Thats one reason I'm always amazed when people say they choose a shotgun for home defence because it is cheap. Is that how you value your life? And I know many people who if they do select a rifle balk at the expense of a decent one, or one that has been customized.( I,m a big supporter of SBR home defense guns).

My friend...the "proper tool" is a HIGHLY subjective thing! I have pistols distributed in safes throughout my house. That said, if someone surprises me in a part of the home where I don't have a pistol, you can darn well bet that I'll use whatever is available to defend myself. If that is a rifle, so be it! If that is a shotgun, so be it! If that is a 2x4, so be it!

Some of us don't have unlimited funds to stash weapons everywhere in our respective homes. Having families also limits options since weapons can't always be left unsecured. People who limit their options often also find themselves on the losing side of an encounter.

There are two kinds of people who talk about self defense online. Those arm chair commandos who read a lot of magazines and gleen the internet for their information but have never fired a shot in self defense. Then there are people who have had to actually use a firearm in self defense. Reading about it and doing it are two different things. Even with police officers only 3% ever have to fire their firearms in self defense over their careers. The same statistic holds true for the various branches of the military. The best advice I ever received was from an academy range instructor who had survived 7 gunfights during his career. That advice was to train, train, train with whatever you carry. Train until it's an extension of your body. He didn't care if it was a 22 or a 45, he surmised if you are proficient with your firearms of choice calibre didn't matter. The quote "a hit with a 22 is better than a miss from a 45" makes sense. True a hit with a 45 would be even better but my point is a 22 in trained hands even by an ignorant homeowner, will get the job done.
Imagine unleashing on an attacking home invader with an M&P15-22, I submit that you'd win that fight.

I would definitely agree proficiency more important than caliber.

I can drive a screw in a board with a hammer, but I would rather use a drill.

Just because a .22lr can stop someone doesn't mean it's the best option. I don't need an instructor to tell me that. When it comes to protecting my family, I don't want something that CAN do the job with years of experience, I want something that WILL do the job no matter who has to use it.

I agree with you completely. I was going to post the question, how many ppl in this thread have been forced to defend themselves with a firearm in the face of an aggressive attacker? Then I saw this post and it is a good post.

I am not sure of the type of weapon that will get the job done by someone with no training.

There's training, and then there's getting familiar with the firearm.

A 12 guage pump is pretty darn easy to manipulate. I took my sister out shooting. She knew how to use it and it didn't take an instructor or "training". Just a few pointers.

caliber, placement, penetration, etc. all play an important part. you want to do the most damage you can so go with what you can put the biggest hole consistently in the vital areas.

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od: xd9 3"&4", 15-22, 1911 .22

There is a large difference between a square range and a two way one.

I am magic with a shotgun. Like the lady in Kill Bill 2 I'm a surgeon with one. They are my favourite toy. In competition the other day I ran a stock Winchestet 1897 pump and was only a couple of splits off the winning semi auto. I've still messed up the pump and the loading. That was just under the stress of competition.

It is much harder to mess up a self loading rile. Put some thought into the setup and you'll have a more user friendly system.

Yeah, I get that, but in the real world not everyone's family is going to train for the situation.

I'm not saying the shotgun is the best option, I'm just saying that IMO the .22lr (especially a semi auto) is just about the worst. Like I said before, I've shot a gopher that was smaller than my shoe three times with my 15-22 and he still wasn't dead (missed the head). That was with a decent rest off the front of my four wheeler, not in the dark with my adrenaline pumping. Do the same with a shotgun and there's nothing left.

Anyway, this one went way off topic so I'm done contributing.