{"id":64745,"date":"2016-10-13T08:05:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T12:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/?p=64745"},"modified":"2016-10-13T08:05:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T08:05:19","slug":"gunfight-science-shotguns-suck-self-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/gunfight-science-shotguns-suck-self-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunfight Science: Do Shotguns Suck for Self-Defense?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It may be a controversial position to take, but that has never stopped me before. Gin is superior to vodka. Also, shotguns are not the end-all, be-all solution for self-defense. Especially not for new shooters. There are so many myths and legends about shotguns, most of which are about as true as that \u201cSecrets of Apache Knife Fighting\u201d VHS set that they use to advertise in the back of gun magazines. We were all young once, and that was a lot of lawns to mow back in 1993 dollars to pay for that. This one is on the house, though. Walk with me down the path Padawan and learn the strengths of the rifle \u2026 .<\/p>\n

\"Keeping<\/a>

Keeping a shotgun fed requires a very specific manual of arms, and these steps differ from model to model.<\/p><\/div>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong; a shotgun is absolutely lethal in the right hands. So is a set of nun-chucks though, and that is kind of the point. You have to make sure you pick the right weapon for you and your situation.<\/p>\n

I thought a lot more of a shotgun as an all-around tactical weapon before I started using one on the regular. 3-Gun ruined me on ever choosing one as my go-to gun. Yes, a slug or a well-placed pattern of buckshot will kill your ass dead. But that hit is harder to achieve than Hollywood would have us believe. Unless you are the good guy in this story of course, in which case the shotgun will just explode\u00a0couch cushions and appliances all around you. My TBI must be kicking in, that had nothing to do with anything.<\/p>\n

Anyway, we were talking about accuracy. One thing that has happened over and over again as I taught competition guys to use a shotgun was that I discovered they had never patterned the gun on paper. Tactical guys are even worse at this. Insanity to any bird hunter or skeet shooter, this is something that has absolutely been lost in shotgun translation. If you want to use a shotgun as your home defender, I challenge you to go out and actually see what your pattern does. Many a competitor has had his eyes opened once those BBs appear on a bullseye.<\/p>\n

\"Author's<\/a>

Author’s first shotgun, a Remington 870. Bolt is almost worn shiny from use.<\/p><\/div>\n

Not every shotgun has the same point of aim. Depending on rib height, intended use, and I would guess input from that manufacturer\u2019s pro staff, shotguns can pattern up to a foot different at 10 yards. Some you hold under, some over, some right on target. But you absolutely can miss.<\/p>\n

If you are looking at close range work, don\u2019t be wowed by the fact that birdshot will turn a cardboard target into confetti at 5 meters. Look at how close together the pattern actually is, and then translate that to how easy it actually is to miss completely. People rarely hold still while you shoot at them.<\/p>\n

While a semi-auto can be really cool and move a lot of lead fast, they can be unreliable when compared to a simple pump-action shotgun. They are much more reliable, but even they are not immune to jamming. When shotgun shells were getting very hard to find, manufacturers justifiably started letting some things out the door that were not exactly quality controlled. I distinctly remember opening all the new boxes I could lay hands too, from good ammunition companies, and being able to visibly see at least 1 bulged out or other non-spec round per box. I ran some through my pump action just to see, and on multiple occasions had to bash my buttstock on the ground to unstick the rounds. It can and does happen, and anyone that says they didn\u2019t short stroke a pump gun once or twice when they were learning, is a damn liar.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A variety of options available to feed your scattergun, from Federal Ammunition. Dummy rounds in the box for malfunction drills.<\/p><\/div>\n

Last but not least, let’s not forget manual of arms. A shotgun is many things, but unless we are talking about an over under, simple isn\u2019t one of them. If you really stop and think about the skills you need to run a shotgun, and fix one if it jams, it is a pretty complicated affair. An AR-15 is much simpler to run, more reliable, easier to keep fed, and all-in-all a better choice in my opinion. So, if you decide you want to harness the amazing power of a shotgun for home defense, then make damn sure you know how it runs, what it runs well, and where it hits. You would do the same with your rifle, wouldn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It may be a controversial position to take, but that has never stopped me before. Gin is superior to vodka. Also, shotguns are not the end-all, be-all solution for self-defense. Especially not for new shooters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":64750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,226,262,21,892,10,1],"tags":[132,586,805,108,640,628],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-64745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gunsamerica-authors","8":"category-clay-martin","9":"category-defensive-use-of-firearms","10":"category-columns-gunfight-science","11":"category-columns-home-defense","12":"category-shootbetter","13":"category-uncategorized","14":"tag-buzz","15":"tag-column","16":"tag-gunfight-science","17":"tag-guns","18":"tag-self-defense","19":"tag-shotgun"},"yoast_head":"\nGunfight Science: Do Shotguns Suck for Self-Defense?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gunfight Science: Do Shotguns Suck for Self-Defense? - Uncategorized\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/gunfight-science-shotguns-suck-self-defense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gunfight Science: Do Shotguns Suck for Self-Defense?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It may be a controversial position to take, but that has never stopped me before. 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Experience:\u2013 U.S. Marine Corps Infantry, Scout\/Sniper, and Recon Marine\u2013 U.S. Army Green Beret, 3rd Special Forces Group (ODA Comms SGT, Intel SGT, SFAUC Instructor)\u2013 Competitive Shooter \u2013 Master-ranked in USPSA Production, experienced 3-Gun competitor\u2013 Tactical Instructor \u2013 Extensive background in teaching carbine, pistol, CQB, and survival skills\u2013 Author \u2013 Fiction and non-fiction works on warfare, survival, and American resilience\u2013 2A Advocate \u2013 Defender of the Constitution and vocal proponent of gun rights\u2013 Outdoorsman \u2013 Idaho-based hunter, adventurer, and father of feral children and dogs","sameAs":["http:\/\/Off-The-Reservation.com","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/x.com\/wayofftheres"],"gender":"Male","url":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/author\/clay-martin\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/thumb_DSC02562_1024-150x100.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64745"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182002,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64745\/revisions\/182002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64745"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=64745"},{"taxonomy":"hunt365","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hunt365?post=64745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}