We here at the ‘Grok all support the Second Amendment – and love to exercise it! So when Glen over at Instapundit ran this link, and TMEW and I having just "upgraded the armory", I had to go take a look at the post over at The Truth About Guns on self-defense shotguns.
Read the post, but the main points were:
Pump Action – "There are hundreds of stories of home intruders being scared away simply by the sound of a pump action shotgun being racked…Pump action shotguns have a feature that makes them ideal: reliability."
Short Barrel – The shorter the better. 18 inches is the legal minimum length for a shotgun without venturing into $200 tax land, but if you have the time and the money it might not be a bad idea to get the stamp and break out the hacksaw.
Attached Shell Holder – …Due to their massive size you can’t really load all that many into the gun at one time. So if you get into a protracted gunfight you may very quickly become screwed. The solution is simple: keep extra rounds on the gun…The other reason for a shell holder is to take advantage of both buckshot and slugs.
Pistol Grip – While the standard shotgun stock will work just fine a pistol grip makes the whole thing a lot more ergonomic.
Full Length Stock -The full length stock on a shotgun not only gives the shooter more control over the gun during firing but can also be used as a blunt weapon in a worst case scenario.
Ghost Rings – …A ghost ring sight uses a large ring at the back that the shooter looks through and a post in the front that the shooter aligns with the target. Not only are these more accurate than the bead sights but they’re often easier to use and faster to acquire than the other types.
If you want to know my ideal shotgun down to the make and model it’s a toss-up between the Mossberg 500 SPX and the Remington 870 Express Tactical.
As we are still neophytes (Rick is the real hardcore amongst here at the ‘Grok), we had asked Bob Gillespie over at Belmont Firearms & Range (Disclosure: I paid to have a membership) a few weeks ago what he would suggest to supplement our handguns. We ended up with a Mossberg 500 Tactical – so we are only missing the ghost ring that Foghorn suggested (but have the adjustable stock that will allow both TMEW and I to shoulder it comfortably). Instead, given what might happen in the middle of the night, we’re going to put a light / laser combo on it – why take the time to line it up when we can light them up instead?
Still, it was nice to see the validation and it IS fun to shoot!
