20 GA for Home Defense

Remington 870 20 ga. Youth model for Pigs and Home Defense

I'm reading that 00 shot is not available or effective load --from a patterning standpoint --for a 20 ga. but if i use #3 shot, is it effective on farrell hogs (and other animals like coyotes or human intruders?)
I just bought a Remingon 870 Youth for the shorter barrel for pigs and home defense at my country home -- my "lot" is 18 acres, but only 400 ft wide so i am also concerned about overshot safety issues -- lot runs up a steep hill so 400 ft wide and 2000 feet deep

I like the lighter weight of the youth gun for my arthritic shoulders! But could convert to a 12 ga. assault rifle type if necessary to get the right ammo for the pigs

I'd use my 9MM Kahr for inside security so looking to the 20 ga. for outside use only
 
I got my two 20 ga shotguns to teach my two boys how to shoot and handle weapons properly. That morphed into a home defense once they grew up and left the nest and yes, you can get buck shot for 20 ga. I have mine loaded upstairs right now and extra rounds handy with my SP101 beside me on the table. The Ruger is to allow me to get back to the 20 ga.

Lots of firepower, much more than a .44 magnum without the undo penetration issues. Great choice for home defense especially if you have neighbors close. Using anything with high penetration just isn't the way to go if you can help it.

In addition, I have two hearing protection ear muffs beside my wife and beside me. I am trying to train my wife that if anyone ever tried to break down our bedroom door to reach first for her hearing protection and go to a safe location in our master bedroom. We have our door barricaded so we should have enough time to do those chores. My first mission is to reach for the weapon closest and then get my ear protection on if time. God forbid, I hope we never have to put these things to the test. I have spent a lot of money trying to keep the exterior security as beefed up as possible in the first place. If they breach those barriers, then the last barrier for them to breach will be several rounds of 20 ga buckshot coming their way.
 
There are two 20 gauge guns loaded with #4 by my bedroom door. I practice with both regularly and one of them is my turkey gun.

Sounds of gasping from the audience as they realize turkeys die just fine with 2 3/4" shells and #4 shot from a 20 gauge.
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Shot size isn't as critical as being able to hit with that shot and at in house ranges a boogerman isn't going to like to get hit with any shot or slug so get what she can and just shoot till she is a competent shot and intimately familiar with the controls of her gun. Dark thirty in the morning is not the time to be trying to figure out where the trigger disconnector is or which way the safety goes in order to fire the gun.
 
If I had a 20, I'd use it with good ammo. And there have been some good suggestions. But I'd not specifically buy a 20, I'd buy a 12. A 12 guage doesn't necessarily kick harder than a 20. Most 20's are built on smaller lighter guns and by the time you get sufficient ammo loaded in the smaller 20 guage gun it will recoil just as hard, if not worse than a 12.

You buy a 20 guage gun to have a lighter, smaller gun to carry for miles each day hunting, not recoil reduction. It is easier to buy a 12 and find reduced recoil ammo, than a 20 with ammo good enough to get the job done and still have less recoil.
 
Do you mean #3 Buck Shot? Outside 8 yards... less than Buck is left as last resort ammo...
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You may have a tougher breed of bad guy in Florida. All my #3 shot rounds are steel shot and the soft skinned sissies up here would get punctured and bleed out just fine. Not all of us live in houses where buck or slug is a good idea and we have to compromise for family safety. We may not cut anybody in half or send his entrails flying across the yard with our #4 or #3 or BB shot but at ranges under 20' we can stop an attack if we have to.
 
I bought an 870 20 gauge youth for my young son and don’t see a big reduction in recoil over and 870 12 gauge. Perhaps the gun is just too light to offset the recoil. He will shoot one box of target loads before he is ready to call it quits for the day. When I use the gun with 3” buck shot, it kicks quite a bit more. I put a Blackhawk adjustable stock on it so it fits us both (he is 4’3 and I am 6’3) and hope to see some improvement in felt recoil for him (I miss looking at the wood stock though). Perhaps a full sized 12 gauge with reduced recoil loads would have been a better choice.
 
About time to circle back here. Dianne did purchase a 20GA Mossberg combo set. Hopefully that means she'll get involved in more than self defense, but she is focusing on SHTF with Obama's administration in.

She's followed up on ammo suggestions here.

Thanks all.
 
You could always get a 20gauge to 44magnum adapter for it :)

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