MikeyDSlagle
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Heres the problem with a weapon mounted light...unless its so bright as to be painful it just gives me an aiming point, aim center of the light and most likely hit the target behind the light. Many years ago when I was taught urban combat we were trained to use a flashlight (usually a large Maglight) in our off hand and to hold it to the side a bit from our body, while it was bright enough to be "blinding" it was not bright enough to stop someone shooting at it, if it was to the side of you they have a good possibility of a miss, if it was part of the weapon or just under it then the shot has a much better chance of hitting. Personally I dont use a light on my home defense gun, I carry a small flashlight (Surefire, can remember the model, its pushing 20years old) for use if I need it, instead I would turn on the overhead light if switch is easily reached and light is needed, then the light source doesn't give me away, most home these days have enough ambient light sources in them that shooting in the "dark" is still doable, if with a pistol night sighs make it easier, and with a shotgun point and shoot.
Shotguns are GENERALLY a better choice for home defense guns as they have a lot of leeway built in due to the pattern size (a 12 gauge can pattern a 15-20' between 3" and 4.5") so a near miss with a 12gauge #4 buck shot round may still put half its balls on target doing some damage, a single bullet from say a 9mm is a miss no matter what. Another point in favor of shotguns is ease of use most short barrel home defense guns are very maneuvreable, and CQB adapted ones even more so, a single day at the range can render every member of the family proficient in the operation of the shotgun as its "point and shoot" not "aim and shoot", of course much more training is required for either a pistol or shotgun so that the individual learns target recogition, situational awareness, and thought needs to go into the organization of the home. For example in my home all the bedrooms are on the second floor, anyone breaking into the house has to come up the stairs to get to the family, my sons room is has a common wall with the stairwell for that reason his bed is on the opposite side of the room from the common wall since if I am forced to engage a target in the stair well there is much less worry about pentrating the wall and hitting him on the other side (my preferred home defense load is Winchester #4 buck shot from a Rem 870 SuperMag with an 18.5" barrel). As stated shotgun as well most other weapons including pistols need both hands to operate, though a semi auto can be operated single handed until it comes time for reloads, clearing a jamb, etc. IMO just about any shotgun load except slugs are a valid home defense choice since nowhere inside my home is the range going to exceed 10 yards, most, if any shots will be taken at under 5 yards.
These are my personal opinions on home defense choices.
In my home defense safe I have a S&W M&P Shield .45ACP, a Springfield XD compact .40 S&W, a Sig Sauer 556P with brace, and a Rem 870 SuperMag configured for home defense (its also one of my hunting shotguns with a barrel change).
I agree with all of this, well almost. But especially the weapon light. Only good thing I can say about a weapon mounted light would be for last moment target identification, but I'm not advocating for them at all, for the very reason you mention: giving the intruder a target. My only weapon with a light is my 10/22 Diller Killer. Bet you can't guess what it's used for.
I wasn't wanting to start the home defense debate either. Shotgun vs pistol vs revolver vs whatever. I was only putting out some info for folks to consider.
The most agreeable part of your post is that there isn't a Glock mentioned!!
My deterrents are a LCR loaded with +P, XDE45, and a Steyr M40. My Benelli Nova isn't far away but it's a duck gun and not exactly nimble.