halfbakedi420

puhhhleeeze..are you kidding..even if a firewall meant double sheet rock (this is funny, cause all a firewall is are horizontal blocks between the verticle 2X4's in the wall so the flame wont just run up through the wall into the ceiling), buckshot most certainly would go right through the suker...maybe take some buckshot and shoot it at you truck..it goes through both sides of the bed, thats 2 entries and 2 exits..and my chit aint fiberglass...Ford baby!
2nd. whatever ya run out of a shotgun..will go right through the sheetrock, insulation and "firewall" and kill a 2 month old little baby in their crip, but only at 2:21am exactly, all other times are safe.
3rd. unless they have a gun too!

8mm/06

A normal 2 hour firewall will certainly be pierced if you are shooting steel 4's, 2's and/or 00buck and shooting at it from close up with nothing between you and the wall. But I thought we were talking about home defense.

In a home defense situation you are unlikely to be 5 feet away from the wall and hit nothing but wall. If you have a loaded gun in your hands and are hoping to use it on an intruder I'd hope you weren't only 5-6 feet away from the perp, cuz that would mean you're TOO CLOSE.

I believe that using the normal home defense loads, the few buckshot that might pass though into an adjacent apartment would not have a whole lot of oomph left. In the home regular 4's or 5's will do some real nasty damage in the normal 21' or closer combat distance.

I still contend the shotgun is a better option than a pistol for trying to keep the shots within your own domicile.

halfbakedi420

you are counting on hitting the perp with every shot...ya need to be bettin you are gonna miss 100% of the time..ya need to shoot bullets like the ones they use on airplanes. why put the neighbors lives in jeopardy? would ya put your family on the otherside of this guys wall if he has an intruder come in and misses a shot and its headed their way?

streetglideok

Especially living in an apartment, if there was a need for home defense, you may find yourself in closer proximity to a bad guy, then you would a house. With shotgun loads, you have multiple pellets to worry about, as in not missing their intended target, and doing some major damage to something else, or someone else. I would rather have a laser sighted pistol then a scattergun, and Im not a strong proponent of laser sights. Even with castle doctrine laws, you are accountable for where the bullets or BBs fly. If a neighbor gets hit, its on you. If you nail a wall, even if it doesnt pass thru, your'e paying the tab. The drywall damage is a backseat to protection, but hitting innocent people doesnt. A person who has taken the time to get aquainted with a pistol, has a far more versatile weapon in home defense then they will with a shotgun. I would bet the farm you will not find any professional who will say otherwise. It sounds cool and flashy to come charging thru, racking the slide of a pump shotgun, and the zombie, terrorist, burglar, etc, instantly relieves their bladder in front of you, but lets be real, this isnt a movie. A good pistol, in a good caliber, is your safest bet in home protection.

Sfury

I disagree that a pistol is the best defense. There is no such thing as the best defense. Not for every scenario, and there never will be.

Also, relying on something other than basic technology is foolish. I would not rely on a laser in self defense situation. Will you remember to turn it on? Will it actually work in the one instant you need it? Fumbling around with something that is good in theory could cost you precious time and get you killed.

I deal with technology failing, and I hate relying on it at times. That's why I carry a compass into the woods with me even though I have a GPS unit. I don't really need either most of the time, but if worse comes to worse the compass has never let me down while my GPS has run out of juice. The GPS is great for certain things, but I will never entrust my life completely to something that needs electricity to work.

A gun is a rather simple tool assuming you follow a few simple rules for self defense. Most self-defense pistols are safety-less now. That means you are the safety. You don't pull the trigger unless you have the weapon trained on someone you intend to shoot. Keep the gun well maintained, and practice with it. Get the use of it down pat so you can shoot without thinking. Thinking too much will get you killed, or get you into trouble with the law. If you have to think about whether or not you should pull out your weapon, then don't do it.

The best defense is the option that let's you live. Whether that be something that allows you to subdue/kill/frighten the criminal, or a safe room that keeps you alive. Living is the ultimate goal with self defense in mind. You are not a cop, you are not a hero, but you do have family and/or friends that don't want to see you dead. Never forget that simple fact.

halfbakedi420

kinda contradicting...a pistol with laser sights has fixed sights...just like you have a gps, but a compass too jic...maybe if ya tried the laser, you'd keep it..just like the gps

streetglideok

There is a best defensive weapon, but there is no perfect defensive weapon. Huge difference Sfury. A pistol is more versatile then a scattergun will ever be in a home defensive situation, meaning it can be used in more situations that will be seen in a home invasion. That makes it the best, well second best weapon. The best weapon is your brain, and being able to make an advantage of your situation. If a shotgun could be used for face to face confrontations, as well as across the room shooting, or tight manuevering in a hallway, then I could see your point of view, but lets face it, its not, and never will be. A pistol will outperform in some of those situations, and match or beat a shotgun in the rest. Do your research on this, by professionals who train average joe to police swat, and they will dismiss a longer weapon then the handgun for inside the home. As for relying on technology, I said Im not a fan of lasers, however, a firearm is not a basic tool, and has many parts, and are known to failures, and breakage. You have to make a leap of faith at some point, otherwise you best be a master of martial arts, or have Harry Potters wand.
I am going to say though, that seeing what IDPA uses for shooting, and in trying to simulate shooting behind obstacles, etc, like you might see in a home, or apartment, they use handguns. And part of the doctrine of IDPA was to allow as realistic practicing of self defense as possible. Think if the scattergun was so much more superior, they would be competing head to head with pistols, but they dont. It looked cool in Zombieland, but thats about as far as it goes.

8mm/06

To each his own. I'll take my 20 ga or 12 ga with an 18 inch wide open tube with #6's or #4's with standard 2 3/4" load with low brass. I don't need sights and I'm not worried about over-penetration except as it pertains to me.

I've never fired a gun in anger ever. I did however have to rack a round into the chamber when I lived in a shady area of Detroit. The shady person beat feet faster than I could think about shooting. I'm decent with a pistol but will always hit anything at 21' or closer with a scattergun.

Sfury

The GPS tracks how much distanced I walked as I meander through the woods. It marks potential spots to set up a stand. It makes getting back to those places faster. I never had that stuff as I learned how to hunt. Do I really need it? Nope, but I like it.

The point about lasers on guns is that they do fail. They can be hard to turn on. Instead of becoming reliant on them when you practice with your firearm, or as sense of false security, you can simply react faster in a self defense situation.

Screwing around with a laser sight could cost you precious time. Going with just the iron sights for defensive purposes means you are focusing on the threat, instead of the gun, at all times. That is what I'm getting at.

In what will most likely be a fast and hectic situation going the KISS route only makes sense to me. Keeping it simple for myself means I'm reacting faster to a threat that is already wide awake and moving in on my property.

For most people having a shotgun works best for them. You point and pull the trigger at anyone coming in. There is nothing simpler than that. Waiting to ambush any threat is the most tactical and sound decision you can make. Hopefully you can call the police and wait armed and prepared for the worst.

Best is too subjective. It's based upon the skills of the person, and nothing anyone says or does will ever change that. That's why I don't believe there is a best option out there. If there was, then there would be no crime because everyone would have the best and would stop crime from happening.

The OP needs to get over the thought of having a round chambered, or needs to get a gunsmith to work on his shotgun so it feeds properly. Either that, or he needs to work the action properly the first time like he does every time after that.

8mm/06

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.