You can have one gun for home defense...

Your wife is the wild-card here. How much firearms experience does she have? My wife spent fifteen years in the private security field and can run anything you hand her.

For some situations I'd recommend a 20-ga. over a 12. Less recoil and still very ballistically effective. Or, reduced recoil 12 gauge.

Remington and Mossberg make the best budget priced pump guns IMHO. I prefer the Remington, but I've been running one for a quarter century and it's just pure comfort and familiarity at this point. I understand Remington has been having some QC issues, so buyer beware.

If you can fine one of the old 870 Police Magnums on a used gun rack somewhere, they are easy to configure for optimum defensive applications.

 

I'm old and also old school. Stainless steel, short barrel, pump action shot gun. Point and shoot.

 

I approach the what Gun question from another angle, first remember the bigger the gun, the louder the sound, this is only a reminder, not a do not shoot statement.

I highly recommend choosing a handgun and extensive training and practice, so far the S&W line seem rather good for most people as far as fit.
A mixed camp, Glock is used by most Law Enforcement agencies, I use them, so there is that.
Springfield Arms makes some good offerings as do others.
Practice is important.

 

But who's "lights out" if during that "involuntary flinch response" they start pulling the trigger on their gun. You mention "target confirmation", that concept generally only applies to the person on the defensive. The guy breaking in to your home doesn't usually worry about target confirmation. He is generally willing to shoot first and it seems a light just gives a target.

Personal preference; I know lots of people who have them.

I am familiar with my surroundings and also know that no one should be in my space during periods of darkness. I keep a flashlight next to my home defense gun.

 

so whats your feeling on handgun in that situation?

 

I do not like to mount extra stuff on my guns, I went through that phase of mounting excessive stuff on my guns, then finally realized a loaded up gun is cumbersome and unwieldy, I prefer a svelte gun.

A good quality light is great, not mounted oon the gun, I like the various streamlights, the one cell LED modern small lights after years of carrying bulky War club Maglights ©

 

There's some truth to what you say; but taking a load of 12 ga. buckshot to the chest can create a "flinch response" too; but you're right that if you don't have to use the light you don't.

 

Every situation is different. All else being equal I think a shotgun is a fixed position gun; i.e. you know there's an intruder, and you and your family are in the safe room and someone is on the phone calling for the cavalry while the shotgun is kept trained on the door. The handgun is for addressing the bump in the dark where you're not sure what you're dealing with and you need to go investigate. A handgun is easier to maneuver with, leaving you with a hand free to do things like open doors.

 

good points...I dont see my wife investigating. I see the former situation. Goes to safe spot...kills anything that comes through the door. Ok sounds like shotgun..right? what ammo do you recommend to stop any thing at the door with quick reload.

 

In situations I seem to be able to act regardless of the past; I don’t hesitate second guessing myself. It is the after math... the quiet moments that occurs and the why’s start, particularly why did I make it and someone else didn’t. ...always leads to more questions. I find I take more responsibility and more risk because I am willing to add to my burden before letting it plague someone else. But, I don’t like getting into details, too much to relive, but I have run into others that have seen through similar.... don’t have to share with them....we both just know and that is something shared without words. An understanding that cannot be explained.

 

Remember that a shotgun will be left in one spot, a safe, and ignored for ages, a handgun at least can be carried in a holster, and is present most of the time.

 

Good choice. Yeah, I've put some bells and whistles on mine, but I would feel perfectly safe with a "plain Jane" 870. Damn good choice.

 

Hey there, AA. The answer, of course, depends on what your wife can handle and whether she's a "gun person" or not. Not knowing anything about her, a couple of things came to mind ... a 20 gauge shotgun or perhaps one of those S&W Governor guns that can shoot .410 shotshells or .45 Long Colt. I've never fired one ... don't know what the recoil is like.

https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/model-governor-0

Here's a cool idea. Get the 20 gauge model and use the short barrel for home defense. Put on the long barrel and take her trap shooting!

https://www.remington.com/shotguns/pump-action/model-870/model-870-express-combo

 

Regarding lasers and flashlights, I understand the thought of a light revealing your location. But, like anything you have to think through a senario and how to use them effectively.
In the case of a flashlight, one role might be to search in the darkness, the other as 6Gunner notes, is understanding how to use the darkness and a flashlight to advantage. Going from black to having a bright light in the eyes is disorienting, requiring a period of recovery for a bad guy where you have a margin of tactical advantage if applied at the opportune moment. And, it gives you a margin to verify your target as a bad guy or a friendly (close up, a laser’s slight scatter can as well). I am a big believer in tactical distraction in many situations of self defense. At home, most people can navigate their abode in near or close to near darkness, thus have a tactical advantage over strangers. Further, remove the night vision of a bad guy and you multiply that advantage. 6Gunner, describes well that advantage.
As for lasers, many of my guns, several located strategically thoughout my place, and have, as does my HC45c bedroom gun, a Crimson trace trigger guard laser that is activated by squeezing a button on the handle using a natural grip. The advantage over night sights is that it doesn’t require a perfect stance and sight alignment to work, something not always easy to do in the dar amid obstacles, it can be activated and used effectively even from an off-balance or weakhand position shooting around/over obsticles, and has as mentioned, a small, but important split second ability to help identify a target, particularly when you are night sight adjusted (a little light goes a long way ifvyour night vision is established .. try it). I like both, On my AR and my M500, I have red dots. You can’t be tracked, and with your eyes night adjusted, in your own home, you have the advantage.
The one time a big,,young fellow tried to break in my place during the day, I had just finished cleaning my HK up in my office. As he was coming in the back kitchen door, I don’t think he saw me just the gun coming down stairs. He was pinched, still running several blocks away, having left his car nearby, after a morning of burglaries.
Home defense planning isn’t just for the proverbial bump in the night senario, there are also are kick-in invasions, the, knock on the door stranger in need deception, getting in the car, carrying groceries, ... day.. night... mutiple possibilities, possibilities many don’t think about because home is supposed to that safe place. So, if I had only one gun, it would be a handgun, 9mm or larger cal that could be at hand in the broadest number of situations, likely with a Crimson Trace.
One thing I do always carry is a NAA .22mag pug with a CT like laser, not much larger than a lighter, that is always in my pocket generally everywhere I go. Goes along, almost without thought, as EDC stuff like my wallet, phone, keys, etc. If, surprised at home without immediate access to a problem solver and it doesn’t solve the problem, it will give me time to get something that does.

 

thanks..it looks like a 20 gauge is the way to go. Thats the second auggestion for the same thing.

 

You do realize while a shotgun with appropriate training is a part of a defense stratedgy, a handgun and training is the other half of the equation.

A shotgun is more likely to be inaccessible when many scenarios present themselves, a handgun in addition is more likely to be accessible in time of need, holstered or in small easy to open fingerprint safes that can be placed in strategic locations around the home and the handgun transferred to any safe conveniently and easily.

Shotguns tend to take root and stay in one place.

 

yeah, I guess Im after all that logic.

 

Uh, yeah.
You asked for all that logic....
Sarcastic much ?

 

I wasnt being sarcastic at all.

 

Well it sure did sound that way.
"yeah, I guess Im after all that logic."

 

I was affirming your logic and stating Im soliciting those very responses so I can make an informed decision. If it came off as sarcastic, I apologize, that was not my intention.

 

Oh, then I was wrong....
I also apologize.

 

Thank you for your failure to address the OP in any way shape or form.

 

Correct re shotgun, if rarely used. I have a old M500 in one location always stored loaded, periodically checked and cleaned; it is simple and utterly reliable, but is my artillary reserve, other weapons staged as my primary, always stored in a consistent manner. There are some that have multi role guns (I.e.,a shotgun for hunting and Sd, or a pistol used for CCW and home defense) where their guns move about depending on last use... in other words is not always stowed in a consistent, assessable location. Precious moments can be lost remembering last location of your weapons, accessing them, knowing their condition (loaded or not, chambered round or not, extra mag or not, flashlight or not, etc.).

As I posted earlier, I have almost always have a NAA pug in my pocket, and do at the moment...it’s an unconscious thing. Additionally, within my immediate right now reach is a G26 (with a G17 mag) and a Kahr PM9 in their normal storage locations when not in CCW use. (I was raised in a very dangereous neighborhood and while in an upscale area, the area is not infrequently targeted for buglaries and break ends from nearby impoverished neighborhood opportunists).

I and my better half used to do a home defense seminar (optional force on force training in a old converted house) covering a broad number of topics for a home defense strategy. Some included are;

Weapon ammo options and selection (can change depending on situation)
Necessity for consistency
Types of preparedness
Accessory options (flash lights, strobes, extra ammo, etc.)
Attire considerations (for instance, footware)
Mindset
Surprise recovery methods
Legal considerations
Safe place defensive strategies vs active clearing (note, you can’t hide forever)
Likely types of senarios (bump in the night vs ....)
Senario planning (bump in the night vs kickin invasions)
Clearing tactics (solo vs team)
Communication (both internal, 911, first responders)
Threat assessment considerations (figuring locations of family, threat probabilities, listening, etc.)
Situation Awareness (what’s normal, what’s not)
Target identification (family vs bad guy/s, inadvertant family member coming home, accidental entry)
Withdraw/Escape strategies vs stand and fight
How to add train/use four legged pals in defense layering
Consistency with everything from weapons storage, phone locations, safe area designations, etc)
Single person, couple, children considerations (weapons storage, safe areas, communication, drills, etc.)
Staging / layering security strategies
Day vs night, inside vs outside
Training, drills, defense visualization
Force on force home defense training senarios

And, more.
Obviously, at least to me, there are a lot of considerations for developing a home defense strategy. But, like fire planning, most don’t plan or even think about their strategies or tactics...they are in their SAFE place, their home...so they wing it. This can apply almost as equally to those that train incessantly for CCW defense situation outside the home as those that don’t.
So, having one or any number of guns for home defense, is only part of the equation, Planning is an important part of a successful home defense, If you have a partner and children, planning/training, particularly if you have children, compinding factors, it is an important, almost always overlooked consideration. Winging it is not much different than leaving it to luck because when TSHF you are likely to be the fan. Even without an active training regime, thinking through (and discussing with family) various senarios, response tactics, etc. will better prepare one than leaving it to the Gods of fate. Even my girls, at a certain age, were trained for situations when they were home without us.
Is this paranoia? Or, being prepared? How many people venture into the woods, desert, mountains for a short hike and the unexpected happens.... who makes it out and who doesn’t? Being prepared means you aren’t constantly feeling paranoid about the unexpected; you are prepared to handle it.

 

There was a time when I had a
Remington 1100 around me most of the time even in the car.

Yet, even then, it was not always in reach, my sidearm was.
Just that a long arm, especially to a non gun person is likely to be out of reach when most needed.

A handgun is more usually always accessible.
Best to have good training and easy lock box access and holster use.....