Advice needed from all you Gun Gurus

[Gene C]

I've been lurking here on the shotgun forums for quite a while and I've become quite impressed with the amount of knowledge and wisdom here. So I have a question concerning home defense.

My wife and I just moved into a medium sized city, we have a lease with an option to buy on an older mobile home in a mobile home park. We have neighbors quite close on all sides and while home security is a top priority for me, the last thing in the the world that I want to do is to injure someone in an adjacent house because of stray gunfire should anything happen. I'd rather die myself than be the cause of injuring some little kid sleeping in their own bed in a neighboring house.

I am gun savvy, I own several, I have a Concealed Carry Permit, I've been raised since the age of 12 with guns and hunting, I'm a disabled Vet so I have had a lot of training etc, etc. I'm not a newbie when it comes to guns, but I also feel that no one is so good or so smart that they can't benefit from input from other knowledgeable sources.

My question is this: I recently bought a Saiga .410 hoping that a smaller shot gun might serve the role of home defense at the close ranges inside my home while cutting down the danger to innocent neighbors due to over penetration of walls and bad guys. I intend to load it with bird shot rather than slugs and buckshot, also to that end, and I have lots of backup in the form of handguns and other long guns should it be needed. I'm thinking that this may be one instance where bigger is not necessarily better.

So my question is-am I right or wrong? All wet or am I close to being on to something? Any comments or opinions or info would be gratefully appreciated, the posters on this forum have earned my respect so I will be happy to consider it all!
Thanks in advance!

[teeroux]

I think it is very considerate of you but birdshot is not so great for home defense except at very close range.

I think you might be better off using a handgun with a shallow penetrating round (hollow points or frangible) and place your rounds carefully, if you use the shot gun though chose the largest most powererful birdshot load available and dont forget that it will be pretty effective at livingroom distances but only good for the birds beyond.

[oneounceload]

in a mobile home, start with good locks and penetration protection to keep the invaders out. After that, YOUR safety and that of your family should come first....check out all the possibilities in your home - the longest shot inside, the shortest, angles, etc......then determine what is going to work best for you - shotgun, handgun, rifle....

Personally, I have a 357 handy....would a SG work?? In my house, yes....but MY preference is for the 357....determine whay YOU, AND your wife feel comfortable with, go to the range, practice, practice, practice

go from there

[hogdogs]

I have to consider that my house is a split plan and likely the BG would be between me and my kids... I have to be sure that my projectiles are slowed down by the BG's torso. I suggest you just make sure you hit where you aim to and use what you have. In your case the .410 loaded with buck minimum or slugs. That is just my opinion though and if it don't help you get a 100% money back guarantee...:rolleyes:
Brent

[Death from Afar]

THis is a good question, and you are taking a very mature atitude to this. I think you would be better off going to a bigger gauge. When using birdshot, at close rangfes pellet count is vital. Secondly, your patterns will stilll be quite small. Why not go to a 12 gauge, anmd stick to your birdshot? #4 bird will be ideal at conversation ranges, but you have less margin of error with a highre pellet count.

[Ghost22]

I'll start off by saying I don't claim to be a guru; just someone who shoots when he can and studies the rest of the time. I agree with the above post. While a .410 would be better than no gun, a 12 gauge shouldn't be counted out because of penetration. Pellet size and velocity are larger factors in a projectiles penetration than gauge. For example, while introducing a few friends to shooting I set up 2 small sections of 4” PVC water pipes. I shot one with 7.5 shot and it didn’t even penetrate both sides. The next one I shot with 00 buck and (as predicted) the pipe was reduced to small chunks. While not a formal test, it was a good demonstration of how you change the round to meet your needs. (Ironically, because there’s a nice family in the apartments across the walkway and a couple on the other side of a thin sheetrock wall, the 7.5s stay in my Mossberg’s magazine. I’ll step up a steel duck load after I get some pattern and function testing done). Some will surely attack me for recommending birdshot, but in tight quarters you don’t hear of assailants shrugging off hits. Once range increases, “hitting” turns into “peppering” and you’ll have to blind the bad guy to stop him. If over penetration wasn’t an issue, 1 or 00 buckshot is a better for antipersonnel use.
Also, keep in mind you can always buy reduced loads for a 12 gauge, but it will be harder to upload a .410. Slugs or the 3-5 pellet buckshot loads would help the .410, but you might as well use a handgun or carbine instead. If you do go with one of the handgun or carbine, load it with light-for-caliber and rapidly expanding bullets (assuming they function and are decently accurate). From what I read, Carbon Powerballs and Winchester Silvertips open up fairly quickly. I would still be careful of where you shoot because even hollowpoints will penetrate walls with vigor if you miss your attacker.
My 2 cents; feel free to disagree and be wary of anyone who demands you agree with them.
Finally, thank you for your service.

[schutzen]

I’m not a gun guru, just an old Dad who raised 4 children around guns.

Go to a larger bore gun, a 20 or a 12, the .410 leaves no margin for error. It will work, but it will not compensate for low light or stress induced marginal shots. I personally like the 20 gauge because my wife and daughter can handle it better. Next, forget the buckshot and slugs. At close ranges they penetrate walls. Use #4 or #2 lead shot. Two trailer walls (yours and your neighbors) will slow it down considerably or stop it. Next, arrange the furniture in your children’s room to serve as shields for stray pellets in the event of an in-house shooting. The head board for most beds will stop #2 shot after it has penetrated a wall or two. Finally, make sure your defensive firearm is secure. It sounds like you have small children. Get an inexpensive lockable metal storage cabinet and lock your guns up. After you get home, unlock the cabinet and hang the gun on a rack set high on the wall. In the morning, lock it back up so the children can not get at it. It is a pain to do it, but you will never forgive yourself if one of your children is hurt or killed playing with your unsecured firearm.

[tranks]

i just found this earlier today... www.firearmstactical.com (http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm)

it has some good info and backs up what some of the other guys have said already.