best round for home defense?

[Hiking CA]

#4 buck

This.

[epilepticninja]

check out James Yeager ..shotguns for home defense on you tube..good advise

I wouldn't take advice from Yeager if he was the last man on earth. To the OP, 00 Buck. It's what LE, .mil, and EN (me) use.

[Dutch Henry]

#4 Buck.

[mariley85]

i like 1BK. instead of .33 is .30 and you get double the pellets.

[RitcheyRch]

Sound advice and exactly what I use.

To quote The Box O' Truth

[NapalmCheese]

Since something like this gets asked every couple of weeks or so, so I'll just cut and paste one of my previous answers. This was in regards to 20 gauge, but aside form pellet count there isn't much of a difference.

Firstly, yes the federal value pack stuff you got at Wal-Mart is birdshot. It's a 7/8 oz load of number 8 or 7.5 shot.

Secondly, you're going to get a lot of opinions on efficacy of birdshot or buckshot for self defense and over penetration issues. #4 buck penetrates about 11.5 inches of ballistic gel, just falling short of the FBI minimum recommended penetration into ballistic gel for a defensive round. According to the box o' truth (http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot3.htm) #4 buck will go through 6 sheets of drywall (not including insulation, 2x4s, etc). I would wager that #4 buck is less than lethal after two - four sheets of just drywall, so I think (that is, I'm guessing) you would not likely kill a bystander unless you accidentally shot them in the same room. Birdshot on the other hand has about two inches of penetration into ballistic gel and penetrates 2 layers of drywall, not enough to be lethal with most shot placements.

Personally, I feel comfortable with #4 buck in a small apartment in a complex, 00 when I'm in a bigger place with fewer people around.

Combine this with the idea that you are shooting in a 3D environment where the chance of you accidentally shooting someone through a wall is probably not really good and #4 buck seems like the ticket.

Fin

[knucklehead0202]

Right, because having a clue and knowing what round has a better chance at neutralizing a threat equates to "needing to feel badass".

How many cases of birdshot can you fit in your Prius?

seems i touched a nerve. all i'll say is i don't drive a prius, but i know what you drive, lol. having a clue, that's a good one.

[shellslinger]

people that think you need 00 buck for home defense are the same ones who think they need a super-whizzbang ultra-mag to kill 90lb deer. if you're trying to shoot it through a car or something, sure, otherwise, you'll be chasing that thing for miles when a guy with a 30-30 will drop it right there. this is right up there with lifting your crew-cab longbed truck 24", with 44" tires, and it'll never see dirt. nevermind that you're 5'4" and need a ladder to get it. people that really need to feel badass, usually aren't.

Yeah I agree you don't need 00 buck for home defense or a "super-whizzbang ultra-mag to kill a 90lb deer". You actually need a 50BMG, cause a 50 BMG doesn't make me feel like a bad *** at all.