Why Aren't 8 Shots Enough?

[Nittespanker]

8 shots are plenty for me!

[8MM Mauser]

Addressing the OP: Some people might think that or have said that to you because they believe it, and soem might have said it to you because they are trying to justify the $1500 they just put on their credit card. That's porbably why people say it.

As to the people who really believe it: they are probably thinking the situation through better and are less risk tolerant than those more comfortable with a lower capacity weapon. They understand that they might need more than 8 (or ten or six) rounds and assuming they can afford a weapon platform which provides this, why not have it?

Some might just be rambo's who want to go heroically bursting through doorways and stop the BG from taking their beloved blu-ray player.

As for myself: I think 6 rounds are probably fine in my shotgun because my house has a very convenient shape; my wife and I's bedroom and my daughters bedroom are reached by means of a hallway with only one way into or out of the rest of the house. I'm a light sleeper, i literally wake up multiple times every night from sounds like my neighbors door opening or my daughter sneezing, it sucks actually (and I am not embellishing), but it's reassuring to know that if someone breaks in I should have more than enough time to arm myself (my wife will retrive my daughter, who is literally ten steps from our bed and close themselves in the closet) and set up next to my nightstand, which has 50+ rounds of buckshot and 10 rounds of slugs as well as a clear view down the aforementioned hallway. I've trained myself to load rounds as I shoot by having my buddy throw boxes of 100 clays, one at a time, every 1-2 seconds (enough time to work the action) while I continue to load rounds from an open box next to me. I have trained myself to be an absolute machine from a kneeling position with a shotgun and a box of rounds next to me; and the hallway funnel's whoever might want to attack me into a "beaten zone" (if you will allow me this one embellishment...)

So why don't I have an AR? i can't afford one. I'm in college, I work a menial job, I support a wife and child; the $250 for my Mossberg 500 was a big stretch actually. I can't get the platform I want, so I have found a way to make a "lesser" platform work. Use what you can, i used to use a Mosin-Nagant when I had to pursue a bump in the night; 5 rounds loaded, bayonet fixed, no joke. Now I just don't pursue bumps in the night. I have a daughter, it isn't worth it, have my TV, I'll be at my "post" thanks, just leave my family alone.

All that said, the implication that 8 rounds from a Garand isn't enough is ridiculous; it's clip fed: carry more clips! It's not that hard to load a clip in one from what I have heard, I'm sure it's easier than single loading buckshot into a shotgun while in a firefight actually.

Also, to the OP again; it's probably not the same people saying "8 isn't enough" as the people saying "a shotgun is all I need." So you're question isn't really answerable in that sense. Why do people say it? Because it's what they think. The reasons for them thinking this is bound to be so varied as to be hardly worth exploring.

[Revolver1]

I got TWO shots says it's enough! Love, SxS 20ga Buckshot!

[GunXpatriot]

I'm thinking it's just the philosophy of "more bang for your BUCK" per round. I would still want the 12 because of what I would beleive would be a higher one shot stop and the fact that there is a margin for error. I mean, on the battlefield, of course I'd rather have a Garand or SKS, but if you're woken up, still half asleep, I just think you want that margin for error. Either that, or 30 round magazines in an AR-15.

It really depends on your situation... How far are the police? How many are attacking (biggest one, or a single shot .22 would do the job...)

What makes you feel safe? What are you most proficient with? Which is best suited for the environment? I think ideally, I'd want something like a Saiga 12 with a drum magazine...

[B.L.E.]

What makes you feel safe?

An army of heavily armed bodyguards, any thing less is a compromise.

[hooligan1]

I think () that it's relative to the task at hand, depends on my fighting position, distance of engagement, and loadings.
The scenarios run through my mind where both would rane supreme, but an ole gent told me once," i'd rather get hit by a thousand ping pong balls, than just one golf ball". it pretty much sums up the difference.
The Captain hit the nail on the head, when he refered to the Infantry matches, those men are wicked wicked men, for being in the physical shape and mind to get those rounds off "on target", and keep moving... Truly impressive.. Thanks Captain for making think about those matches...

[Doug S]

I dare say that if it were not for Internet forums and gun magazines, most of us would get through our entire lifetime satisfied with only a 6 shot revolver, maybe a shotgun, or the rifle of our choosing (8 shot, more, or less), without thinking twice about it, or ever realizing we were "undergunned".

[Art Eatman]

Amen, Doug S, amen. Good closing statement.

[Palmetto-Pride]

I dare say that if it were not for Internet forums and gun magazines, most of us would get through our entire lifetime satisfied with only a 6 shot revolver, maybe a shotgun, or the rifle of our choosing (8 shot, more, or less), without thinking twice about it, or ever realizing we were "undergunned".

You know I bet that would be true.....unless you were in a defensive situation and you just fired your 6th or 8th shot and the threat or threats weren't down.......at that moment you would probably be very unsatisfied with the amount of rounds you had and say to yourself **** I sure wish I had gotten something with a little more capacity......

[arch308]

What he said.