Pistol or shotgun ?

[Mark IV]

I typically have a pistol with a TLR-1 light mounted on it, as my go-to, bump-in-the-night gun. But, I also have a Mossy 500 loaded in the closet, also with a mounted light (though the pistol is always the first thing I grab).
If, for some insane reason, you were to decide to "clear" the house with an intruder present, I think the pistol is the better option, for several reasons.
First, it's smaller and lighter, so it's able to utilized more quickly, in multiple directions. It's also going to be less vulnerable to being grabbed and wrestled away. It also has more rounds, and fires them more quickly.
All that being said, you'd kind of be an idiot to wake from a dead sleep, and go creeping through the house in search of one or more intruders, that are likely armed.
Obviously, the wisest course of action is to call 911, and hunker down in the bedroom, in which case the shotgun becomes the better choice (with the pistol kept very close at hand in case of a jam).
Another obvious positive for the shotgun is that lead pellets present a bit less of an over-penetration risk, which is a consideration in a urban environment.

 

[CBStuard]

John Lovell has a youtube vid going over this question. Has a chart w/ maybe 8 needs and scores a pistol, an AR and a shotgun on each need. The AR wins by a good margin.

 

[ThrowinRocks]

M&P FS and a 1,000 Lumen flashlight. The light can pretty much disable someones eyesight long enough to take aim at a well lit bad guy.

 

[tattooo]

Pistol for sure, IMO rifle is a bit much for the house and the shotgun ain't loaded....lol

 

[richardw]

For me the shotgun is the best option. There are several reasons for this.

First, using buckshot at a close that blow a very devastating center mass wound. With more distance between gun and perp the pattern will more than compensate for situational curacyb complications like those from darkness, alertness, fadrenaline rush, fear, etc.

Second the pellets will not likely penetrate interior walls protecting people who might be in other rooms. Nor are they likely to penetrate windows with enormous enough force to strike anyone out side your premises.

Third if you use a short shotgun like the Mossberg 590 Shockwave (see photo) the gun will be closer to your body and more difficult for the perp to grab.

In Nam Marine fireteams often had one 12 gauge pump action with buckshot. In a close in firefight in heavy vegetation if. Shooter could be located but not seen the shotgun either cut down the vegetation until the shooter could be seen or penetrated it and wounded the shooter. It was a superb close quarter battle weapon.

 

[CalmerThanYou]

Both........

 

[Doug M.]

Whatever I grab first. Both my shotgun and AR have lights. The AR has better ergonomics IMHO, but the two long guns are on different floors of the house. My shotgun is loaded with slugs, which my academy taught as the default. Whatever you shoot best is the correct answer.

Now I'll go back to my default position on this: layers, darn it, layers. Make your home unwelcoming to the uninvited. 6' minimum fence, with locked gates and statutorily necessary trespass notice signs. No one needs to come to your door unless they were invited first, and the default response should be to call LE and have them arrested. If someone feels offended by that, they are not needed in your life at all. Floodlights on a timer or with a motion detector, as you wish. Dog(s), preferably LARGE AND LOUD, and of course inside the house. Any alert dog will give you notice; big loud ones give the intruder notice that they are in the wrong place. The dogs don't need to be protective by nature, but that helps. Doors should always be locked except to go through them. Period.

Enough layers and you really cut down the risk of burglary or home invasion, AND you make it really clear to anyone investigating that they entry had to be knowingly unlawful.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Handgun, my S&W M-27 4" or M-57 4", Ruger Security Six Stainless 6". Apartment dweller, close range-probably 10 foot max. The only other living thing in it is the cat, and she's pretty close to the ground. Hot 38s.

 

[alleycat7002]

Rifle or ar have too much penetration unless they hiding behind your neighbors fridge...ar will go thru walls...kill innocent bystander its a murder charge...

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[Americanpatriot]

Personal preference. In my opinion pistol would be the best tool in most cases with those types of situations

 

[80sgyrene]

Rifle or ar have too much penetration unless they hiding behind your neighbors fridge...ar will go thru walls...kill innocent bystander its a murder charge...

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Handgun and shotgun rounds will probably go thru more walls than my .223.
This is one of the biggest myths out there. Choose the right ammo and an AR is great for HD.

 

[alleycat7002]

Doubt that...had ar know what they do...shot old trailer full of junk long ways went clean thru out other side.

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[MackTech]

If I hear just a bump in the night , it's my 2.0 5" 9mm in my hand. If it's a crash , boom , glass breaking then it's a 8" barreled 9mm AR with a sure fire light. However my 85 pound Golden doodle will probably get there before I do and he's not to friendly when he's woken up in the middle of the night.

 

[richardw]

Handgun and shotgun rounds will probably go thru more walls than my .223.
This is one of the biggest myths out there. Choose the right ammo and an AR is great for HD.

Respectfully disagree. Dark room perp shoots at you. You need to aim to get a good hit to stop him. I shoot back with a 12 G with 00 shot. I don't need to aim. I only need to point and shoot. After 4 rounds he resembles Swiss cheese.

 

[Cheapskait]

Getting the C-pap & wrist splints off won't help.

You might want to leave the CPAP mask on, I saw my self for the first time last night (CPAP Night-2) stumbling into the bathroom in the mirror, in the dark I was a frightful sight.

 

[KSDeputy]

.45 by my bed.

 

[WR Moore]

Respectfully disagree. Dark room perp shoots at you. You need to aim to get a good hit to stop him. I shoot back with a 12 G with 00 shot. I don't need to aim. I only need to point and shoot. After 4 rounds he resembles Swiss cheese.

Point one: Obviously, no one ever does a search to see if this subject has been covered before. It has been beat to death several times.

Point two: drywall doesn't stop much of anything. The only thing I've found stopped by a typical interior wall is a .177 pellet at ~300 f/s. In actual testing, the FBI found that with 40-50 grain bullets, .223 penetrates less common building material than service/duty handgun rounds. Granted, that is still a lot of interior walls.

Point three: at room sized distances, you still need to aim a shotgun. The shot charge of a cylinder bore barrel expands about 1 inch for every yard it travels.

Point four: the handgun gives you one hand free to open doors, operate lights, help a family member or do other tasks and still be able to operate the firearm effectively.

 

[PPS1980]

That would be what I am best trained with to stop the threat. In my case the P99AS, loaded with 147gr HST, and a tactical flashlight.

 

[80sgyrene]

Stop with those annoying facts WR......

 

[richardw]

Point one: Obviously, no one ever does a search to see if this subject has been covered before. It has been beat to death several times.So? Dis ussion should not be inhibited because the discussion has happened before.

Point two: drywall doesn't stop much of anything. The only thing I've found stopped by a typical interior wall is a .177 pellet at ~300 f/s. In actual testing, the FBI found that with 40-50 grain bullets, .223 penetrates less common building material than service/duty handgun rounds. Granted, that is still a lot of interior walls.
no shotgun pellet that I know of weighs in at 40 to 50 grain. Oranges and apples are really different beyond color.

Point three: at room sized distances, you still need to aim a shotgun. The shot charge of a cylinder bore barrel expands about 1 inch for every yard it travels.
but you can aim Moore readily. At 12 feet my shotgun blast will expand to about 4 inches. A 9mm will start out and end up at .38 inches. Bigger holes in people work best.

Point four: the handgun gives you one hand free to open doors, operate lights, help a family member or do other tasks and still be able to operate the firearm effectively.

True but I am not going to use a directional light because it gives the perp a a target point. I am going to count on my night vision because I do not have to aim so carefully. As for helping others, if you are doing that before the perp is down, you might be getting killed not to mention those who you are trying to protect. I learned one thing during 4 Nam tours. At close quarters you kill the enemy before you help your own. If you do not you are not concerned trading on eliminating the threat, which is the key to staying alive and keeping others alive.

So that is how I see it working for me. Others disagree. I just have to trust my experience rather than the training people get from instructors who have never been in a gun fight. I polished my skills to fight in a house In 1968 in the battle for Hue City. It was urban combat and we had to clear a lot of houses and buildings. Yes, I learned the hard way.