The .44 Special thread got me pondering on tools for castle defense situations. Not offensive, "honey I'm gonna go clear the house!" type stuff, but "get into the safe room and defend yourself if you have to" type stuff. I have a 12 ga, and have been considering a 20 ga because my wife is not comfortable with the 12 ga. I've seen some YouTube videos of penetration demonstrations with shotguns and, despite the common argument that they'll penetrate less than a pistol, I see a lot of things I don't like in some of those videos (like buck going through two or three walls).
The .44 Special thread got me considering something I've never considered before: a rifle for castle defense. Not my .30-WCF 1894, but an AR platform with the right ammunition. I'm an AR novice -- I don't own one and I've never shot one. I have used an AK-47 once, and it was a blast (literally). But with .223 ammo that never became scarce, and the completely modular nature of ARs that allow you to build whatever the heck you want, they have some appeal to me.
What are your thoughts on an AR vs. a shotgun? My shotgun is a 20" Mossberg 12 ga with a 7-rd magazine, so it's probably about as "good as it gets" in terms of capacity and energy. But, again, it's a demon to shoot sometimes and I'm thinking 30 rounds of the right .223 in a more controllable gun might be good.
(We have absolutely no other use for the shotgun, by the way. Although I love guns and shooting, I'm not a hunter, and I just don't go out and shoot clay. So the ONLY purpose that Mossberg serves for us is castle defense. If there's a better tool for that, I'd trade the shotgun out and start to move in that direction.)
The .44 Special thread got me considering something I've never considered before: a rifle for castle defense. Not my .30-WCF 1894, but an AR platform with the right ammunition. I'm an AR novice -- I don't own one and I've never shot one. I have used an AK-47 once, and it was a blast (literally). But with .223 ammo that never became scarce, and the completely modular nature of ARs that allow you to build whatever the heck you want, they have some appeal to me.
What are your thoughts on an AR vs. a shotgun? My shotgun is a 20" Mossberg 12 ga with a 7-rd magazine, so it's probably about as "good as it gets" in terms of capacity and energy. But, again, it's a demon to shoot sometimes and I'm thinking 30 rounds of the right .223 in a more controllable gun might be good.
(We have absolutely no other use for the shotgun, by the way. Although I love guns and shooting, I'm not a hunter, and I just don't go out and shoot clay. So the ONLY purpose that Mossberg serves for us is castle defense. If there's a better tool for that, I'd trade the shotgun out and start to move in that direction.)