Best Home Defense Rifle?

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A 30 Carbine, AK, AR Mini-14, pistol caliber carbine, or and probably several I've left out can be effective as well as a shotgun. But my preference is a 16" barreled AR with a bright light on the rail. Ammo just isn't critical. I like any decent softpoint 50gr-70gr.
 
Suppressed 10.5" AR shooting 50 gr. varmint bullets. Short enough to be handy, quiet enough to not blow your ears out, 50 grainers are devastating on soft tissue and fast enough to punch through body armor, but very unlikely to leave a structure.

I'm still waiting on an approved form 4 for my Silencerco Hybrid, so for now still rockin' my 7.5" with a Noveske KX-3 and Aimpoint PRO

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An AR pistol fitted with an 11.5" bbl as this barrel length provides better functional reliability than shorter 5.56 bbls and better wound ballistics. Install a SIG SB-15 shooting brace and a KAK Industries Super SIG-15 buffer tube and you have, in essence, an SBR without the NFA silliness.
 
Home Defense RIFLE?

Deep South that's too funny on the Tommy Gun:D

I would go with something guaranteed to shoot and never jam and not shoot through your walls into your kids room and the neighbors kids room, so my call is a PUMP 12 G w/ 18" barrel and hard wood stock just like my granddaddy had. Nothing says get the hell off my front porch clearer and in more languages than chambering a load of buck shot :neener:
 
Deep South that's too funny on the Tommy Gun:D

I would go with something guaranteed to shoot and never jam and not shoot through your walls into your kids room and the neighbors kids room, so my call is a PUMP 12 G w/ 18" barrel and hard wood stock just like my granddaddy had. Nothing says get the hell off my front porch clearer and in more languages than chambering a load of buck shot :neener:

I thought you wanted something that would not shoot through all your walls
 
"I thought you wanted something that would not shoot through all your walls"

No, I said my kids room AND the neighbor's kids room. My kids have a pretty thick skin. ;) Of course 2 and 3/4 #4 turkey would work great too:cool:
 
Forget the rifle and go with the shotgun. Pump, or sxs, no worries about jams and very few get up after being hit. Plus, it's a lot easier on your ears.
 
Pump shotguns are prone to jamming though through operator error or the operator just not running the pump. How many times have you seen a guy shoot a pump gun, take it off his shoulder to see what happened, and not run the action?

Pump guns also require both arms to operate. You can't run the gun if you're carrying a kid, opening doors, or are injured.

As for penetration, anything that will penetrate into the chest or skull of a human will go though sheetrock.

BSW
 
"I thought you wanted something that would not shoot through all your walls"

No, I said my kids room AND the neighbor's kids room. My kids have a pretty thick skin. ;) Of course 2 and 3/4 #4 turkey would work great too:cool:

5.56 pushed at sufficient velocity generally yaw & fragment through building materials. I'd say each one of your .30 buckshot rounds has the capability to penetrate as far or further in wood/drywall as a 5.56 round. Larger-mass projectiles are more a threat regarding over-penetration.
 
If you weren't worried too much about cost or NFA silliness, what would you pick as an optimum home defense rifle set up?

If I could have anything, and price wasn't an issue, I'd have a purpose-built (pistol length magwell) gas AR-15 in 7.62x25mm, with a 10" barrel and a good .30 suppressor.

Since I don't imagine I'll have a spare $2500 any time soon, any good semi-automatic carbine with a 16-20" barrel, in any centerfire cartridge more powerful than .22 magnum, but less powerful than .30-06, will work just fine.

(Despite what a lot of poorly educated shooters believe, very powerful rifle rounds, with careful ammunition selection, are not likely to overpenetrate. The problem with using them for HD against human intruders is that follow-up shots are slower, and blast.)

John
 
Huntolive said:
I would go with something guaranteed to shoot and never jam and not shoot through your walls into your kids room and the neighbors kids room, so my call is a PUMP 12 G w/ 18" barrel and hard wood stock just like my granddaddy had.

There are no such guarantees, either on the "jam" (pretty sure you mean malfunction) or shooting through a thin plaster wall.
 
Consider the fact that if you have to use your gun to kill someone the gun will be taken by the police as evidence and you may never get it back. Do you REALLY want to use a gun that cost you $400, $700, $1,200 or $2,000?

And a suppressor? Unless it's integral with the barrel, it's going to add significant length to your short barreled gun.

You might consider the High-Point carbine that can be had in 380 Auto, 9mm Luger, 40 S&W and 45 ACP. They may be low end but they're pretty well built and a 10 round magazine is probably enough for a home defense situation.
 
Grumulkin said:
And a suppressor? Unless it's integral with the barrel, it's going to add significant length to your short barreled gun.

I have a Remington Tactical shotgun by the bed that according to Remington has an overall length of 38-1/2". A Daniel Defense M4300S (collapsed stock) with a Dead Air Armament SANDMAN-S has an overall length of 33-1/2' which is 5" shorter. I think I'm going to prefer the suppressed DD with 30 round capacity, no recoil, very fast follow up shots, far less muzzle flash and no hearing damage.
 
Location is big criteria for equipment. Even so, I'm just not fond of the idea of firing a rifle cartridge indoors. And it's true, any firearm actually used would be held in evidence for 2-3 years. If it was short range (in house) and it had to be a rifle, I would probably look for a pistol caliber carbine or if you want to give Uncle Sam some fun money: the main use of a 300blk AR - 10.5", suppressed, with 220gr.
 
I think when it comes to home defense guns:

50% is having a loaded and appropriately safe gun handy in the first place
25% is having that gun be reliable
23% is having an aiming system on the gun that works for you in the dark
2% is the specifics of what gun you actually choose

If everything's on the table NFA-wise, I'd take a .300 BLK 10"ish SBR with a 5" can and supersonic loads. I want terminal performance first and foremost, hearing protection a distant 2nd. Optic would 100% be a full size Aimpoint left on.
 
Consider the fact that if you have to use your gun to kill someone the gun will be taken by the police as evidence and you may never get it back. Do you REALLY want to use a gun that cost you $400, $700, $1,200 or $2,000?

And a suppressor? Unless it's integral with the barrel, it's going to add significant length to your short barreled gun.

You might consider the High-Point carbine that can be had in 380 Auto, 9mm Luger, 40 S&W and 45 ACP. They may be low end but they're pretty well built and a 10 round magazine is probably enough for a home defense situation.

I've heard this argument brought up time & time again, and it continues to make absolutely zero sense to me.

I don't know about you, but if I'm ever forced to defend my home against someone bent on doing mortal harm to me or my loved ones, I want the absolute best tool available. What's $2000 compared to your life? As far as I'm concerned, that's money very well spent.
 
Which is the best rifle for home defense?

When you finish answering that could you please tell me which is the best oil to use in my cars and motorcycles? :rolleyes:
 
PS90.

Nothing says "wrong house" better than 50 rounds in a tiny, lightweight bullpup.
 
Consider the fact that if you have to use your gun to kill someone the gun will be taken by the police as evidence and you may never get it back. Do you REALLY want to use a gun that cost you $400, $700, $1,200 or $2,000?

Even in a righteous shoot, you're going to lay out way more than $2k. The cost of the gun is going to be lost in the noise.

BSW
 
I'd say that for most homes, if you're looking at an HD carbine, a good place to start would be any .223/5.56x45mm carbine that reliably functions with civilian softpoints/hollowpoints, is short enough to maneuver inside your home, has a way to attach a light, and has either quick iron sights or a way to mount a red dot. For someone who lives in a masonry home or doesn't have close neighbors, 7.62x39mm might work just as well, but has a lot more wall penetration.

A 16" AR with a light-ish barrel and a short stock would be an obvious good choice, or a Mini-14 if you like that style better. If you want something handier, you could go with a 16" Tavor/X95 or AUG, or go the SBR route.
 
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