Broken out to this page since 11-15-05
Broken out to this page since 11-15-05
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I have a Mossberg 500 Persuader 8 shot with a 20 inch barrel. I load up with Federal LE '00' buck loads and 6 Federal LE 1 oz. slugs in a side-saddle. I have added ghost ring sights, a heat shield, and a forend tactical light. The shotgun is by far the deadliest close quarter weapon ever invented. Hope this helps.
All the big names are good. I suggest a pump action AS SHORT AS LEGELLY POSSIBLE. For indoor situations you dont want your barrel hitting the walls as you swing around to confront a intruder. The tactical mag light is also a plus as it lets to ID your target, and if the light is on target so is your shot.#6 shot is plenty for close up home defence. The short double barrel ( coach gun ) is also a good and simple choice, but has it's obvious limitations.
The military is a
poor example for the private citizen arming herself for self-defense; the
military generally restricts itself to FMJ ammunition. The US military switched
from .45 ACP to 9mm Parabellum because of a NATO commitment; the .40 S&W did not
even exist at the time.
We certainly
could get sidetracked into the "great ballistic debate," deep penetration vs.
"energy transfer." Unfortunately, that topic is like religion - we can argue
about it forever and convince virtually no one.
The US Border Patrol selected a 155 gr. .40 S&W round after having had good
results with the 110 gr. JHP in .357 Magnum and the 115 gr. JHP in 9mm +P+. They
did so because they wanted to retain the high energy level that had given them
good results in the incapacitation department while improving their ability to
penetrate barriers like windshields and pickup truck tailgates.
If you really think that you need that level of penetration, that may be a good
choice to emulate. If, on the other hand, you are concerned with situations
where the assailant may be trying to maneuver inside your home or on a street,
where your round could exit the assailant and strike a bystander, you may do
better to emulate the choices of an agency like the Secret Service and go with a
lighter bullet at high velocity for shallow penetration (e.g., 110 gr. .357 or
9mm +P or +P+).
(The USBP, by the way, seems to have some complaints about their Beretta 96D's
not standing up very well against the high-energy 155 gr. .40's.)
Ha! I'm certainly no expert! Check up on a guy named Evan Marshall. He is an ex cop that did ballistic studies on every police shooting where data was available for the last 800 years or something. He gave percentages for "one shot stops," not kills, just where the cop fired one round only and the felon was stopped and the gunfight was over.
It's been several years since I read any of his articles, but I do recall that the .357 Magnum was the best round at something like 93%, meaning that in all of the shootouts that Marshall studied, those in which the cop used a .357, 93% of the time they fired only one shot to end it. The .45 ACP and 9mm were both very close at 80 or 82, I think, well behind the .357. The .40 S&W had not been around long enough to do any analysis, so it was excluded.
But, common sense tells you that the best power in a pistol cartridge is achieved when you can get the biggest bullet moving at the fastest speed: .45-big bullet, but slow; 9mm-small bullet, but fast; .40 S&W-big bullet AND fast.
I have also seen Evan Marshall's data on one-shot stops published recently in some gun magazines. In general, he shows that the best brands and bullet designs of 45ACP and 40 S&W have very similar performance, giving about 92% to 95% one shot stops. The best brands and bullet designs of 9mm seem to be in the 85% to 90% range, with the "+P" 9mm giving the best performance.
Based on this, one might conclude that the 40 and 45 have a small advantage over the 9mm, but not a very significant advantage. The one shot stops really start to fall off with some of the other calibers, like 38 special (66% to 80%, depending on barrel length), 380ACP (70%), and 32ACP (62%). But the venerable 357 magnum is still up around 95% in the Marshall data.
This is not necessarily a completely accurate statement...The SpecOps community very much tries to stay consistant (and not waver from a standard "service wide" loadout...). We just happen to train on a more frequent basis and the compatability of the weapons used (depending on the job or training environment) that is what dictated what we used...9mm can be used in both the H&K SMG (MP-5 9mm) and the standard 92F Baretta side-arm...We could carry more ammunition going with the 9mm than a .40 weapon, and the bottom line is in a CQB environment we trained for head-shots...
You are just as dead from a head shot from a .22 as you are with a .40 or .45 for that matter...And from a bean-counters viewpoint 9mm in most regards is cheaper than .40 for now...We were also consistant on that actual weapons issued to us, so we shot more consistantly as well...I have yet to have seen or heard from any of my cohorts that the Navy has gone to .40, on any deployment or exercise...But if you asked us, we usually don't complain any when they want to get our opinion on a new toy...Later, Steve