About shotguns... honestly.

[MudSkunk]

i use a shotgun, mossberg 590, for home defense on the nightstand is my cellphone. if i think someone is in the house 911 is called first thing after i have secured my shotgun and the wife and i stay in the bedroom with door locked until they arrive. if the badguy presses the issue... first four rounds are 00buckshot. after that its all slugs. i am pretty good with pistols and rifles but middle of the night and being sleepy woken by suspicious noises a shotgun is much easier to use in the dark than a pistol. rifles can over penetrate walls much easier and put the neighbors in unneccessary danger. if the badguy has armour slugs will take care of that. pistols can be taken away a lot easier in a scuffle and are very difficult to use accurately in the dark. top it off with stress and inability to see the sights well at nite regardless of glow in the dark sights. it all adds up to shotguns being best for home defense. glow in the dark sights are more gimmick than anything else i have actually tired using a pistol at night with such sights and they are less than useful. i found them actually more a detractant than a help for firing at nite. if you must use sights on a pistol at nite keeping high vis white sights are far better than glowing sights or funky designs that glow.

anyway

if there is a need to use the weapon i will keep firing until the badguy is no longer a threat.

[ColdDeadHands]

But why do you own a shotgun? Do you really need one? --

because it's my God given right to own whatever gun i want to. btw; shotguns work awesome on snakes...

[THE FROG]

If I could have just one, it would be a shotgun. With slugs, buckshot and birdshot it can just about do it all.

[Alaskapopo]

i use a shotgun, mossberg 590, for home defense on the nightstand is my cellphone. if i think someone is in the house 911 is called first thing after i have secured my shotgun and the wife and i stay in the bedroom with door locked until they arrive. if the badguy presses the issue... first four rounds are 00buckshot. after that its all slugs. i am pretty good with pistols and rifles but middle of the night and being sleepy woken by suspicious noises a shotgun is much easier to use in the dark than a pistol. rifles can over penetrate walls much easier and put the neighbors in unneccessary danger. if the badguy has armour slugs will take care of that. pistols can be taken away a lot easier in a scuffle and are very difficult to use accurately in the dark. top it off with stress and inability to see the sights well at nite regardless of glow in the dark sights. it all adds up to shotguns being best for home defense. glow in the dark sights are more gimmick than anything else i have actually tired using a pistol at night with such sights and they are less than useful. i found them actually more a detractant than a help for firing at nite. if you must use sights on a pistol at nite keeping high vis white sights are far better than glowing sights or funky designs that glow.



anyway

if there is a need to use the weapon i will keep firing until the badguy is no longer a threat.

With respect sir a shotgun is not easier to hit with at close range than a rifle. These are shot patterns at 7 yards with a standard 20 inch 870 and one with a 18 inch Vanged 870.



Further more slugs will not penetrate armor. Also .223 carbines are less likely to over penetrate inside a home vs a pistol and are about equal to buckshot loads. Lastly its not a good idea to stagger loads inside your shotgun magazine. All that will happen is you will lose track of where you are at during the fight. Its best to load with all buck or all slugs and select a different type of ammo from the side saddle and chamber port load it if you need it.
Pat

[LanceOregon]

but middle of the night and being sleepy woken by suspicious noises a shotgun is much easier to use in the dark than a pistol.

Why would a shotgun be easier to use? You provide no arguments of any kind to back that claim up.

A shotgun would certainly be harder to get access to quickly. Or do you sleep with your shotgun? A handgun can more easily be secured near your bed than any long gun.

rifles can over penetrate walls much easier and put the neighbors in unneccessary danger.

As has already been pointed out, that is false, especially if you have a 223 carbine. Just load the gun up with some good varmint ammo, and the rifle will have poor penetrating ability.

if the badguy has armour slugs will take care of that.

You have a far greater chance of being killed by a bolt of lightning.

pistols can be taken away a lot easier in a scuffle

Irrelevant, for if an intruder is that close to you, you are probably already dead.

and ( pistols ) are very difficult to use accurately in the dark. top it off with stress and inability to see the sights well at nite regardless of glow in the dark sights.

That is why people are now putting lasers on their handguns for night time use. They make accurate shooting in the dark very easy.

And has already been very clearly illustrated, shotguns also have to be aimed in order to hit anything.

I would have to say that virtually all of your advice and recommendations here are flawed.

--

[LanceOregon]

I use my shotgun for animal calls at work. Its loaded with slugs for bear and moose. So its more of a big bore rifle. I also use shotguns for three gun competition.
Pat

My question was directed at the original poster thedog, to try to better understand why he started this thread.

It does not sound to me like he has any real need at all to own a shotgun.

--

[The Dumb Gun Collector]

In my experience a shotgun is certainly easier to hit something quickly from 21 feet to 30 yards.

Wouldn't buckshot or slug be much more lethal than any non-big game rifle?

As far as armored targets, I have always wondered what buckshot would do to the arms and hands of an armored person who has a weapon in their hands. I have a hard time believing that a center mass shot wouldn't usually end the usefulness of the guy on the other end--armored or not. Now I guess if he is wearing military armor with crotch shield and is keeping his arms, head and legs behind him you need a rifle--preferably some sort of 30-06 ap or greater.

It seems that a shotgun is much more flexible for civilian/police use. Buckshot, as far as I can tell, is about as lethal as a a firearm gets at close ranges. Slugs are not too much harder to hit with than a rifle from 70-125 yards. I have a set of ghost rings on my 870 and I have a little white band painted for 200 yard shots (just put the target behind the line). But 200 is dicey to say the least. But 200 yard shots are at the extreme end of civilian/police encounters.

A shotgun is also useful against birds, and other small animals and has a vast selection of various specialty rounds.


Just wondering.

[Alaskapopo]

In my experience a shotgun is certainly easier to hit something quickly from 21 feet to 30 yards.

Wouldn't buckshot or slug be much more lethal than any non-big game rifle?

As far as armored targets, I have always wondered what buckshot would do to the arms and hands of an armored person who has a weapon in their hands. I have a hard time believing that a center mass shot wouldn't usually end the usefulness of the guy on the other end--armored or not. Now I guess if he is wearing military armor with crotch shield and is keeping his arms, head and legs behind him you need a rifle--preferably some sort of 30-06 ap or greater.

It seems that a shotgun is much more flexible for civilian/police use. Buckshot, as far as I can tell, is about as lethal as a a firearm gets at close ranges. Slugs are not too much harder to hit with than a rifle from 70-125 yards. I have a set of ghost rings on my 870 and I have a little white band painted for 200 yard shots (just put the target behind the line). But 200 is dicey to say the least. But 200 yard shots are at the extreme end of civilian/police encounters.

A shotgun is also useful against birds, and other small animals and has a vast selection of various specialty rounds.


Just wondering.

I remember from shotgun training that taught us the A B and C zone concept. In the A zone less than 7 yards the shotgun is no easier to hit with. From 7 yards to 25 yards the pattern spread does help a bit. After 25 its harder to make reliable fight stopping hits. I personally believe that inside of 7 yards that buck shot is more effective than the best assault rifle rounds (.223, 2.62 ext) past that range I think the rifle rounds have the edge as the patterns spread gets too wide. But that is just my opinon.

As for slugs you can hit with them at 100 yards if you are a good shotgunner and know your gun and ammo. But hitting with a rifle at that range is far easier and faster.

Pat

[ColdDeadHands]

I personally believe that inside of 7 yards that buck shot is more effective than the best assault rifle rounds (.223, 2.62 ext) past that range I think the rifle rounds have the edge as the patterns spread gets too wide.
Pat

I would say it depends on the Ammo...my Remington 870 with modified choke, loaded with Federal Tactical 00 Buck w/ Flite control shoots a fairly small group of 7" @ 25 yards. I'm just saying if one decides to use a Shotgun they should know about its limits and find a good load.

[The Dumb Gun Collector]

I don't know, I think the shotgun is starting to get an unnecessarily negative rap in tactical circles. I think the focus for a lot of people leans more towards military-type encounters than is really productive. If I was going to go shoot something or someone in my yard (about .75 acre) I would take my 870 over any rifle I have (OK, I would probably take my M16 if there were zombies).

On the other hand, some shotgun folks exaggerate the powers of the shotgun to almost magical levels. And I can understand why folks might react against that kind of dumbness.