Number 1 buck is the best for most defense situations. It has sixteen 30 cal. pellets and the best body penetration of all the buck loads. 2 rounds looks like a clip of sten gun ammo has been expended. Huey that is what I shot up your fire barrel with.
I also have 10 rounds of number 4 buck in my shotgun pack. That is the best load to act like a little claymore mine.
It has 27 pellets of 25 cal and really screws up an attacking horde of watermelons.
Out to about 75 yards or so a shotgunis the best defense weapon outside a machinegun. I love'em
To me, a pistol is for last ditch defense and to be used when there is no safe way out of a situation. In Texas if you carry a pistol you must do your dangedest to back away from a situation or you've committed a felony. You can't flip a guy off, (that's called Provoking), you can't argue or cuss fight. You must back away if possible. Let me give you an example. Two weeks ago I was in Sam's club and had walked about 5 or 10 feet away from my cart. I looked up and a little girl had taken the cart and pushed it to her dad. He took it. When I said " excuse me, that is my cart" he looked and me and said with a slightly foriegn accent, 'you'll get over it". "I said no that is my cart" and he said there are others, you'll get over it". I was really pissed at such an ill mannerd creep. Now I had a 32 automatic pistol in my coat pocket. Had I continued to argue I would have been in the wrong.I let him have the cart then went around the store seething and hoping he would attack me. Now he will never know how lucky he was that I obey the law. If I had not been armed I'd have took him on. He was bigger but I think even at my age I can get one punch in on Mike Tyson. Carrying a gun carries responsibility.
It also means when you pull it, you must be justified and ready to use it. I have not and never will pull a gun just to scare someone. When I pull it, it is a warning that I will shoot and the offfender had best back off. Quickly.
BT