Would a .410 shot from a pistol be an effective close range (5-10 ft) stopper?

My uncle, a former Marine, is now 86 and needs an effective home defense weapon.

Something light and handy that doesn’t require accurate shooting.

I would think a .410 shotshell’s recoil would be managible and not require a lot of accuracy to be effective.

Any thoughts?

BH63

quote:

posted 13 March 2019 21:36
Would a .410 shot from a pistol be an effective close range (5-10 ft) stopper?

if its not it'll do until something else comes along!!

I really like the Winchester PDX 410 pistol loads. They are loaded with three .36 caliber disk and buckshot. I have never shot anything made of flesh and blood with them, but at room distance it makes big holes in the plywood that backs our paper targets.

My uncle has a SW Governor so loaded. He keeps it on his night stand. With the PDX load you make hits at 7 yards without looking at the sight. He wear glasses. At night, he would not have glasses on. He shoots it without glasses on for practice. He says he sees two guns in his vision wo glasses. Does not affect accuracy.

Yes, PDX and other specialty defense loads would be ideal. I’ve often thought about going back to my Judge for home defense, but forget.

IIRC, the DA trigger pull can be quite heavy. Make sure he can manage that or is comfortable cocking and firing.

Thanks. Is it DAO?

I will have him look at one in a gun store and see if the action is to stiff.

BH63

It is not DAO

A shot in the face would make them take notice.Beware also of the trial lawyers for the criminal that words like "judge" can hurt your case in court,I.E. "So you set yourself up to be the judge",etc.sad but true in these times.I think that a good point here is to be sure the attacker is dead;then there's only one side to the story.

Maybe it is because I was raised by older folks, but the Governor stags well. Also the Governor gives you an extra round over the Judge.

NC makes a good point. There are much worse things to add on to your gun (mostly ARs and Glocks) that have hurt the defendant in what would typically be justified self defense scenarios. Massad Ayoob spoke of this in a CLE not long ago.

Ironically, I bought my Judge with my criminal district court Judge. My main purpose for the gun was as a side arm while rifle hunting in snake country or for a coup de gras option.