Let’s be upfront about this: There is no “better” when considering a shotgun vs rifle. If you prefer one over the other for home defense, then your preference is what matters most. Imagine a veteran’s reaction if you insisted they should abandon their AR-15 – the closest available thing to the firearm they have the most experience with – for a shotgun? They’d probably tell you where you could stick your shotgun.
Similarly, rifles and shotguns both have their own place on the hunting grounds. If you’re hunting grizzly in the backwoods of Alaska, you likely want to keep as much distance between yourself and your quarry as possible. Winging a bear that can run 35 mph with a shotgun at 100 yards is not a high IQ move. But if you’re going duck hunting – well, good luck grounding a mallard with a 375 Ruger rifle.
If you’re unfamiliar with the relative pros and cons of these two long guns for home defense and hunting, then you’re in the right place. We’re going to tell you what you need to know to make an informed decision!
Shotgun vs. Rifle for Home Defense
You’re obviously not going to pick a bolt-action hunting rifle for home defense. Sure, it’s more accurate than a semi-auto, but that’s not going to provide an advantage while you’re engaging a threat in close quarters. You also want your next round chambered as quickly as possible. Let’s assume you’re considering an AR-15 for home defense like so many other Americans already employ for that all-important job!
Power – Advantage: Shotgun
A 12 Gauge shotgun loaded with 00 buck (which is the most popular type of shotgun projectile for law enforcement applications, second to slugs) is poised to do a lot more damage to a threat than any 5.56×45 or 223 Rem rifle is capable of. Nine pellets of double-aught (which weigh approximately 484 grains) loaded to a muzzle velocity of 1,600 fps are going to transfer at least 2,600 ft lbs of energy to their target at close range. 223 ammo with a 55 grain bullet loaded to a muzzle velocity of 3,240 fps, on the other hand, will deliver about 1,200 ft lbs of energy at the same distance.
In short, a 12 Gauge shell that’s suitable for self-defense deals more than twice the damage of an AR-15 round. Is that overkill? Well, you could argue that overkill is a moot concept when someone means to do you immediate bodily harm. But you do pay a price when you opt for a shotgun’s greater power: heavier recoil.
Recoil – Advantage: Rifle
Recoil energy is largely determined by firearm weight, projectile weight and muzzle velocity. Without diving too deep into the math, it’s reasonable to assume a 12 Gauge shotgun will always subject the shooter to more recoil than an AR-15. A 20 Gauge shotgun will generate less recoil than a 12 Gauge, and it’s still more than powerful enough to quickly neutralize a threat, although it generates greater recoil more the same.
Why is recoil important? Because recoil forces the barrel to rise upward following ignition – a phenomenon known as “muzzle rise” or “muzzle flip.” The heavier a firearm’s recoil, the farther its muzzle is going to jerk upward each time it’s fired. If you fire at and miss a threat that is advancing toward you, you’re going to be in a poor position if heavy recoil has forced your barrel to point up at the ceiling. In short, lining up your next shot is going to take longer with a shotgun as opposed to a rifle!
We have to preface our next point by advising that you should never let a minor operate a firearm unsupervised. That said, if you’re not around during a home invasion and your kid has to take their personal safety into their own hands, you’d much rather they have an AR-15. The rifle’s lower recoil will give them a great advantage as they have an easier time directing rapid, accurate fire at the threat.
Reloading and Capacity – Advantage: Rifle
Rifles are easier to reload than shotguns. Whereas each shell must be manually loaded into a shotgun’s tubular magazine (or chambers, in the case of a double barrel shotgun), a rifle only requires a quick magazine swap. (Unless it’s a magazine-fed “AR-12” shotgun.) During a high-stress home invasion, a simpler reloading process can make a whole world of difference.
Rifles also have larger capacities than shotguns. Whereas a shotgun typically holds about six rounds, a standard AR-15 magazine holds 30. You would ideally only need to fire one shot to end a dangerous altercation, but things are seldom ideal under such circumstances. During WWII, it was estimated that 45,000 rounds were required to kill one enemy soldier. We’re not suggesting you’ll need that many to stop a home invader, but WWII does demonstrate the importance of having plenty of rounds at the ready.
Spread – Advantage: Shotgun
Let’s do away with a misunderstanding about shotguns. Thanks in no small part to movies and video games, a lot of people think shotguns are magical objects which only have to be aimed in the general direction of a threat before it blows them away with a massive radius of shot.
Not so. A shotgun loaded with 00 buck is going to deliver a cluster of shot about the width of a man’s fist at 10 yards. At 20 yards, that pattern increases in diameter to about 12”.
A cardboard target hit with 12 gauge buckshot
But a shotgun’s pattern is still far more forgiving of poor aim than a rifle bullet. A 5.56/223 bullet is .224” in diameter. If you miss the threat by 1”, you’ll miss them altogether. But if you miss the threat by the same distance with a shotgun – which is realistic during a situation when your blood’s going to be about 90% adrenaline – you’re still likely to sink at least one or two .33” diameter pellets of 00 buck into the threat.
Of course, with birdshot, you’ll get even greater spread with a shotgun.
12 gauge birdshot fired into a cardboard target.
Of course, a shotgun’s spread advantage becomes moot once you load it with slugs, which act more like bullets than clusters of shot.
Intimidation Factor – Irrelevant
Don’t take into account how intimidating your firearm is going to appear to the threat. You should only point a firearm at someone if it is reasonable, under those circumstances, to shoot them. Their perception of your firearm is irrelevant at that point.
Some people claim that the iconic “chik-CHAK” of a pump-action shotgun is sufficient to deter someone from harming them. Perhaps. We can certainly see the value of so intimidating a sound from a police officer’s point of view. Another theory, however, holds that it is never wise to inform a threat that you are armed. It gives them invaluable information as to how they ought to proceed if they intend to continue their mission to harm you.
On a side note, it is wise never to make a firearm look more intimidating than it already is. However reasonable your decision to defend yourself may have been, if you wind up in court, the prosecuting attorney is going to consider it a gift if you previously put Punisher skulls on your firearm.
The Verdict
A shotgun offers greater stopping power and a more forgiving spread. An AR-15 offers less recoil, faster reloading and more available shots. But as we said earlier, the firearm you should prefer for home defense ultimately boils down to personal preference.
Shotgun vs Rifle for Hunting
Let’s shift our focus to a lighter topic: hunting, where your life is never in danger unless you’re going after enormous or vicious animals.
Let’s just get this out of the way: A shotgun is indispensable for bird hunting. Whether you’re going after upland birds like pheasant or grouse or waterfowl like ducks and geese, you need a wide pattern of shot to anchor a small, fast and flying target. (But a 22 LR rifle’s just fine for putting the fear of God into crows that are looking funny at your newly seeded lawn.)
Birds notwithstanding, let’s get into the relative pros and cons of shotguns and rifles for deer hunting. The following points largely apply to other game such as hogs and predators.
Shotgun vs Rifle Range – Advantage: Rifle
Shotguns can cover some distance. A good rifled bore shotgun, which can impart spin and resultant rotational stability to a slug, is able to cover 150 yards with impressive accuracy.
But this achievement pales in comparison to a rifle’s range. The distance a rifle can cover largely depends on (A) the cartridge it’s chambered for, and (B) the skill of the person firing it, but a range of 1,000 yards is not remotely out of the question for many commercially available rifles. The longest confirmed sniper kill was nearly 2.2 miles, and it sure as heck wasn’t done with a 12 Gauge.
Hunting in Dense Vegetation – Advantage: Shotgun
The shotgun really shines when you’re hunting in an environment with lots of trees and other plants. If a rifle bullet strikes a twig or a branch, its trajectory is likely to deflect enough to spoil the shot.
Rifle Example Through Brush
A powerful slug, on the other hand, is better equipped to charge right through a twig and keep on going. And if half of a spread of buckshot gets absorbed by a sapling, the other half is still capable of anchoring a whitetail no problem.
Shotgun Example Through Brush
Maneuverability – Advantage: Shotgun
Shotguns can easily be 12” shorter than rifles. If a deer suddenly sprints by you, it’s far easier to swing a shorter firearm while lining up a snap shot. Furthermore, if you’re traversing a densely wooded area, you’ll find the journey a whole lot easier while you’re carrying a shorter shotgun. No one feels like a genius when a low hanging tree branch knows their rifle out of their hands!
Power – Advantage: Depends
The amount of power a shotgun puts at your fingertips will exceed that of a rifle chambered for 223 Rem, 22-250, and possibly even 30-30 (the rifle’s greater range notwithstanding). But once you get up into big boy territory – think 30-06 or 300 Win Mag – a rifle’s power starts to dwarf that of a shotgun at any range.
It’s important to bring enough gun when you go hunting. As a rough guideline, you should try to put 10 ft lbs of energy into a target for every pound it weighs. You would ideally hit a whitetail with at least 1,000 ft lbs of energy (bearing in mind that a bullet progressively loses energy over the course of its trajectory). Humanely hunting elk calls for a minimum of 1,500 ft lbs of energy. Shot placement does compensate for lower impact energy, however.
Versatility – Advantage: Shotgun
Rifles limit what you’re able to hunt. You’d never want to use a 308 Win to hunt squirrel, as that would be the definition of overkill. A lot of hunters consider the 223 Rem too weak for deer hunting at ranges beyond 100 yards. And like we said, if you only have a rifle, the closest you’ll get to hunting ducks will be feeding them bread crumbs at the park.
A shotgun puts the whole hunting world at your fingertips. With the right 12 gauge ammo, a single shotgun is as suitable for taking quail as it is grounding blacktail. If you only have a shotgun, you’ll also be able to crack clays at the trap and skeet range. What’s more, a shotgun’s aforementioned suitability for home defense makes it all the more versatile in comparison to a rifle!
The Verdict
Wrapping up the rifle vs shotgun debate, you now know the better choice depends on how you’ll use the firearm.
If you have a specific type of hunting in mind, there are a thousand places online that will recommend the ideal shotgun and/or rifle for the endeavor. But if you’ve only got the budget to buy one long gun, the general purpose shotgun may very likely become your new best friend.
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