Do find a shotgun an essential prepper gun?
1 - 20 of 95 Posts
Joined
·
1,368 Posts
I like A then C because of fewer moving parts to go wrong. C offers better rapid fire than A so depending on the type prepping is your focus you might want to go with C then A. I think having easy barrel change between short and long might be major factor.
Joined
·
2,886 Posts
YES. Especially for noises that go bump in the night. You may not get an ideal sight picture at night. Don't need one with a shotgun.
Joined
·
2,417 Posts
A shotgun is a very versatile tool because of the many choices in ammo, barrel length, and chokes. With the right ammo it can take any game in North America and lend itself well to self defense. It's simple operation means it is easy to teach and to get a novice proficient in its uses.
Thanks for making me ponder that thought long enough to evaluate.
I have rifles for small game, rifles for large game and rifles for numerous, hostile targets. I have handguns for all occasions and can't seem to stop accumulating them (I might need an intervention). Along with these weapons, I have a small handful of shotguns. All but two are nothing more than sentimental relics from my youth, but the two are fairly new Mossberg mdl 500's. A 12 for me, and a 20 for the wife.
If I have all bases covered with other weapons, why the shotguns? Why do I have mine loaded with slugs and resting on against the bed post on my side of the bed?
Because I am a grouchy old bastard and aim to punish the rogue who is so lacking in civility that he is willing to break into someone's home.
Maybe I ought to re-evaluate my poor attitude that does not fit my purported Christian ethics, morals and principles. :mrgreen:
I have rifles for small game, rifles for large game and rifles for numerous, hostile targets. I have handguns for all occasions and can't seem to stop accumulating them (I might need an intervention). Along with these weapons, I have a small handful of shotguns. All but two are nothing more than sentimental relics from my youth, but the two are fairly new Mossberg mdl 500's. A 12 for me, and a 20 for the wife.
If I have all bases covered with other weapons, why the shotguns? Why do I have mine loaded with slugs and resting on against the bed post on my side of the bed?
Because I am a grouchy old bastard and aim to punish the rogue who is so lacking in civility that he is willing to break into someone's home.
Maybe I ought to re-evaluate my poor attitude that does not fit my purported Christian ethics, morals and principles. :mrgreen:
Joined
·
15,808 Posts
I like shotguns. Buy them used and they are cheap. Ammo is cheap, even the .410 that people seem to deride.
I've got single shots (farm tools), double barrels (farm tools), pumps (for serious stuff), and even old bolt actions (for fun).
My latest aquisition was a 1940 H&R Game Gun, a 16 ga bolt action w/tube magazine. I traded an Ithaca Model 66 Super Single 20 gauge for it.
My funnest one is a 1970's era Mossberg .410 bolt action with C-Lect choke. And it would be a great squirrel gun, too.
My wife's shotgun is a Winchester 1300 pump 20 gauge ($165 used).
My "Prepare To Repel Borders" gun is a 1970's Ithaca 12 gauge Featherlite Deer Slayer Police Special, 20" barrel, cylinder bore, rifle sighted. That is as tactical as this old boy gets. Right now she's leaning just inside the bedroom closet door loaded with OO buck with a butt cuff with 5 more rounds.
Oh, and I am so un-tactical my bedside hand gun is a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt.:mrgreen:
I've got single shots (farm tools), double barrels (farm tools), pumps (for serious stuff), and even old bolt actions (for fun).
My latest aquisition was a 1940 H&R Game Gun, a 16 ga bolt action w/tube magazine. I traded an Ithaca Model 66 Super Single 20 gauge for it.
My funnest one is a 1970's era Mossberg .410 bolt action with C-Lect choke. And it would be a great squirrel gun, too.
My wife's shotgun is a Winchester 1300 pump 20 gauge ($165 used).
My "Prepare To Repel Borders" gun is a 1970's Ithaca 12 gauge Featherlite Deer Slayer Police Special, 20" barrel, cylinder bore, rifle sighted. That is as tactical as this old boy gets. Right now she's leaning just inside the bedroom closet door loaded with OO buck with a butt cuff with 5 more rounds.
Oh, and I am so un-tactical my bedside hand gun is a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt.:mrgreen:
Joined
·
1,028 Posts
Because I can expect 100% reliability every time. I've been shooting 12ga. pump guns and break opens for over 32 years and have never had a single fail to fire in tens of thousands of rounds. A 12ga. slug will drop a deer like a bad habit at a hundred + yards, or blow the hinges off any door in front of you. Use a selectable choke barrel and somewhere between the 2 3/4" #8 shot, and the 3.5" magnum shells you'll find a perfect round for killing anything that walks God's green earth. As simple to clean and maintain than any machine could ever want to be. And even the craziest crack head is going think twice when looking down a barrel as big around as his eye ball.
No matter what the problem. AA-12 is the answer.
No matter what the problem. AA-12 is the answer.
Joined
·
1,820 Posts
I can't think of a single good reason to NOT have a couple of shotguns.
Joined
·
15,808 Posts
A 12 ga single shot, a single action revolver and a stout knife on the belt, and just spending quiet time in the woods.
I like to sit and be still, after 5 or 10 minutes the animals start moving around again. I don't kill anything but time.
And it's real hard for me to find anything that enjoyable. It brings out the frontier ancestry in my blood.
I like to sit and be still, after 5 or 10 minutes the animals start moving around again. I don't kill anything but time.
And it's real hard for me to find anything that enjoyable. It brings out the frontier ancestry in my blood.
Joined
·
1,028 Posts
Joined
·
4,071 Posts
It might be said, that a drawback to shotguns is their lack of distance, but it can also be said one of the greatest things about a shotgun is their lack of distance. That bad guy intent on doing harm in your home, a shotgun is all you need to change his plans, but you go shooting that high powered rifle the possibility of putting rounds outside your home somewhere you don't want them to go is real.
That cold winter morning when you're out trying to put food on the table, and you kick up that rabbit who is leaving the area in a zig-zag high rate of speed, keep the rifles, give me a 12ga with #4 or #6 shot.
That cold winter morning when you're out trying to put food on the table, and you kick up that rabbit who is leaving the area in a zig-zag high rate of speed, keep the rifles, give me a 12ga with #4 or #6 shot.
Joined
·
15,808 Posts
Agreed. If you have neighbors you do not want to put a projectile thru your wall, or thru the perp, and have it go across the street, thru your neighbors wall and kill him while he's watching TV.
Joined
·
6,086 Posts
The shotgun is the most versatile weapon in any arsenal. It will kill food that is small, medium, large and dangerous. It will stop a man - even in full body armor at close range and with the correct load you can even disable a target behind a car with one shot. (bouncing 00 buck under the car) It is by no means perfect at all the jobs it can do but it can do all the necessary jobs except snipe a target at 200 yards or more. It is an ideal home defense weapon because it is easy to point in the right direction and hard to point accidentally at your spouse when he/she surprises you. With bird shot it will easily kill an intruder at the ranges inside your home but you still have to aim it at those ranges unless you practice a lot.
It is the first weapon a person should own and learn to shoot. I learned to shoot a pistol first, then a rifle and finally a shotgun - I still cannot force myself to keep both eyes open and have a hard time hitting birds in flight - with any of my shotguns. (I have hit a grouse in flight with my 3006)
It is the first weapon a person should own and learn to shoot. I learned to shoot a pistol first, then a rifle and finally a shotgun - I still cannot force myself to keep both eyes open and have a hard time hitting birds in flight - with any of my shotguns. (I have hit a grouse in flight with my 3006)
Joined
·
1,655 Posts
I wouldn't mind one of those myself. I could patrol my yard from the comfort of a chair and a glass of lemonade.
Joined
·
15,808 Posts
Too much work. I just open the door and let the dogs loose.:mrgreen:
I think the best all around survival firearm has to be the 12 ga single shot shotgun. Survival, not home defense, not anti- raiding bands, but survival.
Years ago The Backwoodsman Magazine (20+ year subscriber here) had an article on native tribes deep in the Brazilian jungle who rely on such weapons to hunt and even do battle with other tribes. They did no maintenance, when an ejector broke they used a stick as a ramrod. If the locking latch broke they used rawhide wrappings that they could slide back and forth to open the breech or hold it closed. old nails can make firing pins.
The Backwoodsman has, over the years had articles on making your own blackpowder (one recipe used chicken manure) and reloading shotshells with blackpowder using home made tools.
As long as you have primers you can keep an old single shot running.
1 - 20 of 95 Posts
