Quote:
Originally Posted by Aonarch
Yes a good pump Mossberg is perfect for home protection. The sound of the action will make a burgler shit his pants. Plus as stated above over penetration is a very serious issue, even for expert shooters, you never know what is behind a wall.
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Racking a shotgun isn't likely to scare away most hard criminals. As an instructor in one of my classes pointed out, "It is very likely that you aren't the first person to point a gun at this bad guy. He's probably not that impressed....."
Anyway, The Box o' Truth has done quite a bit of testing on various rounds and their wall penetrating ability:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot3_2.htm
I particularly chuckled at #4:
4. I "racked" the shotgun several times during the tests, and no bystanders lost control of their bowels.
Conclusion: Racking a shotgun will not make the bad guy faint.
Anyway, a shotgun is a good home defense choice, if you don't buy into two classic myths.
1.) You don't have to aim.
You most certainly do! At 10 yards the spread will likely be around 5"-8". Put a paper plate at the end of your hall, that is about how far the shot will spread at that distance. Now, how far off that plate can you aim and still get effective rounds on target? Not very far at all....
2.) Racking the slide alone will send the bad guys fleeing.
It might, but I wouldn't ever count on it. And now all you've done is given away your position and the fact that you have a weapon. Maybe the bad guy has a weapon too, but it was tucked into his pants. He hears you rack the slide, and now he decides it's time to draw his gun too.
Also, a firearm is a huge liability if you don't train and practice with it. You can't just buy a shotgun, put 25 rounds through it and then think you've got it down. Take a class! A range close to you likely offers defensive handgun and/or defensive shotgun classes. Well worth it in my opinion....