home protection

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schultz's honor

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Our home is located about a 1/4 mile from the road, and I have some concerns about my wife being home alone back here. Both she and I are thinking of some sort of home security.
She has minimal handgun exposure, although that can be resolved.
Any recommendations on a round that would be suitable.
Due to her size, I think the big bores are out of the question.
I am a BP guy, so we have plenty of 44's, but cap and ball in not an option, and I also have a Ruger single six (to small)
I am thinking of a 32mag or a 38
 
You may want to consider the ultimate in home protection...a pump shotgun and a good watch dog that barks at strangers. Due to your wife's size, you may want to consider a 20GA instead of a 12 GA.
There's nothing like the sound of racking a pump to discourage an intruder and not many would argue with a woman pointing a shotgun at their private parts.
 
We have plenty of shotguns and she does know how to use them (and she has never pointed one at my privates).
We also have two hand licking German Shorthairs that I am sure if somebody intended harm to her they would come unglued.
Just looking for a handgun so we don't need to leave shotguns leaning in the corners.
 
I would recommend an 18.5 inch dedicated HD shotgun as well, especially if your wife is familiar with them and can use them. There is no reason to chose a less effective weapon. Handguns are for carrying. If you are going to defend a piece of real estate, place the most effective weapon available on that real estate, within reach.

You don't have to lean a shotgun in a corner, you could place it behind a drape, behind a cabinet, in a closet. I keep several shotguns inside closets throughout my home, above the door on bicycle hooks. They are readily accessible, yet nobody knows they are there, even if they open the closet.

If you just have to have a handgun, I would recommend a used S&W Model 65. It's stainless for easy maintenance, .357 magnum, (you can shoot .38 special in it, and move up to magnums if desired later), fixed sights, and rock solid with reliability. Shoot for a four inch barrel, as that will keep the price down. Four inchers are plentiful, and a good, all around general purpose revolver. A used Model 65 should run around $250-300 in most places. Try an Ahrends grip for her hand.

Second option would be a used Model 64, same gun is .38 special. Third is a used Model 10, which is a .38 special blued.

My best advice for a home defense handgun is to buy used, buy a revolver, and stick with a Smith & Wesson.
 
I was once in a simular situation with my wife. After some serious thought and many visits to various gun shops, she picked a S&W Model 10 Heavy Barrel in .38 Special. She absolutely loves this revolver and even with 158 grain +P HP's has no complaints about the recoil. After a short time she even bought herself a Model 36 Chief's Special for her CCW. I have two safe's full of various handguns but you will find an almost identical Model 10 on my side of the bed and another Model 10 serves as my "car gun" on drives through the backwoods roads on weekends. A .32 H&R Magnum is nothing to sneeze at but (1) ammo is harder to find and more expensive (2) isn't as powerful as the .38 Special (3) doesn't offer the diversity of ammunition that is available for the .38.

Just my $.02 worth, but I would look seriously at a used S&W K frame like the old workhorse Model 10 for your needs:
10-64.jpg
 
Those GSPs will come unglued, but (noise, alarm, and distraction value aside) probably not be worth a hoot in a fight.

Take her shooting, rent some guns, find out what fits her, what she shoots well, what she likes. Buy one, and lots of ammo for practice, and have her take NRA basic pistol and home/self protection courses. Keep practicing, have fun.

Where are you in WI? If in southeast, stop by Dam Road Gun Shop for friendly, knowledgeable service and reasonable (sometimes amazing, like my minty 20 ga 870 Wingmaster for $190) prices. They are just outside of Delavan.

And they like bird dogs....
 
Since you have good watch dogs and plenty of shotguns... A 357 Ruger SP101 and load it with 38 Spl...I find recoil to be mild with this combination and you have the option to use 357 if you wish...Good Luck.
 
I agree with the 4" S&W K-frame, find a model 10, 64, 65, 66, or 67 and load it with .38+P and she should do alright. Light recoil and a proven round for SD. Also shouldn't be too expensive to buy.
 
I would recommend a 4" revolver, e.g. a Model 19 S&W. Shoot .38 specials, not .357s for your wife. Very reliable, easily handled, enough weight to absorb most recoil (especially from .38s, .357s might be too much for your wife). Have her practice, practice, practice, get some snap caps, and practice at night shooting bad guys on TV, enough for her to be familiar with it completely.
One thing that I always discuss with friends who wish to arm their wives is this:

"Will your wife be able to pull the trigger while looking at her sights at another human being?"

This is a decision that has to be made ahead of time, to think through, pray through, seek counsel about, etc. You don't want her to have to make that decision at the time she needs to, i.e. in a confrontation. If she hesitates, and the gun is taken away from her, she may be better off without a gun.

I have found that the women in my life probably wouldn't be able to pull the trigger on another human being, so I don't insist on them being armed.
This is a personal, private decision, that one must live with, and for me, I have prayed and thought through, that even though it would be the last thing in the world that I would want to do, if pressed, and my life or the life of a loved one was in imminent danger, I could do it. Not a decision to be taken lightly.
 
3 or 4", medium frame revolver in .38 or .357
S&W M10, 13, 65 or Ruger Security/Speed/Service six...
Get her started with .38 wadcutters that have really low flash and recoil and keep it stocked with a good .38+P
No worries about safeties or malfunctions and tons of aftermarket grip options to fit her hand.
Of course, it's best to let her try a few and pick her own!
 
This is an easy one 3" gp100 . The caliber is .357/.38 so you have a whole bunch of loading options you can experiment with, from light to heavy. Any medium frame .357 double action revolver will be perfect for her as a home defense gun. She can load it with .38 caliber jacketed hollow points. NOTE" shotguns in any gauge can be unweildly for some small women.
 
All above are excellent advisors. Shotguns are the best defense...bar none. A .38 special revolver loaded with 110 grain Corbon DPX for personal carry while in or around the house would be my next choice.
 
NOTE" shotguns in any gauge can be unweildly for some small women.

Not to worry, I bought her a great little 870 wingmaster in the featherlite model. 20ga
She handles this gun beautifully
 
I'd get her a copy of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and a Smith & Wesson 13 with rubber grips. I'd also get her a smaller gun she can carry with her around the house, even if it were a mouse gun. My wife has the bad habit of opening the door when someone knocks on it. Often a gun in a drawer is too tough to get to.
 
I agree that having a shotgun is a good start, but I would also recomend a goood revolver .38 or larger. Also I would not discount larger caliber guns. My wife is also petite and she shoots a .44 special Bulldog. She has also shot my .44 Mags and had no trouble controlling them. I would also put little faith in dogs or alarm systems being much of a deterrent. I live in central Ks. about four miles outside the city limits and in my area there has been a rash of burglaries, many of the homes had dogs as well as security systems, some of these house have been hit multiple times within the same week.
 
Don't forget motion detectors. They are a great early warning devices. Also let's you see what you're shooting at. A revolver in .38 or .357 is always a nice backup to the shotgun. I like the S&W 686+ due to the extra round(s) would you rather have 5, 6 or 7? I'd also consider a pistol with 10+ round capacity. More bullets never a bad idea.
 
My wife has the bad habit of opening the door when someone knocks on it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my wife does the same thing :uhoh: .

I was at Lowes or Wal-Mart one night, talking to her on the cell while she was at home. Someone rang the doorbell (after sunset) and before I had a chance to say anything, she put down the phone and went to the door. I could hear her unlocking and opening it :what: . That was tense :eek: . When she got back to the phone she basically said, "Yeah, some guy I had seen going around the neighborhood a little earlier knocking on doors. I had never seen him before." :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: . Turned out he was just selling stuff to raise money for the local baseball team or whatever (after dark though???).

I told her (as nicely as I could muster) that she must check to see who it is first. And before doing that, go retrieve the handgun of your choice from the safe and have it in-hand while checking. I always have my 642 in my pocket, so it is there when I go to the door.
 
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Simon)

a good quality medium sized steel revolver chambered for .38 spl/.38 spl +p or chambered for .357 magnum and loaded with .38 spl +p hollowpoints; if you want a dedicated purpose handgun, go for the .38 spl chambering; if you want some versatility later on, go for the .357 magnum chambering and load it with a good proven .38 spl +p hollowpoint load; keep the barrel length in the 3" or 4" range for best ballistic results from the defensive loads

here are examples of various .38 spl +p loads (not for any particular recommendation, you need to try a few and decide which works for you and your wife and which one shoots the best in the gun you select)--hp denotes hollowpoint; lswchp denoted lead semiwadcutter hollopoint; jhp denotes jacketed hollopoint; sjhp denotes semijacketed hollowpoint; gr indicates grain weight of the bullet; +p denotes higher pressure/higher velocity variants than traditional .38 spl loads

Remington 158 gr lswchp +p, Winchester 158 gr lswchp +p, Federal 129 gr Hydrashok jhp +p, Winchester Silvertip 110 gr jhp, Remington Golden Sabre 125 gr jhp +p, Winchester 130 gr SXT jhp +p, Corbon 110 gr jhp +p, Corbon 125 gr jhp +p, Corbon 110 gr DPX jhp +p, Corbon 100gr Powr'ball jhp +p, Speer 125 gr Gold Dot jhp +p, Speer 135 gr Gold Dot jhp +p, Winchester 125 gr Personal Defense sjhp +p, Remington/UMC 125 gr sjhp +p, Federal 125 gr Classic/Power Shok sjhp +p, Hornady 125 gr XTP jhp, Hornady 140 gr XTP jhp, Hornady 158 gr XTP jhp. Federal 110 gr hydrashok Personal Defense jhp, Winchester 125 gr Silvertip jhp +p
 
Home Defense

Any gauge of shotgun.
Any hand gun 380 or larger caliber.
If she is not going to take the time to practise with her weapon of choice i would go with the shotgun she already knows how to use.

:) :) :) :)
 
My advice: Take her with you and let her handle some guns at the gun shop and you advise what you were thinking and get the advice of the store owner. AND (this is the most important reason) you will not get HER something that you really want and that she is unhappy with.

My wife prefers automatics... We still use a revolver for home defense, but her CCW is a Glock 26 with the grip extensions... So you just never know.

Confederate gave good advice when suggesting a mouse gun to carry around the house, or at the very least, pepper spray.

Make sure to go over your house and put motion lights out, make sure that you have light on any possible "trouble" spots or weak spots in the yard. Make sure flashlights are handy over all the house and that a cell phone and LAN line are present. I don't know much about your area, so can't recommend much more than that...
 
Get her what she can handle well.
I think, as has been said, a revolver and short barrel shotgun probably will do just fine. But practice as much as possible.


I don't know your setup but here's something that you might look into.
It's called The Reporter and works great.
It's a wireless alarm that can use up to 4 transmitters.
I have two transmitters at about 250 feet and 150 feet from the house. I think the 1200 foot transmit distance is a little optimistic though.
I know the instant anyone starts up my drive or gets near my shop.
Best of all it's inexpensive.

http://www.smarthome.com/7317.html
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=3642724
http://www.radioshack.com/sm-the-reporter-expandable-wireless-alert-system--pi-2104409.html
 
Get yourself a 4" 357 and use the 38spls in it for your wife and run 357's for your use. Best allaround self defence gun in my books ever. Of course YMMV.:D
 
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