Home Defense Shotgun Tactics

Shotguns comes in all shapes and sizes, but keep in mind the most effective one is the 12 gauge. Mossberg, Benellie and Remington-870 are great guns and workmanship. In this article I am going to assume that you have a shotgun of your choice, so the object of this article is about tactics that involves shotgun employment, not so much on the type of gun that you should have.

In other words being proficient with your tool in relation to effectively protecting yourself is what we’re after. Also, in this article we will keep the “what if’s” out of this, most of this information is public knowledge.

Due to the nature of this topic, first and foremost you need to do this if your home has been intruded while you’re in the house.

Call 911

Run – get you and your loved ones out of the house – know all of the exits in your house.

But if you had to move through the house to exit or find your loved ones while the police is on the way, then you need to have these tactics instilled while in this heighten mode.

Disclaimer:

Another thing that I want to address about this topic is that this is AmSJ opinion, nothing more. View it as a roll of toilet paper, once you’re done reading, flush it down the toilet.

So without further adieu, here we go.

Skills and Attributes
These are the skills and attributes that you should have in order to be effective with a shotgun.

• Strength – gotta have a baseline strength to be able to lug this thing around and we mean carrying it for a good 4 hours. Yes, carrying it in weapon ready mode, not on a sling over your shoulder.
• Maintain a steady platform while moving – means while on the move no jumping or bouncing up and down.
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  Means Wherever You Scan Your Weapon Scan as Well
• Move tactically – stealthily but with a purpose.

House Tactics

When we walk through our house, we just walk through without any thoughts of best position to be in. Once your home has been compromised, and its time for you to exit or search for your love one tactically. There are some areas of the houses that you need to pay attention to and how to negotiate it. (go through it)

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  Doorways are Entry Points & Danger lies in the Corner Closest to the Entry Point, This is Called the “Fatal Funnel”, If You Go Through it or Pass it, Do it Quickly!
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  While Moving Down a Hallway Stay on One Side & Watch Where You’re Going
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  Corners Are Just as Dangerous as Doorways, Due to the Limited View Around the Corner – Enter “Slicing the Pie” Method – A Common Mistake is to Right Up to the Corner to Peek, Don’t Do This – Stay a Few Feet Back & Peek With Weapon Out
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  Hardest Area To Negotiate – Watch Your Step & Cover all Corners as You Ascend or Descend

Other Shotgun things to Consider

• 12 or 20 Gauge – If you are smaller in stature and cannot handle the recoil of a 12 gauge, then its ok to use a 20 gauge.
• Ammo Carrier – Your defensive shotgun should be fully loaded with 7 shells depending on how long the barrel is next to your bed stand. Its a good idea to have a carrier that’s attached to the side of the buttstock or on the other side of the ejection port. Yes, that means you will need to do some practice on loading it.
• Buttstock that Fits – What I’m getting at here is to get a buttstock that fits the shooter in order to manage the felt recoil. Its easier to shoot with a short stock than a long one, try it, you’ll see what I mean.
• Training & Flight time – No matter how skilled you are you should still get some decent training and put in some flight time with your shotgun down range. There are schools that teach these home defenses and can be very expensive like at Gunsite. Don’t let that discourage you, check out your local gun shop/range, they usually will have some classes on the subject but at a more affordable price range.

Speaking of training, have a look of this video below from Chris of Lucky Gunner on practical drills for the home defense with a shotgun. The drills that Chris talks about is to help with:
Basic manipulation and getting (mounting) on target quickly

Summary

There’s more to it than racking that shotgun to put a shell in the chamber. Like driving a car, you should always be practicing to handle the shotgun and obviously know all the choke points and exits of your house. Be safe.

Looking to get some Ammo, have a look below.

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