My night time HD shotgun is very boring. An Ithaca 37 in 16ga loaded with #1 buck. My daytime HD firearm is even worse, an old Rossi pump action in 22 Mag. You can laugh at the Rossi as a HD firearm if you want. However even when my kids were younger they could shoot that thing well. It is so much fun to shoot that it always went to the range with us. Besides, for the coyotes, raccoons and other vermin we are actually likely to be defending our homestead against it's a good choice.

I've never seen any review where the 22 Mag was rated as a defensive round out of a rifle though, but I would not want to face on.