Shotguns can be a formidable defensive firearm but are often underutilized. With its quick handling and natural aim, it can be a formidable weapon in the right hands. But without proper defensive shooting training, the user can miss at almost any range.
Get Comfortable With Your Shotgun
Here are some tips to get the most out of your shotgun. First, pay attention to the pattern of your load. Buckshot is best for facing human threats or larger animals, while birdshot is more suitable for small game. Buckshot’s tight, cohesive pattern provides more stopping power.
Before you head out to the range, practice using your shotgun. Learn how to load and unload shells safely. Never unload a shotgun by working shells through the action; this is fraught with peril. Practice operating the safety, bolt release and forend of your pump-action shotgun.
With a self-loading shotgun, practice racking the bolt as well as loading the magazine. Self-loaders do not all operate in the same manner. It’s important to become familiar with your firearm before you try shooting it.
Dry-Fire Practice
When practicing with your shotgun, remember safety first. Always triple-check the shotgun is unloaded when running dry-fire exercises. A dummy cartridge or snap cap is a great idea. At home, the preferred condition is safety off, an empty chamber and the hammer uncocked. *The Benelli automatic will not load from the magazine if the bolt is cocked. The Black Aces and quite a few clones follow this pattern. Remington and Mossberg differ.
Get comfortable with the safety’s operation and practice operating the action. Don’t pull the trigger every time to release the bolt but learn the location of the bolt stop and its operation. Work the action vigorously.
Fire, bring the forend to the rear forcefully in recoil, and then rack the forend forward in a positive manner to load the chamber. Fire, the bolt releases, and you may rack the slide again. With the self-loader, practice racking the bolt using the cocking handle.
If the action isn’t operated properly there is a good chance you will short cycle the action. Clearing such a malfunction is difficult without practice. You don’t want to fumble when it really matters!
Shotgun Reloading
While four to eight shells in the shotgun should be sufficient for a home-defense situation, it is still wise to practice speed loads.
Speed Loading Reload
With the shotgun in the firing position, the support hand quickly grabs a shell from either a receiver mounted carrier or a belt carrier. You insert this shell into the magazine topping off the gun load while maintaining an aim at the threat.
Violin Reload
If you find the above drill difficult or are dropping shells, use the violin-type reload. The shotgun is quickly placed on the support side shoulder and the hand inserts a shell in this manner.
Though it’s not as quick, using the violin reload can result in less fumbling. Use this method until you can master the tactical reload. Be sure your self-loader allows this type of reload. Some require the bolt to be uncocked to load, which isn’t possible with a loaded chamber. And some require a release to be pressed to load the magazine.
Running Empty
You should also practice reloading when the shotgun is ran empty. With the bolt open to the rear, retrieve a fresh shell i from the carrier and drop it into the chamber. Close the bolt, and you are immediately ready to fire. A self-loader will lock open on the last shot — an advantage in this drill. It requires only a push of the bolt release to drop the bolt.
Stance
Once you have the basics of loading and unloading along with manipulation squared away, you will move to stance. The recoil of a shotgun loaded with buckshot is more than that of most rifles but can be mastered. While a lot of your firearms training may be accomplished with light field loads, you must learn to control buckshot for defensive use.
To set up the proper stance, the strong-side arm should be perpendicular to the ground, and the non-dominant arm will be parallel to the ground. Put your weakside foot forward, holding the greatest portion of the body’s weight. The knee should be bent just slightly. Your head should be erect and looking over the sights.
A firm grip on the forend, pressing the shotgun rear into the shoulder pocket is essential. The stock must be tight against the shoulder. If not, recoil will be worse. Lean into the shotgun. For fast-moving drills, the strong side hand grasps the pistol grip as the support hand grasps the forend and brings the shotgun into the shoulder.
Aiming
At home-defense range, it is important you aim properly to center the shotgun pattern. The pattern will not spread meaningfully inside of 15 yards. Place the bead on the center of the threat. Shotguns are intended for engagements of short duration at close range. Practice quickly bringing the shotgun to the shoulder to address the target. Press the trigger quickly, but do not jerk.
The shotgun can excel at addressing moving targets. Keep the front sight on the outer forward edge of the target as you track the threat along its movement. Don’t stop your swing as you fire but continue the swing past the target. If you swing on the target and abruptly stop, you will miss. A conventional shotgun — either pump or self-loading — offers real speed on target, fast repeat shots and excellent results.
Choosing a Shotgun Load
Be certain to fire a pattern on paper to gauge the shotguns effect. Shotguns can prefer one load to the other. Some will fire a little high over point of aim and some a little low. This can also vary with distance. You cannot go wrong with Federal Flite Wad, Hornady Critical Defense or Remington Managed Recoil buckshot.
At home-defense range, even the most inexpensive buckshot makes a rathole in the target. As you fire at longer range, you will find that 50 percent of the pattern isn’t on the target. This is the end of buckshot’s useful range usually 20 to 30 yards depending on choke restriction. While most of your skill building should be inside 15 yards for home defense, you should occasionally familiarize yourself with the shotgun’s pattern at longer range. At all ranges, follow your line of sight.
Some thought will need to be given to the size of shot as well. You’ll likely hear different recommendations on the size to use for home defense, with some trainers suggesting No. 1 and others the smaller No. 4. Large cats and feral dogs demand 00 or 000, but bears will require slugs. Slugs are solid shot with a longer range than buckshot. I prefer buckshot but keep slug loads in the carrier just in case. It is simple enough to transition to a slug load. Load the magazine with a slug and quickly eject the chambered buckshot shell.
Continued Firearms Training
There are always more drills one can run to become more proficient. One option is to quickly fire five shells from 7 yards. While you’re not likely to need to fire five shells into a threat, this drill can help you learn control and recovery. As you gain control, you can move farther out.
Another drill that I practice often is slug transition. This one requires more concentration. I fire two buckshot shells at 15 yards then load two slugs and fire for accuracy. You must sight the shotgun for slugs. Even a bead-sighted shotgun is plenty accurate with slugs to 50 yards. A slug may fire slightly high or low in relation to the front sight.
Practice, get time in at the range and don’t neglect shotgun training.
