I prefer light buck loads.  Overpenetration, in my opinion, is a myth and a complaint for a problem that never existed.  Penetration is the most important feature in ammunition that you expect to stop in one shot.  Nothing is more devistating than a shotgun at close range.  I have a pistol handy, but, the shotty is not far away.  If I have to use my pistol, oh well.  If I can get to my shotgun, God help the sorry bastard that broke into here.

I want to use the most effective tool for the job.  That tool is a shotgun in my opinion.  A shotty is about a 30 yard weapon as far as I'm concerned.  Carbine is a 50-150 yard weapon and after that it's battle rifle, followed by bolt gun.  That's not to say that an AR wouldn't work, it has a lot of advantages, especially with the size of the magazine on multiple attackers.  Either way, I want the most effective tool, and IMO, that is a shotgun loaded with a 2 3/4" buck load.

Likewise, a rifle to me is a 50 yard plus weapon.  The sights are made to be lined up carefully.

A shotgun by definition is a gun made for quick short range shooting at fast moving targets.  That's why it only has a bead on it, so you can quickly point and shoot in a split second before you lose your window of opportunity.  That's why the stock and comb are set up so you can quickly shoulder it.

That's why people don't skeet shoot or bird hunt with rifles.  You need a gun that is can quickly point and shoot in a split second while the target is in view, and that's exactly a shotgun's purpose in life.

To me that's why a shotty is great for home defense where you might get a glimpse of a moving bad guy and only have a split second opportunity to score a hit.  And when you get that hit, you want massive devastation to stop them because you may not get off a second hit.

Also, if he hides behind drywall for cover, you WANT that penetration.

Quoted: Quoted: One thing that was stated that I do agree with:  Too many people think all you have to do with a shotgun is point in the general direction and touch it off........WRONG. A lot of people don't know anything about how well their shotgun patterns in close quaters. Another mistake people make is not being able to quickly fire the shotgun mutiple times, due to  the recoil.  This is a lack of pratice.  I see officers on the range shoot and pull the pump back 1/2 way then not get it closed all the way for the second shot due to the recoil.  (These are people with training.) How much training will average homeowners spend doing this? Anything can be good, just pratice with it. I use a 12g also, I don't have any training but I am a BIG man, 6'5" 320lbs (think World's Strongest Man, a little less muscle and a little more gut)and I work physical jobs. I can handle a 12g better than anyone I have seen. I have practiced shooting while moving, from behind cover, and from corners and doors. If anyone comes into my place they are gonna get 8 2 3/4" 00 buck loads before having to fight a guy most likely twice their size. Also the "rack the slide to scare them" bs.... why would you want to make more noise than you had to? EDIT: Because I am awesome at spellology

www.titansupport.com/people/hall/jackson.html

Magurgle:

Glad to see you pratice your tactics and shooting.  If you are into power lifting and such you may know one of my workout partners, Jason 'Action' Jackson?  He has 8 bench press records all drug free.  He's the guy on the bench, the guy in the white shirt is my other partner. We don't do Strongman events, just power........

Quoted: Likewise, a rifle to me is a 50 yard plus weapon.  The sights are made to be lined up carefully.

Not necessarily. A carbine can be an excellent close quarter weapon. Unlike a shotgun, and even a pistol, a rifle can make precision shots at close range. At that range, the difference between the sights and the point of impact is negligible, a couple of inches at most. One could easily take a bad guy holding a hostage.

This is why I have an AR15 16" with a 30rd mag next to my bad.

Edit: whoops, I didn't realize that this thread was a month old. sorry.