Best 12 Ga. Defensive Load?

[Mike D]

If I shoot bird loads its either going to be in the head/upper chest or a few in the ***** to give him motivation to take it on down the road. AND if I don't kill him no lawsuit!!!

If you are justified in shooting you can't be sued under the Castle Law anyway. May as well save the bird shot for little birds as it was intended.

[BrianL]

Birdshot may stop the threat if there is only one intruder, but if you are facing 2 or more intruders you are in trouble with bird shot. You may get the first one, but you will probably have to shoot thru something to get the rest. For me 6 rounds of 00.

[JBS]

I like this round for 12 ga. home defense.

[KSHogman]

minimum oo buck shot, the bird shot will get you killed!

[TexasBob]

Excellent points Mike D. Thank You. It seems my present strategy needs some evaluating after reading all of the replies.

[Mike D]

Once again, READ and make your own decisions.

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=109958

[Jethro]

As far as steel ships and shot goes, I spent five years on a submarine and the U.S. Navy never saw fit to give us birdshot. It was 00 all the way. And you can bounce 00 off steel just the same, it was the way we were taught.

[Hawkins]

Just throwing this out there...

When we were younger, my brother grabbed my grandpas 20 gauge with bird shot in it. Not knowing it was loaded, he pumped a round in and pulled the trigger. It went through about an inch thick wood headboard, through sheet rock, through whatever is between sheetrock and vinyl siding, and all the way through the siding. Had a perfect hole where you could see the street. From about 10 yards across the room. He learned his gun safety lesson after that.

I would probably use Buckshot or similiar, but that dove load from a 20 gauge MOD choke sure packed a punch that day.

[Tejas Wildlife]

Now that's funny!!!!!!

I think that if it won't go thru drywall, it won't go thru a layer of clothes and outer layer of flesh. I've never shot at a wall or a person but I have been shot with rock salt about the size of #6 shot, (I really question the value of watermelons now) and while it burned like fire, it barely went under the skin. Just my personal observation.

Dave

You must have been raised out in the country like me! LOVE IT!!

No matter what you load in your gun..............keep pulling the trigger till it just goes "click" and that should solve your problem.

[texaset]

No matter what you load in your gun..............keep pulling the trigger till it just goes "click" and that should solve your problem.

X2

[glen]

Police shotguns used on patrol will be loaded with 00 buck becuase it is a mid range weapon effective at 40 or 50 yards. When I was running warrants with a Benelli I was given #6 high brass. When I tried some of the above arguments the people putting on the school demonstrated it to me on ballistic gelatin. If Im 15 feet or less it will always be #6. The argument of #6 is for birds is not valid. Call Thunder Ranch and see what is reccomended in a shotgun for inside of a house. It is almost universal to use #6 for raid scatterguns.

[mjhaverkamp]

Bird shot is for birds, buckshot is for scumbags, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it !

[bmac]

3 1/2" heavy shot #5 or #6 for close quarter shots.

[Artos]

Once again, READ and make your own decisions.

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=109958

did a walk through on the house and really cannot get cozy with anything that will go through walls...my home may be unique but I don't see many scenarios where shots over 10-15yds would be taken.

My guess is during the autopsy that wads would be extracted mid corpse. If the fight left the home then I think i'll be hating bird shot but I do have a bunch of leo defensive loads being federal tactical 00 buck 2&3/4 with 9 pellets.

[RJK70]

Do yall know of any home defense shotguns that have a stock that can be shortened and lengthened like you would find on a Ar15??

prefer something inexpensive so it will probably need to be a pump.


Thanks!