Shotguns suck for home defense. First off, they’re loud. Permanent hearing damage can result from firing a gun indoors, especially a shotgun. If you lose your hearing after the first shot, how can you hear if an accomplice is sneaking up on you?
They’re
long, even with a minimum 18” barrel, and difficult to tightly maneuver in a
doorway that’s just ten inches wider than the minimum shoulder-fired shotgun.
Don’t be thinking about getting a Mossberg Shockwave or pistol grip shotgun,
they’re illegal (and they
really do stink at home defense, seriously).
Shotguns don’t magically kill everything they’re pointed at.
Across a house, you might pepper two people with the spread. Then you have to
deal with over-penetration. 5.56, designed to “tumble” in flesh, does the same
thing on contact with drywall. The most common self-defense load, 00 buckshot, will
penetrate typical residential walls, potentially killing your spouse, children,
or neighbors. #4 buckshot is also dangerous. At least it’ll put a handgun
magazine’s worth of essentially medium caliber pistol bullets into your average
burglar all at once.
John Wick used a pistol. You didn’t see anyone grabbing that
by the barrel and pulling it away from him. Plus you can put a suppressor on a
pistol and not make it five feet long.
If you want to scare people with the racking the slide sound, just get a sound board app on your phone. Boy they'll be surprised when you Glock them in the face.
Have you thought about an M44 Mosin Nagant with the fold-out bayonet (an SKS will also work)? One jab in the chest is all that's needed to turn that home invader into a screaming weenie, no hot dog pun intended.
Oh, but what am I going to put my flashlight on? you object. Duh, use your other hand. Plus there are a bunch of rail options out there now for everything. Or just get a strobe flashlight.
