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Just to add another thought to GH's post, there is a reason SureFire and competing lights cost so much more. Kinda the ol' "you get what you pay for" thing.

If you're going to mount a light on the fore-end of a 12 gauge, you want it to reliably withstand repeated recoil from 3" magnum rounds. Just me, but I would never trust a $15 light to that job. And if I chose to try it, I'd want to go out and shoot over a hundred rounds with the light in place and turned on to prove to myself that it could take the abuse and be reliable.

And more to what GH said: You don't want a constant-on light on a gun...maybe unless it's night vision IR. I've been taught that you don't use a light unless it can be toggled on and off without any change in grip on your gun, and preferrably be toggled silently. You use the light to identify your target, not to go exploring. Rapid on-and-off is critical.

GlockenHammer wrote:

Skiprr wrote:But I'm just a student, not an expert. My opinion is worth just what you paid for it.

I wouldn't trust an expert that was not also a student. And your opinion is worth more than you charge for it.

Thank you, GH. Very glad to see you back in these parts.

xpur3l0g1cx wrote:There is at least 100 yards between our houses and woods mostly on the sides of me and behind me and in front theres a road but my layout i will most likely shoot into the woods everytime. Found out our neighbor just got hit but i believe that was his 3rd time to be hit, thats probly bc someone knows him and he runs a business out of his house. They seem to know exactly when he leaves for out of town or something. I was curious about the shotgun bc i saw what the ak round did on the box o truth with 3 layers of kevlar and ballistics clay. http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot16_5.htm that to me is crazy
any thoughts?

I gave a look at the Box o' Truth link (my new .308 won't be in until October at the earliest; sigh), and found another for you while I was there: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot3_2.htm. I'm no expert, but I feel there are three, distinct civilian firearm platforms all law-abiding folk should own: handgun, shotgun, and rifle. Kinda like screwdrivers, wrenches, and hammers: each is most suited to a different job, but if you have all three you got most of the bases covered.

One bit of wisdom I will pass on from some of the classes I've taken is, in a defensive situation, always have a handgun with you, even if you have a shotgun or rifle, as well. Murphy can always throw his law at you, but especially in close quarters inside a structure, it's far easier for a bad guy to block your effective use of a long gun and potentially take it away from you. If you decide at oh-dark-thirty to open the backdoor to check on things thumping in the night, take a second to put your handgun on in addition to grabbing your shotgun.

Some people hate the idea of optics on shotguns, but with the fast-access, parallax-free red-dot types that have hit the market in the past decade, I kinda like 'em. Yeah, they make the gun heavier and can snag on things as you move, but they can really help your accuracy with slugs.

Given the size of your property and that domestic defense is the main goal--meaning you won't be taking offensive shots at 100+ meters or sniping mountain lions off the hillside--what you might want to consider is an optic for the shotgun, sighted in for slugs at around 50 meters. Keep the shotgun loaded with 00 for any emergencies inside the house or out to a modest distance. Buy a side-saddle for the gun and keep four to six slugs on it. Get some training and practice how to speed-load a slug into the chamber. In the unlikely event you ever need to reach and touch someone outside of buckshot range, you're good to go.

Since you already have an AK, I'd say you have all the tools. To defend my house and its immediate perimeter, I'd choose a pistol and a shotgun. If your day really turns bad and you have a whole bunch of guys from Dawn of the Dead circling your place, grab the AK.

But I'm just a student, not an expert. My opinion is worth just what you paid for it.

Liko81 wrote:That implies you are totally awake, alert, and in control of your faculties in a firefight. At 2:00 in the morning when you're awoken by the sound of breaking glass, there's not much mental room for anything more than cha-chak, boom, cha-chak, boom even if you're wide awake; the combination of a quick transition from sleep to awake and the decent dose of adrenaline that's just been dumped into your body make it difficult to think rationally and remember how the gun's loaded.

And your physical environment makes a big difference, as well. A typical, suburban tract home is going to be under 3,000 sq. ft., probably have dry-wall construction, and sit pretty close to your neighbors' houses. A commercial or government building will likely have very different construction characteristics. A ranch with a lot of acres of breathing room may be offset from roads or neighbors by 100+ yards.

So possible penetration is a consideration in civillian defense circumstances. How close are things you absolutely don't want to hit--like family members in bedrooms or the big propane tank out out back--and how many of what kind of construction material layers are between you and those things?

Modern slugs are great. I use Federal TruBall in an 18" cylinder bore, and the lil' suckers are surprisingly accurate out to decent, intermediate distances. But they also pack a much heftier penetration punch than shot at defensive distances.

Lead shot, particularly 00, makes for a combination of short-range stopping authority with a relatively low risk of over-penetration. That's what makes it so effective as a home defense choice.