I wanna shoot a tranger

In My Humble Opinion
61

I had heard of the ‘Glaser bullets’ before, and just visited the linked site.

Looks like tiny, tiny shot pellets incased in copper with a plastic tip. Is that an accurate description?

Like everyone has said, shoot what you are comfortable with. I have no neighbors, so over penetration is of little concern. I also need something that can deal with wildlife if needed. Black Bears are pretty common around here. And they do break into houses.

My choice is a Ruger .357. Plenty for two legged intruders, and enough for smaller bears. The .357 is reasonably easy to concel and have at the ready, whereas a shotgun is a little tougher to hide and have ready.

I don’t completely agree that a rifle or shotgun is two long for defense in a house. The key here is defense. If someone broke in, at least in my circumstance, I’m almost sure to know about it. We have two very alert dogs. I’m quite sure that I could defend the bedroom with a rifle or standard shotgun. Or at the very least, I doubt anyone would be crazy enough to try to get to our bedroom if they knew I was awake, and armed with anything. It would be suicide.

For others, especially with kids, I understand that it would be important to look for an intruder, instead of having them come to your defended position. I have thought about this, and think anyone that has guns needs to. While nothing ever happens like you think it will, it’s important to consider possible options before hand.

If an intruder is in the bedroom, IMHO, it’s already too late.

Waiting to rack a shotgun so the intruder can hear it is completely counter productive. If you have made the decision to use a gun for protection against an intruder, you better make damn well sure it’s chambered before you face them. And as others have said. “I’m armed, leave the house”. Is all you should say, and all the intruder needs to know.

62

I’ve seen both of them abused, but I think I hear the racked slide sound a bit more than the cocking hammer. Or maybe one just stands out a bit more than the other.

63

That’s pretty much accurate. I have Glasers loaded in my .44 Special, which resides in the living room.

64

Ringo has failed to chime in to tell us why he “wannna shoot a tranger.”

I think an explanation is in order.

[sub]PS: Why doesn’t the number of posts show up under Ringo’s charter member join date?[/sub]

65

A great deal of sound advice (and some I disagree with) but my question is…what of Ringo?

66

He lay face down in the desert sand
Clutching his six-gun in his hand
Shot from behind, I thought he was dead
But under his heart was an ounce of lead
But a spark still burned so I used my knife
And late that night I saved the life of Ringo

:smiley:

And before it starts…the knife was a 4" Gerber Paraframe.

67

:smiley: Serves me right for askin’. Can’t believe how well that fit though. :smiley:

68

I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean he wanted to randomly pick a tranger on the street and pop a cap in’is ass. I believe he meant he wanted a gun for self-defense.

Maybe he himself is a tranger? :eek:

69

Just as an addendum - for smaller females considering a pump-action shotgun for home defense, Mossberg makes at least a 20 gauge “Bantam” size, for us tiny little people. I found it much, much more comfortable than a full sized gun. (It even comes with a little coupon for a full sized stock and barrel, for when I get big!) I had a hard time feeling in control of a full sized shotgun, but the junior shorty one fits me perfectly.

I don’t keep it loaded, though, because sometimes I wake up very disoriented and I feel more comfortable knowing I’d have to wait a few seconds before I could kill somebody with the gun. Unfortunately, the trade-off is that in a real crisis I could find myself threatening an intruder with an unloaded gun. I just wouldn’t feel comfortable with a loaded gun under my bed, though, knowing that in the past I’ve thought my beeping alarm was an alien spacecraft that I had to hide from.

70

Stranger, what is rule number 3? (I like your advice in this thread, by the way, not just for what you say but how you say it.)

71

Your friend is correct. A shotgun is the best gun for home defense for many reasons, some of them having nothing to do with protection from a break in.

I recommend a 12 gauge Mossberg Persuader. Once you take the dowel out it will hold 8 shots. Fill it with 5 rounds of 00 buck, and make the sixth round (the first to enter the chamber) with a lighter bird shot (this allows for 6 rounds in an 8 round capacity magazine to avoid stressing the load spring–and you shouldn’t need more than that any way).

The Mossberg is shorter than most shotguns so it is easily maneuverable even in the tightest spots. Also, simply racking the son of a bitch is enough to send most hardened thugs out the door long before the sound of it is done caterwauling around in your home (thus the name). You want the bird shot first as this will have plenty of dropping power without completely destroying the wall behind the intruder and continuing into a child’s room or other parts of the home (always be aware of what is on the other side of the target!). If the intruder looks like he hasn’t had enough ‘persuading’ rack it again and you have something with more kick ready to finish the job, the buck shot.

With your shakey hands the shotgun will still be all the accurate you need.

72

Actually, I mistyped–I was referring to Rule #2.

The Four Rules of Firearm Safety:
[ol]
[li]All guns are always loaded.[/li][li]Never let the muzzle cover anything you are unwilling to destroy.[/li][li]Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on the target.[/li][li]Know what your target is and what is behind it.[/li][/ol]
Any incident in which an accidental discharge (by mechanical failure) or negligent discharge (by inattention) occurs in which someone is injured involves violating one or more of these rules. With the advent of trigger blocking internal safeties combined with safe gun handling methods (i.e. not crossing a fence with a loaded gun in hand) there is virtually no reason for anyone to suffer accidental injury froma firearm except by negligence. As a firearm owner, an individual needs to take responsiblity for not only handling a gun safely but also seeing that others do the same.

And thanks for the complement. I had the above rules pounded into me from childhood, and while I don’t claim to be an expert on the topic, I have put a fair amount effort into thinking about and understanding the issues and ramifications with regard to using a firearm in self-defense.

Stranger

73

Fantastic. That sentence should be etched onto the side of every gun sold in this country.

74

Anyone that says ‘Don’t worry, it’s not loaded’ needs to betten about the head and shoulders with these rules. The rules are absolute. A gun is ALWAYS treated as it is loaded.

Guns are not toys and should not be treated as such.

A shotgun is a good defensive weapon. It is not the best for everyone. Nothing is.

I don’t think this is an issue with modern weapons. I wouldn’t mind hearing more.

But make no mistake, birdshot (say #8) will punch a nice tennis ball hole through two sheets of ½” drywall at ‘hallway’ distances (say 10’) in a modern home. It won’t be as bad as buckshot, but I sure as heck would not want to be on the other side of it. A glancing shot however, is much more likely to stop the bird shot.

That may not go over very good in court……

I agree that a carbine or short shotgun would be better for someone that has tremors, but you still need to aim. Even a shotgun. Sorry, this tends to bug the shit out of me.

What is the spread of a modified (taking the middle road) shotguns pellets at say 15’? 6” or so? It may be easier to hit someone with a softball than a golf ball, but you still need to aim.

Shotguns are good home defense weapons, but they don’t make the owner RoboCop. And never wait to ‘rack’ the shotgun. A weapon to be used as defense is just that. It is not meant to scare the intruder away, it is used to save your life. An intruder may well think that the gun is not even loaded. And you are racking it to scare them. If you are EVER put in the position to have to use a gun for defense, you use it, and that is that.

75

Attorney -So, Mr. Homeowner – The defendant broke into your home.

HomeOwner – Yes. And I shot him.

Attorney – Yes, but he was still alive and moving when you shot him a second time.

HO – Yep. But I was still afraid for my life.

Attorney – Even after you gut shot him with a 12 gage?

HO. - Yes I was still afraid. And I had buck shot as my next round.

Attorney – So you thought you would just finish him off? You specifically loaded your gun for just such an occurrence?

HO – Ummm. Sort of…….

:snerk:

Good luck.

76

What does it mean for the muzzle to “cover”? Cover? I don’t mean to be dense, but does it have something to do with aiming? Can rule 2 be restated as “Never aim the gun at anything you don’t want to destroy.”?

77

That’s exactly what it means. When your muzzle covers something, it is pointing at it.

78

Regarding need to aim/ don’t need to aim a shotgun:

See this diagram. At typical indoor home-defense range, the shot pattern will have spread very little beyond bore size. IOW, you are_for aiming purposes_ firing a single projectile. If you do not aim, you will not hit. The Box o’ Truth has already been referenced, but it bears repetition. At typical indoor ranges, even birdshot will blow right through typical indoor walls. You must train with your weapon and you must aim your weapon, regardless of what it is. Stray rounds are bad ju-ju.

79

Thanks for the diagram Scumpup. Like it shows, at indoor, home defense distances, you are really no more likely to hit your target with a shotgun, than you would with a rifle.

It drives me crazy that many people seem to think there is no real need to aim a shotgun.

80

I don’t think anybody is really saying that you don’t need to aim a shotgun. Of course you need to aim, it’s just that aiming consists of 1. Point business end at target. 2. Pull trigger.

The real reasons that shotguns are your best bet for home defense:

  1. Low muzzle velocity + intense stopping power. Shoot somebody with a rifle at the close ranges that one will encounter in a home invasion scenario and chances are that your round will go straight through the intruder and into who knows what/who else. Plus a round that goes straight through at high speed doesn’t do the damage that low velocity shot will. You could use a rifle round w/ a low muzzle velocity I suppose, but then you will have 1 slow moving round versus a spread of shot. Also AFAIK, rifle rounds do not have the variety of options that shotgun and pistol rounds do when it comes to low speed effectiveness.

  2. Modifications. With a shotgun you can remove the choke, and shorten the barrel to suit your needs. This will both spread the shot pattern and make the weapon easy to maneuver in close quarters. So you have the advantage of being more likely to hit your target and not worry about banging the barrel against something. With a rifle, shorten the barrel and good luck hitting anything without aiming as well as you would have to with a pistol!
    When referring to shotguns for home defense, i’m thinking something like this, not (removed link - two click rule - Frank)