Let me give you a hypothetical home defense scenario

[Bandwidth]

Neither. I obviously make terrible decisions, and deserve whatever is coming henceforth.

 

[Jblue]

Just after 2:00 AM, the sound of glass breaking wakes you up from a sound sleep.

Since you don't have money for a big gun vault filled with guns, you only have two choices for home defense:

1. A Ruger SR-22 (a .22 semi-auto pistol with a 10 round clip ), or...
2. An ATI Nomad (a 12 gauge single-shot break open shotgun)

Which would you rather grab and why?

Put another way, would you rather have 1 powerful round, or 10 weaker rounds with which to defend home & hearth?

Multiple Rounds for me.

The noise of the first round will inhibit the bad guys fight or flight. He is going to make a stand or flee after the first "BANG". My reading would tell me that these guys normally choose to flee.

So I know this sounds ridiculous but in my home sweeping plan I know which walls I can shoot through and to what effect. The .22 would discount this feature of my plan.
But one round of ANYTHING just doesn't give me peace. Surviving a .22 still gets you to a hospital; gets you caught by police; which may be better than disemboweling the guy with a well placed buckshot/slug.

I GUESS...if you got reeeeeeal tactical with loading the 12 it may be acceptable for some.

 

[ReservoirDawg10]

I don't like having all my eggs in one basket

 

[Wolf six]

Cold steel spetnaz shovel

 

[jeepnuts]

Multiple Rounds for me.

The noise of the first round will inhibit the bad guys fight or flight. He is going to make a stand or flee after the first "BANG". My reading would tell me that these guys normally choose to flee.

So I know this sounds ridiculous but in my home sweeping plan I know which walls I can shoot through and to what effect. The .22 would discount this feature of my plan.
But one round of ANYTHING just doesn't give me peace. Surviving a .22 still gets you to a hospital; gets you caught by police; which may be better than disemboweling the guy with a well placed buckshot/slug.

I GUESS...if you got reeeeeeal tactical with loading the 12 it may be acceptable for some.

If I decide I must use deadly force then I believe it should be deadly. I’d be concerned a bad guy I shot who survived would be pissed and come back with a better/different revenge plan

 

[jwc0305]

ONE SHOT, ONE KILL, SPLATTERED BRAINS, then run screaming and throwing leftover tacos

 

[Freshly Minted Georgian!]

For your scenario I'd go with the Ruger. In reality for house clearing which I've sadly had to do several times I'll sometimes grab a full size 9mm or 45 or just as often my trusty old Cold Steel Tanto.

 

[Stampede]

Hopefully the left-over tacos were greasy and spicy. I'd stand a good chance of getting some spicy grease in their eyes, while I grab the closest lamp or whatever else is handy.

 

[sniper62]

Shotgun. Put a sleeve on the buttstock with extra shells. OO Reduced recoil. Practice reloading. What barrel length is it?
Unless it’s a home invasion because your rich or a drug dealer a “run of the mill” burglar will flee. Have a bright flashlight. Practice holding light with support hand on the forend. Target ID is very important. If they opt to run let them. A lot of grief if you have to use deadly force. Don’t shoot someone over stuff.

 

[sniper62]

Clearing a house is much trickier with a longarm than a handgun. I'd go with the pistol.

You don’t have to go hostage rescue speed. Go really slow with bright light. Slowly slice the pie- use angles. You can clear most of a room without entering it. If you do have to shoot the 22 lr will just piss off a determined aggressor.