my dog goes insane over the mailman. But has yet to alert me to anyone that showed up unexpectedly. He is usually too busy napping or lickin his nads. Useless little critter. lol

Might work where you live! Knock on my Door there is no Dog!

A 30 cal m-1 carbine is a handy little gun in close quarters,only thing the slug will go thru 4 walls.

Forgot to mention.

I live in a 40' Motor Home. Basically one way in, bedroom in back. No way out.

And little dog gets nervous of bears and other such critters around.

Not to mention anyone coming in!

Will

ESPECIALLY when they are .41 magnums !......5" Redhawks.

Shotgun with buckshot. At close range bird shot is just as lethal, but I've learned that often you can't anticipate the conditions you face in an emergency. You imagine a certain scenario, but it may be circumstance far different than you imagine. I want maximum flexibility that covers every possibility I can think of. I may need penetration, to shoot through a sheetrock wall, a wooden door. I may need to shoot someone outside the house, not 10 feet away inside. At fifty yards you might disable someone with birdshot. With buckshot you WILL disable them, most likely permanently.

Using any pistol in the dark is difficult, especially if you haven't practiced shooting in the dark. My neighbor, who was a good shot with a pistol, tried to shoot a gallon paint can on the lawn about 8 feet away in the dark. The only light was stars and distant lights. He could see the can, but not his sights. He emptied a six shot revolver at it twice and didn't hit it. 2 or 3 shots hit as much as six feet from it. Try it.

Any gun is better than nothing. Had a friend drunk one night show up to borrow a jack to change tire from the shop. Still tells the story about being more afraid of the next to naked man than the shotgun that was pointed at him. A naked man with a gun means biz lol

A friend of mine was telling me about a guy he worked with, apparently three guys busted into his house and he got into a shoot out with them... with a pistol. I know we all like to think that we are good shots with a pistol, but it was the homeowner who lost his life in the shoot out. I'm not saying that he wouldn't have been shot if he had used a shotgun, but with a shotgun the level of accuracy needed to be lethal is way lower. A cylinder bore with buckshot puts out a decent spread and you don't have to worry as much about aiming perfectly, just rack it back and let the big dog eat!!

With my shotgun using #8 shot, the biggest pattern I can muster is still only 8" at 20 feet. A little bit of accuracy would still be needed to hit the target in a SHTF moment with the heart racing. Now if I'm only hoping to scare the bejesus out of the intruder. That mission would be easily accomplished.

I live out in the country. I have had a lot of people stop in the middle of the night asking for help over the years, including a blonde lady in a two piece bikini...but that is another story! Anyway about 5 years ago I woke up at 2am, I went to the kitchen sink to get a drink of water. Looked out the window and there were 3 guys looking under the hood of a el camino with lighters. I went out to see if they needed something, as soon as I came around the corner I had a bad feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Anyway they were somewhat rude, and told me they needed oil. I said just a minute and I will go back in the house and get some. I walked into the house I have a Glock 23 .40 ready to rock right inside the house, but I grabbed my semi auto 12 gauge. When I went back out I slid the action shut as I came around the corner, that was enough to get them to decide to leave quickly. So I guess when it came down to it I felt better armed with that shotgun than the Glock.

I know some of you guys will say I over reacted, but I will always trust my gut and it said they were up to no good.

I always have the glock on my console when i'm checking traps in the fall and winter. I'm usually doing that 3am-6am, and i'm afraid one of these days i'm going to stumble onto tweakers making meth.

I was next to naked too Flint Hill fur when I went out to see what those guys wanted. LOL

I always like to help people if I can, but am not near as egar as I used to be. Things have changed so much in the last 10 years, I've picked up a hitchhiker once or twice in my lifetime, can't make myself do that anymore. It is hard to ignore that gut feeling.

if you get any benefit from a shotgun it is power and your familiarity with it.

many of you have held a shotgun since you were years from your first shave you are familiar with bringing it to your shoulder looking down your barrel and firing on game and target , you likely have thousands of rounds and it is likely the only thing you ever shot at a moving target.


at 20 feet your likely to have a pattern no larger than your closed fist

but the real answer is everyone should try several and test your ability with them in the best test scenario you can build with your available range.

maybe take some classes in defensive pistol , carbine and shotgun

put in the time getting familiar and you can decide for yourself.

far to often people look at something from only one angle they say what is the best lets say trap rather than gun

what is the best trap, I think you can all agree it depends what your trying to catch

maybe not the best example but

say all you know is that you have to catch it tonight your mother called something is getting into her hen house and you have to do it tonight and she provided almost no detail on what or how just get over there now and it is an hour to sun down and a 20 minute drive.

probably not to many blindly answer that question a duke 1 1/2 without asking any other question.

If I couldn't ask any questions , I would say whatever you have ready to go right now and get them in the ground.

this isn't the time to try a brand new trap it is the time to go with what you are most familiar with.

like I said maybe not the best example but it changes your thinking a little bit.

Yes I try to help people also, and have helped a bunch of people that have stopped over the years. I think these guys were casing my place to either rob it that night or a later night. Now they know a crazy guy in boxers will come out with a shotgun!! LOL

I would like to see the shot pattern S&W Judge with the 410 shell. There are a lot of thing you have to consider when buying a weapon. Do you want the weapon for home defense, concealed carry etc.
In Michigan you can get yourself in deep do-do real fast carrying a pistol even with a permit. All I can say is choose wisely before you buy. 38 spl ammo is real costly. You need to practice a lot so that is a consideration. JMO

Shotgun and #4 buck

You need to get yourself one of them Canadian assault rifles.

God save the Queen!

I knew a guy that was a Bounty Hunter.....he had no gun...but he did have a case of Foam Hornet Spray. He said “ Takes them down real quick “.

I like revolver 38 special body guard

Small
Will kill
Hammerless for less chance of malfunctioning when being fired from inside clothes, purse, etc...

Folks know that you have been known to shoot through a critter, your fur shed, picture window and bedroom all at once. That is why they stay shy of ya.

Zim