Home Defense Shotgun. To me, this makes more sense...

typically the sound of working that action will give people pause.

statured man could be a problem. That alone will probably slow down a second shot. Also at a living room distance, say 20 feet, a 12 gauge shotgun pellet load will be in one small 6 or 7" clump and missing the bad guy is very likely. At that range it more than likely won't spread to any extent. When we test fire shotguns that we work on, at 17 yards the pattern is less than a foot in diameter. So a total miss or just some periphery hits are very possible.

grabbed away in close quarters. You can keep it close to the body. But you live out kind of like me and a shotgun has it's place on the ranch. I could not find buckshot at affordable prices so I bought some magnum #4's. The 870 would fill the bill, I have a Mossberg too. MY daughter has a 19" Stevens 20 double with 3" shells that equal a 2-3/4" 12 load.

The new small defense hip shooting shotguns are a new element and with buckshot each shot is about like a burst from a European sub-gun. (#4 is .13 cal. and there are 135 to the ounce) It's a personal choice and a man's own hide. Pick your poison.

We used to keep a single shot .410 around for Ranch use. Things have changed.

Nothing larger than #4 buck. #7 is more than ideal. No penetration issues, plenty of pellets. Imagine the damages of #7 at 20'.

https://youtu.be/zaR1EVybUgc

One Mossberg 500, one Hr single Shot both with 18 inch barrels. Mossberg not that bad with 00 buck but its a whole different story with that single shot! Better hang on! Sure is handy though!

a Mossberg 590 loaded with #4 Buckshot. At the distances inside my house, it’s a highly effective mush maker. Seems to be the round of choice with law enforcement around the country for a reason.... and it’s had a good reputation for ending fights. I would guess the majority of us Misfits also have rifles and handguns within reach as well. As much as I love my Lightweight Commander in .45 ACP, my home defense handgun is a Glock 19......double the capacity, accurate, and exceptionally reliable. It is option #3. The AR-15 and Mossberg are the primary options. My dad kept a short barreled Model 12 loaded with 1 7/8 ounces of BB shot as our farm house gun and a model 94 in .30-30 as the farm defense rifle. I really couldn’t find fault with his reasoning.