Quote Originally Posted by theGinsue View Post
Guns? Who here has guns? I thought all of this talk was just theory - at least since we all lost our guns in tragic boating accidents.
What a sad day that was.

The Mossberg 590 I had prior to the TBA (Tragic Boating Accident) was a terrific house gun. I had it loaded with those mini-shells (#12 shot, if I remember correctly) in the belief that even with a cylinder bore, it'll still be like a freight train at 21 +/- feet but it wouldn't go much further than the first wall it hit. Plus, to be flat out honest, there's something about a shotgun that'll mount a bayonet that just appeals to me.

I've had a few folks at work ask me about what they should get for home defense, and they usually are thinking about a pistol. I love pistols, I enjoy them, but honestly if someone who doesn't yet own a gun asks me about the ideal home defense weapon I usually steer them to a shotgun. Pistols, in my opinion, take substantially more training to be effective with in the home-defense role and unless you're using some sort of frangible ammo (Like Glasers) you have a high risk of overpenetration. I don't know about you guys, but I have homes around me and I know most of these folks and don't want bullets flying around through their places. A shotgun, on the other hand, is often cheaper to purchase, cheaper to practice with, and the ammo is available almost anywhere. Go to wallyworld and buy one of those 100 round boxes of shells and go practice every month or two. Load 'er up with birdshot and you're good. In the distances you find in most homes, a column of birdshot will still go through a person bent on doing you and yours bodily harm like that freight train I mentioned earlier. But it won't go much further. Plus, there's the psychological factor of them looking down the equivalent of a sewer pipe to make them think about changing their mind before they continue whatever they're doing. Plus you can just tape a flashlight to a shotgun barrel for a cheap & easy tactical light, unless you want to get a light-equipped foreend. I do recommend a full stock of some sort though. Have any of you guys ever shot those pistol-grip only setups? Not exactly conducive to practicing a lot. Or even much!