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Your Home Defense Load/Round Sequence?

2787 Views 29 Replies 1 Participant Last post by  ShotgunPro
What sequence of rounds do you use for home defense? Ya know, do you load your home defense gun with 100% 00 or do you load 2 shells of X and then 2 shells of Y and 1 shell of Z.

Also give your reasoning as to why you stage your Home Defense sequence the way you do.

I do not yet own a Home Defense Shotgun, but I have been doing a lot of reading and think I want to have a rubber slug as the 1st round out. Then followed up by 00 low recoil. Maybe a mix of slug and 00 in a shell holder on the receiver. But want to get as many user opinions as possible to aid in my final decision.

Thanks and hope this helps others in the future, because this was never something I thought about. Wonder how many do.
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My besty for life loads alternating rounds in his pistol. FMJ / hollow point. Me I don't care that much or plan that far ahead. My magazines are almost always full of what ever I shot from my last match. Maybe that will bit me in the butt some day hopefully not.
00 buck followed by 00 buck followed by 00 buck followed by... In the 12ga.

PDX1 followed by PDX1 followed by.... In the XD

Yea, I like 00 buck and 230gr JHPs....

Who Dat
Low recoil 00; currently Federal...if a shotgun was my choice.

A word on the rubber slug first shot: terrible idea. Pulling the trigger is lethal force, regardless of payload. And consider the possibility of only getting one shot; do you really want it to be something that won't stop a intruder undeterred by pain?
And consider the possibility of only getting one shot; do you really want it to be something that won't stop a intruder undeterred by pain?
+1 on that. There's no way to know if your only going to be able to get one shot off or not. It is best to make that shot count. I personally want to make sure it's lethal.

If you don't plan on eliminating the threat, then I don't think you should even be using a firearm for that role.

There are plenty of other things that are designed to cause pain. Just know that you are then stepping into a realm of legalities and possible lawsuits from said intruder.:rolleyes:
What sequence of rounds do you use for home defense? Ya know, do you load your home defense gun with 100% 00 or do you load 2 shells of X and then 2 shells of Y and 1 shell of Z.
I have my HD shotgun loaded with 5 rounds of LE132 15 pellet #1 buckshot. I also have a sidesaddle with 6 more rounds of #1 buckshot.
I have the house alarm set every night. Should it go off, my own plan is to grab my XD and make my way to the closet for the shotgun. Should I encounter someone in my bathroom, on the way to the closet, then my XD is my defense. If I make it to the shotgun without encountering an intruder, then I am on my way back into my bedroom. While I am doing this my wife locks the door and goes to the back corner of the room and dials 911. My child is to young yet, but their role will be to lock their door and stay in their rooms. This is a middle of the night scenario. If it were late evening, then the lights go out and my XD is always on me. Lights out because we know our house better than anyone. We can navigate in the dark without tripping on things, which an intruder would not be able to do. My personal reason for a rubber slug is in case my son, when he is old enough, does not follow the plan and some how gets confused for an intruder as his room is like most houses. On the other side of the house.

I like all of the current comments so far. I appreciate the criticism over the rubber slug. My view is this... If a slug dumping a large amount of energy on someone doesn't stop them, the 00 would have almost the same effect, just a bigger mess to clean up. That is if pain wasn't felt by the intruder. But I would keep pumping and dumping while the wife was calling 911. It's only the 1st round that would be potentially non lethal.
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..snip...

I like all of the current comments so far. I appreciate the criticism over the rubber slug. My view is this... If a slug dumping a large amount of energy on someone doesn't stop them, the 00 would have almost the same effect, just a bigger mess to clean up. That is if pain wasn't felt by the intruder. But I would keep pumping and dumping while the wife was calling 911. It's only the 1st round that would be potentially non lethal.
First off...unlearn the term "energy dump". It's a null term used by folks who don't understand wounding mechanisms. Blunt force trauma from your rubber slug will do the damage...however, it's not the type of damage that can be relied on to get a stop. Cops use these rounds in certain situations, and only when there's other cops there with guns loaded with REAL bullets for when it fails. You do not have that option.

Second--you assume you'll be granted the opportunity for more than one shot. Besides pointing out what "assume" means, I'd also point out:

Assumptions are awesome when they're actually right, but they sure can hurt when you're wrong.
From: http://www.xdtalk.com/forums/classroom/206340-my-gunfight.html

In short--the other person--that guy you're trying to shoot? Yeah--he's got a say in how things will happen as well. And odds are, it won't be the way you think it will be.

Remember--a person can cover 20 feet or so in well under two seconds. In reality, how many shots on target to you think you'll be able to get off?

So--why not make it a round that will actually make them stop because they've had deep, penetrating trauma to major organs and blood vessels, and (if you're lucky) CNS that will stop 'em in their track, and not a round that'll just leave a big ol' bruise?

Hey--your family, their lives....but, if things have gone so far sideways that I've decided I'm using lethal force...I'm gonna use lethal force, nothing less.

I'm not going to get into the legal can of worms you can open up using such rounds...but they are something to consider.
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All 00 buck in both the Mossberg and Remington

If I wanted slugs for some reason I'd grab the S12
PDX1 only in my xdm.
You realize this is the Shotgun section right?.....
I keep it simple, #4 buck in the magazine, slugs on the saddle. Trying to keep up with multi loads is a distraction. If I need a slug I can speed load it.
Cuda, thank you for the insight. I am not above learning and will take your information into consideration. I know I have a lot to soak in for home defense with a shotgun and continue to learn all the time. I have no doubt in my ability to take a life in the protecton of my family or my home. I have been a long CHL holder for close to 9 years and crossed that soul searching bridge a long time ago.

I have been through 1 defensive pistols course and will be going through another one this November. I will be going through at least 1 defensive shotgun course after I purchase one.

I do like the tactical loading of a slug with the magazine being full of 00. That may be something I consider in the future. I have to make it work for my home's layout and situation.

Keep the information coming guys!
Sounds like you have the right plan and any decision you make is yours alone to live with. The best thing you said so far is that you go to courses. Muscle memory is a god send when your brain shuts off. When you have 1.5 seconds to decided friend or foe and act accordingly the person with training and muscle memory has the advantage every time. Bravo Zulu for training.
mossberg 500 stays loaded with Centurion, Multi-Defense 2 3/4", Buckshot and .650" Ball. Combines the power of a slug with the spread of buckshot

The way my house is set up I have no worry of over penetration to other rooms so I would rather go with something reliable than an nonlethal round.
3" buckshot for me. From two manufacturers though. One red and one green. Merry MF'ing Christmas!
00 buck followed by 00 buck followed by 00 buck followed by... In the 12ga.

PDX1 followed by PDX1 followed by.... In the XD

Yea, I like 00 buck and 230gr JHPs....

Who Dat
This is exactly what I have also
000 buck with slugs on the saddle.
I have a Winchester SXP Defender that I keep 5 rounds of #4 Federal tactical in the magazine, on the side saddle I keep 3 00 buck Federal tactical pointed up and 2 PDX1 slug rounds pointed down. This way I can get what I need!
8rnds of Hornady TAP 230gr +p hollowpoints in the 1911

9rnds of Winchester mil grade 00 buck in the Mossberg with 5 more on the side carrier
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