Some years back I had a sheriff’s deputy do a security check of our home. He looked at the locks on our doors and places around the house where someone could… lurk? He didn’t find anything obvious. I asked about best firearm for home protection and he immediately said shotgun. A few weeks later I purchased a Remington Model 870 12 gauge. I had some reservations about having a gun in the house but decided I’d rather have a gun and not need it, etc etc. It occurred to me I’d be much more likely to pull the trigger if I could do so without killing the intruder so I investigated “less lethal ammunition” for the shotgun.

Once a year I take the 12 gauge into our woods and fire off a few rounds, just to stay familiar with the weapon. The weight, the recoil, the sound, etc.
I was firing from about 20 feet from the targets on the assumption I’d never be farther away from someone who got inside our house. The blue circles are the wadding from the shotgun shells; the yellow is birdshot; and the green is 00 Buckshot. I’m not a great shot but with a shotgun you really don’t have to be.