The Gun Counter

I have debated many acquaintances, including some on this board, as to the relative merits of shotgun vs. rifle.

Here is a tactical lesson on rifle vs. shotgun: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... dress.html

Let's forget that both parties engaged in "friendly fire". It could just as easily have been the other way. It could really have been bad guys trying to get into the old man's house.

Shotgun is not an effective stopper; rifle is. If you are not sure enough of your target to hit it, hold your fire until you are. Then remember "BRASS" and don't miss.

Shotgun is an effective stopper with the right loads, and when used correctly. If you're going to stoke it with #8 birdshot, don't expect much from it.

Loaded with #4 buckshot, and not trying to shoot through a closed door, is a kettle of fish of another color.

D5CAV wrote:
Shotgun is not an effective stopper; rifle is.

Bullshit. Let's look at the round(s) fired from the shotgun before we jump to that hasty decision. #7 through a glass door = fail. Buck or slug are a completely different story. A 1 oz slug can take down a grizzly...I'd hardly call that ineffective.

rightisright wrote:A 1 oz slug can take down a grizzly...I'd hardly call that ineffective.

At least one friend of mine used one to do just that.

Is it time for someone to trot out:

You can't miss fast enough to win a gunfight.

Pffft.
You load a shotgun with birdshot and act surprised it doesn't do much.
Anybody want to stand here and say a 12-gauge with buckshot or slugs won't drop a buck deer in his tracks at 30yds? And you need to deer hunt with an AR because the shotgun has no stopping power?
Home defense shootings will happen in tens of feet at the most. If it's hundreds of feet it's no longer a home defense shooting.
I've personally expended many rounds against various targets such as car bodies. At 20 feet, birdshot scoured the paint off the panel and left a wide dent. 00 buck left a fist sized hole in a car door and destroyed the seat... The slug punched through both sides of the car.

You assume only LEOs will have body armor?

That might be a fatal assumption.

D5CAV wrote:You assume only LEOs will have body armor?

That might be a fatal assumption.

I can play the what if game too. You assume the bad guys won't be wearing plates capable of stopping your rifle rounds? Dunno about you, but if I have to go for a head shot on a moving target, I would sure rather be using my cylinder bore SBS loaded with buckshot than a rifle.

evan price wrote:Pffft.
You load a shotgun with birdshot and act surprised it doesn't do much.

We haven't even't gotten into "cut shells" yet. And yeah, it's a thing, a redneck/cajun thing that I used to use when I was an economically challenged yoot. It turns birdshot into a slug out to about 50 yards, and when it hits, it acts like a frangible because it is.

I keep my HD shotgun loaded with Winchester PDX.