Recommended load for a home defense 12 gauge shotgun?

This question has come-up numerous times in this forum and it got me to thinking...just how big are the rooms in my house?

I live in a pretty standard size 3 bedroom, 2 full bath home, etc.. One day I took a tape measure out and measured the furthest distance in my biggest room - the livingroom. The distance from corner to corner was only 18 feet. In yards, that is a whopping 6 yards my friend.

So now. Assuming that I confront someone in my livingroom and I am standing at one corner of the room and my adversary is standing at the other furthest opposite cornder of the livingroom, that would be a shot of 6 yards. HOWEVER, since the shotgun itself is about 3 feet long, the muzzle is therefore 1 yard closer. Now we are talking about 5 yards from the muzzle end of the shotgun to the "bad guy".

But wait! How likely would we be at opposite sides of the room in corners? Doubtful! I really think that a more reasonable scenario would be me confronting someone (or them confronting me) as I enter the livingroom and they are at least 3 feet from the opposite wall. In fact, from where I am sitting right now in my den, to the doorway, if I were to stand and turn and aim a shotgun, the muzzle would be roughty 9 feet from someone entering at the doorway. That's 3 yards!

Under these circumstances, I feel the standard birdshot loads are more than adequate. Something like a 6 shot or 5 shot should do the trick. In fact, at distances like I mentioned, I have to imagine these simple hunting loads would "blow a big hole" in someone. Buckshot? Why bother? Do you really want to risk killing an innocent family member in the next room? Or, have it exit your house and go into your neighbor's house?

Rule # 1. DO NOT USE BIRDSHOT! It is a myth that birdshot is effective. If you stuck the barrel into their face sure. But at any reasonable distance the pellets will not penetrate through a person's ribcage into the vitals. If you doubt it go to the grocery store and by a slab of pork ribs. Hang them up and shoot with birdshot from 10 feet away. You'll be luck if any make it through. And that's bare pork ribs. Add skin and clothing on top of that and you can forget it. Unfortunately shotguns aren't point and shoot weapons. You can't point in the "general direction" and hope to hit anything. You have to aim a shotgun just like a rifle. Shot typically spreads about 1 inch per yard. So at 10 yards (a VERY LONG shot for an inside the house defense shot unless you live in a mansion) you would only have a 10 inch spread of pellets. #4 Buck is acceptable, but 00 Buck is by far the preferred load for any defensive use. Don't bother with 3 inch shells, there's no need for that. The best defense load in a 12 gauge for anything inside 20 yards is a 2 3/4 inch full power 9 pellet 00 Buckshot load. It doesn't really matter what manufacturer. As long as the load is hitting 1300-1400 fps. Personally I wouldn't bother with the reduced recoil loads. They're underpowered. I have seen a felon shot broadside with a load of 8 pellet Remington reduced recoil 00 Buck from a Remington 870 with a 14.5" barrel. He took all 8 pellets from close range in the upper arm and shoulder. The range was about 4 yards. He walked to the ambulance. Not a single pellet penetrated into his chest cavity. Don't use slugs either, not for an indoor defense load. I have also seen a guy hit with a 3 inch magnum rifled slug through the sternum from an 18" 870. We were 3 apartments over looking for the slug. You don't need that kind of liability, much less do you want to shoot one of your family members in another room. You don't have to worry about that with buckshot. Full power buckshot is perfect. The reduced recoil is fine for training, but not for carry. Having survived two gunfights, and been a witness after the fact to around a dozen, I can tell you that when the moment comes you won't even notice that small amount of extra recoil.

Richard,

Unless you are expecting to be attacked by a flock of crows, forget the birdshot.

if it does not have the mass and energy to penetrate drywall, it won't penetrate a bad guy!

I strongly suggest buckshot. nothing smaller than #4 Buck with #!, 0 and 00 being better choices.

At inside the house ranges you will not be getting much spread on shot, so forget the "just point in the general direction and snatch the trigger" mentality. It is quite easy to miss with a shotgun at close range.

The Box o' Truth tested the spread of buckshot at a measured 30 feet. IIRC the wides spread was something like 3 1/2 inches. So teach your wife to properly point a shotgun.

My old Mossberg M-500 has an empty chamber, two 0 buckshot, a slug, two more - buckshot and a slug to bring up the rear. I leave the chamber empty so i don't have to fumble with the safety in the dark. Besides the sound of the action being worked might remind an intruder of an important engagement elsewhere./

Doc

It all depends on where you live and what your home environment is like. If you live in an anti-gun state like Kommiefornia where self-defense is only given lip service, you need to consider the bias the state has against anyone who defend themselves and chances are a prosecutor looking to make a name for him/herself will jump at an opportunity to charge you with something if you had a tactical-cool shotgun as oppose to one that looked like a plain-jane hunting shotgun. If you lived in a gun-friendly state with a Castle Doctrine, then you are probably okay with whatever you buy although you still need to understand the law regarding the use of deadly force AND have a good lawyer. Never assume being in the right protects you from government zealots If you live in a small home where the living spaces are cramped, the 26" barrel could be difficult to bring into battery and maneuver and so forth. The law states that the minimum barrel length is 18", but to be on the safe side most minimum legal barrel length for shotgun is 18.25" You need to decide how you are going to use the shotgun and the possible scenarios you are going to encounter in your home. This will dictate what length would best suit you. As for pump action or semi-auto, this is kind of a hot topic. The pump action is considered the best because of it's reliability for the price that you pay. That means, while a semi-auto shotgun can be as reliable the ones that are tend to be very expensive - anywhere from 50% to 100% more than a good pump action. If you are new to shotgunning, I would recommend the pump-action. I would also strongly recommend that you practice with whatever shotgun you end up buying because training is as if not more important than the gun. Don't just buy the gun and keep it in the closet.

At home defensive ranges, you are going to need to aim pretty well, much more so than 'general direction'. Even a wide open choke with a 20" barrel is going to keep a tight pattern considering the average indoor range is about 15 feet or so.

I personally use #2 Buckshot, which gives a good compromise of size and quantity of pellets. It's somewhere in the area of 30 pellets, each .27 caliber (about 7mm). Larger sizes like 000 or 00 (9mm aprox) are fine too, just fewer pellets.

In a 8 shot tube, i would likely load a few 2 3/4 slugs too. They have a massive amount of energy and with a center mass or cardiac triangle hit pretty much guarantee a one shot stop. 3" have a health amount of recoil, and odds are the short barrel wont make full use of the powder anyway.

Wolf 2 3/4 inch 9 pellet 00 buckshot.... I have practiced with this stuff a lot and never had a dud.... Its always reliable....

http://www.jgsales.com/index.php/ammo-for-shotguns...

Forget 3 inch cartridges... The recoil is objectionable and would slow down the 2nd or 3rd shots if needed......

I like the Remington 870 as much as the next guy = For ducks or deer......

For home defense stick with the Mossberg 500..... Here are the technical details why......

http://jth8260.tripod.com/870.html

General direction?.... Remove that idea from your head.... A shotgun doesn't "spray" pellets in a wide death cone in front of it.... You still have to aim... Practice!

Keep all you ammo buckshot.... Alternating ammo is a bad tactical choice.... Use the same ammo, practice with it and know the pattern of the ammo.......

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot42.htm

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot20.htm

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot3.htm

The people advocating buckshot do not know what they are talking about. I doubt a single one of them have ever seen or done a test involving different loads and wall materials.

In your situation I would recommend #6 to #7 1/2 bird shot. At close ranges it will make a hole the size of your fist.

Even 7 1/2 birdshot loads will be VERY effective at the range you will be using it for defense purposes.

Law Enforcement recommends you use only number 7-1/2 or 8 bird-shot.* It is plenty lethal for indoor shooting distances.*

just about anything will do...if you get shot with a 12 gauge shotgun, no matter what the load is youre going down lol.

but i personally use federal 3" 00 buck. a little bit of overkill, but that is my intention should some one have the balls to break into my house.