Give Me a Shotgun Any Day or Night

Now that Christmas has come and gone, hope all my friends had plenty to eat, spent time with family and received lots of new gadgets and toys. Old Bob made out good, new accessories for my home defense shotgun. While installing the new heat shield on my shotgun, a nephew told me that he bought a new Remington 870 shotgun and keeps it by his bed. I told him that it was a good idea but questioned him about the type of ammunition he loaded in it. After he told me it was full of #00 Buck, I had to explain the need to rethink his ammo choice.

When it comes to home defense, a shotgun is superior to a handgun in terms of being able to stop a violent intruder as quickly as possible. I would never take on an armed bad guy with a handgun if I could lay my hands on a good shotgun. There is a very wide range of ammunition for the shotgun. Most folks recommend #00 buckshot for home defense. I agree that buckshot will certainly do the job. However, buckshot has its drawbacks. Buckshot and slugs both have great penetration power but will go through several sheetrock or panel walls. You will render an intruder dead in his tracks with #00 buckshot but you'll need lots of remodeling to get your house back in order. You want to minimize wall pentetration and protect innocent victims. My advise to him was to use a lighter load #8 birdshot. You can do an effect job in detering a home invader with birdshot and not worry about too much damage to your home. Remember your children in other rooms in the house. Stray shots could easily harm the innocent bystander. One should always remember this with handguns too, a .45 caliber is going to travel through many walls if you miss your target, so caution on what handgun you arm yourself with too.

Now that I've explained why I recommend birdshot inside the home, I will tell you what type of configuration I use for home defense in my shotgun. My shotgun has a 7 magazine capacity plus one in the chamber (always one in the chamber). My first 4 rounds are #8 birdshot with 4 rounds of #00 buckshot to follow. Hopefully, I've defused the situation after the first 4 shots, if not, I have 4 heavy loads to follow and end the problem. Then I have 2 side-saddles on my shotgun, with 11 extra rounds of ammunition, a combination of birdshot, slugs and buckshot. Others may differ on my thinking but I feel this is best for me.

Back in 2005, I had the chance to meet Clint Smith, President of Thunder Ranch, an expert in firearms training. If I'm good in 2008, maybe, just maybe, Santa will bring me a gift certificate for a 5 day firearms course at Thunder Ranch. Hint, hint.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FhgwHQCJwWw

All of you have a safe week and a Happy New Year.

Bob