[Roadwild17]

Hey guys, I was wondering what yall thought about this.

I was getting ready to buy my second hand gun and wanted a 5" for HD and range use being I already have a 3" carry gun. I was thinking it would be better if I had the same type of weapon with the same controls.

My reasoning behind this is suppose you carry a glock but you HD gun is a 1911 (I know the two usually don't get along :rolleyes: ) Anyway, say you go to bed and you drop your glock where you usually put your 1911 on the night stand. If you have to use it, you may be thinking 1911 when your holding the glock, such as looking for a safety, cocking the hammer, or changing mags after 7 rounds.

This doesnt even scratch the ability to use high cap mags on your ccw or parts that may be interchangeable.

[Grandpa Shooter]

Why would you want to carry all day long and trust to a particular piece to protect you and yours, and tehn go home and switch to something else? If it is good enough to carry why is it not good enough for home defense?

[rocket lad]

Personally speaking:

CCW: XD .45acp

HD: Remington 870/S&W Model 629 .44mag

That said, the XD sits next to me most of the evening, but the other two stay in the bedroom in case something happens when my girlfriend is here alone and needs access to something fast.

[Roadwild17]

My thought is get the 5" to hang a light off of. Also, something for the Ms to have when she is home and Im not (she still isn't comfortable enough to ccw her self :( )

I have the F&N police pump for my main HD gun, but Im not going look around with the shotgun (I'm not saying I would go with anything, you just never know)

[rocket lad]

That's why I'm seriously considering getting a Sig with rails, so I can put a Surefire on it. Your reasoning is sound, I think it seems like a solid plan.

I'd actually really like to slap a light on my 870 18" shottie

[spwenger]

Anyway, say you go to bed and you drop your glock where you usually put your 1911 on the night stand. If you have to use it, you may be thinking 1911 when your holding the glock, such as looking for a safety, cocking the hammer, or changing mags after 7 rounds.
I may not be the smartest bear in Jellystone Park but I think I'm smarter than the average bear. Still, I don't harbor any illusions about how much thinking I would be doing about the gun when my mind is likely to be more occupied with the threat. As far as Im concerned, the fewer variables I throw into the equation, the better. Now, if I carried an autoloader during the day, it would not bother me to slide a light onto a set of rails when I set it in the headbaord at night...

[Roadwild17]

OK, lets change Thinking to Muscle Memory and you need to change a mag, I dont think those 1911 mags are going to do much good in the glock. Also say your gun is cocked and locked safety on. Do you want to be standing there fumbling because the safety isn't where you remember it being. I mean you not thinking to look and see what gun you have, you have just trained with it and KNOW the safety is there, when infact you have a different gun.

[Biker]

All of my carry/HD handguns have the same manual of arms. DA Revolvers, Glocks or AMT - no external safeties to manipulate - grab up and shoot. I'll make do with whatever light is available.

I like things simple.

Biker

[Pax Jordana]

you may be thinking 1911 when your holding the glock, such as looking for a safety, cocking the hammer, or changing mags after 7 rounds.

If you cock your 1911's hammer, you're probably a glock owner trying to blend in :p
(or bruce willis, and then why would you need one anyway? just take the bg's!)

I like the idea of having the same model or kind of gun for HD - but there would be a point to training to the simplest manual of arms. If you carry a glock but end up with a 1911, leave the safety off and go with the one in your head (hopefully that one works whenever you have a gun in your hand..)


I have to say I haven't had that problem - anything worth dragging my butt out of bed for has also been enough to make me crap masonry :eek: so far I've been wide awake for every one of those encounters.. and thank god they've all been false alarms.

[Red State]

I think that two different guns makes sense. A CCW is likely to have any or all of the following: shorter barrel, smaller caliber, limited mag size. When you are home and concealment is not important, why not switch to something with a little more firepower?

With that said, the same manual of arms is a very good idea. For example, if you carry a Glock 26, maybe a Glock 17 is an appropriate choice for the nightstand. Even if they are both 9mm, the G17 has a significant advantage in magazine capacity and muzzle velocity.

[macadore]

No lights. In an HD situation, stealth and secrecy are your best friends. If you must have a light, lay a flashlight on the floor several feet away from where you are silently hiding. If someone shoots at the light, empty the magazine in that direction and reload while you move to another location. If you must walk, hold the flashlight at arms length. It is better to be shot in the hand than the chest or face.

[Chris B]

All of my carry/HD handguns have the same manual of arms. DA Revolvers, Glocks or AMT - no external safeties to manipulate - grab up and shoot. I'll make do with whatever light is available.

I like things simple.

Biker

Biker consistently has good advice.

The logic is that you'll perform well with what you're familiar with. It's sound logic. There are documented cases of armed victims failing to deactivate the safeties on their weapons during confrontations.

We're at a point where it's very easy to find weapons with the same manual of arms in multiple configurations (sizes, calibers). Don't put yourself at a disadvantage.

[AlaskaErik]

Personally speaking

Concealed carry: Glock 23
Home defense: Glock 23

But at the very least, make sure they have similar characteristics so there is no confusion when the SHTF. That's why I like the Glock 23. Small enough for CC, it's always ready to shoot (I always keep one in the pipe) and it's as reliable as an AK47.

We had an earthquake here earlier in the day. While the Glock 23 is the primary HD weapon, should the SHTF it is backed up with a 12 gauge, an AR-15 and a few other pistols, including an XD-45.

[AlaskaErik]

All of my carry/HD handguns have the same manual of arms. DA Revolvers, Glocks or AMT - no external safeties to manipulate - grab up and shoot. I'll make do with whatever light is available.

I like things simple.


Same here. The only pistol I have that has an external safety is my HK USP Compact 40, but it is always kept decocked and with the safety off.

[bwavec]

My concealed carry weapon is an HK USP45 compact, my home defense pistol (the shotgun is the first choice in this situation btw) is the HK USP45 fullsize (mag only loaded to 8 +1 in the chamber). Same type of weapon from a trigger/controls standpoint. Muscle memory and training cross over from one to the other seamlessly.

[Pat Cannon]

I own a 5-shot .357 Magnum revolver, for carry, and home defense, and IDPA Backup Gun competition. I also own a 6-shot .357 Magnum revolver for IDPA competition and secondary carry and home defense. I'm considering buying a gun purely for home defense -- it'll almost certainly be a 12-gauge.

[Roadwild17]

What im considering doing is getting a 3" and 5" XD in 40, thats why Im asking.

[Jayb]

No lights, or just holler, "hey, I'm over here"

Beware the man with only one gun........ he's probably very proficient with it.

[Pax Jordana]

a 3" and 5" XD in 40

That sounds about perfect.

[hso]

If you own a gun for concealed carry and want another for home defense I always advise getting the same same firearm in the larger size. I have accepted that a larger caliber may be suitable as long as the two guns are not going to risk having magazine confusion occur.

Same ergonomics, controls, etc.

[Frandy]

I have many handguns and they vary in their controls, but for carry and HD, I maintain one set of controls. I now carry a 220 Carry, and keep a readied 228 (w 15 rounds/226 mag of 9mm) in the top drawer of the night table and the 220 sits ready in the bottom drawer. A 226 is at-the-ready elsewhere in the house.

Should I ever be faced with an actual HD situation, I hope I have the time to first grab the loaded Mossberg in the closet. I have no worries that these controls differing from the Sigs.

[hamourkiller]

Life is to short to own only one handgun! Dang guys live a little!

I like light easily portable guns for carry. It is hot in Houston more than not so generally I have a pocket pistol. Scad frame S&W.

For the house N frame S&W for me and full size 45 1911 for the MRs.

870 riot on my side and CAR 15 on hers.

I have been using the 4" mod 29 beside my bed with Remington 240gr hpts. That bullet expands pronto and exits! If he is close enough to be shot with a handgun in the house you need to put some serious energy into him.

If y'all have been paying attention to the news, you will have seen recently that 2 older gentlemen here in Texas, have engaged 5 burglars with 12 ga pumps recently. 5 shots resulted in one wounded and 4 dead burglars. 100% hits to shots fired under extreme conditions. If at all possible bring the shotgun with buckshot to the pistol fight.

What ever guns you purchase, get good with them.

[Eyesac]

I vote for getting a Fullsize Glock (or the fullsize version of what ever you carry), or just use your carry gun for HD if you're worried about it.

[TomB7777]

I really don't understand why anyone would recommend using their CCW as a Home defense weapon. For concealed carry, you need something that can be easily carried and kept hidden on your person all day long as you go about your daily activities.

For home defense, concealability is not necessary. A shotgun loaded with 00 buck or a semiauto carbine would be a much more effective choice for HD than a handgun. Even for carry around town, if I knew their would be trouble, I would be looking for a way to have an AR-15 or 12 guage pump shotgun with me rather than a handgun.

[sm]

Beware the person that shoots one gun - they know it! -anon.

Unwritten rule coming up - have 4 of the same.
One off site, one for backup if one is being cleaned, inspected, or regular service which allows for a backup just the same.

Manual of arms, ammunition is the same - etc.
Firearm becomes an extension of the shooter, they become as one.

[Just Jim]

Of course my wife is smarter than I as she set herself up with a Glock 26 with Nitesites for carry and a Glock 17 with a light attached for home defense (with her cell phone at the ready). Heck I am still in the stone age carrying a 442 and a surefire 6P, but I carry them everywhere I go.

[Moondancer]

Hmmmm. All the responses I've seen seem to be pointing toward the use of a handgun for HD. My thoughts strayed from this path.

My CCW is a Kimber Compact CDP. When I get home, it comes off the belt on gets put onto the dresser closest to my side of the bed with a Surefire E2e and a spare magazine right next to it. That would be my primary SD and immediate HD weapon.

HOWEVER, in the corner of the bedroom is a Mossberg 590 loaded with eight rounds of #4 buckshot in the tube. And right next to that is a Vector AKM with a 20-round mag of 7.62x39mm Wolf MC JHPs.

For the random bump in the night the first weapon at hand is the Kimber along with the Surefire. IF I think more firepower may be required, then the Mossberg is close at hand. If I know that more than that is required, the AK is ready and available.

Paranoid???? Maybe a little bit, but "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it." I guess I'm just a firm believer in the Boy Scout motto: "Be Prepared".

And, yes, a charged cellphone sits right next to the Kimber, Surefire, and spare mag.

FWIW, the Kimber is loaded and "cocked and locked". The Mossy and the AKM have nothing in the chamber, but are in condition to rack the slide/bolt. I know it's not consistent, but that's just me I guess.

[sm]

My reasons for CCW while at home go w-a-y back as a kid, born in mid 50's, before CCW permits come to be.

Hi-Risk industry and I and mine were targets for being kidnapped.
Home guns, were similar to CCW guns.
Exceptions existed, like me CCW-ing a Beretta Minx at age 6 and Jetfire about age 8.

I CCW-ed a Model 36 or Model 10 starting around age 13, after I stopped an immediate threat against 3, armed, adults that busted down the front door.

Now in that incident, I had 3 younger kids under my charge. I had handy two .22 revolvers and one single shot shotgun.

Time did NOT allow me to gain access to a Model 10 or Repeating Shotgun.
Life happens fast, and I had to work fast in getting kids into safer areas of the house.

NO known gun schools, no training facilities back in them days.
What I did have was private lessons from Military , and Law Enforcement types.
I was raised with Gunny's and Rangers and Veterns of previous wars that had BTDT, and some in countries where getting across checkpoints meant...

Now competed with rifles, and handguns first, still in Elementary School, shotguns and competing next.

We shot "lessons" akin to what 3 Gunners before 3 Gun, IDPA, IPSC, do now, before they come to be.

Long guns are great...

My concern has always been entering, exiting a structure and answering the door.
This includes, getting to and from another structure, be it on foot or vehicle.

House I used for business; Pro Thugs bypassed alarm, locks, and I show up and turn off alarm, unlock door and I have a .357 Revolver in my face.

A lot of damn good the long guns inside are going to do me.

I am in a Parking Deck, I get in the vehicle an the door glass right behind where I am in the drivers seat explodes, from being shot out...

I am on the highway, doing 70 mph and being shot at, bumped, rammed and trying to be run off the road...I mean rap it up to over 100 mph, and doing all the defensive lessons and I have multiple cars that want me stopped.

My car gun was a .44 mag with full house loads. I "got them off my butt!"

In an Apt, Condo , even hotels I have had people walk in while I was taking a shower...


I am nobody, all I have are my experiences and observations, just sometimes a Duplicate or 4 of something is nice, and sometimes you cannot get to a long gun.

My lessons also were/are about those times where you cannot have a gun, or knife.


So for the $750 one might spend on a AR, or Nicer Shotgun, I fixed up a Lady Sales Rep, that lives alone, travels alone, and stays in hotels and motels, two Used 3" revolvers, and one used Shotgun, she carries into hotel , motel rooms, and can use at home.
This includes holsters, lockable Simplex box, ammo, speed loaders, speed strips and some other "tools of the road".

The Shotgun is a double barrel, for the same reason Awerbuck uses one, some areas in the US are less gun friendly than others.

She has two more revolvers coming, akin to what she has now.
She is "starting out" on this Sales Rep bit, and she may have as much as $1 million in mdse.

Bonded and Insured, they can have the mdse, still the concerns are she is a attractive lady, and using her to gain access to other valuables is real.

I have shared with Jeff White, and some others face to face on some of this.
Guns, knives are fine and dandy, still a LOT of the lessons I was brought up with, have to do with non-firearm matters.
Prevention, reading people, places and things and the like.

There are times, with metal detectors, wands, being patted down - one is NOT going to have anything but the brain, mindset, and senses to use as a weapon.

I'm probably wrong - again...

[DMK]

Why would you want to carry all day long and trust to a particular piece to protect you and yours, and then go home and switch to something else? If it is good enough to carry why is it not good enough for home defense? A CCW is a compromise. You want a smaller, lighter gun for CCW so it's comfortable and easy to conceal. An HD weapon require no such compromise. You want something powerful, but easy to control. A longer sight radius, heavier frame and more capacity are beneficial.

My 4" barreled, alloy framed CCW and my 5" barreled, steel framed HD nightstand gun:

http://mysite.verizon.net/dmk0210/myarms/CCO2.jpg

http://mysite.verizon.net/dmk0210/myarms/Govt.jpg

[michiganfan]

Daily G23. Next to the bed XD 45 with a weapons light

[DC3-CVN-72]

COLT 1911-A1 loaded with 230gr. Remington Golden Saber for carry, but at home in the nightstand it's a S&W 629-4 with a 3 in. bbl. loaded with CCI. Blazer .44 S&W SPL. 200gr. GDHP. I see no problem with this. I just don't feel confident with a S/A auto after just wakeing up. Besides if I'm able to get my feet on the ground, the S&W 629-4 gets handed to my wife as she is calling 911 and I grab the MOSSBERG M-590 loaded with #4 Buck shot out of the closet 2ft. away. :)

[Roadwild17]

DMK got it right A CCW is a compromise. You want a smaller, lighter gun for CCW so it's comfortable and easy to conceal. An HD weapon require no such compromise. You want something powerful, but easy to control. A longer sight radius, heavier frame and more capacity are beneficial.

Besides that I also feel it would be better to have a 5" for other uses.
1: My town has no law against discharge within city limits (I foresee a suppressor in the future hopefully)
2: Possibility for some competition with friends who have 3" guns
3: Higher cap. = bigger :D after a little rapid fire.

[CWL]

If someone shoots at the light, empty the magazine in that direction

This is a horrible tactic and suggestion.
Always know what you are shooting at and what the backstop is in case you miss.

[CWL]

I've never had problems transitioning from stick shift to automatic in cars, when I get on a bike I remember how to work the gears and pedals, I can also distinguish riding a snowboard from using skis without confusion. Years of use has made everything familiar to the point where the body naturally knows how to react without needing the brain to send a conscious command.

Folks, you do something enough times, muscle memory takes over. It doesn't matter if you regularly switch between a Glock, 1911, revolver, shotgun, bowie knife, etc. -You train enough on each of them, your body will naturally know what to do if ever the need comes up. If you need the brain to interfere, then you haven't done enough training.

[Mot45acp]

If you are having to "cock the hammer" on a 1911 something is very wrong.

[DMK]

I've never had problems transitioning from stick shift to automatic in cars, when I get on a bike I remember how to work the gears and pedals, I can also distinguish riding a snowboard from using skis without confusion. Years of use has made everything familiar to the point where the body naturally knows how to react without needing the brain to send a conscious command.
Gas prices being what they are, I drive a stick shift car most of the time. On weekends, I drive an SUV with an automatic, mostly just around town. I have caught myself quite a few times reaching for the non-existent stick shift in the SUV.

[Jayb]

I have caught myself quite a few times reaching for the non-existent stick shift in the SUV.

No offense, but aren't you glad you weren't reaching for the handgun you thought you had on your hip ?

That's exactly why I carry only one style of handgun. I have several different ones, but the controls are all identical. ;)

[rantingredneck]

Daily Carry: Ruger P345 or P97 .45ACP

HD: Ruger P90/345/97 .45ACP.

Only one type of mag. Controls all the same

Of course the 3 870's laying around would get first dibs...............

[GeezerwithGuns]

Nope: A little hard to get my HD gun (12ga 870) into my CCW holster.