Reality Survival  What type of emergency are you preparing for (economic collapse, terrorist attack, Electro-Magnetic Pulse, natural disaster, hyper-inflation, etc)?  Nobody knows what exactly the future holds; therefore nobody knows specifically how to prepare.  When selecting a weapon, the shotgun seems to prove more versatile than most of the others.  This jack of all trades weapon can do all things from put food on the table (bird shot) to defend against hostiles (buck shot) and put down wild predators (slugs).

I won’t attempt to argue that there are better weapons for some specific applications.  Many law enforcement agencies across the US have moved away from the shotgun toward AR platforms due to increased accuracy, effective range, greater ammo capacity, lighter weight and reduced recoil.  That said the specific mission of a law enforcement carbine is limited to tactical applications (not so great at shooting birds).  The shotgun is sufficient for combat engagements greater than 100 yards with slugs and is superior at ranges under 35 yards with Buck shot. The vast majority of tactical engagements one would expect to encounter in an emergency SHTF situation would be within those ranges (beyond that a tactical retreat should be considered if practical).