When you’re talking about home protection, you are more likely to take out a home invader quicker with a defense shotgun than with a handgun due to the sheer stopping power of the "gauge." You also have to consider what is the best self-defense ammo for that "gauge."
If you have the proper home defense shotgun rounds, then your shotgun will be more effective as a defense tool for home protection against whatever comes your way.
Birdshot should not be used as home defense shotgun rounds.
If you plan on using birdshot as self-defense rounds, it is prudent to remember that your shot probably won’t generate an incapacitating wound. Birdshot is too light of around to do any severe damage. Something heavier like #1 buckshot or 00 bucks is the best self-defense round.
#1 Buckshot would be more likely to create a superior "takedown wound" over 00 bucks and 000 bucks and not as likely to have the hazard of passing through the invader’s body and hitting something behind them.
Buckshot can be hard to find. Therefore 00 buck is the next best choice.
If you’re concerned that missing the target and breaching the wall could
cause unintentional injury to someone else, then one thought would be to have your home protection shotgun loaded with birdshot for the first round that you will be firing. Then follow that with your number 1 lead buckshot if you have a 12 gauge or number 3 lead buckshot if you have a 20 gauge.
That way, if you miss the first round, you won’t have to worry as much about shooting through the wall and hitting a family member.
Also, if you don’t persuade the home invader to turn back with the first round of birdshot, then you can let them have it with the heavier buckshot and take them down. We will discuss the ballistics of the different shotgun rounds and wound trauma in a future article.
Shotgun is cheaper, and so is the ammo.
Typically you should be able to buy a reliable, good quality shotgun at a lower price than you would spend for a handgun with equal value. Something else to think about, if you use intense cost birdshot shotgun rounds for target practice, you will save about 25% of the cost of the same number of rounds of handgun ammo used for the same purpose.
When a person buys a firearm for home protection, what are the main reasons they choose a shotgun?
The first would be to have less breaching of the surrounding walls caused by a shot that missed its target. This would help lower the risk of accidentally injuring someone in an adjacent room.
The second would be to do the most damage per shot and takedown that violent attacker as fast as you can to end the threat.
The third is because when a person is using a shotgun as opposed to a handgun for home protection, it is easier for the less experienced shooter to hit what you’re shooting at.
Get Training for your self-defense shotgun
Looking to buy that self-defense shotgun for home protection, or maybe you bought one already. It’s a good idea to think about getting some training on how to use your shotgun effectively and the best self-defense ammo for home protection per your particular situation. There are quite a few training schools that offer weekend courses. Google it to find one in your area.
It would be a shame to have the best self-defense shotgun and the best self-defense ammo just to find out you don’t know how to use it proficiently at the time you need it the most!
It would be well worth your time to get the Training before you find yourself in a situation where your or your family’s life depends on it.