Shotgun vs. Rifle: What’s Better for Home Defense?
Rob PincusDescription
PDN Executive Director Rob Pincus answers a question he’s asked a lot. Shotgun vs. rifle: what’s better for home defense? He has a definite preference and explains his reasoning. Then on site at the Bristlecone Shooting, Training and Retail Center in Denver, Colorado, Rob gives a live-fire demonstration with both weapons.
Semi-Auto Rifle
His personal preference is for a medium-caliber semi-automatic rifle. He likes the AR-15 platform and has used it for a long time. He has done a lot of rifle training and practice with it. He chooses the semi-automatic rifle for its precision, controllability, magazine capacity, ergonomics, and recoil management. He finds a semi-auto rifle much more controllable than a 12-gauge shotgun.
Shotgun
But in the shotgun vs. rifle debate, a 12-gauge shotgun can certainly do a lot of physiological damage to a home invader and cause the desired stop. Be sure to use the right kind of ammunition, such as the Winchester Defender Slug and Buckshot load. Some slugs are designed for self defense and there’s also buckshot that is specifically made to keep a tight pattern, for personal defense and armed professional applications.
One of the greatest advantages of the shotgun is variety of ammo choices. One of the biggest limitations of the shotgun is capacity. Though high-capacity shotguns exist, in the context of home defense, where you want a relatively small, light and maneuverable firearm that you can reload quickly and efficiently, Rob does not find the shotgun to be as easy to use as a semi-auto rifle. If you choose a shotgun, get some shotgun training to prepare yourself for a home-defense incident.
Shotgun vs. Rifle Live-Fire Demonstration
Rob then fires a round from each weapon. The buckshot fired by the 12-gauge shotgun looks much more impressive than the single round fired by the rifle, yet Rob still prefers the rifle for its additional round capacity, ability to place those rounds precisely, and ease of reloading.
Rifle or shotgun, which is better for home defense? Obviously this is a question that we get asked a lot. Now my personal preference is to go with a medium caliber semiautomatic rifle. I like the AR 15 platform. I've used it for a long time. I've got a lot of training, a lot of practice with it and it doesn't mean that I couldn't use a shotgun. I couldn't use a lever action and AK type firearm but this is what I choose. Now the reasons that I choose the semiautomatic rifle have a lot to do with the precision, the controllability, the magazine capacity and the ergonomics. Also recoil management. If you think about when you shoot a 223 or a 7.62x39 rifle round out of a firearm like this, I find it to be much more controllable than firing a 12 gauge round out of something like this. Now the 12 gauge shotgun fired out of this gun is going to be very capable as a home defense round. It's going to probably cause physiological damage that'll cause a stop. Of course, we wanna use the right kind of ammunition or there's something like the Winchester Defender's slug and buckshot load. We've got a buckshot round that comes from just about every manufacturer out there. That'll go into this shotgun. Of course, we've got other types of slugs that are made for the shotgun. Some for hunting some for personal defense. And of course you've got buckshot that's specifically made to keep a tight pattern for personal defense or armed professional use as well. One of the greatest advantages of the shotgun really does come down to the versatility and the variety of ammunition that you have. A lot of people talk a lot about that, but for home defense I'm gonna pick one round. I'm gonna know what it is I'm using. I'm gonna have that round loaded or stage next to the shotgun. And that's what I'm gonna choose. Now, one of the biggest limitations of the shotgun of course is going to be capacity. Now there are higher capacity shotguns. There are magazine fed shotguns. You can see some competition shotguns. which will hold a lot around and you can see some people on YouTube reloading them very quickly. But in the context of home defense where you want a relatively small, relatively light gun you wanna be able to have controllable recoil management and you wanna be able to reload quickly and efficiently preferably without looking at the gun, maybe while moving, while hiding behind cover, while crouching behind something. I just don't find the shotgun to be as easy to use. Now, as far as what the shotgun does, let's take a look. I'm gonna put my eye protection on. We'll put around in there. Now when you see that, you see that a bunch of rounds, bunch of pellets this is number four buckshot put into that target. That's an impressive looking demonstration. And we know that that can be very compelling. One shot, lots of holes, tight group. That's gonna fill a chest. And number four buckshot is certainly the kind of round that's been recommended for home defense or personal defense for a long time. Some people will even see it used in armed professional capacity. Now the problem with that is that's one shot that looks very compelling, very impressive. We look at one rifle shot. It's not gonna be as impressive. We'll take a look at the other target right next to it. That one rifle shot is not nearly as impressive as that one shotgun round. But the difference is I've still got almost 30 rounds left in this gun. Another difference is if I need to be more precise I can obviously be more precise with that single rifle round than I can with that buckshot load coming out of the shotgun. Now you can put a slug in there. You can be more precise. You can put instead of a cylinder board barrel on there you can put a full choke barrel on there and become even more precise. But ultimately with the rifle, that ability to be precise is going to be superior to the shotgun. This is also going to be a lighter and easier to use long gun. When it comes to firing rounds, let's take a look at a multiple shots string into that same target. I can quickly and easily fire multiple rounds with this AR 15 type rifle. Where I can't with the shotgun. Also, if I fired that many rounds out of a typical shotgun, I'd be ready to reload. The reloading process for a shotgun is cumbersome. If you think about it, what we're gonna end up with is a gun that's locked open. We have an empty chamber. We can do one of two things. We can come back, grab around, dump it in, hit the button and get ready to shoot. That gives us one more shot. Or when the gun's locked open we can take rounds and insert them into the magazine tube. Inserting them into the magazine tube. Well, once we get it in there we then need to close the action, rack the action, or if we have a pump shotgun, of course that action's gonna be open. We're gonna put it into the tube and then we're going to have to close the action. Come back in, push it forward. If we racked the action and fired a shot with a pump shotgun, to get the indication that we needed to shoot. We've also now got a whole extra set of maneuvers we've got to go through. So whether you're using a semi-automatic or a pump shotgun reloading is going to be much more cumbersome than it is with the AR 15 type rifle. Shooting, shooting, shooting. I hit bolt lock. I would obviously drop that magazine out with a push of the finger, find my other fresh magazine, come back up. Find that magazine well, insert this magazine firmly. Make sure it's seated. Run the charging handle, and I'd be ready to fight with another 20 plus rounds of defensive ammunition. I think you can make a compelling argument for the shotgun is a good home defense tool. Personally, I'm gonna choose the rifle almost every time. If you do decide to go for the shotgun, don't fixate on the 12 gauge as the only option for many people. 20 gauge is going to be the better choice because it's going to be lighter. It's gonna be easier to shoot, easier to practice with. You won't have as much variety for rounds, but remember you're probably gonna pick one and stick with it. You can also fire those follow-up shots faster out of the 20 gauge than you can the 12, if that's the route you decide to go.
20 gauge cuts down a lot on the recoil and still has significant number of pellets (9) with #3 buckshot.
Good information. However, Rob did not address cartridge penetration, as others here have indicated. Having a shotgun loaded, safe, and readily available is my option. His 5 rounds of 5.56 vs. 5 rounds of 12GA will be quite different. My humble opinion!
Although I also choose the rifle over the shotgun it needs to be mentioned that there are semi auto shotguns that use magazines much like the AR-15 shown here.
We all have opinions, don't we? I live in a semi-rural environment on 8 acres with lots of space between houses. I Alison have more than one firearm with 9mm and .45 with up to 20 rounds. The big bump in the night leads me to a Benelli pump loaded with 8 rounds with a 6 round saddle, then 911. It is only my wife and I and I have no intent to clear the house. I have a position where I see both internal and external doors and anyone thru either gets the buck shot. Sheriff will know I am armed and where I am.
I am much more for a PDW like a P9. It is small short and much less likely to be taken away. It has a much greater ammo capacity and the small bullet doe not over penetrate. Who is using comes into play. Not every member of a family can use a 12 ga safely or effectively it has a hard recoil. The AR-15 and P9 do not. With about 80% of the population in an urban living situation of the with the other dwelling sharing the same wall over penetration is a problem. A legal "hunting shotgun" is way too long for small spaces. Many have only 3 shots(hunting laws). While I am sure many readers do practice. I would guess most of the population does not. If a shot gun is unloaded and must be loaded under stress there is no guarantee that whomever is defending will grab the correct shells.
As many have said, you spent a lot of time talking about different shotgun loads, but then you completely ignored ammo choice in the AR. There is a reason FBI developed soft point loads for their use, not the commonly available FMJ type loads. It would be good if you reminded people of those choices, as they have the option, while the military (as a whole) is limited to just the FMJ, which has shown to be a good wounding cartridge, but not necessarily a good 1 (or 2) shot stopper without that very precise shot placement.
What's a good home defense .223 round? I assume there's a bunch of hollow point/frangible ammo - what do people suggest?
Excellent comparison. Another consideration to make the rifle the better choice is the ability to penetrate body armor, something that bad guys may have on. Personally I use a Keltec PLR16 .223 with a suppressor. Nice and short for clearing a room, plus the tac-light and laser make seeing an intruder easy. Also eliminates the need for the Peltors and would allow me to hear footsteps or conversation. Keep up the good work.
One round of buckshot delivers multiple projectiles. There is no contest, in my opinion, between a shotgun and a .223 caliber weapon. The shotgun is clearly the deadlier weapon. Most people are shooting FMJ .223 also with little or no expansion compared to lead BBs in the shotgun shell. Also, look at the area covered by the shotgun blast. I don't know what Rob was smoking that day.
I appreciate that Rob has framed his answer in terms of his preference and explained his reasoning rather than treating that preference as something that came down from Mount Sinai on a tablet of stone (as all too many do). I have both AKs and tactical shotguns. I think a lot would come down to circumstances, some of which you would not know in advance.The biggest tactical advantage of the shotgun is the greater likelihood of a one-shot hit and a one-shot stop. Major practical advantages of shotguns is that decent pump shot guns can be had for substantially less money even when there are a glut of ARs on the market like there are today. In addition they have not been banned anywhere in the US so far. I suspect however that the reason Joe Biden spoke of using a double barreled shotgun was that pump shotguns would have been next on their list if they had succeeded in banning "assault weapons"!