What’s the first rule of a gunfight? Bring a gun!
Whether you already have a gun or not, we’re going to discuss different criteria for a self-defense weapon. Why? It’s important that you have the best choice of self-defense weapon to protect yourself and those you love.
The first question you’ll want to answer is: handgun, shotgun, and/or rifle? Last time we discussed the fact that most people choose a handgun because of its portability and convenience. The downside is that they are woefully underpowered when compared to a shotgun or rifle.
Considering all of that, my suggestion is to carry a handgun with you when you leave home, and keep a long gun (a rifle or shotgun) for home defense. Given that a long gun packs far more punch than a handgun, you would do well to put that power at your disposal where practical to do so.
This post, we’ll look at some points about rifles and shotguns specifically.
Shotguns
The shotgun is the quintessential home defense gun, and for good reason. They are inexpensive, provide significant stopping power, and have a wide variety of available ammunition types. There is, however, a caveat. Between the rifle and shotgun, the shotgun is the least forgiving when it comes to bad technique and will require more training to learn to run effectively.
The shotgun is like a wild mustang: full of power, but requiring the proper approach to control.
A shotgun is a great choice for home defense. However, you must be willing to put in the time and training necessary to learn to run it properly. If you don’t, expect a significant amount of pain, both physically and mentally. Because the shotgun is capable of shooting a variety of different types of ammunition, you must also learn the capabilities, limitations, and proper application of these ammo types. If you’re not willing to put in the effort, you’re probably better off with a rifle.
Action
Defensive shotguns come in two varieties: pump-action and semi-automatic. (Break-action or double barreled shotguns are not good choices for a defensive gun.)
Semi-automatic shotguns have many advantages, including simpler operation and lower felt recoil. The primary disadvantage is price, as a good semi-automatic will be two or three times the price of a pump-action.
There’s another perk of pump-action shotguns. They will fire almost any type of ammunition without issue, assuming the ammo is of the proper gauge. While some ammunition will not reliably cycle the action on some semi-auto shotguns, the manual cycling of the action on a pump-action shotgun eliminates this issue. You can always switch ammo until you find one that runs through your semi-auto, but it is something to be aware of nonetheless.
Fit
Proper sizing of your shotgun is even more important than with other types of guns. If the shotgun does not fit you, it will beat you up each time you fire it, tempting you to box it up and head for the nearest pawn shop. Avoid bruised shoulders and cheeks by checking the fit as follows.
- Grasp the grip portion of the stock with your dominant hand. Place the trigger finger straight along the receiver. Perform the trigger finger test, moving the trigger finger between the receiver and trigger several times.
- Hold the shotgun vertically, with the muzzle pointed straight up. Bend your dominant arm at a 90-degree angle, holding your upper arm horizontally. When held in this position, the pad of the stock should barely rest against your upper arm, just inside the elbow. If it doesn’t, the stock is probably too long or too short for you, making it painful to shoot. If the stock is adjustable, make the proper adjustment until it passes this test. If the stock is not adjustable, you’ll need a different stock or a different shotgun.
Gauge
12-gauge is by far the most common type of shotgun, and it will serve you well in a defensive context. There are bountiful choices of ammunition, and it packs plenty of punch.
If you are of a smaller stature, or concerned about handling the recoil of a 12-gauge shotgun, a 20-gauge is also a good choice. While not as powerful as a 12-gauge, it still provides ample power and plenty of ammo choices. The recoil on a 20-gauge is very manageable, so even children can learn to shoot them comfortably.
Ammo
One of the great strengths of the shotgun is the versatility of the ammunition that you can fire through it. With the right ammo, you can even turn your shotgun into a flamethrower, or plant a garden with seed-filled shells! Setting aside the specialty loads, there are basically three types of ammunition for a shotgun: birdshot, buckshot, and slugs.
As the name implies, bird shot is used primarily for hunting birds. Due to the small size of the pellets, birdshot generally has very shallow penetration and cannot reliably be expected to produce fight-stopping injuries on an attacker. Therefore, birdshot is generally unsuitable for defensive use.
Buckshot consists of multiple larger pellets and is the best self-defense load for the vast majority of situations. 00 buckshot is the most popular and widely-available type of buckshot, and will work well for self-defense. Most 00 buckshot loads have 8 or 9 pellets, providing plenty of stopping power. While 00 is the most common, there are other sizes available. Just keep in mind that the higher the number, the smaller the pellet size and the more pellets in the load. Any size buckshot down to 2 is effective for defensive use.
Slugs fire a single projectile through your shotgun. While extremely effective as a defensive load, slugs are generally best kept for specific situations. It is advantageous to keep slugs with your shotgun (usually in a side-saddle or ammo cuff) in case you need to take a shot where buckshot is unsuitable. This would happen when taking a longer-ranged shot or one where innocent bystanders might be hurt by a stray pellet. If you keep slugs with your shotgun, you also need to be proficient at a “select load”. This is a technique by which you can rapidly change the type of ammunition in the chamber of your shotgun.
Extra Ammo
For rifles and shotguns, your best bet is to attach the extra ammunition directly to the weapon. With a rifle, options include a pouch that attaches to the stock and holds an extra magazine or a clip that holds two magazines together side-by-side. For a shotgun, a side saddle that fastens to the receiver and holds additional shells is your best bet.
Pattern
There is a popular misconception that shotguns are lead fountains that pepper an entire room with shot. This leads people to believe that there is no need to aim a shotgun, that a bad guy anywhere in the general area the muzzle is pointed will be hit by the massive spray of pellets. Don’t buy it! You must aim a shotgun! (I’ve missed what should have been easy shots with a shotgun more times than I care to admit.)
I assure you, it’s very possible to miss with a shotgun, even at close range.
The reason people believe this myth is because of a lack of understanding about shot patterns— the scattered arrangement of the pellets when they hit your target. Understanding your shot pattern is an important part of knowing the capabilities and limitations of your weapon and ammunition. Shot patterns will vary from gun to gun, one type of ammunition to another, and even somewhat from shot to shot.
When the pellets leave the muzzle, they will start to spread outward in a conical fashion. Therefore, the further away your target is, the more spread out your pattern will be. A rule of thumb for pattern size when shooting buckshot is about 1 inch of expansion for every yard the shot travels. For example, a shot from 7 yards would likely produce a pattern roughly 7 inches in diameter. This is just a general trend, however. It’s important for you to understand the type of pattern that your particular shotgun/ammo combo will produce.
Consider that most self-defense shootings take place at 7 yards or less, and you can start to see how easy it can be to miss a shot. And remember, you don’t just want to put one pellet into your assailant; you want the entire pattern to hit him. Learn to aim your shotgun and put the shot where you need it.
A typical pattern of 00 buckshot fired at 7 yards
Model
Below are a few suggestions for models. Bear in mind that several of these models come in a range of configurations, and you should select one that is configured for defensive use (often marketed as “tactical”), as opposed to hunting or trap shooting. The barrel length should be 18 to 20 inches.
Pump actions
Remington 870: An affordable and reliable staple, available in 12 or 20 gauge.
Mossberg 500/590: Its ambidextrous safety makes it a good option for left-handed shooters.
Semi-autos
Remington 1100
Benelli M4: Expensive, but rock-solid reliable and easy to shoot.
Beretta 1200/1300 series
Rifles
When I suggest to people that they might consider a rifle for home defense, they are often surprised. Given the media’s attitude and subsequent reporting regarding the AR-15 and other rifles, many people believe that rifles are suitable only for a hunting field or a battlefield. However, this is not the case at all.
Advantages To The Home-Defense Rifle
Plenty of Power
Higher Ammunition Capacity
Easy to Control and Shoot
Easy to Hit Your Target
Customizable
A rifle is a perfectly viable alternative to a shotgun for home defense, and in fact has the added advantages of additional ammunition and lower felt recoil.
Action
A semi-automatic is the only real choice as a defense rifle. Semi-autos are not appreciably more expensive than a good bolt-action rifle, and the complexity of operation and reduced ammo capacity of a bolt-action rifle offset the benefits of any potential cost savings.
Size
With handguns, we said that bigger is better as a general rule. With long guns, the opposite is true. Smaller is better.
All other things being equal, larger rifles have no real advantage over smaller ones in a home defense context. You’ll want to choose a rifle without excess bulk and with a shorter barrel. Federal law requires you to jump through some significant bureaucratic hurdles to obtain a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches. Therefore, a 16-inch barrel is what you’ll want.
Fit
Fit is not as essential with a rifle as with a shotgun, in part because the recoil is much lighter, and in part because many modern rifles feature an adjustable stock. You can test the fit of a rifle in a very similar manner to that described under shotguns above.
Caliber
.223 Remington (or 5.56 NATO) is what the vast majority of AR-15 rifles shoot and is probably the most popular rifle cartridge currently available. It is what the US Army uses in its rifles, and it has many desirable attributes for self-defense. I would recommend this cartridge, or a similar caliber, for your defensive rifle. Anything larger than that starts to become overkill, leading to more significant issues with over-penetration and less manageable recoil.
Sights
There are three basic sighting systems for rifles: iron sights, scopes, and electronic sights.
Scopes magnify the image in your sight picture, making them primarily useful for longer-ranged shots, such as while hunting. Considering that over 95% of defensive shootings happen at 10 yards or less, there is no practical reason you should use a scope on a home-defense rifle.
A good electronic sight uses a laser or holograph to project a dot or aiming reticle onto a glass optic. Because the sight features only a single focal plane, you only need to align the aiming reticle with your target. This allows you to visually acquire your sights faster in most cases, providing you with a speed advantage.
That said, electronic sights are definitely a “get what you pay for” situation. Your equipment needs to work for you when your life depends on it. If you’re going to use an electronic sight, don’t trust your life to a cheap $100 one. The last thing you want is to pick up your rifle, only to find that the batteries have died or the sight has failed altogether. Spend the extra money for a high-quality one made by a company like EOTech, Trijicon, or Aimpoint.
Although some consider them archaic, iron sights are a perfectly viable sighting system. They are inexpensive and durable, and you never have to worry about the batteries going dead. I recently attended a rifle class in which, out of 16 students, I was the only one using iron sights. The instructor even jokingly referred to my gun as an “antique”. But guess what? I had no trouble keeping up with the other students who were using “modern technology”. Electronic sights are nice, but by no means a necessity.
Model
The AR-15 is the most popular rifle in the US, and not for nothing. It’s reliable, easy to operate, easy to shoot, and highly customizable. You’re almost guaranteed to find several variants of it on the wall of any gun store into which you walk. Look for a configuration with a 16-inch barrel and an adjustable stock.
If you are looking for something other than an AR-15, look for a reputable semi-automatic rifle that shoots the 5.56/.223 round. A couple other models you might consider include the FN SCAR-16 or the Ruger Mini-14 (although I’m not a fan of how the safety operates on this rifle).
“What about an AK-style?”, some of you are shouting at me. Personally, I’m not a fan. The primary advantage of the AK used to be that it was cheap, but not anymore. They are compact and shoot an effective cartridge, but carry many drawbacks. They are covered with sharp edges, are not ergonomic or intuitive to operate, and are more difficult to customize. If you’re a fan of the AK-style, more power to you, but I wouldn’t recommend one for most people.
First Time, Every Time
Regardless of the type of weapon you select, among the most important factors is reliability. When your life depends on it, you have to be certain that it will perform for you. The discussion of reliability applies not just to the firearm itself, but also to your ammunition. Naturally, you want to select high-quality ammunition, rather than the budget-grade ammo. However, some otherwise-reliable guns and ammo will not work well when paired together.
After deciding on the gun and ammo you will keep for self-defense, take both to the range with you. Fire at least 50 rounds of your defensive ammunition through the gun. It should function without a single malfunction. If you experience even one malfunction, there is probably an issue with the gun, the ammo, or a combination of the two. Try a different combination until you can put 50 rounds without experiencing a single malfunction.
If you have trouble finding a winning combination, seek the expertise of a competent gunsmith or instructor.
Hopefully this was helpful as you think through what weapons you will use to defend your loved ones. Next time, we’ll talk about training with your firearm.
Aaron is a retired Army Reserve officer & a two-time combat veteran (Iraq & Afghanistan). He left a career in IT to become a firearms instructor. In over fifteen years as an instructor, he has trained soldiers and civilians, & attained instructor certifications from Glock, Sig Sauer, & the NRA Law Enforcement division. He also worked for three years as a full-time range master at Front Sight, the country’s largest private firearms school, and has personally trained over 6000 students. When he’s not teaching, he enjoys real estate investing, stock market trading, board games, and ballroom dancing with his wife Brandi.
