What is a shotgun not the best home defense weapon?

NEGI RK Monday, March 01, 2021

Why is a shotgun not the best home defense weapon?

AR pistols are much more forgiving when having to engage multiple targets, engage in close quarters, or when accuracy is desired. If I have to assault my way across my house towards my daughters bedroom the last thing I want to shoot in that general direction is buckshot that’s going to pretend the drywall doesn’t exist. I want a small caliber rifle round that is going to penetrate the least.

The round count is a problem for shotguns. Yes, if you hit they’re going to do a lot, but that’s an “if.” Accuracy is still required. Assume you miss half your shots and you’re SOL if there are four intruders. Sure, you might be great at the range, but how are you at 2am in the dark when you’ve just woken up and your body is trying to get the adrenaline going?

Shotguns are not a bad idea and if you’re skilled with them then by all means - but there is a reason AR pistols are becoming exceedingly popular; they literally fit the “personnel defense weapon” category.

I would also rely on birdshot as much as I would a gun from Wish. Needing to get up close to defeat the ever popular body armor known as “a hoodie,” defeats the point of having a gun. I want to nail a 2 inch space across the 50 feet of my house. Not much more than that. With an AR and relatively little training, I can now do that - with 7 different targets, two shots each, in under 12 seconds.

The problem with that X ray is that is bird shot, at long range, and the guy will be awake. mobile, pissed, and ready to unscrew your head and defecate down your neck. Thats not “home defense” thats a hunting accident from like 30 or 40 yards - ie some bird hunter got “dusted” like the lawyer with Chaney. A shotgun pattern opens up about 3/4 inch per yard. Ie at a home defense range of 5 yards or less the shot will be in a pattern 2 to 3 inches across… Police shotguns are loaded with buck shot not bird shot. The x-ray image shown is for birdshot — that appears to be roughly 100-ish small pellets. That’s probably a shot size of 7.5 or smaller. Very limited penetration.

Buckshot is larger. And has a lot more oomph than the small birdshot. For indoor use, I have found #4 buckshot to be an excellent compromise for lethality, penetration, and number of projectiles over the past four decades I have had occasions to use shotguns.

Are you sure that a SHOTGUN is not the best home defense weapon?

He was also likely shot at about 10 - 15 yards, not 5–10 feet. The latter is a hunting accident, the former is a home invasion distance.

Assume that guy is average height, 5′8. That means his torso is about 20″ long, and an open bore rather than a choke, then that’s a spread patter you could expect at roughly 10 yards.

At 10′ #7 1/2 bird-shot will penetrate a 1/2″ think piece of plywood, tearing out a hole about 6″ around. It will take till about 20′ to see zero full penetration of 1/2″ plywood, though from 10′ to 20′ the spread will of course be much larger.

It MAY not be fatal, but it will absolutely stop the person from doing what they were doing and make them regret their life choices.

And, it’s perfectly safe because it won’t kill the neighbors.

If you take a self-defense training, in almost every class, you will learn to practice shooting a target several times in quick succession, because it’s not terribly uncommon for a violent attacker to keep doing whatever he wants to do even after the attacker has been shot.

Many think a handgun or even AR-15 are better options, but neither is as forgiving in terms of accuracy and stopping a threat. Shotguns cast a wider shot pattern, and can take down an intruder even in the most inexperienced hands. It’s nearly impossible for a violent attacker to continue being violent after being hit in the torso with a load of buckshot at close range. So the shotgun gives you the potential to end a fight a lot quicker compared to other guns.

The primary advantage of using a shotgun for self-defence is that it fires multiple projectiles every time you pull the trigger. That’s something no other gun can do – at least not effectively.