I don't quite understand using a rifle for home defense

[bdjansen]

I have to agree with Correria on this one. A person with a rifle at close range will usually be more accurate than a person with a pistol. Pistols are not easy to master and to be an excellent pistol marksman takes a lot of practice. I would say overall I have found it significantly easier to shoot a rifle than a pistol. All three are great just depends on what type of threat you think you will encounter.

A rifle is more accurate at all ranges then a pistol. At close ranges I'm sure most people here could shoot both so well it wouldn't make much of a difference in accuracy.

 

[def4pos8]

It's situational.

Six to twelve idiots who've been smoking dope all afternoon while watching "the game" require, at minimum, twenty rounds of 7.62x51 or thirty rounds of 5.56x45.

I sat through Katrina near Biloxi MS. Looters react more promptly to something in .30cal with a bayonet fixed than to a handgun. Call it a "visual aid" to the "lesson of the day".

I have been there and done it. Learn from me or take your chances.

 

[akodo]

second half. Rifle.

What about home defense vs a bear? You bet a rifle would be better than a handgun.

And honestly, i've been thinking about this for a while. Look at the angles in your home. What percentage of trajectories actually ends up with the bullet going through a couple of walls and into where another human being is going to be? Very very few.

In a life and death situation, I am willing to accept the 1 in a million chance that the bullet from my rifle will go through 3 walls and into my neighbor's house and he will happen to be standing in the exact path of the bullet for the greater chance that what i hit will be stopped, AND for a greater degree of accuracy....that same accuracy will also make it less likely I will miss and have a bullet going toward a neighbor.

(How likely is it that your neighbor will be in that exact path? Well, how likely are you to be able to successfully with intent kill a zombie vampire whatever if he was hanging out in your neighbor's house, and you were unable to leave your own house, nor look out the windows. You just had to guess where he was and try and shoot him....through your wall AND through you neighbor's wall? To make it easier, say you have 4 houses around yours, and they ALL have vampirezombies in them)

 

[JKimball]

I'm not sure what the argument is here. Sounds like everybody is saying the same thing:

1. You can stop a threat effectively with a handgun.
2. You can stop a threat very effectively with a long gun.
3. Everybody gets to decide which will work best for them.

Personally, I would much rather be facing an intruder who was armed with a pistol than an intruder who was armed with a shotgun or rifle (especially if high-cap semi auto.) Anybody feel differently?

If there's an advantage in long guns, may as well take it.

 

[bdjansen]

Personally, I would much rather be facing an intruder who was armed with a pistol than an intruder who was armed with a shotgun or rifle (especially if high-cap semi auto.) Anybody feel differently?

Nope.

Let's get this thread back on track. It has never been about "rifle vs handgun."

I have been arguing on the side of handgun in "handgun vs suck" as so put by Mr. Correia.

But this thread is about RIFLES VS SHOTGUNS!!!

I have yet to see why anyone would want to use a rifle instead of a shotgun in close quarters like your home.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I have yet to see why anyone would want to use a rifle instead of a shotgun in close quarters like your home.

Well, there has been four pages of posts and more than a few of them happen to address that exact issue.

 

[BOONER]

As a carbine trainer i can tell you why

carbine.
lighterweight
more rounds
lower recoil
easy of use single handed
ablity to defet armor
ablity for precise CNS shot(hostage /family rescue

shotgun heavy require two hands for most PUMP/semi
Limited ammo easy to miss with under assumption it spreads
tough for most woman and smaller framed people to use.
recoil..

average pattern in class at 7 yds was about 5-7 inches

 

[BOONER]

 

[2RCO]

OK guys seriously in a realisitc situation if my 1911 won't work for HD then I am gonna be dead or run like HE Double Hockeysticks. If I need a 50+ rd mag and Holographic night vision I am a lot more important than I think I am because someone has hired Ninja Special Forces Ghurkas with rocket launchers to attack my house.

 

[mod700]

i heard a quote once that goes "bringing a rifle to a gunfight is like bringing a chainsaw to a knife fight". i think i would go with the handgun and shotgun for home defense because of the manuverability of smaller shorter weapons. plus a rifle would generally go right through the attacker without expending much energy, but a handgun load or shotgun slug is more likely to have the best energy transfer, therefore having mor knockdown power than a rifle in close quarters.

 

[BOONER]

i think i would go with the handgun and shotgun for home defense because of the manuverability

NOT TRUE / LOOK AT THE PHOTOS I JUST POSTED

and as far as energy dump you nned to think of the ammo selection a 223 has a lot of energy dump in the body and great hydrastic shock factor,

think of how many slugs blow through deer at distance.

 

[akodo]

Also, in general rifles used in home defense have a greater magazine capacity.

30 >>> 6

 

[sixgunner455]

i heard a quote once that goes "bringing a rifle to a gunfight is like bringing a chainsaw to a knife fight".

Are you saying that there's something wrong with that?

 

[mod700]

i not disagreeing with the photos im just sayin you stand a better chance of a pistol or shotgun blast stopping inside the body cavity than a rifle. when it does it expends all the energy inside. but as far as manuverability goes, theres no way your gonna tell me i can get even a short carbine up quicker than a handgun. i wasnt talkin about shotgun slugs at distance because more than likely, i wont be shooting at much of a distance anyway. and most people just have hunting rifles and such anyway, i mean the average person wouldnt have a short 223 carbine at hand.

 

[Schwebel]

I personally have a handgun,shotgun, and rifle all loaded and ready for any HD situation. Everything else is unloaded and locked in the safe. People make fun of my HD rifle cause it is a Mosin M44 carbine. It is shorter than my shotty and has a big freaking bayonet on it. There ain't nothing on legs that a 7.62x54r won't drop, and if it doesn't the fireball from the muzzle will catch them on fire.

 

[mod700]

Are you saying that there's something wrong with that?

it all depends on situation

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

OK guys seriously in a realisitc situation if my 1911 won't work for HD then I am gonna be dead

I think you are confusing "won't work" with "best odds." If I am fighting for my life, or God forbid, my the lives of my family, I am not betting on what will probably work based on my assumptions of how a real gunfight goes. I am going to stack the odds in my favor any way I can.

If I have to fight with a pistol, I will; but it isn't my first choice if I can avoid it.

i think i would go with the handgun and shotgun for home defense because of the manuverability of smaller shorter weapons.

As Booner already mentioned, take a look at the pics above. A carbine is about the same length as an extended pistol (but with better retention and leverage, accuracy, magazine capacity and power). On top of that, I know that my 16" ARs are both noticeably shorter than my 18" Remington 870. So I guess I don't see where a shotgun is more maneuverable.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

as far as manuverability goes, theres no way your gonna tell me i can get even a short carbine up quicker than a handgun.

Maybe you can't, but a lot folks seem to be able to bring a properly carried carbine to bear at least as fast.

 

[TehK1w1]

It is shorter than my shotty and has a big freaking bayonet on it. There ain't nothing on legs that a 7.62x54r won't drop, and if it doesn't the fireball from the muzzle will catch them on fire.

HAHAHAHAHA
so funny because it's true.

On the other hand, better hope your first shot hits, because in a low-light situation you have just effectively blinded both yourself and the BG.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

i mean the average person wouldnt have a short 223 carbine at hand.

Why wouldn't they? They manufacture around 100,000 AR15s a year according to the ATF (noticeably more in 1999 and 2001). I don't know what average is; but there sure isn't any shortage of people with short .223 carbines last time I went to the range.

 

[mod700]

ok ill give you the shotgun thing as far as manuverability goes, but i still think it would be easier and quicker to grab a forty or forty five caliber pistol.

 

[BOONER]

Mod700

I have abit of experiance in this...a 223 with proper defensive ammo can and does dramatic damage...

but as far as manuverability goes, theres no way your gonna tell me i can get even a short carbine up quicker than a handgun.

this tells me maybe you have little practical or training on a carbine system
I can and do and have demoed it in classes time and time again... we are again talking use of tactics and proper training and if its HD situation as described here the gun will be at ready.

Oleg has seen me run failure drill at 5 yds with a 16 inch carbine, with hits on a timer in under 1 second. average is .85 i know what can be done and after a day at the range my students have been able to get hits around a 2 seconds or less from low ready.

Not slaming you i hear this so often its old. its very possible and do able

 

[Geronimo45]

A carbine is about the same length as an extended pistol

True. But firing from retention-ish positions drops that length - which you can do when rounding corners, going through doorways. Of course, practice in doing that is pretty important. That's why I prefer the pistol, for my own situation - an apartment with distances rarely going past 4 yards. I've found that the pistol's much handier (for me), thanks to the maze-like floorplan. For a house, you're likely to have longer distances, where the AR has an awful lot to recommend it.

most people just have hunting rifles and such anyway

Which is where the original question seemed to come from. Why would you use a Remington 700 for HD? AR and AK-type carbines are much shorter than those rifles, and also shorter than most/all shotguns of normal barrel length.

 

[BOONER]

Correct, I have cleared trailers with a carbine as well.

there are ways to do so in that case yes a handgun has slight advantage but again the topic is HD

 

[akodo]

It is shorter than my shotty and has a big freaking bayonet on it. There ain't nothing on legs that a 7.62x54r won't drop, and if it doesn't the fireball from the muzzle will catch them on fire.

HAHAHAHAHA
so funny because it's true.

On the other hand, better hope your first shot hits, because in a low-light situation you have just effectively blinded both yourself and the BG

hello! that is what the bayonet is for! Ever see a criminal go after a blind man waving around a long stick with a sharp knife at the end? No, neither have I.