Prefered Home Defense Weapon

[O C]

H D Gun

Get a Taurus 4510 "Judge" Shoots 410 AND 45 Long Colt. The rifling makes for a larger pattern than a smoothbore, and the .45 LC can finish the job. Wide varity of ammo, and load shot and hardball as needed. Size of a pistol, pattern of a short barrel shotgun.

 

[meef]

Get a Taurus 4510 "Judge" Shoots 410 AND 45 Long Colt. The rifling makes for a larger pattern than a smoothbore, and the .45 LC can finish the job.

Ummm.... just what're you saying exactly?

After you stun him with your overwhelming charge of whatever 410 from your rifled revolver, you then plan to administer the coup de grace with a round or so of 45LC?

Good plan.

 

[frank23185]

I live on a 30 foot sailboat.
I keep 3 guns.
A SW642 for ccw, a stainless Colt GM for general home/boat defense, and a Remington 870 Marine Magnum for "just in case".
The Colt is what I'd grab first if I thought something was amiss, and needed checking out.

 

[jrfoxx]

I dont find my Mossberg 590 at all heavy, unweildy, or cumbersome, and I'm 5'5" 150lbs.It's also not at all hard to get at fast, as it leans against the wall right next to me between the bed and nightstand (cant fall/get knocked over this way).as for any other issues with a shotgun, if, for some reason 8 rds of 00 buck miss, fail to stop, or the gun jams, or the intruder is blocking the action and trying to take it away, the really sharp bayonet attached makes the gun a really good, 30" or so spear.

 

[bdjansen]

I would count on being able to hold and aim a shotgun better then then a handgun if I was scared and my hands were shaking.

Everything I've ever read has said shotgun is best for HD. Why would they lie? The only people pushing rifles are the black rifle fanboys and the only people who push handguns are the handgun fanboys. The people who know tell you to get a shotgun and learn to shoot it.

Plus as somebody else pointed out, a good shotgun is cheaper then a good handgun/rifle. It's a win win.

Pepper spray is good too.

 

[Dark_Harvest]

that is a LOT of responses to an obvious troll post...

 

[mr_blove]

bdjansen Pepper spray is not the best idea in a enclosed space i.e. a hall or room, once it gets in the air it can make things miserable.

 

[Barbara]

would count on being able to hold and aim a shotgun better then then a handgun if I was scared and my hands were shaking.

Everything I've ever read has said shotgun is best for HD. Why would they lie? The only people pushing rifles are the black rifle fanboys and the only people who push handguns are the handgun fanboys. The people who know tell you to get a shotgun and learn to shoot it.

Plus as somebody else pointed out, a good shotgun is cheaper then a good handgun/rifle. It's a win win.

Pepper spray is good too.

What the heck are you talking about?

Who have you read this from? Some people on internet forums? Do you have any research to back this up, or is it just a mysterious "they" that you found that happens to agree with your preconceived notions and so decided they were The Experts.

I have NEVER seen, by anyone to whom I'd assign any credibility at all, a statement that a shotgun is overall a better home defense weapon.

I'm hardly an expert or (*snerk*) a fanboy. However, even a brief study tells me a few things.

1.) I don't typically see the police and military running around with an 870. Most often they're carrying carbine length rifles.

2.) 30 rounds vs. the 1/2 dozen in your shotgun is better odds. I'd rather have 20 rounds too many than one too few.

3.) A respectable rifle can be had for about the same cost as a semiautomatic shotgun.

A bunch of other advantages come to mind..weight, speed of follow up shots, etc.

I'm sure some people with a lot more expertise than I have will come along soon, but if you have anything more to add to your post than what you have above, I'd sure like to read it.

 

[Deanimator]

Everything I've ever read has said shotgun is best for HD. Why would they lie?

It's best for YOU if your circumstances so dictate.

If an Eskimo tells you that the best means of transportation is a dog sled or a snowmobile, is he lying? Maybe he's telling the truth about HIS environment, but maybe his criteria don't apply in Reno, NV.

In MY environment, a shotgun is an entirely INappropriate first line of defense. It's long, unwieldy and GUARANTEED to be blocked by the contents of my home.

If a shotgun works for you, by all means use one. Don't tell me it'll work for me, because I know it won't. I live here; you don't.

 

[geronimotwo]

i love the stopping power of 00 buck or a slug, but also have a fear of short stroking under stress. i prefer revolver technology, where if one cylinder misfires, the rest are still available.

 

[BOONER]

Everything I've ever read has said shotgun is best for HD. Why would they lie?

MY point..... is this when have you trained in its use? instead of read about it?
I have a very close friend and there pastor whom i hunt with. he was shot at 12 feet with a 12 gauge slug in a home invasion he has nice 3 inch hole in his chest above his nipple line he live to tell about it. did they tell you about that in your reading.....

The only people pushing rifles are the black rifle fanboys and the only people who push handguns are the handgun fanboys.

I Train people in the us of all 3. let them decide after class most end up with a Carbine,

The people who know tell you to get a shotgun and learn to shoot it.

which one are you a reader i guess.... since you have no hard facts to back up your comments.

and yes pepper spray is great in your bedroom or hallway.....

shotgun. pros.... cheaper in some cases.
adaptablity with loads. white light capable

cons. recoil..... limited ammo capacity
recoil. limited ammo.... ease of one handed operation if injured or due to heavy weight when loaded. and or manipulation of platform.(pump gun) hostage rescue.


Carbine,
lwt weight.
ammo capacity
easier to reload.
less recoil.
less over penetration
one handed use with white light,
one handed use,
recuse shots. without switching loads.(slug select drill) on shotgun.
way less recoil for faster more accurate follow up shots.

there is more should i go on.

those that train know that a carbine 14.5 to 16 inch is equal to a handgun in oal. when used in a standard handgun shooting postions.

handgun



carbine


also they can be much shorter when fired from indoor and retention postions.

but then again i actually train.

 

[Zach S]

Everything I've ever read has said shotgun is best for HD

I have read that eating pop rocks and drinking coke would tear my stomach open. A GM technician once told me that the 4.3 V8 doesnt exist, as well as several others on the internet. I have read that State Troopers carry two 2 liter cokes in the cars to clean up blood. During 'Nam M16s were made by mattel. Numerous officers have told me that police package crown vics come with a 400hp cobra 4.6.

Why would they lie?

 

[Gunz72]

go wiht a shot gun

navy gunner here

best for home defence i would definaty go shot gun, but not a wingmaster with a 26 in barrel. a homw defence shot gun has an 18in barrel, just the basics, maybe an extended mag tube.

i have had some experance with CQB and weapons handling. by all means i am not a seal. but the basics fopr CQB are speed, suprise, and violance of action. this mean be fast but be quiet, and after you have lost suprise be loud.

i have transited ships with long guns and tactical gear. tac gear included a a vest and level 3 plate. also a pistol belt and blow out kit.its a bit bulky but. a shotgun is a point weapon. that means the sights come up very fast. hope it was some what usefull.

remember a shot gun is like fed-ex point click and ship
sorry about the spelling

 

[BOONER]

i have had some experance with CQB and weapons handling. by all means i am not a seal. but the basics fopr CQB are speed, suprise, and violance of action. this mean be fast but be quiet, and after you have lost suprise be loud.

That works in MIL/LEO world we are talking HD use.

shotguns need to be aimed,
a bead sight, rifle sight or ghost ring version. aimed not pointed .... yes it can be done yadda yadda I know the storys.

By the way its SEAL not seal.

 

[peacemaker45]

Presently, a Winchester 1897, loaded with high brass #4s, 20" bbl, cylinder bore. Keep a belt full of shells hanging on a nail next to it, between my bed and the wall. Man, a '97 can put a lot of lead downrange in a hurry. Shorter and easier to maneuver than a modern pump with the same bbl length, to boot.

Back it up with a 1911, which spends its evenings living in my boot, also next to my bed. (daytime, when my foot is in my boot, the .45 lives on my belt instead.)

There's also an M1 Carbine near at hand, but it's not my go to gun, anymore, since there's another house about four feet from one side of us. I'd hate to have a round bouncing through their little girl's bedroom.

~~~Mat

There's also

 

[Roswell 1847]

My .32 Handejector is right by my bed ready to go, quick to the hand and always ready to go. But its just there in case I have to get off a couple of quick shots before I get to my S&W M59 and slap in a mag full of hollowpoints.

The Shotguns and rifles would be too much hassle getting down from the rack unless I had plenty of time to assess the situation, or wanted to make sure no accomplices escaped.

BTW
I know a guy that took a load of buckshot to the face in an accidental shooting, he also survived but he has no lower jaw. I doubt he could have done much more than fall down and pass out.
A police Officer here in TN took five .357 rounds to the head and survived. He later said his assailant bent down and said "Is you dead yet?" Those are actual cases not urban legends.
People can survive horrific wounds but the whole point is ending the threat as quickly as possible.
Personally I'd only stop pumping slugs in when the heart stopped pumping blood out.

 

[Big45]

The way I look at it, if someone can get anywhere near our perimeter without setting off her banshee-like wailing, they must be some kind of quasi Jedi-Matrix superninja and all my weapons are probably useless anyway.

(cellphone added for scale)

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Everything I've ever read has said shotgun is best for HD.

Training v. reading aside, you must not be reading much since there have been a ton of articles on this subject both here and in print. Try reading some Clint Smith circa 2000 for example...

 

[Roswell 1847]

To add a few observations.
Someone mentioned .223 penetration power.
While checking out a friends AR15 we took a few shots at targets behind various cover.
A 55 gr FMJ fired so as to cut through the side of a stumb before hitting the target. The bullet traveled through a little over two inches of wood and the now empty jacket struck the target sideways barely going through the carboard backing while the varporized core sprayed the surface of the target like ratshot with not enough force to penetrate a field jacket. Wounding effect would have been practically non existent.

Also as has been noted its a lot easier and much less expensive to obtain a decent Shotgun than a good reliable handgun.
A Bartender I knew showed me a Shotgun he'd bought on the recommendation of a Cop he knew. We test fired it . It was an old beat up singleshot H&R 12 ga picked up at a yardsale with the buttstock and barrel cutdown to the minimum legal length.
I was suprized to find that I could fire it one handed like a pistol and make good close range hits with Slug loads. I blasted a small dead cedar tree (about eight inches wide)with it at about fifty feet and could see the countryside behind it through the hole.
No way that wouldn't put a Goblin down for the count. Total cost to my friend back in those days was about 40 bucks including hack saw blades and a box of shells.

Nowdays you can get a fine looking 20 ga pump shotgun at Walmart for around two hundred bucks. The Ladies/Youth model of this gun is not that much longer than a riotgun and should be a great game getter as well as a good way of repelling boarders.
Been considering getting one of those myself, though with bird hunting in mind. The shorter length of pull comes in handy if you are wearing a thick coat, and a slip on recoil pad makes up the difference when lightly dressed.

If I owned no guns at all and wanted a quick fix to the home armament requirement, picking up a decent used single barrel and cutting it down to minimum legal size would be the easiest and cheapest way to go.
Might even take the handles off a stout butcher knife and use the rivet holes, nuts and bolts, and some metal straps to mount it to the muzzle with about three inches of blade sticking past the muzzle. The rest of the razor edged blade under the end of the barrle would dissuade anyone from trying to wrest it from my hands by grabbing for the barrel.
A slip on buttsock shell carrier would hold spare rounds for quick reloads. Shell loops could be tacked directly to the wood for that matter.
I could have bought a very rusty but usable singleshot for 20 bucks awhile back, and I was given an very rusty old single shot recently but found it had a cracked receiver, decided to convert it to blankfiring prop use. The owner had found the old gun when cleaning the basement of a house he'd rented.

A double would be nice but the days of finding a really cheap double barrel are long gone, though there are some reasonably priced Russian made doubles out there.
Which reminds me. Some scientists traveled across the North Pole from Russia a few years back. They carried a Cheap Russian Double barreled twelve gauge cutdown for easy carrying and loaded with pumkin balls as a defense against Polar Bears. Not my first choice against such a powerful carnivore, but it came in handy when they had to dispose of a bear that began tracking them.
The Documentary chose not to show the bear's death, you can figure that it was a sloppy kill, considering the weapon and inexperiance of the shooter.

PS
Part of hitting well with a shotgun comes from being convinced that you can't miss. Its psychological.

Also generally when one speaks of the "Close Range" use of the shotgun they are thinking of 50 yards rather than 50 inches.

 

[Creature]

that is a LOT of responses to an obvious troll post...

we aim to please around here...

Big45: I have encountered one of those "alarms"...and they bite pretty dang hard! I definitely will not make the mistake of tangling with one of them again!!

 

[bdjansen]

MY point..... is this when have you trained in its use? instead of read about it?
I have a very close friend and there pastor whom i hunt with. he was shot at 12 feet with a 12 gauge slug in a home invasion he has nice 3 inch hole in his chest above his nipple line he live to tell about it. did they tell you about that in your reading.....


Quote:
The only people pushing rifles are the black rifle fanboys and the only people who push handguns are the handgun fanboys.

I Train people in the us of all 3. let them decide after class most end up with a Carbine,


Quote:
The people who know tell you to get a shotgun and learn to shoot it.

which one are you a reader i guess.... since you have no hard facts to back up your comments.

and yes pepper spray is great in your bedroom or hallway.....

shotgun. pros.... cheaper in some cases.
adaptablity with loads. white light capable

cons. recoil..... limited ammo capacity
recoil. limited ammo.... ease of one handed operation if injured or due to heavy weight when loaded. and or manipulation of platform.(pump gun) MY point..... is this when have you trained in its use? instead of read about it?
I have a very close friend and there pastor whom i hunt with. he was shot at 12 feet with a 12 gauge slug in a home invasion he has nice 3 inch hole in his chest above his nipple line he live to tell about it. did they tell you about that in your reading.....


Quote:
The only people pushing rifles are the black rifle fanboys and the only people who push handguns are the handgun fanboys.

I Train people in the us of all 3. let them decide after class most end up with a Carbine,


Quote:
The people who know tell you to get a shotgun and learn to shoot it.

which one are you a reader i guess.... since you have no hard facts to back up your comments.

and yes pepper spray is great in your bedroom or hallway.....

shotgun. pros.... cheaper in some cases.
adaptablity with loads. white light capable

cons. recoil..... limited ammo capacity
recoil. limited ammo.... ease of one handed operation if injured or due to heavy weight when loaded. and or manipulation of platform.(pump gun) hostage rescue.


Carbine,
lwt weight.
ammo capacity
easier to reload.
less recoil.
less over penetration
one handed use with white light,
one handed use,
recuse shots. without switching loads.(slug select drill) on shotgun.
way less recoil for faster more accurate follow up shots.

there is more should i go on.

And here come the fanboys.

hostage rescue.

So you're gonna swat team it up too? lol

Your defending your home. Get a shotgun.

To the OP: Why are you so intent on proving your friend wrong? He knows his stuff. Follow his advice.

 

[BOONER]

No not a fanboy a professional, again you miss the whole point the point is you can not provide one good argument or facts as to why how

as for hostage rescue. in the latest rashes of home invasion there have been the taking of family members hostage until said robbery is over, but again you have no facts or background or argument to back your statement

i have facts documents and SOP, OIS and more do you..?

I know what i need to defend my home,. and others. I choose the carbine for the facts. not I read it magazine warrior.

I have my choice a very nice benelli and or my favorite vang comped custom 870 or Wilson Sgt 870,. i choose the carbine....


as for the penetration's issue Roswell brought up,, no there isnt an OP issue with the right loads.

 

[mpmarty]

Gee whiz what a lot of horse****, there must be a pony in here somewhere!

I live in the boonies and have perimeter alarms hundreds of yards from my house. I have large canine early warning systems also. I have a 12ga, in the safe along with all my carbines and other rifles. My bedroom guns are my sixteen round 10mm and my fourteen round XD45 with X2 light. The poi of the 185gr barnes solid copper hollow points is in the middle of the narrow spotlight beam at inside the house distances. I guess I'm undergunned but I just am not comfortable with needing two hands to operate a defensive weapon. I guess my wife and I could enlist the aid of a neighbor and mount a 1919A6 as a crew served weapon also though.

 

[Zach S]

edit: This horse has been beat to death, and here we are still beating on it.

I'll use my rifle for HD, you use your shotgun.

Once again the "Rifle vs Shotgun for HD?" has turned into an online urination competition. This is getting worse than "9mm vs .45"

 

[bdjansen]

you must not be reading much since there have been a ton of articles on this subject both here and in print.

Articles? Like in magazines? Magazines with adds? Adds trying to sell you the latest black rifle toy? Oh how did we ever defend ourselves without them?

No not a fanboy a professional, again you miss the whole point the point is you can not provide one good argument or facts as to why how

Yep, a professional salesman.

Black rifles are driving the industry. There is a fact for you.

The toys have changed. The tools have not.