Home Defense

and won't practice

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Cannot recommend a gun, how bout a good rolling pin until she decides to practice manipulation and shooting skills.

I had a hockey coach that always said you play exactly how you practice.

So basically you need to practice otherwise you wont know what youre doing when "game time" comes.

The type of gun wont matter much unless she knows how to use it.

A SxS cowboy gun in 20ga is most likely the simplest most effective shotgun going. Won't take much to make her very dangerous with it. But she will need to do at least a little shooting.

Best shotgun for home defense, with a wife that weighs 120 and won't practice much. Its for when I am gone.

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The very best shotgun for a wife that weighs 120 lbs and won't practice is the one brought to the scene of the crime by the first law enforcement officer who responds.

mossberg 500 20 or 12ga with 00 buckshot and as open a choke as you can 0get. in home defense its a point in the general direction of the intruder and hes going to get hit kinda gun
but seriously its a good, reliable, cheap, and low maintinence gun that a drunk monkey could work.

Isn’t it obnoxious when you ask a question and nobody gives you a straight answer? For a smaller person such as a lady you would probably want a 20 ga for its reduced recoil. I think the Remington 870 comes in a 20 ga. Although I do strongly recommend that you encourage your wife to practice shooting as often as she can.

Yup, Apmilton, that's why I gave him a straight answer.

Neither a shotgun nor any other firearm is a magic wand, no matter whether it's 12 gauge or 20 gauge or whichever manufacturer made it. I've seen people miss with shotguns. I've also seen people who haven't shot one in years do really bad things such as forget its manual of arms, forget how to take off the safety, and forget how to hold the thing--all this with their own shotguns they've forgotten how to us. They probably won't remember it any better under the stress of being awakened from sleep by the sound of someone break into their home.

So I don't believe in encouraging people to think that they can defend their lives with a shotgun they don't practice with. It seems to me a good way to lose one's life and, perhaps, the shotgun too.

Far better, I think, to confront reality. Someone who won't practice with a firearm probably would be better off looking for other ways to protect themselves.

Remington 870
12 Gauge
No Magazine Extension
Short Stock (12-13")
Good Recoil Pad (Limbsaver)
Low Recoil 00 Buckshot
PRACTICE!!!!

20 Gauge shotguns are lighter, but there is are no low recoil #3 or #2 buckshot loads in the 20 gauge AFAIK. There is no reason why any adult woman cannot handle a 12 gauge, and there is no reason to downgrade to a 20 gauge just because shes a woman. Proper form, fit, and shell selection makes the 12 gauge the better choices.

I'm not saying the 20 gauge is bad, but its nearly always recommended for a woman without a good reason. The 12 gauge can be tailored much better than the 20 gauge to nearly any shooter.

If I'm understanding the scenario correctly, I think the money would be better spent putting a steel door and heavy bolt on the bedroom closet. Drop a phone line extension into the closet and set up a cheap phone. Put a flashlight and standard first aid kit next to the phone.

Of course it wouldn't hurt to have a shotgun in the closet if the door were to be breached.

If there is an intruder, the one advantage your wife has is that she knows the house and can retreat to the "safe room" and call for help.

Yup, Apmilton, that's why I gave him a straight answer.

Neither a shotgun nor any other firearm is a magic wand, no matter whether it's 12 gauge or 20 gauge or whichever manufacturer made it. I've seen people miss with shotguns. I've also seen people who haven't shot one in years do really bad things such as forget its manual of arms, forget how to take off the safety, and forget how to hold the thing--all this with their own shotguns they've forgotten how to us. They probably won't remember it any better under the stress of being awakened from sleep by the sound of someone break into their home.

So I don't believe in encouraging people to think that they can defend their lives with a shotgun they don't practice with. It seems to me a good way to lose one's life and, perhaps, the shotgun too.

Far better, I think, to confront reality. Someone who won't practice with a firearm probably would be better off looking for other ways to protect themselves.

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Quoted because Robert Hairless hit it right on the head. If one chooses to own a firearm for self defense then one must also accept the responsibility to train in both the use and safety aspects of that firearm. If they don't want to do that then firearms are NOT the answer for that person.

I wonder about the 20 Ga.: a 6 pound 20 will kick harder than an 8 pound 12 Ga when shooting roughly equivalent loads - not difficult given the wide selection of reduced recoil 12 Ga offerings.

That said, I do not find the "no gun" advice to be the slightest bit snarky.

My limited training and practice in a home defense context involves a semi-auto handgun. Hence my HD weapon is a pistol. All the internet debates, articles and arguments that a revolver, shotgun or rifle might be "better" don't impact me because the software is written around the pistol. I could probably make do with a shotgun but limited numbers of little clay disks don't strike me as proper preparation.

My wife has MS and can't practice with any firearm - when she's home alone the "hardware" consists of dogs, an alarm company, a cell phone and neighbors and the neighbor's dogs. Oh, and an African Grey Parrot that can pull a reasonable imitation of a WWII air raid siren - and often does, when we're trying to sleep.

I used to be one of those folks. I was raised around firearms all my life.
I was never in the military.
I thought I knew all I needed to know.
My family was in the Jewelry business. We all carried firearms to work, and kept them handy around the shop.
Then, a few years ago, a good friend invited me to to with him and a few others to the range. Man, these guys were good. I was obviously way behind.
My friend began to tutor me, and I ultimately decided to take a class from Tom Givens. I have subsequently taken a couple more from Bill Davison.

What I have come away from every class saying is "Man, I don't know s**t from Shinola."

Now after 3 classes many thousands of rounds through pistol and shotgun, I feel moderately competent.

This has led me to the exact same conclusion that Robert Hairless and ZeSpectre have arrived at.

If one is not willing to learn to be proficient with the weapon (whatever it is), then they are probably better off without it.

If one cannot achieve the mindset that whatever action they take with that weapon will likely result in the loss of a human life, then they are probably better off without it.

Thanks ZeSpectre.

A desperate situation is the only time a more-or-less average person will use a shotgun for home defense or personal protection. That's when he or she will be under extreme stress. It's not a good time to try to recall how things work.

My own thinking is that if someone breaks into my home and tries to kill me or my wife it's Nature's way of telling me that this is not our lucky day. Instead it's the kind of day when we'll want every possible way to attempt a reversal of our fortunes. Standing around trying to figure out how to work a gun we've used from time to time but not often, while a serious threat is actually upon us ... that's not the most profitable use of our time. Firesafety3's advice is much more sensible.

I don't think anyone is served by advising someone that an unfamiliar 20 Gauge is much better than an unfamilar 12 Gauge, or that an inept user of a Remington will succeed where an inept user of a Mossberg might not. I'm mindful of Global247's revision of "won't practice" to "won't practice much," and of his subsequent revision of that to "I know that everyone should practice, unfortunatly with life as hectic as it is (for everyone), getting all the practice you would like is hard to fit in. She will know how to operate the gun safely, and we will be able to practice every once in a while, but not much." If there were a way people could be sure to operate a gun safely without practicing much, the person who discovered that way would be giving advice instead of asking for it.

Life's a bitch. I want an airplane so I can fly it whenever I need to take a long trip. I'm really too busy to take flying lessons or to spend much time in the air practicing. You know how things are. So what airplane do you recommend I get?

Three days ago Global247 posted essentially the same question here under the title Apartment Defense.

And what airplane do you recommend I get?

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This one:

I would not discount the lowly .410 gauge - those 3" magnum .410 shells with five pellets of 000 buck end to end are nothing to sneeze at.

The H&R Tamer (.410 or 20 gauge) or Survivor (.410/.45LC) are inexpensive, reliable, easy to use and a whole lot better than a sharp stick.

Not tacticool, not enough for zombie hordes or a Canadian invasion, but very few burglars or peeping Toms are going to stick around after the first shot.

Life's a bitch. I want an airplane so I can fly it whenever I need to take a long trip. I'm really too busy to take flying lessons or to spend much time in the air practicing. You know how things are. So what airplane do you recommend I get?

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Ercoupe.

My dad had one in the 50s - no rudder pedals, wouldn't spin, probably easier to learn than a shotgun. It was, in a word, boring.


My lunchtime contribution to thread veer.

Yup, Apmilton, that's why I gave him a straight answer

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I do not disagree with your point, but my point still remains. You did not give him a straight answer. What you gave him was an obnoxious answer that could have been a very simple statement such as - “I don’t think your wife should have a gun for SD she doesn’t practice with to the point of proficiency”.

If you say my answer was obnoxious it must be so.

You recommended a 20 Gauge Remington 870 with a suggestion that he encourage his "wife to practice shooting as often as she can." An unfamiliar 20 Gauge should recoil much less than an unfamiliar 12 Gauge, so your advice is technically very good and most gracious too.

But if she can't figure out how to hold and shoot either of those shotguns should she need to do so, neither of them will produce any recoil at all and they won't make any noise either. In that case it doesn't matter whether she is not shooting a 20 Gauge or not shooting a 12 Gauge.

If she can't practice often enough to use the gun to actually defend her life, at least she'll feel safer unless she needs to do that. What might happen then is of less concern than suggesting that the need to practice isn't really important. Practice is good if you can do it. If it's too much trouble there's no need to bother about it.

She could even rack the slide of the 20 Gauge shotgun to scare a home invader away, assuming she had practiced enough to remember how to do that, and assuming that the home invader is scared away. If not, she hadn't practiced often enough or she needs to get a better class of home invaders.

I reccomend a hi-point carbine. Its cheap (to buy and feed), it works, its easy on the shoulder, and its fun to shoot, so she's more likely to practice.

I would say go to the gun store close your eyes and pick one. Don't buy any shells for it though, they are dangerous when you put shells in them.

The Remington 870 is not a complicated device.

Mine has an 18" barrel with open choke and #4 buckshot (40 pieces of .24 caliber lead balls). Safety off/bang/kachink/bang/kachink/bang etc.

Originally posted by The Silver Bullet 1719:
20 Gauge shotguns are lighter, but there is are no low recoil #3 or #2 buckshot loads in the 20 gauge AFAIK. There is no reason why any adult woman cannot handle a 12 gauge, and there is no reason to downgrade to a 20 gauge just because shes a woman. Proper form, fit, and shell selection makes the 12 gauge the better choices.

I'm not saying the 20 gauge is bad, but its nearly always recommended for a woman without a good reason. The 12 gauge can be tailored much better than the 20 gauge to nearly any shooter.

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I canNOT agree with you more. Add a Knoxx stock to the equation for its adjustibility and recoil absorption and I think you have close to the ideal setup.

...there is no reason to downgrade to a 20 gauge just because shes a woman.

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Yeah. Don't EVER underestimate a woman. Nothing good can possibly come out of it!