what kind of ammo should I buy for my mossberg 500 tactical persuader for home protection?

As awful as it may sound, your primary concern should be whether or not your round stops the bad guy, with where the shot goes afterwards as a secondary concern. Ideally, if you are on target with your first round, that should be the end of it.

A good rule of thumb in using a firearm in a defensive capacity is to consider what the professionals use, and understand WHY they use it. In this case, I'd recommend 2 3/4" shell, 00 buckshot. This can be had in a standard 9 pellet load, 12-pellet "short magnum" load, 9-pellet "police tactical" load, and 8-pellet "police tactical" load.

The advantage to the police tactical loads is their lower recoil (and slightly reduced range). This makes sense for the purpose of liability (which, while it is a secondary consideration, is still a consideration), and for the purpose of fast follow-up shots possibly required in a defensive situation. At the other end, I would shy away from the 12-pellet "short magnum" load. Bigger isn't always better.

The added advantage to using a police load is that the police department already has legal policy to cover their butts in case of a shooting. The same policy that governed their selection of ammunition may also be used by you to indicate some semblance of due diligence -- this can be important in jurisdictions with aggresive DA's who want to go after you as a reckless jerk for the type of ammunition you choose. Using the same stuff the police department uses, deployed in a similar manner, tends to negate that verbal attack in the aftermath.

I use a 9-pellet 00 buck tactical load, and have for about 15 years. Works for me. And if you do your part, it will work for you, too.

Understand that with the lower recoil of the tactical load comes the decreased range -- but you're not hunting out to 50 yards -- you're defending yourself at 25 feet, so follow-up shots and greater controllability are the advantage, while retaining the smack of 9 pellets of 00 "run your day."

Bird shot is for birds. It simply doesn't have enough penetration to STOP a human. It doesn't perform "like a big solid slug" at close range; it performs like hundreds of tiny pellets, albeit close together.

00 Buckshot is really the best overall option. Understand that shotguns don't spray out a 180 degree wall of destruction. For every yard of distance, you'll see about 1" of spread. That means that at normal home distances, you might have a 5"-10" spread of shot. That means that YOU HAVE TO AIM. Yes, you have to AIM your shotgun. To do anything else is irresponsible. If you must shoot before you can aim, do so, but realize that no matter whether you have birdshot or buckshot or whatever, there may be consequences.

As for the pellets ricocheting off your door... Well, don't listen to Joe Biden. Do NOT ever try to shoot THROUGH your door. What if it's not a "maniac" next time, but a bunch of kids out playing pranks? Is a paper bag full of poop on your front porch worth killing someone? No.

Buy some plain old 00 buckshot. Gun stores should have plenty of it, and it will do an admirable job of dropping pretty much anyone who is in your home who shouldn't be.

Perhaps one of the best links I've seen on this is included below. It shows the penetration profiles for most 12 gauge shot #s.

Since you want at least 12" of penetration for a self-defense round, #4 buckshot is the minimum that works.

Sadly I believe that it will still penetrate drywall pretty easily, and maybe stucco. But them's the breaks. Apart from frangible ammunition (which has had mixed results) most anything that will penetrate enough ballistics gel will also penetrate simple walls. That's just physics.

Some people like "buffered" shot, which in theory keeps the shot from deforming as it flies down the barrel. The shots stay round, so that helps penetration.

Winchester PDX-1 Defender Shells

http://www.winchester.com/Products/shotshell-ammun...

For home defense most experts agree that #4 shot is best. It will tear up a human but doesn't penetrate walls much.

Federal Prairie Storm, 3" #4 bird shot. Even through a cylinder bore the shot string/spread will be so small at CQB distances it will be like hitting the bad guy with a slug. And as its small shot it should not over penetrate exterior walls etc.

#4 buckshot or larger. I have 00 buckshot loaded in my 12 gauge.