James Yeager: why do you choose a SG for HD?

[Garandman]

One feature I like about my Mossberg 500 is it (along with all other pump shotguns) makes a very distinctive noise when racking a shell into the chamber.  I dare say NOTHING else sounds like a pump shotgun racking.  If you are a bad guy and you hear that noise, you know....

...Exactly where to aim.

There is now an App available for Android and iPhones with the sound of a shotgun racking.  Will "home Defense Seapkers" be next?

[CR Williams]

If you're going to make a shotgun your primary home-defense long-gun, you need to pattern your chosen buckshot load at the longest range you will fire it at, and preferably pattern the load at shorter ranges as well. So to do it best, you might run a load or two at the distance covered from your doorway to the edge of your front yard, over the length of your longest hallway, and across one or two rooms or across the longest open space in the house where you might take a shot. This is the most important step I think you can take in preparing for the use of a shotgun in defense like this.

Get a red dot on it, too. That will help more than you think when you find out from the patterning session that you still need to aim a shotgun even shooting across the room with it.

[Garandman]

/Get a red dot on it, too. That will help more than you think when you find out from the patterning session that you still need to aim a shotgun even shooting across the room with it.

I suggest start by shooting slugs. Doesn't take long to realize you can, should - and must - aim your fire.

At 10-12 feet, the largest pattern any standard 00 buckshot round will produce is 2-4".

[trekker111]

Any suggestions on a HD round for the AR (don't own a shotgun yet).  I am extremely concerned with over penetration.  Two little ones in the house, and the neighbors house is only 8ft away, with big window in the likely background of intruder if they were in our hall    Our house does have plaster and lath constructions though.   The local gun shop recommended a high velocity, high fragmentation, Winchester varmint round.  Any thoughts?

It's never been a secret on this or any other forum, that i like hornady ammo. For HD I would recommend Hornady TAP 223 75gr bthp, for sighting in your gun, and practice hornady loads the same bullet in their steel match line and it normally retails for half the price, but has a larger muzzle flash. Hornady tap is loaded with with a low flash powder blend, which helps preserve vision when fired in low light.

That being said, HD shouldn't be based on merely a gun/ammo selection, but as part of a comprehensive plan and strategy. Things like where bedrooms are located, how beds and furniture are positioned in rooms, how the light switches are wired and positioned, the locations of mirrors, etc, also need to be considered.
 
 In my house light switches are position and wired so that I can turn on the lights as I move through the house in both directions, so if I get up to go check out a weird noise during the night I can turn on the lights to a room before I enter it. When my house was built the master bedroom was put at the opposite end of the house from the 3 other bedrooms. We do not use this room as a bedroom, instead it is my den and the first bedroom you come to is our bedroom, that way when i exit the bedroom my wife and kids are behind me, and the only things "down range" are bad guys and stuff. When everything that is important is behind you over penetration is a moot point, and there are a couple of opportunities for a shot to be 20+ yards in my house.

Furniture is positioned to provide cover for me and family members, and funnel intruders.

I say why limit yourself to just an rifle, or just a shotgun. My AR and my 12ga,along  with a handgun, flashlight, cellphone, and bullet resistant vest are always kept in the bedroom when I'm asleep. If a intruder were to be holding my wife hostage with a gun to her head i wouldn't be able to risk that shot with a 12 guage and 00 buck, or a slug and a bead sight.

As for the cha-chunk sound of a pump shotgun, my experience shows that nothing clears a bar parking lot full of fighting drunks better than the forceful racking of a Remington 870 police magnum.