Is 5 Enough?

Is 4+1 enough capacity for a 12 gauge defensive shotgun?

  • Yes

    Votes: 40 74.1%

  • No

    Votes: 14 25.9%
  • Total voters
    54
  • Poll closed .
M

Model12Win

Moderator
Is 5 shots of 12 gauge enough for a defensive shotgun? I use a Remington 870 Police with standard 4+1 capacity but am not sure if that's enough. What are your thoughts? Am I doomed? Is it sufficient? Am I all alone in preferring the balance and feel of no extended mag tube?

If you don't think 4+1 is enough, please let us known what capacity you would feel comfortable with for defense.

Discuss!

PS: This is discussing 4+1 shotgun capacity for civilian self defense, not for law enforcement or military work.
 
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Well, it sort of depends. I suspect for most home defense situations it should be fine. However, if you were defending a business that might be targeted by criminals you might want more capacity. Like everything evaluate the risk and respond accordingly.
 
My one bed gun is an Ithaca 37... four round tube.

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It is adequate... if five rounds will do the job. Home defense that isn't going to result in a tactical team raiding your house... it is fine. How many people over the years have used plugged hunting shotguns as defensive firearms, being they didn't want to pull the plug out for an upcoming season?

Personally, I wouldn't feel undergunned with a double barrel, as long as I felt proficient behind it. A five shot shotgun that you can run is leaps and bounds better than a 15 shot KSG that you don't know that the selector in the center position will shut off both tubes.
 
The average "gun fight" in a defense situation there are an average of 2.4 rounds exchanged. With a hit from a shotgun the fight is going to end rapidly. Most bad guys are afraid of a civilian with any kind of gun but with a shotgun ... well let's just say that they think they will be buried in two bags.

A shotgun will not likely cut a man in half, unless he is very skinny, but it produces more momentum than a 3006. It hits a bit like a gorilla doing a back-hand slap to a female dog.

The 12 gauge shotgun is as good a home defense weapon as there is. 5 shots is likely 4 more than you need.
 
I voted yes, but that is not say more is not better. I responded in the way to answer the question. If you had ask the question which is better 5 or 8?
 
lamarw said:
I voted yes, but that is not say more is not better. I responded in the way to answer the question. If you had ask the question which is better 5 or 8?
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To touch on that, I do want to clarify this point regarding my previous post...

If you can do more, definitely better than less. My main defensive shotgun is a 20" 870 Police, with the factory extension... giving me seven rounds in the tube. Going with the 18" barrel, it is a six round tube. With the exception of maneuverability, there isn't any real drawback from going from 18" to 20".

My point with my post is that if you have a four round tube, not going to be the same as if you were shooting a cap/ball revolver. In a common home defense situation, it isn't likely that you'll fire all five rounds. But to be safe, learn how to efficiently top off the magazine... which is a useful skill for any shotgun. Shy of the detachable magazine ones (which I don't suggest, since upward pressure is more likely to deform the shell than rearward pressure), all shotguns are limited in regards to capacity. We are talking capacities similar to revolvers... so keeping the gun topped off is a concern, if you are using it defensively. Hearing a click when you are all amped up is definitely disconcerting.
 
well JOE says

" all you need is a double barrel,,,just go out on the deck and give a couple BLASTS from that double barrel and you will send those bad guys packing",,,

one thing you might consider is,,,if you keep a magazine fed pump or auto loaded,,,you could have a problem with the shells coming out of the magazine,,,the reason i say this is a friend of mine used to keep his 1100 loaded with (extended mag) 6-7 shells,,,he tool it out one day and shell wouldnt come out of the magazine,,,seems they had swelled up under the constant pressure and were stuck in the magazine

just a thought,,,,YMMV

i do have a 870 and 1100 with extended mags on them,,,,and they are fun to play with for sure,,,BUT my old betsy is in fact a double barrel with a stock cuff with five rounds,, that can stay loaded and has no affect on it,,

but what ever you chose.... the key is practice ,practice, practice,,,and be proficient with it,,,,that means in the dark too,,,,,of course you need DUMMY SHELLS for that kind of practice

my .02

ocharry
 
Am I all alone in preferring the balance and feel of no extended mag tube?

Discuss!
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Absolutely not. More firepower with crappy handling is never as good as a gun that handles like a wand in your hands.
 
It most cases it'll probably do. In a perfect world I would want a 20 inch barrel which usually gets closer to an 8 round capacity.
 
Five is plenty. Does anyone really think that a BG is really going to continue any kind of aggressive behavior towards you when you're unloading five rounds of 12 ga. anything in their direction? Assuming you're a terrible shot and miss him/her with all 5 rounds, they're going to surrender immediately, or dive for cover, or run as fast as humanly possible from the area.

Of course, probably this would be true regardless of what gun you were firing in the close confines of your home. But in this case we're talking about a short shotgun, and I believe it's highly unlikely that any BG is going to count your shots while you're firing 12 ga. rounds at them. If they can, after the first round, they're going to find a way out of that place. They are not going to say to themselves, "Oh, that was his 4th shot, if he has a a 4+1, I can attack him after the next round." Nope, that's not going to happen in reality.
 
If you are going to get into an extended gunfight a shotgun isn't the weapon of choice. The majority of home invasions do not involve extended gun battles. 4+1 is fine.
 
I suppose it depends. If you have 6 people who you need to take down, then no but for most instances, Id say its more than enough.
 
I am grateful I have had, and have had, the opportunity of professional training with a shotgun and ... the more rounds you have, the better. I'd suggest more capacity. When it comes to a shotgun, it comes down to reloading as quickly as possible. And, the more you have to begin with, the better of you are.

YMMF, FWIW and in MHO.
 
5 is enough. More is fine, but even staring down the barrels of a double barrel is as intimidating as hell!
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Zero was enough to stop a home burglary 30 years ago. The 2 guys didn't realize I had a club in my hands that looked identical to an unloaded vintage Remington Automatic.

But when they heard the slide rack, I believe the younger one wet his pants.
On the other hand my guess is 1 is enough in most situations, and 5 is plenty of backup.
 
I prefer the better handeling characteristics a shotgun with a shorter mag tube. That being said I have added +1 mag extensions to my two 18" 870P's since I wanted to add a Streamlight TLR-1 and needed some real estate to clamp on a LaserLyte Tri Rail.
 
An ancient question. What are the possible extreme incidents that make more capacity useful? They interact.

1. More than one opponent.

2. You miss - now we know that we would never miss and the shot pattern feels the room with death from floor to ceiling :D . However, in classes and matches we know that the pattern doesn't spread that much and folks miss under stress.

3. If you rack the gun to scare the opponent and you had a round it it - you are down a round! :rolleyes:

4. Reloading under stress is fun. You need to try it on the range. We did it in a Tom Givens class - it should be practiced.

For the archetypal one bad guy incident and you have your stuff together - the gun would work. If I had a serious HD shotgun (I do), I go for more rounds. I will forgo the argument for a carbine with 30 - :eek:
 
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