Your choice for home defense...
 

I believe the Taurus Judge would be a good option.

True, I also like the rack sound of a shotgun as a peacekeeper.

Ak47 for me. Living out in the country where police response is delayed to 30 minutes or so you're on your own. Home defense may turn into property defense and a pistol won't cut it. No neighbors to endanger with a bullet going through walls.

That's a good point. Never even thought of a situation like that but I live close to the city.

ive got a sawed off mossberg 500 and a 1911 within reach of my bed.

Ruger security six is my defense gun.

Well, I guess I just voted with my pocketbook. Bought a Sig 2022 in 9mm, capacity is 15. May have bought something else on an unlimited budget, but I believe its a good pistol regardless.

Save the sound effects for the movies.

Racking it means you didn't have it loaded, which means it wasn't ready when you needed it. Also means you're giving up your advantage of surprise, which is just dumb. Seems like a fellow might feel mighty stupid (among other things), if he racked his shotgun to startle a robber, ended up with a failure to feed, then got shot by the armed intruder.

Handgun on the nightstand for immediate dangers, shotgun beneath the bed to investigate the rest of the house. The Judge is a perfectly good option for a nightstand handgun.

2 ways to look at that--racking a pump shotgun.

At the Sheriff's Office I used to work at, Patrol Deputies responded to a man on his front porch with a gun call. Deputies responded and began taking positions while starting to talk with the man.

A Patrol Deputy who was last to the call (and also on the SWAT Team) arrived and took cover behind a tree. He quickly realized he had forgot to chamber a round in the shotgun (most departments leave the chamber empty while in the patrol car) and racked a round with that sound familiar all over the world.

The man with the gun on his porch heard the Deputy rack the shotgun, put his pistol down and his hands up. After he was handcuffed, he told Deputies that "I KNEW YOU GUYS WERE SERIOUS WHEN THAT DEPUTY RACKED THAT SHOTGUN!" :biggrin::biggrin:

So yes, in some applications/situations, racking a shotgun can have a peaceful resolution to a situation.

In the case of "home defense," if an armed intruder comes into your house when it's dark, racking the shotgun may scare him/her but it also gives away your location because of the same racking sound. If it happens during the day, you still have the issue of confirming your location by the racking sound (if the intruder hasn't seen you yet), the potential for jamming the shotgun although that's fairly rare and the time delay of raising your shotgun back on target since the vast majority of people do not train to reload pump shotguns while aiming at their target.

Bugflipper made an excellent point about a rifle being especially useful if you're in the country and expect potentially longer range shots. Scottycoyote mentioned a shotgun and a pistol within reach and that seams like a very wise precaution. :biggrin:

I'll offer $50 for your Judge. Since this is the Classifieds I'm guessing you have something to sell.