Home Defense Pistol or Shotgun, Changing Views.

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cslinger

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You know I am all for the good ole' reliable pump 12 bore for a home defense gun but the older I get and the more I think about it I am leaning more towards a solid handgun then any longarm.

I have worked for 911 and know darn well how fast somebody can kick in your door, kill your dog and then take you and your mom out....then have a drink....about 14-23 seconds actually. Now lets think about this.

What could you do in 14 seconds. Now lets figure you are going to burn at least a few seconds with the ole' what the hell is all that racket thought.

So now you are down to say 10 seconds. Where are you? You are most likely in your family room watching TV, or maybe the kitchen cooking. Ok now you have 10 panic filled seconds to get to your longarm. In my case that is up a flight of stairs and in another room.

That being said I am a proponent of you have a firearm near or on your person at all times (The same room if not next to you.) So are you going to lug your long arm around the house? I'm not. So this brings me back to a tried and true sidearm. Revo, auto, .32, .45, 9mm, doesn't matter so long as you can get to it in a flash and use it.

Now in those situations where you have the warning or are able to fight your way to the long arms a good ole' 12 bore is the way to go IMHO, the problem is you have to have either the time or the ability to get there.

So I think when recommending a primary HD firearm the lowely underpowered handgun may be the best way to go. Course if I can get to the real weapons woe be to the intruders cuz the wife and I could conceivably bring quite a hail and variety of lead down on the heathens.

My two cents. Discuss please.
 
I go back and forth on the pistol/shotgun issue all the time. Currently, it is my Remington 870 12 gauge. But I also have been attached to my S&W .357 revolver. Even though I have put thousands of rounds through several semi-auto's I don't want one as my bed side companion.
 
You bring up some good points cslinger. That is what I do...870 for the times I hear a funny noise and have time to investigate, but I have a pistol close by wherever I am in the house for the door-kicking surprises. Luckily, the door-kicking surprise has never happened, but I have wandered out in my underwear and my 870 a few times...not sure which of those is more likely to strike terror in the minds of anyone up to no good around my house :eek:
 
At least you are thinking, and that beats about 90% of everybody. What do I do? It depends...
 
I also have been attached to my S&W .357 revolver. Even though I have put thousands of rounds through several semi-auto's I don't want one as my bed side companion.
Click to expand...
Works for me. Although my shotguns may be intimidating & my semi-autos fun and functional, it's my S&W .357 (686) revolver that's close to hand come bedtime.
 
In my classes I teach that a gun that is not within easy reach of wherever you are sitting or standing is the same as no gun at all.

Pick the most effective gun that will ALWAYS be within reach. For me that is a fullsize handgun in a SmartCarry rig. Ready at hand at all times.

If you want to have a long gun around too, fine, but I cannot imagine it will ALWAYS be within reach. (Lucas McCain notwithstanding.)

JR
 
My 1911 everyday carry gun is most always near by in case of the "unexpected". Long guns are kept in more secured locations (I have kids) so they are much tougher to get to.
 
I usually have the Kimber with me where ever I am iom the house. With a 870 standing "back-up" in another room.

On a similar note: There was a crash in the kitchen the other night,dog jumped up growling and I grabbed the .45. It's so much easier to move through doors and hallways.
 
Depends on your own unique situation. My 'go to' HD in the middle of the night at 0'dark thirty is a Win Defender under my bed and loaded with buckshot, wearing a buttcuff with 7 (I think) more. I'm upstairs and a looong way from any point of entry. No family members are downstairs, and I'm on an isolated hill with no neighbors.

If I'm awake and downstairs, I'm close to a CZ75B 9mm with an extra loaded mag and a Springer Milspec .45 with 4 extra loaded mags. The layout of the house is such that I could have either in my hand within 10 seconds. What's more, I'm behind a locked gate and have a big dog. (Not that he's paying attention all the time). :p

I also live in a small rural community that is not prone to home invasion type attacks. All things considered, I'm reasonably secure.

Everyone's situation is different and you should provide yourself with as much advance warning as possible. Gates, motion sensing lights and/or alarms, a dog(s), etc. There's more to personal defense than firearms.
 
My wife won't touch a shotgun but she's deadly with a snub .38 Special so I consider compromise to be the better part of valor. :)

I'm partial to .45 1911, carbine rifles, or shotguns but I have to admit the handiness of a pistol/revolver makes them a good choice. Heck, even one of the S&W 9-shot .22's on the kitchen counter beats a 12-gauge locked in the safe. I have small kids in the house so that's always a consideration too.

K
 
When I'm in bed at night, there's a handgun on the bedside table and a shotgun within easy reach.

When I'm moving around the house, there's a handgun in my pocket or on my hip. If I go out, I switch to a more concealable method of carry, but as long as I'm at home, I'm armed. If someone wants to break in, I may need to fight my way to my shotgun!
 
"Works for me. Although my shotguns may be intimidating & my semi-autos fun and functional, it's my S&W .357 (686) revolver that's close to hand come bedtime."

Just a heads up, the 686 is on the S&W recall list. It can lock up on you, if you use a heavy load. Do a search on this board for a list of recalled guns.
 
I keep my HK IWB most of the time I'm awake (sans shower and some other activities :D ). While sleeping the HK goes on the nightstand with the Mossy loaded with an empty chamber next to the bed. Figure if I hear it and can discern what it is I'll go for the Mossy. But the first thing in my hand is the HK when I get woken up. almost took out my cat the other night....

hkOrion
 
Nobody told me it was an either/or deal, so I have all three (handgun/shotgun/rifle) at hand.

It's about 50 yards from the front door to the driveway gate here, 150 yards from the front door to the road the driveway turns off from. The whole place is fenced and there are at least two layers of fence (all electrified with a Parmak Mark 6) between the house and the property line. There's an 870 hidden at either end of the house, and another 870 and an AR-15 hidden in the middle- the AR will cover everything we can see from the front door or the back. There are usually two dogs in the house or in the yard too.

Tucked here and there in the house are a couple of revolvers and hidden in the kitchen is a Glock 19. My wife carries a P3AT at home indoors and out and my Kahr stays with me at home. I'm home almost all the time, when we both leave everything goes in the safe except what travels with us. We are way out in the country and response time from the SO is apt to be slow unless a car is close by. Nasty stuff happens in the country as well as the city these days. Denying that won't keep trouble from turning up on your doorstep.

Not long ago our neighbor's wife ran off someone casing their outbuildings- she took several pictures of him for the sheriff's office in the process. But she had a pistol in her hip pocket when she did it.

The same level of preparedness goes for medical emergencies and fire as well- we keep the fire extinguishers and garden hoses at the ready and the first aid kit stocked too... you can't shoot all your potential problems, after all.

lpl/nc
 
The same level of preparedness goes for medical emergencies and fire as well- we keep the fire extinguishers and garden hoses at the ready and the first aid kit stocked too... you can't shoot all your potential problems, after all.
Click to expand...

Amen to that. First Aid kits, drugs, fire extinguishers, extra glasses, water, canned food, etc. etc. etc. Not to a hoarding level but enough to take care of us if need be.

Oh yea and of course a bit of liquor. :D
 
Gun Use A Knife

I live in a Ghetto and people walk in and act hard all the time, but I don’t need a gun to protect myself. I simply psycho flex the intruders’ bones into millions of pieces. On time I hit this meth head with spade I took off this hobo.

Plan A: Flex the bones to dust
Plan B: Spade upside the head


If those options fails I go to defcon 3 an brake to the kitchen and snatch up any on of the million knives I have. I then knifes my would be attacker in a helpless victim.

The lesson here is simply you don’t need a gun if you have basket balls made of brass
:evil:
 
As some others have noted, I don't see why this has to be an either/or situation.
At night, I have a loaded shotgun next to my bed equipped with a Surefire dedicated light. No, I don't carry it around the house with me. I don't have to. That is where the handgun comes into play.
Use the right tool for the job.
This has been repeated so many times that it almost gags me, but a handgun is something you carry on your person to fight your way to your long gun.
The reason it is repeated so often is because it is true. You can't reasonably carry a shotgun concealed. You can't reasonably have a shotgun within reach of you while driving. Very few people are paranoid enough to carry a shotgun with them around the house. However, that doesn't mean you just forget about it completely. There is no reason to do so.
 
Rifles, shotguns and pistols all over the place.
Something is no more than, at most, a few steps away.

The guns have to be somewhere, so they may as well be where I can grab them. :)
 
Shotgun is the Ultimate

home defense gun...unless you have a lot of corners in your house and a wife that weighs 98 pounds. That is why pistols are primary defense here.
BGs' can have anything they want outside the house. As long as they dont come in here i can wait for the police
 
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