Cochise' Apache Princess And Bingo T. Pug

I don't have much to say. The Presidential Campaign has turned into a circular firing squad. Every one of these "debates" by the national "news" media is designed to give the Obama Campaign more ammunition.

At least Speaker Gingrich is fighting, I would hope that he'd learn that Mitt is not the enemy, Obama is. I realise that a candidate cannot go up against Obama until he has won the nomination but there has to be a better way to win the nomination than handing Obama ammunition.

 In local news I'm still fighting with the medications. The downside to messing around with trying this, that and the other thing is that each change takes some couple months to evaluate. So far the latest change seems to help clear up my thinking but has increased the tremors. Oh, and raised my blood pressure as one of the meds that we cut in half is a blood pressure med that "off lable" tends to help the tremors. Sigh. Anyhow we're working on it.

 And last, today: An open letter to Sarah Etheridge: Yes, Cochise Apache Princess is a half sister to your dog. Miss Priss is five years old and is from Cochise Apache War Chief and his Dam was Little Eagle. I'm not sure why you wish to speak with or (better yet, write me but I'm sure it will become clear if you do wite. I dunno what happened to the addy in my sidebar but, what the heck, it's:

 petdavis@gmail.com.

 Please don't tell Bingo very much when you write, he doesn't know he's adopted.

 Just so you know, if you know anyone who would like a good girl dog, I would love to find a new home for Princess. I'm afraid that my health will no longer allow me to really work with her and she's pretty much lost her training.

Oh, Pee On Them!

I haven't commented on the Great Controversy of the Marines caught after a video of them allegedly peeing on dead Taliban fighters. The main reason I've said nothing is that I don't much care what our guys do to those savages. The other main reason is that I know a little history.

In the Guadalcanal operation back in '42 the Marines bagged one of Admiral Tojo's sons. After they identified the body and stripped it of all possible intelligence info, they buried him.

Here is an arcane bit of military lore: To keep healthy a Marine or soldier needs a lot of water. When I was in the Southeast Asian War Games (Second Place Team, thanks to the Democrats) it was not uncommon for a guy in a rifle squad to have up to four canteens. Anyway a guy who drinks enough to stay halfway healthy pees. A lot.The services had a quaint custom of taking artillery shell canisters, planting them in the ground deep enough to have the urine stay underground. These were called "Piss Tubes." The Chaplains called 'em "Relief Tubes".

Anyhow the United States Marine Corps of WW2planted one of these piss tubes on the grave of Tojo's son. They then put up a sign saying: take a piss on Tojo's son. After that any Marine passing by took advantage. Replacements were marched past and required to use that little convenience.

If those Marines of 1942 were part of America's Greatest Generation, then those Marines were doing the right thing. Therefore, these new Marines are only guilty of putting up a video. Civilians do not need to know the details of what our warriors do. What I have not heard is the same outcry against what they do to our soldiers.

You know what is funny? I see cries for funding almost daily from outfits like the USO, Soldier's Angels and outfits like that. Why do we need need those organisations? Because the government, which controls our military, does not meet the needs of the men and women who are serving.

Here are two little suggestions.

Number One: If one has never served in one of the combat arms of the military, the only thing you should have to say about the conduct of our warriors is "Thank You."

Number Two: If you are a politician, shut up about what our combat troopers are doing until such time as Soldier Angels and the USO and all other such outfits are no longer needed. Dear politicians, until you do your job, shut up about those who are doing theirs, far better than you have done in my lifetime.

Fairly New Defense Ammunition

 It's been a while since I talked ammunition for defense and some new stuff has come out since then so...

 Buffalo Bore has some interesting stuff out.  Those who have switched from a short .38 to a .380 Auto will be pleased to know that they have a few loads that will bring that round from "better than no gun at all" to something on which one could bet one's life.

 The first of these is a 100 grain hard cast lead alloy flatnose at around 1150 feet per second. The lead ally has less friction in the bore than jacketed bullets so we get a little more weight at the highest velocities at peak pressures. This round would give the most dependable penetration of any .380 ACP and if a bullet doesn't reach the vitals it's a wasted shot. If I were a serving peace officer carrying a .380 as a backup and off duty gun I would think long and hard about this round.

 Buffalo Bore also makes two jacketed hollow points a 90 and a 95 grain bullet for those that would sacrifice some penetration for a larger diameter hole. From the pictures it looks as if one of these is a Hornady XTP JHP and the other a Speer Gold Dot hollow point. Don't bet the farm on my guess as to the bullets, I'm going by the pictures. The Buffalo Bore people suggest loading a hollow point in the chamber and the magazine filled with the lead alloy flat nose. The idea is that the first shot the attacker is most likely facing you, after that there will be arms in the way, the offender may be standing sideways, ducking, etc, all offering a more difficult path tho the ticklish spots.

 They also have a 95 grain FMJ flatpoint for those who cannot shoot lead and an 80 grain Barnes all copper hollow point, I have no idea what that one is for. It may just be prejudice on my part but I like some mass in my bullets, there are all kinds of ways to slow a bullet down but with enough mass it will always penetrate. I don't care what anyone says, I wouldn't bet my life on an expanding bullet that light. Again, though, that may simply be prejudice on my part. Since I don't carry a .380 I have no way to actually test this ammo.

 At any rate, these loads are among the best of the self defense ammo out there for this cartridge. The only equal is the stuff from Cor Bon and they don't seem to have the lead alloy flatpoint.

 Buffalo Bore also has some .38 and .357 ammo for those small framed wheelguns that are still so popular. The one that really caught my eye is their near copy of the handload I developed for my Ruger SP 101.  My handload is a Speer or Hornady lead semi-wadcutter hollow point in front of enough Bullseye, Unique or TiteGroup to make 1000 fps out of my three inch barrel. Well, Buffalo Bore does this with a lead semiwadcutter hollow point with a gas check on the base to reduce leading. They also have that same bullet at 850 fps for those shooting those ultralight revolvers that are easy to carry but kick like an angry mule.

 When I started carrying my little SP101 I did a lot of testing with the Speer and Hornady bullets at velocities from 800 fps on up to over 1100 fps. I found that once I passed 1000 fps recoil got obnoxious and slowed me way down for repeat shots. Oh, and leading became awful. At 1000 fps leading was there but if I cleaned the gun after a couple of cylinder fulls, I could live with it. And the home cast alloy bullets I used for practice worked fine.

 At any rate, anything above 800 fps gave me plenty of penetration in my test media. The higher velocities gave me about the same penetration, just a bigger diameter hole.

 If I carried any of these short .38s or .357s I'd look very hard at the 1000 fps load. The 850 fps load is about the same as the Winchester or Remington FBI load, the only difference is the gas check. I'm not sure that the convenience of the gas check is wrth the added cost, but then my little revolver shoots lead just fine. If I had an old, pitted bore that leaded badly, well I might feel different.

 I usually don't much like jacketed hollow points in the short barreled revolvers. Most loads won't reliably expand with the lower velocities until we reduce the bullet weight so much that penetration gets iffy. Expansion in jacketed hollowpoints has got more reliable since about the late '70s but there aren't many I would trust out of a short barreled .38.  One of these is the Hornady XTP. If your load hits 850 fps you will get reliable expansion from those. Another is the Speer Gold Dot. They have a little 135 grain Gold Dot with a humongus hollow nose, the copper jacket is electroplated on. Those bullets will not come apart.  Funny story, though. The gunwriter Ross Seyfried told of loading these bullets in a short barreled revolver and tying to use them for the coup de grace on a downed elk. The bullet hit the thick part of the skull, flattened out and really, really made that elk angry. He claimed it got downright exciting as no one had their rifle at the ready. Note to self: do not hunt elk with a short barreled .38. There is a world of difference between human bones and the thick part of an elk's skull though. If one wishes to carry jacketed hollow point in a short .38 it's really hard to beat the Speer 135 grain short barrel load.My Linda Lou prefers this load over the old FBI lead hollow point because it kicks less and there is sightly less report.

 Anyhow. Buffalo Bore has a lot of interesting loads. If, for some strange reason, I decided to carry one or two of my Colt Single Action Army clones for defense I would look long and hard at their full wadcutter anti-personnel round. Actually, there would be good reason to carry one of those revolvers if I were, say, out in the country, carrying openly. Anyhow a 225 grain full wadcutter at around 1000-1100 fps from a five and a half inch barrel down to around 850 from one of those two inch Taurus Titanium revolvers is nothing I'd volunteer to stand in front of. Come to think about it, I'm not sure about volunteering to shoot a .22 ounce .45 but then I'm not a tough guy like one sees at the gun shops. Heck, I don't even wear camouflage when in town.

 One thing I have noticed is how expensive this factory ammo is. Some "experts" say not to trust ammo and gun combinations until you've fired at least four hundred rounds with nary a bobble. That costs more than my first few cars. Put together. Today most defense ammo is sold in 20 round boxes. I contend that if your gun gets through at least two of those little boxes, starting from a clean gun and goes through both boxes with at least one full of each of your carry magazines, you should be good to go. You can go with the rest of your practice with plain vanilla or handloaded ammo. Of course if you have twelve carry magazines of 17 rounds each, that's a lot of ammo to prove your loads. Sorry.

 Some of the best news in ammunition is the low flash powders that have been developed. It wasn't long ago that shooting, say, a four inch .357 was like setting off a flash-bang grenade. The Buffalo Bore guys have a complete line of anti-personnel ammo with low flash powder. And much of it is low recoil-low report ammo, too. Of course, there's only so far one can go to reduce recoil.

These days most of the research into handgun defensive ammunition is geared toward the autoloaders, the .380, the Nine MM Para, the .40 S&W,  and even the good old .45 ACP.  Still, some of this research has bled over to the wheelgun rounds.

 Anyhow, if you need to have factory ammo in your defense guns. Buffalo Bore is a good place to start.

Slow And Stupid

I haven't been around much lately because we're experimenting with my medications. The meds that do well controlling my tremors make it difficult for me to talk and think. It's as if I'm shedding IQ points like the leaves in late fall. Meanwhile there is a regimen that I can think with, unfortunately I can barely feed myself because I shake so badly I cannot keep food on a spoon, much less a fork.

So, instead of blogging I spend most of my time snoozing, reading silly books and watching the teevee. Of course, bein' almost pure D deef doesn't much help the television experience, but then there never has been much to the television experience, anyway.

 So I don't really know when I'll be back but I'm not on the wrong side of the flowers, yet, just sitting around being old and grumpy. 

One Less Hydraphobey Skunk!

 Haven't had much to write about lately, a lot going on but it seems that by the time I find out about it, then think of something to say, someone else has already said it.

 So, I was polishing the all brass shotshells I use in Cowboy Action Shooting and doing a little other cleaning of my various accountrements when I finally turned on the Internet and discovered that Kim Jong Il is seriously dead. I hope the readers can forgive me for hoping it was painful and frightening.

 Korea is an interesting experiment. In the South we have Capitalism, in the North, Stalinism. It's funny, the difference. Two countries with the same people, genetically, the same resources, the same climate and topography. One county starving, the other country well fed.

 I managed to spend my late teens and early twenties kicking around the Orient, courtesy of my then wealthy Uncle Samuel.  I never got to spend much time in the Republic of Korea but I did visit, Older Koreans were kind of scrawny, by the time the post-Korean War kids had grown up they were towering over their grandparents. That's South Korea. North Korea, why there was no growth spurt. Most of the younger generation of the north are functionally mentally retarded through malnutrition.

 I wonder what is going to happen when that whole house of cards in the DRPK collapses. Is the poor excuse for a government going to be able to transition to a new "leader"? If not, what happens? The only way they'll keep the starving people in is with the military. Meanwhile, that military is on it's last legs. Yes, they have a bazillion obsolete artillery tubes dug into tunnels near the North-South border. That would be even more scary if only the artillerymen were nor so malnourished that they can hardly handle the shells these days.

 So, the North Koreans coming over the Chinese borders won't be too much trouble, the Chinese have never fainted at the sight of Korean blood. It's the ones coming south or, worse yet, if Korea is again unified, it will take at least a generation, more likely two or three, before the North Koreans are healthy enough to be useful in a modern society. This means they'll need to be cared for. Question is, by whom?

 Oddly, with the evidence of the two Koreas, the two halves of Germany and the way Cubans are still betting their lives on getting to Florida, people still believe that Socialism can work. Sigh.

12/7/41

There they were, lined up like the ducks, bunnies and bears of the old-time Coney Island shooting galleries, the Battleships of the mighty United States Pacific Fleet. Never mind that the world was at war, the Pacific Fleet was still in peaceful slumber.

In one of the most closely held secrets of the war the USA had broken some, not all, of the Japanese codes. We actually did know that Japan was going to attack and had even some clue of when. Not the date and time but within a couple of months. Why, then, was the Pacific Fleet asleep?

First, we thought the Japanese were going to attack south toward the oil fields and rubber plantations of (then) Malaya. After that the mighty Pacific Fleet could sail out and savage Japan's supply lines. We also knew that Pearl Harbor was too shallow for aerial torpedoes. We knew that when a torpedo bomber dropped in water as shallow as the waters of Pearl, the torpedoes would bury themselves in the underwater mud.

No one knows exactly why the giant brains of the US Navy had slept through the night of 11-12 November, 1940 when the British sent their own aerial torpedo planes into the shallow harbor of Taranto and sunk the Italian Fleet. The Japanese, though, were awake.

After learning that this was possible the Japanese Navy went to work, practicing and modifying her torpedoes until they found that if they put a modified rudder fin assembly on the rear of the torpedoes and dropped from a certain precise altitude and speed the fish would stay out of the sand and mud and drive straight home.

And so, on December the seventh, 1941, they did. This, of course, was not the only failure of imagination on that day, seventy years ago. The airplanes of the Army Air Corps were all lined up neatly on he fields of both Hawaii and in the Philippines. Seems the brass wanted to protect our airplanes against sabotage. After all, can't have those evil people sneaking around with bombs.

Funny how that works. We had partial information ten years ago, too.What we didn't have then, and don't have now, is the imagination to use that partial information. In 1941 those Battleships were moored instead of at sea. Now we all know that a ship must spend time in port, the crews need rest, the ships need to be maintained. One must wonder why, though, that all of the Battleships needed to be in port at once. During my war, some two and a half decades later, our ships spent extra time in port because the Navy was having to save on the costs of fuel. We will see more of this as the 'cross the boards budget cuts happen.

Another Pearl Harbor, another 9/11 is coming. The sooper duper geniuses to our government demand it in the name of keeping us safe!

TEA Party Wins, Occupy Wall Stree Fails.

 There are many reasons why the TEA Party has succeeded while OWS had been an abject failure. The biggest reason, of course is that the TEA Party has been fighting to keep what is ours. The OWS crowd is fighting to GET what is ours. And possession is nine tenths of the law.

 Anther big reason the OWS failed and the TEA Party won is the TEA Party groups gathered and then went home, leaving the area at least as clean as they found it. The OWS crowd came. And stayed. And stayed some more.

 The TEA Party crowds cooperated with police, the OWS refused to cooperate.

 The TEA Party folks rented Port-A_Potties. The OWS types did not. Local businesses profited from the TEA Party gatherings. Local businesses lost big with the OWS types.

 The TEA Party folks were peaceful and orderly right up until they got home. OWS behavior got less peaceful and more disorderly as time passed.

 The only documented use of drugs at the TEA Party events were Grannie and Gramps prescription drugs. Illegal drug dealers soon arrived at the OWS encampments. They were sometimes encouraged and always tolerated.

 The TEA Party folks either bought or brought their own food. The OWS demanded and got donated food.

 Somehow, with the illegal encampments of crowds of people, who all lived by the desire to not cooperate with law enforcement, criminal types and the homeless started to show up. Imagine that.

 No one could tell the real OWS protesters from the criminals, homeless and mentally ill among them. In some cases there was no difference.

 By the time the city officials finally started to run the OWS crowds off the encampments were rife with larceny, assault, sexual assault, public nudity, public defecation, a murder or so, suicide and drug overdose. At least one fifteen year old girl being boinked by an adult man, probably other occasions of the same behavior, sexual assault of gay men, and rife antisemitism.

 I am going to posit that the OWS crowd has as much right as the TEA Party to demonstrate. Lord knows there is plenty to complain about. I will freely posit that I, as a supporter of the TEA Party, do not have all the answers.

 If the OWS crowd had simply got the proper permits, rented Port-A-Potties, packed a couple of sammiches and a thermos bottle of ice cold lemonade, gone out, sang a few songs, made a few speeches, then cleaned up after themselves and gone home, they might have won a little support. After all, they had the full support of the old media, academia, and the Democrat Party of both the US Government but local governments. The TEA Party had the opposition of all of these.

 Instead, they lost. And every day they lose a little more. Now there is a tent at the Occupy Oakland space where gay porno is being made. That'll make for great publicity! The old Weather Underground types are showing up, middle America is going to be terrible frightened of sixty-five plus year old revolutionaries!

 Dear OWS: You are losing support every day. Go home.

The Fighting Shotgun

 Much is said about fighting shotguns these days, though I'm not quite sure why. Contrary to popular belief shotguns are not the first choice for a home defense weapon. A shotgun works well in a panic room situation where a homeowner and family can fort up and wait for help to come. Most home defense situations aren't like that, though. A householder cannot stick a shotgun behind her back and see who is at the door, for instance, not without causing neighborhood talk.

 A shotgun does have it's uses but they're narrow. A shotgun works best between three and about forty yards. If the ranges are expected to be closer than seven yards a handgun works better, and past forty, a carbine or rifle. And at the ranges past about twenty-five yards an open choked shotgun will be missing the target with at least some of those buckshot. Even when well aimed. And remember, the shooter is responsible for every single pellet.

 The odd thing about buckshot is that a single buckshot pellet can be fatal while not a dependable stopper. And always remember that the only legal reason to fire on someone is to make them stop what they are doing, right now. And this is the fighting shotgun's sole reason. The multiple strike of several fairly substantial pellets has a much better chance of immediate incapacitation. And it does no good to the householder when the axe murderer dies three hours after hacking the grandchildren to death.

 A single buckshot doesn't have a whole lot of bohemous to it, it's about like being hit by a .22 LR from a rifle. Now it's true that either a single buckshot or a .22 can be instantly incapacitating, it requres surgical precision. Which is why no one depends on a .22 unless they have no choice. Still, nine 00 buck hitting at once gives nine nice chances, the 16 number one bucks are even better, which is why many police departments are switching to number one.

 The homeowner has another choice, number four buck. Police do not use number four much because the smaller pellets lose velocity and power fast. A cop will face possible targets at greater ranges than a citizen. At inside the house ranges a charge of 27 #4 buks will do everything a homeowner needs.

 Now the choice of shot depends on a homeowners needs and the local laws. Here in Resume Speed, Texas a homeowner is allowed to go outside to stop certain crimes, including even theft after dark. Now I wouldn't be the guy who wanted to run outside and blow away a teen siphoning gas but there are things around the place that I'd be perfectly willing to lay someone down and hold for the Sheriff's Dept. And I'd want my shotgun in hand to make sure the kid didn't have a Saturday Night Harrison in his pocket. So my shotgun has a Winchester low recoil 00 buck in one barrel and a #1 buck in the other.

 If I lived somewhere else I'd have all #4 in mine.

 Yes, I have a hammer double for my fighting shotgun. There are several reasons why, not least that where I live my shotgun is the last gun I'd choose.. My first choice for inside is one of the handguns. My first choice for outside is my .45 Colt carbine. With the terrain around the house I can hit anything I can see with that. The only reason I'd grab the shotgun is if I wanted to hold someone while making sure that (s)he couldn't hurt me. Two rounds is plenty for that. Of course I an lucky enough to have plenty of choices as to what I'd grab. Many, even most, folks do not have those choices. For those a five or more shot shotgun is best.

 Most people prefer a pump. Actually an autoloader works just as well and most autoloaders have the advantage of reduced recoil. Autoloaders have only one drawback and that is that they are somewhat um, choosy about the level of power in the shell. A pump does not know the difference between those new low recoil buckshot loads and the standard level ones. And most of the newer pumps can shoot a mix of two and three quarter inch shells and three inchers, some even three and a half. Although the hmeowner who chooses a three and a half inch buckshot shell has more shoulder strength than brains.

 This is not to say that an autolader can't be adjusted for whatever power level one chooses, it's just that to change that power level requires a feld stripping at the very least and a trip to a gunsmith at the most. A pump can shuck whatever will go in the chamber and feed through the action.

 Pay attention here: The myth that a criminal will pee his pants and surrender at the sound of a pump shotgun's slide being jacked back and forth is just that, a myth. Yes, a smart criminal would give up but if he's so damned smart, why isn't he at work or in school? Criminals are not the brightest of all the lights on God's Christmas tree. I'll say this again: if he is smart he won't be stealing your stuff. Criminals are mostly stupid. Others are on drugs and, no matter the IQ, drugs make for stupid decisions.

 If a criminal surrenders or runs away at the sound or at "I have a gun, stop or I'll shoot!", well that is the best case senario. Still, I am unwilling to bet my family on best case. Here is something important: Before keeping a loaded firearm around to ward off criminals each person must decide the circumstance in which (s)he will take a life. A gun is not a magic wand. I can wave my gun about and criminals will still steal. I've owned guns for most of fifty years now and the world is still full of criminals. There is only one thing I can be sure my guns will do and that is shoot. And they won't even do that unless I tell them to.

Antigunners love to tout the "fact" that a homeowner is more likely to be shot with her own gun. Well, that is simple, a homeowner without a gun is more likely to die by knife or choking or blunt force trauma... Yes, I may die because of my own gun. That will be because there are more bad guys than I have handy cartridges and the survivors grab the hot iron out of my hands and beat me to death with it. Or, the reality, there are more armed bad guys and they kill me while I'm standing around trying to give Linda Lou a chance to get to cover and get her own shootin' iron into action.

 It's time to mention something else. In addition to a gun lacking magical qualities, there is also no rule that says the good guys win all firefights. The US Military wins most firefights and I like to think that we are the good guys. Still we win because we mostly use massive imbalance of force. Same with police. Police win most firefights because if police know there will be shooting it ain't one bluesuit with one peashooter, it's a mass of guys with all kinds of guns and armor. Everyone who straps a patrol car to his backside knows that if the one on one firefight happens he's liable to be the one who ends up leaking blood all over. The bad guy always chooses the scenario!

 In addition to deciding, long before loading that firearm, what circumstance you can kill a human, you must decide for what you are willing to die. I am unwilling to kill to protect my car or lawn tractor. I am also unwilling to let a thief go so I am willing to step out with a gun and hold that thief for the Deputy working my sector. I am also unwilling to allow that thief to hurt me, my wife or my dogs. So I have a working knowledge of the law on the use of firearms to protect life and property. I know that in Resume Speed, Texas I am allowed to shoot to stop all kinds of crime at night, without so much as  a warning at night. I am allowed to hold those same criminals at gunpoint during the day and shoot if they threaten me or mine. And I know that the local DA is um, generous with the thought of threat. So I know I would rather not kill but will if I must. I know that I'd rather not die (even though I'm a married man) but I refuse to live in fear of petty crooks. These are my conditions. Someone so smart I don't remember who he was put it that "I shall live free or die trying."

 So, there is much to think about before loading that gun. Now, again, it is my opinion that one should never buy a fighting shotgun first, unless the person lives somewhere where handguns are verbotten. And if I lived in one of those places I'd move. There's a lot of empty ground here in Resume Speed. Not many jobs but you can't have everything.

 So, we've decided on a shotgun. Which one? Well, at the least, a double barrel, preferably a hammer double. Those can sit loaded forever, needing only to have the hammers eared back. The advantages of the double barrel are that, for comparable barrel length, they are around half a foot shorter. The disavantage? Only two shots. However, two shots of buckshot are still a lot of buckshot.

 Mpst folks will choose a magazine repeater. There are a few bolt actions and at least one Chinese company is selling a copy of the old 1887 Winchester lever action. About those bolt actions? Well, they're cheap. They are better than no gun at all. They are not my fifth choice for a fighting gun of any kind.

 That 1887 Winchester clone, well, it was an interesting creation back in the waning days of black powder. Some of the Cowboy Action shooters are having a lot of fun with them. Still, the stock design is suspect and the lever throw is very long making them slower to operate. And with the big loads they kick the snot out of the shooter.

 The pumps are the most common choice. Unlike the autoloaders they can take any sort of shell so a person can load up those cheap shells for practice, some of those rubber ball loads to chase stray dogs away from her flowerbeds and then any combination of buckshot and slugs .

 Most short barrel shotguns have cylinder bores, meaning no choke constriction. Most buckshot loads pattern better with Improved Cylinder chokes and slugs do well with that choke, too. If I were to choose, that would be the choke of my ideal shotgun.

 The barrel length should be somewhere between 18 1/2 inches and twenty-six inches. If my shotgun were to have most of it's intended use outdoors I'd go longer, indoors, shorter. The most practical length is twenty inches or so. Check local laws, some states requite a minimum of twenty inches, I believe. Federal law limits the barrel to eighteen inches or longer. I believe one should always go at least a half inch longer than the law requires, just for safety. I hate the idea of overly political cops and DAs but such do exist. And it can be very expensive winning a case where a barrel is barely legal. Federal and state law here both say eighteen inches, mine are a hair over twenty.My shotgun is legal everywhere. There may be restrictions out the wazoo on how I may transport it but it is legal.

 If my shotgun would only be used in a panic room or, say forted up in the master bedroom, the longer barrel would be best, every added inch of barrel makes the concussion of the shot a bit more bearable. And here is a secret: Firing even one round of the really big loads indoors from a short barreled gun will damage your hearing. There are more than one reason why the police haven't gone over to the three and a half inch shells firing 18 #00 buck per shot. The first three reasons is that they'll kick the shooter into the next Zip Code, they're overkill and after only a few shots the department will be buying a lot of expensive hearing aids.

 The person buying the fighting shotgun should be very chary of all those tacticool items the unaware like to hang on their shotguns. The very first item to avoid is the extended magazine.  You buy the pump shotgun and take off the magazine cap and lose that stupid little wooden thing that limits the capacity to three round, total, two in the mag and one in the chamber. That's the federal limit for waterfowl. The fighting shotgun ain't for ducks. So, then you put the cap back on and your magazine capacity is five or six.

 If you need more than that you ain't in a gunfight, you're either in a war or you've graduated to murder. Many extended magazines have really iffy springs and you end up with a repeating shotgun that won't repeat. And some shotshells start to lose their crimps just a little with repeated firing and the shot buffer (those itty-bitty plastic granules) start to leak out. Sometimes even the shot. Again, this can give you a repeating shotgun that won't repeat.So, stay away from extended mags. The last reason is that shotgun ammo is heavy. A pump shotgun is already heavy enough for steady holding. That extra half pound of extended magazine and extra shells won't help the holding, only marginally help with recoil and will slow the shotgun down on finding or following a moving target.

 Another thing to avoid are the lights on a shotgun. Really, it's okay to have such a light, just never turn it on. Consider where that light is, about two inches below the muzzle of the shotgun. Now, please, imagine putting the shotgun to your shoulder and your cheekweld on the stock, your eye right behind the sight.. Now, please, imagine the bad guy pegging his shot around three or four inches right above that light. No amount of Visene will remove the redness from that eye.

 A tacticool item to think long and hard before applying is that ghost ring rear sight and high visibility front sight. Now if my fighting shotgun were to be used with slugs at longer ranges, say fifty yards or more, I'd put that ghost ring on. Thing is, these days I'm just an ordinary homeowner and if I were to shoot someone that far away from me, well, I'd be answering a lot of questions and I'd better have a slew of bullet holes in my house or I'd be leaving Resume Speed and my new address would have my name, a long number and then, Huntsville, TX. And if I did have a valid reason for shootig that far I'd have my thiirteen round .45 Colt that, with the right ammo can put a 250 grain jacketed hollow Point out the muzzle at durned near two thousand feet per second and shoot a two inch hundred yard groupl

 In the real world that tacticool ghost ring sight is just about a half second slower to use than the plain front bead. This is at normal, inside the house ranges. Now, here on Earth the only thing we might think about is to put a bigger front bead on, either gold colored or white.

 Otherwise the only thing your fighting shotgun needs is a trip to the gunsmith to have the stock cut down so that the smallest person authorised to shoot it has a perfect fit, complete with a good, real good recoil pad. See, you can afford this because you passed on paying for all that tacticool stuff.

 The reason the stock should fit the smallest, meaning shortest pesron is that a taller person can adjust to a too-short stock easier than a short person can adjust to a too-long stock. And the best recoil pad is not too much. You only have to pay for a recoil pad once. A cheap pad and you'll pay every time you pull the trigger.

 Now if you are the "average male" the factory stock should fit you fine. If you're much taller than about five ten the stock needs to be somewhat longer. Do not cry. One of those slip on recoil pads will add around an inch to the stock. That's good to about six four. Much bigger than six four, you don't need a gun, throw furniture.

 If you are much shorter than about five eight, a shorter stock should be in your future. Best to call the local trap shooting club and find out who does the shotgun stock work around your area. Assuming that you aren't in your early to mid teens you are probably done getting taller. Spend the extra money here on someone who is a professional. Make sure the gunsmith understands that this is not going to be a wingshooting or trap shooting gun. There are some subtle differences between the ideal drop at heel and drop at comb (don't worry, any gunsmith worthy of the title understands these terms) of a wingshooting and a fighting shotgun.

 Now the recoil pad. There are really only two to look at, the Limbsaver and the Pachmeyer Decelerator. They are about equal. Have the 'smith put it on and have the stock cut to fit, or lengthened to fit. Spacers are cheap and they come a quarter inch each so you can have a stock perfect for one.

 Now I am around a half foot taller than my beloved who is plumb deadly with her little two inch LadySmith .38. She has absolutely no desire to ever shoot my shotgun. So, fine, my shotgun fits me. If she wanted to shoot my shotgun the stock would have to shrink by about two and a quarter inch and then a one inch pad stuck on. This would make the stock too short for me but the only real problem would be with my big ol' honker, The average shooter puts his dominate thumb over the wrist (that small part just behind the tigger) of the stock. A too short stock moves the face up toward the wrist of the stock. With the thumb over the wrist the recoil jabs the thumb and thumbnail wright into the nose, instant bloody nose.

 Here is the test and the solution: When firing a new to you shotgun or centerfire rifle for the first time, wrap your thumb up real good with a bandana, hankerchief or shop towel and hold the hootin' iron normally. Fire a shot or two of normal recoiling loads. If the well-wrapped thumb stays away from your nose, you're golden. If not, use the method that post WW1 military shooters used with the M1903 Springfield .30-06. When that rifle was designed most of the men who designed, built and approved that rifle were men of the Civil War and Indian War generation.

 Sometime between around 1865 and 1920 there was a big increase in average height. Better diet, water and air had much to do with it. Not to mention the folks who came from, say Scandanavia breeding with folks from, say Italy. My older sister married a man whose parents were pure Japanese, I can't remember offhand if they were first or second generation americans. He spent part of his boyhood in those relocation camps. At any rate, just because of the American diet he is about four or six inches taller than his parents.

 I have no particular interest in race or ethnic groups here, it's just a fact that the average grew taller and heavier over the generations. Anyhow, here is the trick. Instead of folding the thumb over the wrist of the stock, keep that thumb parallel with the barrel. That way the thumb is out of the way and it won't ever bust you in the beezer. A cool little historical note: in WW2 the newer guys who wanted to look saltier than they really were fired their M1s like the old vets fired the Springfields, with their thumbs lined up with the barrel.

 Anyhow, that's all a fighting shotgun needs. If your shotgun is a cylinder bore the only thing besides the (possible) stock work, the bigger gold or ivory bead and the good recoil pad is to have a gunsmith add a screw in choke tube. That's another thing that is fairly cheap. With a screw in choke tube you can set your shotgun up with the Improved Cylinder choke which is what factories have historically regulated their buckshot loads with. Slugs do pretty well with that choke, too. although the factories use full choke with those.

 With the Cylinder bore the spread of the shot charge is somewhat less than an inch per yard with the cheap, unbuffered loads. Those cheapest buckshot loads will have a pattern about tenty inches in diameter at twenty five yards.Picture a circle that big with random scattered holes, all around the aiming point.. Now with buffered loads that circle is smaller with those holes closer together. The top loads are the ones with nickel or copper plated shot and  the very best have the Federal Flight Control Wads or the Winchester #1 buck loads keep the best patterns. Of course if the shotgun stays in the house the load that patterns best down the longest hall is the one you want.

 The single biggest advantage of the screw in choke tubes is that with them you can use your shotgun for more than just in case. Put that silly little wood dowel back in and you have a three shot legal hunting gun. Wingshooting at ducks or upland game is not the same as practicing in a funhouse or a Hogan's Alley but any shooting is better than no shooting. And while a twenty inch fighting shotgun isn't perfect for trap it ain't too bad for skeet. and, again, any shooting is better than no shooting.

 Mossberg has several shotguns good for the job. So does Winchester. The Remington 870 is near legendary in the field. Many of these guns have interchangable barrels so one can go from a fighting shotgun to a goose hunter in a matter of minutes. If, of course you're mad at any geese. The wonderful old Ithaca Mod 37 still rides in a whole lot of police cruisers.

 Pretty much anyone who makes shotguns makes a model that would do well as a fighting shotgun. If I was starting all over I'd look long and hard at the shortbarreled Chinese copy of the Winchester 97. It had everything I'd want, except the interchangable choke tubes and they are fairly cheap. There is simply no better safety than an external hammer. Five rounds in the magazine. And a list price new of around three hundred bucks.

 You can still find some pretty good original models but then, someone who can sort out the good from the bad in guns ranging from sixty years old to a hundred and fourteen years old will not be much interested in my ramblings.

 Now I have been focussed on the 12 gauge shotguns, they are simply the most common.The gun buyers who buy used can find some fairly nifty 16 bore guns, ammo is somewhat more limited but there is enough to make for a viable fighter. The smaller statured might also look to the 20 gauge. Their buckshot loads of number three buck or the three inch loads of number 2 are not anything I would like to get in front of and wiggle my butt.

 Twenty gauge is as small as I'd go. There are simply no suitable loads in 28 gauge and a .410 is back to well, it's a gun, better than no gun at all but a good solid .38 would beat it for a fighting gun.

 That's about all I know about the fighting shotgun. Within it's very specific limits there is simply no gun that hits harder. A charge of nine to twenty-seven buckshot hitting all at once is simply the most effective stopper of all. The downside? The ammo is heavy. At close range the shot charge has to be aimed like a rifle, it's very easy to miss with a shot charge only a few inches in diameter. The recoil is enough that it takes a bit of time to fire the next shot. A smart criminal will take his chances with the judge when faced with a shotgun but, remember, criminals ain't smart. And the real smart criminals aren't the ones in your house, they're criminals like the Democrat donor George Soros and the Democrat Donor Bernie Madoff.

 Still, the main reason to have a fighting shotgun is the Cowboy Action or the three gun games. I shoot, or rather, used to shoot, before Linda Lou shattered her ankle, Cowboy Action. I've had the lever action carbine in .357 for a few decades now, although it lives with our #2 boy. Seein' as how I have that lever action Model 92 .45 Colt clone I don't mind too much, as long as he doesn't let it rust away.

Three gun is the one for the shooter with an autoloader pistol and a pump shotgun, any old fast firing rifle would do although the top scorers shoot some pretty fancy iron.

 I chose Cowboy Action because of my interest in 18th and 19th Centuries. While the competition isn't perfect practice for a gunfight, any shooting is better than no shooting. and I put in enough time where shooting was all about something grim and ugly. Three gun isn't perfect practice for a gunfight, either. It's more perfect practice for the would be super trooper. Again, though, any shooting is better than no shooting and either game is enough to get a lot better than 99.9% of all the bad guys. And either game, somebody with about half of the stuff he or she needs can show up at a match and will proably be able to shoot the whole thing with his or her own stuff plus a choice of several different irons of the kid (s)he lacks.The best thing about the shooting games is that shooters are honest and generous. Shooters leave multiple thousands of dollars worth of gear at matches where they themselves cannot see it. And they will gladly loan very expensive guns out to near complete strangers.

 I have been lucky enough to shoot original, factory engraved Colt Single Actions, original 1876  Winchesters, shotguns costing over fifteen thousand dollars, actual Sharps Buffalo guns, fine English double rifles and shotguns that cost more than our car when new. Meanwhile I show up with three Italian clones of the Colt Peacemaker, a Chinese clone of the 1899 double shotgun and a Brazilian clone of the 92 Winchester. Go to any of the shooting sports with a dose of humility, a desire to learn and a willingness to share in the work. You'll be given plenty of chances to try the stuff and to buy what you need. The members can be divided between the competitors and the shooters. Most of the shooters are there because the shooting is a lot more fun than the same old punching little holes in paper. The competitors just wanna WIN! That's kind of neat for the shooters.  The competitors are always selling something perfectly good to buy something just a little bit better. And you know how the value of a new car drops just from driving it off the lot? Guns are about as bad. You will save a ton of money by lining up a few matches. Unless you catch the competitor bug. Then kiss your money goodbye.