Here's a small tidbit .. My grandfather was a gunsmith in a VERY BAD area of Detroit. For anybody that is familiar with
Detroit, his shop was about 5 blocks south of the Michigan State fairgrounds ... about 3 blocks north of 7 mile road and 3 blocks east of Woodward. Back in the 70''s he had a series of break-ins at his shop, which was in a crumbling building from another era. He took up sleeping nights on a cot in the shop in a dark corner where the perps were breaking in. He shot a bad guy one night and was using dove loads. At 10 feet it sure made the guy give up his mission. The perp was found dead 1/2 block away. The break-ins stopped at the shop.
I'm guessing that the same thing may be good medicine today. #6's or smaller all the way to dove loads may do sufficient damage to bad guys and convince them to turn around. AND, the smaller shot (like a dove load) would be unlikely to penetrate past sheetrock with any appreciable energy.
Pistols are great tools, just not my preference in my house.
Last edited by 8mm/06; 07-05-2011 at 06:13 AM.