educated guess, I would bet most people who use a shotgun for defense are going to pick a Remington 870 or Mossberg 500. Both are affordable, reliable, and will do the job well. I have a Remington 870, it's not that I don't like Mossberg, but I did get a deal that I couldn't say no to on that 870. As far as barrel length, I would prefer an 18" barrel, but I do have a 20" barrel that I use instead.

What to feed it is where the real debate begins. I have heard anything from 00 buck loadings to #5. I consider #4 to be the smallest I would want to use.

Answer 3

That's like asking what's you rfavorite color, you get a different answer more often than not. But I'll try to narrow it down and explain why. First choice for me is an 18 1/2 inched barrelled side by side shotgun with exposed hammers. I'm talking real hammers, not the chinese or russian guns with the non functional hammers. Unfortunately it's darned hard to get one worth having anymore. And you have to stay away from the older damascus barreled shotguns. They tend to blow uo with modern ammo, they were made for black powder shells. A side by side works well because you can load both barrels and set the hammers to the safety cock position and have no tension on the springs which can cause them to weeken with time. Secondly, ever looked into the business end of a side by side shotgun? Most people know what damage it can do and it intimidates the heck out of them. Load the right barrel with #7 bird shot and the left with oo buckshot. The bird shot will make a nasty mess out of a person at household ranges and won't over penetrate or exit thru most walls. If the person is still on his feet after the birdshot, give em the buckshot. Problem solved. Keep 5 extra rounds on the butstock with a shell holder. three shells facing up of buckshot and two facing down with slugs in em. Even in the dark you can feel which way the shells face and reload what you need. With practice you can load em fast.
My next choice is a 18 1/2 to 20 " barreled pump shotgun. I prefer the 20" cuz it can double in a pinch for a hunting gun and it holds more rounds in the mag tube ithan the shorter barreled gun does, my choices are either a Mossberg or a remington 870. Both are utterly reliable and well made. Leave the chamber empty, the trigger pulled and the safety off. My 20" mossberg that does home defense duty is loaded as follows, the first round up is #7 bird shot, the next 3 are oo buck, the next 2 are low base slugs and the last two are high base slugs. With that combination, I can take on anything that may come up, from an armed badguy at close range, to a bear at 75 yards. I do not believe in semi auto shotguns for home defense. they require a lot more care and experience to make em dependable. If that semi auto fails to go bang, it takes a long time to clear it when seconds count. If that pump gun mis fires, which I personally have never had happen, you can clear it and be back up and running in less than a second, with practice. And the old adage about the bad guy hearing the sound of the gun being "pumped" and scaring him off is very true. I like the gun loaded in the manor I explained before. As a police officer, that is the way we carried it in the patrol car,(except we used only buckshot and slugs) that way, all we had to do was pull the shotgun from the car, rack the pump action and it was ready to go bang, no safety to fumble with in times of stress.
You asked a good question, I hope this helped.

Answer 4

I don't agree with Logan's choice of guns, but damn that feller's got the right attitude!

As others have said, I consider a handgun to be a better home defense choice, preferably a revolver with 4" or shorter barrel, and .38 S&W Special, .357 Magnum, or .44 S&W Special caliber.

If it has to be a shotgun, pick a 12 gauge pump shotgun. My things-that-go-bump-in-the- night shotgun has been an 18.5" barreled Mossberg M-500 for the last 20 years. I load it with #1 buckshot, with the last shot in the magazine a 1-ounce Brenneke Slug.

I disagree with the folks who counsel birdshot for indoor use. Small shot can and generally does make a really nasty wound, but it is very shallow, and might not incapacitate an attacker. I'd suggest nothing smaller than #2 shot, and and size buckshot preferable.

Answer 5

Bound's hubby here:

First, you have to make a major presumption ... could you use a shotgun against another living person?

If the answer is yes [which it had better be if you are going to have a gun for defense] I would recommend a Remington 870 Express with an 18" to 20" deer barrel loaded with either 00 or #4 buckshot. This shotgun can be had for as little as $225 from most sporting good stores as deer season approaches.

While a pistol may be harder to take from a defending homeowner by an intruder, it is much easier to hit your target with a shotgun than a handgun. Even with a short-barreled shotgun for defense, you must still familiarize yourself withit and practice!

Good luck!

Answer 6

Really I'd say go for any 12 gauge pump shotgun. Personally I like the Remington 870 12ga. It is cheap but will last forever. Also look at Mossberg they make really good stuff for not too much money either. Look on gunbroker.com it's like ebay for guns. Also to get the best defense load them with 00 buckshot and/or deer slugs. I have a Benelli Nova12ga. with an extended magazine loaded with both 00 buck and slugs I would always go shotgun in home defense. My dad is a gun dealer so we have everything from pistols, to rifles, to machine guns with silencers but I would always grab my shotgun first if someone got into my house. For people saying just an alarm you know the police still have to get there they don't just appear at your door when the alarm goes off. If you have kids lock the gun up VERY good and talk to them about gun safety and let them understand what it is that's all.

Answer 7

First and foremost, you'll have to be able to use it.

Second, if you do use it, you'll have to defend your actions in court.

While most people like to screw as many accessories as they can on their tactical guns, and some of these guns are great for IPSC competition, they would make a horrible home defense gun. Any gun you use to defend yourself with will be used against you in a court of law. The best way to keep yourself out of trouble after the incident is over is with a gun that doesn't look so threataning.

"...so I grabbed my 'ol mans shotgun, thank god I remembered where I left the shells..."

That's a great way to present your case to a jury. If you tell them that, and then the prosecution shows them your tricked out autoloader with a red-dot co-witnessing on your Aimpoint, lasers, flashlights, pistol grips, magazine extensions, and the like, you're not going to pull that off. In fact, they may think you're looking for trouble intentionally. An old Mossberg 500 with a short magazine tube(that still holds 5+1) with a wooden rifle stock and nothing extra is going to be just as lethal as any other pump shooting the same loads, but will be much easier to explain in court.

As far as loads go, don't let anyone tell you that birdshot will not penetrate. While they're mostly right, and a single pellet of birdshot isn't likely to get more than a few inches through a soft target, what they all forget is that when you're defending your home, you're not going to be making 30 or 40 yard shots, you're going to be shooting from withing 10 yards, and at that range the pellets aren't going to spread. So your shot is more of a slug than it is a cloud. A tight choke would be recomended to keep it together better. Any shot that penetrates your target or misses should be a minimal threat to anyone else, as it will be deflected when passing through drywall or sheetrock. A #6 or #4 upland birdshot is an excelent choice, as it has a higher velocity, pellets won't deform and spread so much on the outside of the pattern, and they'll be less of a threat than lead to unintended targets.

No matter what you choose, remember:
It's better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.

Answer 8

for all the peta activists in here that have said "oh my god dont get a gun get an alarm",

GO HUG A GOD DAMN TREE!

Stay out of our forums and shutup with the stupid answers!

As for the question, The only good defense gun is a loaded gun.

Preferrably something you are experienced and comfortable with. If you feel you need a shotgun for protection
(I personally feel shotties are not the best home gun, and would much rather go into close quarters combat with my Glock 10mm loaded with subsonic hollow points and my 15 round mags!) then get a semi auto, practice with it, and buy an extra barrel you can cut down to 20''. If you feel the n eed for a pump gun, the Remington LW20 is perfect. A 20 ga with 3" capabilities, 20" improved cylinder, and only weighs 5.25 pounds. Maneuverable, and easy to manipulate due to its lightweight. Can be found new for under $300.

As for ammo, either seven and a half or nine shot. Gets the job done at close range, and tou dont have to worry about shooting Mrs Smith next door, or your sleeping kids in the room down the hall.

None of my 14 guns in the home are unloaded, for the same reason my concealed handgun is loaded at all times. You DO NOT know when you will be faced with a threat. And the odds will be better when you do not have to take the time to think about whether you have a shell in the chamber, whether or not the safety is on, or where the hell did those shells go!

My personal prefence is a handgun, and I doubt I will ever use a shottie for home defense, rather I will always have a semi auto loaded with Speer Gold Dots to protect me, my family, and my property!

AND BLANKS, ARE A BAD IDEA. IF YOU JUST WANT TO SCARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO INVADE YOUR FAMILIES HOME AND SAFETY, GET A DOG!

Answer 9

I have a Mossberg 590 military assault shotgun that I have 00 buck loaded. I keep it handy where I can get to it and the kids can't. I also have a S&W 357 Magnum police issue revolver that I keep loaded and hidden. I also have a dog who works as our home alarm when we are sleeping.

Answer 10

Mossberg makes a very good 12 ga. pump shotgun with an 18" barrel and a 9 shot magazine. That is one of the guns that I own.

Personally I prefer pepper spray, but I would use the shotgun for home defense if all else failed.