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.

[wayne_shrugged]

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

Is there a "bad" one?

[thorshammer]

"Vietman era flechette rounds are interesting, but hard to acquire" Check out www.firequest.com They have em in stock.

[connectthedots]

Pardon all the rude people here.

WELCOME TO FREEREPUBLIC

[Slewfoot]

The amount of powder in a shell is as or more important than the shot size. A light field load will be easy on the shoulder but won't remove a head cleanly. Look for shells with a lot of powder, there is a wide range available. Weaker shells are good for practice but to defend the home get the powerful ones. Buckshot gives more range but birdshot makes nastier wounds. Self-defence shootings are usually at near pointblank range so a load of birdshot in the face will stop most anyone.

On the subject of guns, Kmart has Mossburg Maverick 88 for $179.88, mine collects dust just as well as a lot more expensive ones.

[gonzo]

"...Birdshot at close range is like a slug. It will handily penetrate sheetrock like it isn't there..."

Of course it will, pal, but I don't intend to be 'at close range'! If anyone gets to the bedroom door, I'll be unloading six rounds at 30 feet, and I'll probably kill the TV, but nobody's getting in that room, Nov3!

When I drop the Mossberg, I'll pick-up the M-9 Barretta, and check for survivors, when the smoke clears. Stay well and vigilant, pal...FRegards

[The KG9 Kid]

Birdshot.

Not kidding.

Ignore buckshot.

[gonzo]

"...NICE THIN AMERICAN DIMES..."

" Don't take this badge, off of me...
'Cause I can't wear it, anymore...
It's gettin' dark - too dark to see...
I-feel I'm knocking on Heavens' door...

Knock knock knockin' on Heavens' door...
Knock knock knockin' on Heavens' door...
Knock knock knockin' on Heavens' door...
Knock knock knockin' on Heavens' door...

Oooh-oooh oooh oooh....

Bob Dylan, from the movie "Pat Garrett and Billy-the-Kid", starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson(sp?)Maybe JimRob will post a link to dfu's 'Knockin' on gonzos' door!' Stay well and vigilant, guys...FRegards

[PoorMuttly]

At spittin'distance...any high brass load will do. At 10 feet, even 7 1/2's will make the point. Best to choose something in the 4 to BB class, I suppose. Buck is amazing, but doesn't lose velocity very fast when exiting sheetrock. Sometimes, that can be a GOOD thing. I'd start with something in the sporting range, followed by bigger and bigger, should the need arise. Don't feel unarmed with a magazine full of regular field loads, though. Probably better from a liability point of view. It'll work fine, especially the second time, since you were probably so afraid for your life. It happens. The camo makeup may be a little hard to explain, though...unless it's Turkey season.

[Liberal Bob]

Try 1/2 oz of silly putty. It will knock them down at 20 ft. and kill them at 2 ft.

NOTE: I accept no liability for any hand load not conforming to the exact specifications written in secret ink and hidden inside my left shoe.

[PoorMuttly]

C4 under the welcome mat is nice, but I prefer a cheaply-locked door, behind which is a wall of purring microwave ovens with the doors removed. Much quieter.

...and we must be Veeeewy Quiet...

[gonzo]

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

Good-Grief! I thought I was the only former paper-boy to dispatch a dog! Mine was a German Shepherd, and it chewed my right leg for a week, and when the owners refused to contain it, I used a 'Bolo' on it, and dragged it a mile away from their house, killed it with my .22 Remington, and threw it in a ditch.

I think I was about 11 years old at the time, and in a farming community, if a dog will attack a paper-boy, it'll probably attack small children, so nobody bitched about the loss of the dog, not even the A-RABS that owned it!

I was kidding about the A-RABS, but not anymore. Stay well and vigilant, Orion....FRegards

[yarddog]

My older Brother who died a few months ago once killed a shepherd with a coke bottle.

Joe had 5 kids and this particular dog was sneaky. He would not act vicious but would suddenly without reason, nip them.

One day Joe (who was powerfully built and a former star football player), was drinking a coke and the dog came sneaking around. Joe acted like he didn't even see him, then when the dog got beside him, my Brother quickly brought the bottle down on the dog's head, killing him instantly.

The neighbors didn't give him any trouble over it.

[Nov3]

Of course it will, pal, but I don't intend to be 'at close range'! If anyone gets to the bedroom door, I'll be unloading six rounds at 30 feet, and I'll probably kill the TV, but nobody's getting in that room, Nov3!

Well pal, you've got a bigger house than I do! If I shoot from the hallway though the kitchen I might get a 30 foot shot in my ~2000 square foot house. Even at that distance it has about a 4-6 inch pattern though that is the point at which it starts opening.

You have a 30 foot shot in your bedroom? That's intimating you have a 500 - 1000 square foot bedroom. I worked construction for years in the 80's and saw some big bedrooms but 30 feet wide? Sheesh!!!!! maybe with trusses...

[WindMinstrel]

Popular mechanics had something about a new shotgun load that has 2 payloads -- one for short range, the other for long -- all in one shell. Sounds like cool stuff!

[Constitutional Patriot]

3" magnum number 1 buckshot. It gives you around 30 pellets that are .33 Cal. (I believe). I keep the Moss 500 in the closet with a handfull of these nearby.

[advocate10]

I have a small, 20 gage New England Firearms sigle shot with XX 3". I feel confident it will do the job.

[Orion]

I remember the "Paperboy Wars." Some of my weapons of choice were:

Squirt bottle filled with ammonia
Num-Chucks (good for walking routes as they hide well in the bag)
Wrist rocket loaded with fishing weights, steel nuts (sound cool when shot)
Cayenne Pepper
Sawed-off pellet gun
Souvenir bat from Oakland A's game
Bigger/meaner dog
2x2 with nails in the end
M-80s from Indian reservation
Machete'

Sometimes the owners thug kids were worse than the dogs, and the paperboy always has money and a kick-ass bike. I had more title fights than Mike Tyson, lost some, won some, but never got pushed off my route or rolled for my money.

[Charles Martel]

Sounds like someone accidentally plugged the muzzle with mud, then fired it. A gunsmith can shorten the barrel a bit, removing the bulged section. While he's doing that, have him thread the muzzle for interchageable choke tubes - check out Briley shotgun accessories on the web.

If the chamber is not a full 2 3/4", the 'smith can ream it out a bit to fit. There are 2 1/2" 12-gauge shells available, but they're not easy to find.

Have a gunsmith look the '97 over, definitely. It's a classic design and should be easily capable of handling current non-magnum loads. There is one other thing you might think about: Those older shotguns were designed for paper shotshells that used fibrous wads instead of plastic shot cups. The newer guns have a more gradual taper to the barrel's "forcing cone" in front of the chamber, to accomodate the plastic shotcups. Have the gunsmith ream the forcing cone to lengthen it. The result will be better patterns and a bit less recoil.

One other idea: There is a "clone" of the Winchester '97 on the market. I don't recall who manufactures it, but some parts may actually be interchangeable with those of your original.

[dirtboy]

I have a Mossberg pump, deer barrel with the plug removed. I don't keep a round chambered, so that gives me five to load. The first round is made by Federal, a special home-defense low-recoil round with 2-shot - an excellent choice IMO. However, I have to load the gun for both 2-legged varmints and bears where I live, so the remaining four rounds are 00-buck, slug, 00-buck, slug. This allows for increasing levels of nastiness depending upon what I'm up against...