Quote:
Originally Posted by matt711
20' is a very long distance to engage from with a pistol. Most pistol engagementes occur at around 7 feet. If a bad guy is 20' away you are probably not in a legal use of deadly force situation. Unless the bad guy is armed with a long gun and aiming it at you and in that case your probably toast anyway.
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20 feet is indeed well outside of the typical "self defense" range. Many, many defensive situations call for holding the bad guy back with your weak hand while deploying the defensive arm with your strong hand. Especially in one's home, where the assailant is likely to surprise the homeowner.
As such, the shotgun is really a pretty poor home defense weapon. That close in, the assailant is likey to grab it and take it away at worst, or redirect its muzzle away from himself at best. It is very difficult to negotiate narrow confines, such as doorways and hallways with a shotgun while being able to defend your possession of it. With a handgun, one can lead with their weak hand, and even if it gets grabbed, maintain control of, and fire, the handgun with the strong hand. Many home defense situations begin with the homeowner in a bedroom and the bad guy down the hall in the living room, or somewhere else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by matt711
You could always look at at Taurus Judge 410/45LC revolver. They are making some very interesting 410 self defense loads now due to the introduction of this pistol.
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I cannot think of a worse self defense round than the .410 shotshell. Yeah, it sure looks and sounds all bad ass on the surface, but anyone who has tried to kill anything with one will tell you it is all show and no go. Failures to penetrate with .410 buckshot or other loads, even when fired from full length shotgun barrels, are too well documented to ignore. Even these new whiz-bang "self defense" loads launch too few projectiles that are too light to adequately penetrate. Oh, the ballistic gellatin tests look impressive, but hang a heavy winter coat in front of that block and the darn things usually stop on the coat. We've covered it here, and the firearms press has covered it as well, with the honest scribes admitting that the current crop of .410 revolvers are a very bad idea. Pure marketing hype, aimed at those whose only exposure to shooting is the movies and the only things they have ever killed live in
Grand Theft Auto.