hotshot said:
what do you guys recommend for best and quickest home defense for a woman
Hotshot, I would think a .410 would do nicely. Recoil is easily managed, and my 12 year old has her very own .410. She is about 8o lbs and 4' 7". For HD an 18" barrel and Mossbergs 12" LOP stock should work great. I'm so used to my 590A1, the .410 is a featherweight. Its super easy to handle, quick pointing and a very fun gun to shoot! There are plenty of load options available, from slugs, to buckshot. What ever you go with, remember, practice! Shooting makes for a better shooter, theres no substitue for practice and knowing how your firearm is going to feel when you pull the trigger.
AA12 said:
3rd their is really no need to aim at something specific for self defense...ie all you have to do is point the weapon in the general direction and more than likely there will be contact.
I strongly disagree with this statement.
Even a short barrel shotgun like the Serbu Super Shorty will @ HD ranges, 5 to 10 yards, produce patterns with 9 pellet 00 buckshot of about 8". More than 10 yards and pellets begin to stray, but we're talking like 1 or 2. A spray of lead that will "more than likely" make contact will only be more than likely putting a handful very small pellets on target. I wouldnt try to take a deer or even a coyote with bird shot, and I certainly wouldnt trust my life with it. Even bird shot can pattern tightly. Too tightly to not aim.
For example, my daughters .410 I mentioned, will pattern about 12" @ about 25 to 30 yards. This pic shows the shot pattern of 2 1/2 #6 bird shot @ 25 yards. This was the first time she ever pulled the trigger on this gun. She was so excited, she even made her own paper targets!
So you can see, theres still a pretty well formed column of lead, even at some range. At HD ranges, its going to be tighter. Just for comparrison, I put 9 rounds of 12 ga. 2 3/4" #6 bird shot through a 20" barrel at the same distance, all on target, and left a coffee can sized hole in her paper target.
Please dont take me to be disrespectful, forgive me if I am. But heres the thing, should you need to use force, your life, as well as others may depend on your aim. Also, check out this thread for further documentation;
http://www.mossbergowners.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=238
Happy shootin my friend!
Brad.