Restricted shotgun for farm protection

[EL34/6L6]

Except...

In general, shotgun shells are the easiest to reload of anything. Rolling your own defensive/heavy loads is pretty trivial.

Right, reloading is always a viable option. Especially if one is dedicated to a certain platform or caliber.

 

[hunterhenderson]

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Just picked one of these up, we live on 25 acres in the rocky mountains, we have everything from grizzly to ground hogs, this one will do the trick , 5 rounds, easy to handle, fast

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[Boomer]

We have a ranch with horses, chickens and a big garden. We have many of the expected predators (wolves, coyotes,coy wolves, foxes, cougars and bears). Many times we see these predators close to the barn and chicken coop and I'm not always around to deal with them.

I bought a Beneli Supernova 14" for my wife and daughters, because my 870 and Beretta semi are to big and heavy for them. Unfortunately the Benelli pump kicks too much for them. The Beretta semi is ok on recoil for them, but not the size of it.

If I were to plug a Benelli M4 14" semi 12 guage to 2+1, is it legal in Ontario to use this for livestock protection? I know it is a restricted firearm, we have our RPAL licenses and a lockable cabinet.

I'd forget all about restricted firearms given the current provisions of the Firearms Act, and in any case, forget about a 12 bore for the gals. Consider instead a medium sized rifle or a 20 ga if it must be a shotgun. A CZ 527 carbine in 7.62X39 is a small rifle with a mild report and gentle recoil, even when loaded with 150 gr soft points. A traditional lever action carbine in .30/30 is even nicer to carry, and handles heavier bullets better, but IMHO, the CZ is a better choice as a protection rifle since the magazine(s) can be kept loaded while not attached to the rifle. If your operation is in the part of Ontario which limits the bore of a rifle to .277 or smaller, a .260 Remington with 140 gr bullets will work well. Under the provisions of the Firearms Act, where wildlife issues pose a threat to life or property, one firearm can be legally kept out, unloaded, while someone is home. Should a situation arise, its a simple matter, for whomever is responding, to seat the loaded magazine in the rifle, then go and deal with the issue at hand.

While a 20 ga is capable enough, without practice, tube fed repeaters are slower to load, but making time for regular practice is not an insurmountable problem. A double barrel shotgun with short barrels can be quick handling, point well, and with a bit of practice is quick to reload. But, an important consideration when choosing a gun suitable for protecting the homestead is that should an emergency occur beyond a distance of 50 yards, a shotgunner is an observer, rather than a participant in the event. Make your choice based on the largest target you'll encounter, and the longest shot that would reasonably occur. If the answer represents a problem that can be resolved with a shotgun, then it can be solved with a 20 ga, but if the distance across your yard exceeds 150', you will probably be better off choosing a rifle.