Sometime during the American Revolution, GEN George Washington is supposed to have told his Soldiers to load with buck and ball. You see, those muskets were smoothbore guns, more like shotguns than rifles, and a combination of a lead ball and buckshot was devastating. Actually, buck-and-ball loads were used even later in the Civil War, and by that time paper cartridges were devised to make loading easier and quicker. The fighting shotgun has a long, honorable history.
The late Joaquin Jackson, retired Texas Ranger, and I lived in the same town. Quite often we would get together for drinks, supper and gun talk. One evening he brought up the question of what you would have if you could only have one gun. He then promptly replied to his own question by saying it would be a shotgun. Loaded with proper ammunition, a fellow could take care of pests, collect food for the family and protect loved ones.
In rural America, many of us have a shotgun for a backdoor gun for the very same reasons that Jackson listed. Loaded with small shot, a shotgun takes care of venomous snakes and other undesirable critters. Chambering some buckshot makes it quite useful in dealing with the larger critters that might threaten the homestead and family.
As a home-defense gun, probably the most popular action types are pump and semi-automatics. However, especially in a rural setting, the double-barrel shotgun has its merits because one barrel might be loaded with small shot for small problems while the other barrel contains buckshot, giving the homeowner a quick choice of loads. And, while a defensive firearm ought to hold more than one shot, in the real world don’t discount the single-barrel shotgun; they’ve offered a lot of protection over the years.
When most folks think of a home-defense shotgun, they are thinking about a 12-gauge, and that is always a good choice. However, at the close ranges that most home-defense shootings occur, you should never discount the 16-gauge, 20-gauge or even the .410-bore. These smaller gauges are especially useful if smaller family members might have to use them due to less recoil [editor’s note: just make sure the shotgun itself isn’t lighter, or the felt recoil might be as bad as a 12 gauge].
One merely has to check out the ammunition shelves at the local gun shop to realize that there are any number of loads available for the shotgun. Number 6 shot is always a good choice for snakes and small critters, but one also has a choice of shot sizes going all the way up to duck, goose and turkey loads. And then there are a number of different sizes of buckshot that will do the job on black bear and human attackers. If that is not enough, there is always the slug, which is a powerful defensive round.
Some years ago, I spent some time with several men from Alaska. Their company provided protection from the Alaskan grizzly bear for work crews in the wilderness. Uniformly, their choice of bear medicine was a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun loaded with slugs. With a proper firearm and sights, slugs can extend the shotgun’s effective range out to something like 100 yards.
For a home-defense/personal-defense shotgun I prefer a pump gun. I like the barrel to be no longer than 18 inches for ease of manipulation. My preference regarding sights is a ghost-ring receiver style with a front blade that has a small white dot on it, because this combination gives me very quick acquisition and alignment. Mine has a six-round buttcuff to hold extra ammunition consisting of two slugs, two rounds of buckshot and two rounds of No. 6 birdshot. I’ve also mounted a simple sling on my personal gun.
One quickly notices that there are all sorts of accessories available for the defensive shotgun, and many can be quite useful. The problem is in getting too much of a good thing. You see, a loaded shotgun is fairly heavy before we start sticking other accessories on it. Extended-magazine tubes, extra sights and ammo carriers all add to that weight. One simply has to be careful and not overdo it.
And, by all means, it is important to practice with the defensive shotgun just like one would with any other firearm used to protect life and property. You can absolutely miss a man-size target with a load of buckshot. Shooting at different ranges will give the shooter an idea of how the shot load spreads at those distances and it will also indicate the extreme effective range. Test your shotgun to see what distance it will keep all pellets on a man-size target. Beyond that range, it would be wise to switch to a slug.
The fighting shotgun has been around for a long time simply because it is an effective defensive tool. If you are considering a home-defense gun, give some thought to the shotgun; always a good choice.
