.38 Shotshell for Home Defense?

[MtnBiker6510]

I was admiring the Ruger LCR of a fellow shooter at the range when I commented about his practicing with .38 shotshells to which he replied: They're for the house. I asked him if they do great on snakes at which point he tells me they are what he keeps in his gun for home defense!
I was a little stunned and thought at first that he may be kidding. I tried to educate him a little on stopping power and emphasized that shotshells from a snubnose revolver are only gonna make the bad guy really angry.
We talk about this alot on this board, but don't necessarily grasp that there are alot of shooters who never read the words of wisdom in regards to defending themselves. This story should remind us that we should try to help and enlighten whoever we can in regards to self defense. That poor guy could have someone go through his door tonight and hopefully he will have loaded with something more potent than .38 shotshells!

Snakeloads 'o Truth: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot30_3.htm

 

[Titanium_Frost]

For his sake, I hope he never has to use those snake loads against a determined adversary. Personaly I would rather have a stick. A big stick mind you, but a stick.

IDK maybe if you could hit them in the eyes...

 

[Indy_Hunter68]

At our house, my Wife's Taurus .38 is loaded with the glaser Safety Slugs. They are 80 grains that shoot at 1200fps and 256ftlbs. Now I know these aren't exactly FMJ +P HollowPoints, but it is what she is comfortably with. With about 1 year of shooting under her belt, she is concerned with an errant shot "going through a wall and hitting one of the kids." And if this ammo brings with it the confidence she needs to protect her and the kids when Im not home...so be it. Rather she had this than a phone and a barking beagle ANY day.
And as her confidence builds, I'm sure well 'move up' to some more potent ammo when she's ready!

 

[Rey B]

The difference is that she at least has a fighting chance with the Glasers, the guy with the shot shells has none.

 

[Wabatuckian]

Darwin in action.

Just because you have a gun doesn't necessarily mean you're armed.

 

[45fan]

I think that he would have a better chance using a 12 gauge if he wants to use birdshot for home defense. To each their own, I suppose, and pray that he never has to find out the folly of his thinking.

 

[gunowner930]

snakeshot for HD? Well, it's his life. Then again I've seen posters on this board say that a cha-chink from a 12 guage pump is all that's necessary for HD.

 

[jgreiner]

we used to keep some around for my dad's Ruger Single 6 22 LR so that when we went out canoeing or hiking, we had something for the timber rattlers or water moccasins.

 

[Leo]

Have the guy shoot a chunk of roast beef with his snake shells. Then have him hit it with a hollow point or at least a wadcutter. If that does not convince him, he is without hope. I shot a big chunk of meat with many things, you should have seen what a 300 grain flat nose bullet shot out of a .44 mag did to it.

 

[littletommy]

Not defending the guy by any stretch of the imagination, but there are tons of people who think that shooting to injure/scare the attacker is all it takes to get out of a jam. Myself and a co worker turned another coworker away from that kind of thinking, well, at least he said he understood what we were saying. It's pretty amazing how many people let tv influence their real life thinking.

 

[Titanium_Frost]

Not defending the guy by any stretch of the imagination, but there are tons of people who think that shooting to injure/scare the attacker is all it takes to get out of a jam. Myself and a co worker turned another coworker away from that kind of thinking, well, at least he said he understood what we were saying. It's pretty amazing how many people let tv influence their real life thinking.

I know what you are saying. Some people are just not willing to come to the realization that true self defense MAY result in taking another human life and they are not truly willing to bear that responsibility. I hope they improve their mindset before they are put to the test and must live with a choice they will regret rather than be thankfull they are alive.

 

[DRob]

Well said

At our house, my Wife's Taurus .38 is loaded with the glaser Safety Slugs. They are 80 grains that shoot at 1200fps and 256ftlbs. Now I know these aren't exactly FMJ +P HollowPoints, but it is what she is comfortably with. With about 1 year of shooting under her belt, she is concerned with an errant shot "going through a wall and hitting one of the kids." And if this ammo brings with it the confidence she needs to protect her and the kids when Im not home...so be it. Rather she had this than a phone and a barking beagle ANY day.
And as her confidence builds, I'm sure well 'move up' to some more potent ammo when she's ready!

There, in a nutshell, is probably the most overlooked aspect of HD arms. Is the shooter comfortable with the choice of weapon and load? Well done Indy_Hunter68.

We keep a Mossberg 500 handy at night. With 3" magnum 00 buck loads it is simply too much for my wife to handle and down right unpleasant for me. We switched to Remington 2 3/4" managed recoil 00 buck. I'm all for getting the "job" done and they will certainly do it in the house where maximum range is not going to exceed 20'.

BTW....I've tried both .22WMR and .357 "snakeloads" in rattlesnake country. Neither one of them will consistently "kill" a thistle at 10'. That's why we have #4 shot in the Judge for rattlers and 000 buck for other snakes.

 

[.452browning]

I fired .38 shotshells at a woodpecker that kept drilling holes in our house. He gave me a funny look and didnt even move.

As for using .38 shotshells for self defense i think its crazy. I honestly hope he never has to use it in a real life situation. I understand that the shooter needs to be comfortable with the loads they are using, but that just seems unreal. It would definately hurt getting shot with shotshells and would make them think twice. Hopefully the assailant would run and not be a cracked out mass murderer. I would rather use a .22 for HD than .38 shotshells. But to each his own.

 

[7.62]

Wow....i hope he never has to defend himself. Here is the problem. Too many people just want to stop the attack but not kill someone. Don't get me wrong I never want to have to shoot and kill someone but if its a self defense situation where it is my life or the bad guys....Im shooting to kill. You have to have that mindset or you may not stop the threat. If you are one thats shooting with a weak defensive round or aiming for legs....you might end up dead. Aim for center mass with a good defensive round and shoot until he stops. If that takes only one round and the guys lives and goes to jail then great....but if it takes a whole clip and he dies....Im good with that too. Debt own a gun for self defense unless you are prepared to kill a bad guy if life depends on it. (in my opinion)

You should have invited him to INGO!

 

[CarmelHP]

Glasers are not shotshells. A handgun shotshell is got for making someone very angry before they kill you. The only way to defeat that guy's thinking is through education.

 

[2cool9031]

No..No...No .38 shotshells are for snakes and stuff, they don't wear heavy clothes or leather jackets. the bad guy may have a gun with real bullets