"Shotgun Less Lethal Than an AR15"?

Note:  This article is written in terms of "home defense".  The criteria varies for street defense (concealed carry) and for any other defense situation.

I've got a problem when challenged to compare "Lethality"  of one gun type as compared to another gun type;   we're talking rifles, pistols and shotguns as the basic comparison,  and in the rifle class ... specifically the AR15.

USA TODAY Calls Shotgun Less Lethal Than an AR15 - Omaha Outdoors:

In an article titled initially “Guns used in Texas killings were less lethal than in other mass shootings,” USA TODAY meanders from error to error in describing rifles, pistols, and shotguns. Though the title has since been changed to “Texas shooter used shotgun, pistol in deadly assault,” the rest of the errors in the article remain unchanged.

I'd like to talk about that for a bit.

Definition of terms: for the sake of this discussion, we assume that "Lethality" refers to the likely "One Shot Kill" .. whether a person or an animal.

The lethality for animals is dependent on body size and weight.   If the 'animal' is a home-intruder, assume a healthy male of around 180 pounds, and someone who is determined to do you harm.

The variance between firearms type is dependent on bullet size, bullet weight, bullet design; and also the caliber, the powder charge, velocity, and (in practical terms) the number of rounds available to the shooter.

Since we've defined "One-Shot Kills" (or "Stoppage") is the criteria for LETHALITY,  let's ignore how many rounds the gun can fire in x-number of seconds.   Magazine capacity may be mentioned, but it is not the defining criteria.

The advantage of a pistol is that it is easily portable and concealable, and thus more likely to be available in a self-defense situation.   Generally speaking a "big gun" (eg: .44 magnum revolver) is inconvenient to carry ... but much more lethal.    As a "home defense weapon", a pistol offers the advantages of convenient storage, concealability, and ease of engaging a target with little warning.   Pistols (and revolvers) typically allow at lest six shots before a "mandatory reload", and magazines/speed loaders can easily reload in the dark with practice and experience.

Single-action revolvers are not ideal for home defense; the reload speed is unacceptable.

The Disadvantage of a pistol is that most are designed to be 'conveniently' fired from one hand, so it's difficult to have sufficient mass times velocity to equate to a relatively large power factor.  Even the .45ACP with a standard bullet weight of 230 grains is not propelled with sufficient power to maintain a flat trajectory for long.   Fortunately, this is not a disadvantage in the even of a home invasion ... go the range often and practice with the gun you chose for home defense. Shoot until the target is down.

In a home invasion scenario, "point shooting" will probably be the only available option.  Pistols with their short sight radius make it more likely to hit a surprise target at the three-to-five yard distance which is common in home invasions.



The advantage of a rifle is that is designed to fire a relatively lighter (usually) bullet at a higher velocity (usually) than a pistol.   The long sight radius increases accuracy, and also rifles which are magazine fed often provide more shots before reloading that many pistols ... and all revolvers.

The disadvantage of a rifle is the very length which provides an accuracy advantage; it's virtually impossible to conceal, cumbersome to get into action, and unlike a pistol it is very difficult to "point and shoot" with the same chance of getting a hit as is a pistol at its normal range of use.

The advantage of a shotgun is that it combines the advantages of the rifle and the pistol, considering that the shot spreads wider as the distance from the gun to the target increases; that allows the multiple-pellets (sometimes the same or greater diameter as many pistol bullets) to provide a greater  chance that one or more pellets to hit the target ... at distances intermediate between the best range of a pistol v. that of a rifle.  (The effectiveness of a rifle pellet depends on the ammunition chosen:  00 buckshot is "size per-pellet" often comparable to either  pistol or rifle bullets; however, as distance to target increases, the efficacy of a shotgun blast diminishes because fewer pellets are likely to hit the target.

The disadvantage of a shotgun is that for concealment; shotguns are as inefficient as rifles; for long range accuracy, shotguns are as inefficient as pistols.   The advantage of a shotgun is that

NOTES:

Whatever gun you use, practice with it often.  Rotate your ammunition.  If you use a semi-automatic, have several magazines and always keep one magazine "resting" (unloaded) so the spring does not weaken due to remaining loaded for months at a time. (Do NOT keep that empty magazine in your "reload supply"!)  Rotate your magazines .. weekly ..  so you can "rest" the magazine spring in between practice sessions.