Best home defense weapon

Discussion in 'Firearms and Hunting' started by Think for myself, Aug 16, 2011.

  1. Creasy Tvedt

    Creasy Tvedt Well-Known Member

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    Standard fixed stock, but I'm over 6' tall and around 200lbs, so I can deal with the length and heft of it. I could certainly see why a smaller person would want a shorter stock. It's a big ol' boomstick.

    I got the pistol grip, and that helps with overall control, but you do lose a certain amount of dexterity. It's not a gun your can sorta "whip around".
     
  2. 557

    557 Well-Known Member

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    I love everything about it except the top front of the collapsible stock is pointed and exposed. It snags on clothing and anything else you try and maneuver around. Thanks for the info on the standard fixed. It does sound too long for me at 5’10”. Maybe I’ll just have to deal with what I have. :)
     
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  3. Well Bonded

    Well Bonded Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Which dogs are useless at preventing.

    That's know as making a point.
     
  4. 19Crib

    19Crib Well-Known Member Donor

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    Actually, that turns a burglary into a robbery. In California, the standard of caring begins at robberies and crimes with firearms.
    Regarding deadly self defense, depending on where you live, determines whether you are the criminal or the perp is. There seems to be this attitude that you should just leave him alone and go out the back door.

    I’m a .45 auto guy.
     
  5. Zorro

    Zorro Well-Known Member

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    God Bless America!

    [​IMG]

    GUN CONTROLLERS BUSTED LYING. AGAIN: Ammo Ban Activists Attack NSSF With Selective Editing, Shoot Themselves in the Foot.
     
  6. JET3534

    JET3534 Well-Known Member

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    Mossberg Shockwave 12 gauge (#1 buckshot) with a tactical light that more or less aligns with the point of aim. Quick pointing. Can be fired from the hip using the light. Good stopping power. Unlikely to penetrate a wall and hit a neighbor (closest neighbor is 150 yards away). That and a Ruger American 9mm with a laser.
     
  7. JET3534

    JET3534 Well-Known Member

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    Please post the source of your statistics.

    With respect to suicides, a gun never forced anyone to commit suicide via gunshot anymore than having a knife caused anyone to slash their wrists.

    An intruder in my house has bypassed/nuetralized a fence, an alarm, and a large dog. I would be in fear of my life and not want to leave it up to the mercy of the intruder as to the degree I or a family member would be hurt.

    Things like this do happen.

    https://nypost.com/2014/09/28/it-never-goes-away-man-still-haunted-by-gruesome-home-invasion/
     
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  8. JET3534

    JET3534 Well-Known Member

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    Really? I knew someone who was woken up by his dog and found 4 dudes in his house. He held them at gunpoint and his wife called the local police. They said they had no one who could respond.
     
  9. JET3534

    JET3534 Well-Known Member

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    Mark Twain wrote, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
     
  10. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    For a small property, I reckon the technically 'best' weapon would be a bullpup semi-auto drum fed short barreled 12 gauge shotgun. This would achieve the best mix of stopping power (that doesn't go through the entire house), repeatability for multiple invaders, maneuverability in close quarters and weight to reduce the recoil of the weapon.

    For large property, a semi-auto rifle probably has more utility.

    But it may be easier for most people to keep a pistol handy, and in a home invasion scenario, quicker response is probably more important than any other factor (aside from competence with the weapon, of course). If you can't keep a 'streetsweeper' (for lack of a batter term) within reach of your bed, just go with a pistol.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2021
  11. JET3534

    JET3534 Well-Known Member

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    1. A .22 rimfire magnum from a handgun in terms of kinetic energy is about like a regular .22 rimfire from a rifle.

    2. A 5.56 from a rifle has a lot more energy than a .22 rimfire magnum.

    3. Rimfire rounds are less reliable than centerfire rounds.

    4. Kel-Tec guns are hit or miss (no pun intended) in terms of reliability. Very innovative designs and poor quality control.

    5. To implement the concept you are describing a Ruger 57 would be the way to go.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2021
  12. AARguy

    AARguy Well-Known Member

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    When seconds count, police take minutes.
     
  13. JET3534

    JET3534 Well-Known Member

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    I have changed one of my my home defense guns from a 5.56 carbine to a 10mm carbine with Underwood XD ammo. An interesting evaluation of the Underwood XD ammo which many uninformed individuals discount as a gimmick bullet can be found in this document. The interesting thing with the Underwood XD ammo is that performance increases with the velocity increase provided by a carbine length barrel which may not be the case with a hollow-point bullet.

    https://nebula.wsimg.com/d0ba783a79...38C5AD5E3222E4D9B&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
     
  14. AARguy

    AARguy Well-Known Member

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    I don't go for super lethality in a home defense weapon. During a firefight in Iraq I aimed center mass at a bad guy. I ended up hitting him in the hand. He ducked into a doorway and disappeared. That was good enough. If my home is ever invaded (God forbid!), getting the bad guy(s) to just go away is all I need.
     
  15. JET3534

    JET3534 Well-Known Member

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    I would of course prefer a threat to go away, but anyone in my house uninvited has bypassed my alarm system and likely killed my dog who is aggressive and usually awake from 3AM on. They have also gone past my neighbors fence and ignored their 5 or 6 very large and aggressive dogs, some of which are awake 24/7. When people come up my driveway at night these dogs alert, which alerts my dog. The only problem being they alert for foxes and coyotes as does my dog. The reason I switched from 5.56 to 10mm was that I now have neighbors living 100 yards or so from my house. So the thought was to lower the kinetic energy by switching to a handgun round, albeit fired from a Carbine. Not sure if a lightweight 115 grain 10mm at say 1600 fps will penetrate less than 55 grain 5.56 at 3200 fps or if there would be reduced sound and flash with the 10mm from a carbine. If you have any thoughts on 10mm v. 5.56 from carbine length barrels I would appreciate the feedback.
     
  16. AARguy

    AARguy Well-Known Member

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    While I do keep guns handy in case a bad wanders into my bedroom at 2 AM, my guns are for a different purpose. t the risk of being called names, I am more concerned about a long term threat. As we see war becoming more and more likely, from Ukraine to Taiwan, inflation causing shortages of all sorts of goods (including food), and the nation splitting in two for so many reasons, my guns are for protection from larger and more permanent threats than a thief in the night. My experience with weapons is mostly military, so most of my guns are military or LEO (Law Enforcement). I figure that if chaos does occur, ammo get scarce but there will always be LEO and military ammo available. Other calibers may disappear.

    PISTOLS I am no fan of 9mm. 9mm was adopted by the military when female soldiers began to proliferate. Like it or not, the standard 45 ca M1911 was considered to heavy and unacceptable for use by women according to ergonomic studies conducted by Picatinny Arsenal. After more studies the Army decided to go to the 9mm Beretta. The FBI, which traditionally piggy-backed their weapon procurements on Army contracts found this unacceptable. The FBI wanted more OOMPH! (That's a technical term!) So after conducting their own tests, they ended up developing the 40S&W round. I always found that the range of an M1911 45cal was about as far as you could throw it, and I didn't like the 9mm either. I am now big fan or the 40S&W. The bullet of the 40S&W is 10mm but the round itself is a different size. The Beretta 96D is a good launcher for this round, although it needs to be modified with a trigger kit to make the pull acceptable. Its a cop's gun and designed to be difficult to fire if captured by a bad guy.

    RIFLES I am no fan of 5.56 round. Its Max Effective Range is 440 meters in an M16 and 660 meters in an M4. And it tumbles, decreasing accuracy at the terminal parts of that.The small round was first adopted because of its relatively light weight... better for extended and lengthy patrols. I won't be doing any more patrols, so I prefer the 308 round. Much better range.

    SHOTGUNS I always keep a shotgun around. In Iraq I saw the Army liked Mossbergs, so on that recommendation, I like Mossbergs. A good old 500 pump does the trick. But there are also some "autoloaders" available too. I like the Mossberg 930. OO buck will do for any close range application, but might blow a hole in your bedroom wall. For home defense I prefer "hybrid" rounds which mix #4 shot and #6 shot.

    I'm also no fan of pistol ammo fired from a carbine or other rifle variant. I'm just a purist I guess.
     
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  17. Aleksander Ulyanov

    Aleksander Ulyanov Well-Known Member

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    Most sources I've read say the best all around home defense weapon is a short barreled (so it can be used in hallways) shotgun. Most people can handle a 12 guage and a 16 gauge is quite adequate anyway. It has gobs of "stopping power" and doesn't have to be aimed. Best is the "riot gun" of police car front dash fame
     
  18. Well Bonded

    Well Bonded Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Shotguns most certainly must be aimed, it distances found in the home they might have a spread of a couple of inches at best.

    As such they must be fired from the shoulder using at least the front sight, or from the hip if one has practices with hundreds of rounds to fully learn the proper angles needed to get a center of mass shot.

    Also as for 12 gauge my experience as a trainer is most people cannot handle a 12 gauge, after a couple of rounds that's it they want nothing to do with a shotgun.

    As such for most I have found dropping to a 16 or even a 20 works well for younger (teens, preteens), older folks (Arthritis) and females.

    And just like a 12, they can be had in shorter barrel versions, but unlike a 12 are lighter.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2022
  19. James California

    James California Well-Known Member Past Donor

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  20. FatBack

    FatBack Well-Known Member

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    So you can point a shotgun 90° away from your Target and still hit it? ..... Fascinating...

    Of course that's nothing more than a myth. An extremely illogical one at that.
     
  21. FatBack

    FatBack Well-Known Member

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    A more sure bet is Smith & Wesson.

    Remember when seconds count the police are only minutes away!
     
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  22. AARguy

    AARguy Well-Known Member

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    When seconds count.... police take minutes.
     
  23. Well Bonded

    Well Bonded Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Or hours.
     
  24. 19Crib

    19Crib Well-Known Member Donor

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    Ten gauge auto-mag, unplugged, #6 shot, short barrel.
     
  25. SiNNiK

    SiNNiK Well-Known Member

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    I've decided to replace the 12ga pump with an autoloader.

    Beretta 1301T, with Aridus Industries foregrip, their stock adapter which allowed me to use the Magpul stock, their CROM sight mount, and their detachable side saddle with three shell holders, as well as a +2 mag extension from Nordic Components complete with little picitinny rails.

    The gas system on the 1301 is 37% faster than any other autoloader on the market. Keeping it loaded with 12 pellet 00buck, along with a couple slugs in the shell holder.

    Still have my Sig P238 in my pocket at all times but now have incorporated my Sig P220 in a holster while home.

    Also picked up a 8mm Mauser for reaching out to touch someone, if need be.
     

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