The Best Bad Choice for Home Defense

[Plinkin' Logs]

There is always alot of talk about what is the best home defense option. There are plenty of articles heralding how to pick the best shotgun, handgun and carbines, both rifle and pistol caliber, for home defense. That fight has been hashed out plenty of times, but while sitting around the camp, my friends an I discussed a far less popular topic: The best worst firearm for home defense...

The worst of course would be one that fails to function, but we ran through a few scenarios that might be tad realistic. Here's the scenario

"You wake in the middle of the night to the sound of glass breaking and the trod of footsteps entering you home. You hear sounds from downstairs as the intruder roots through drawers and paws through your belongings. You don't know what their mindset is but what do hear is the sound of those same footsteps approaching the staircase leading to your bedroom. You look for a way to defend yourself and your family all you have are some relics from your childhood"

Scenario 1 (long guns)

1) An semi auto tube feed Marlin Model 60 .22 loaded with 18rds
OR
2) An H&R single shot 12 ga with a nylon side saddle with 5rds of 00 buckshot

Scenario 2 (hand guns)

1) A 10rd .22 revolver
OR
2) single shot .410 pocket pistol and a pocket full of #4 and 000 buckshot .410s

Which would you choose and why? Feel free to come up with your own scenario to add mix

As a disclaimer this is just a thought experiment and not a means of actually gathering any form of advice for past or future events. This was simply a thought experiment the result of a bunch of guys with way too much time and one to many brews. Thought it might be fun to hear some of your guys responses/scenario suggestions

 

[Agsalaska]

For what its worth, very early in my adult life living in an innercity apartment the largest city in the south I bought a 9 shot H&R 22lr revolver because its all I could afford. A few months later I supplemented it with a single shot 20 gauge.

So, to answer the question, I would probably take that combination again, but make it a 12 instead of a 20 for your scenario.

 

[DNS]

18 rounds from a .22 rifle would be my choice because home invasions with more than one individual seem to be a lot more common nowadays.

 

[joneb]

I had a Glenfield mod 60 growing up, I kept it full with CCI Mini-Mags 40gr solids, I did not feel under gunned.

 

[Inebriated]

Single-shot 12... Ever watch Clint Smith run one?

 

[MedWheeler]

The .22 in both scenarios. Easy choice. Few, if any, intruders I'd have a chance of running across in ten lifetimes that would flee or be neutralized by a centerfire defense would fail to do so against a well-executed rimfire one. Countless bad guys have been captured, killed, or driven off by some "little old lady and her .22."

One of two guns kept stowed nearby when I sleep is a Ruger/Tapco 10/22, with a 25-round magazine..

 

[Bigdog57]

The 12 gauge in Scenario One, the .22LR revolver in Scenario Two.

 

[bannockburn]

Scenario 1: Marlin Model 60
Scenario 2: 10 round .22 revolver

I would opt for the more-than-one shot-before-I-have-to-reload weapon, even if it is a .22.

 

[Cee Zee]

Scenario 1: the shotgun
Scenario 2: 10 round .22 revolver

00 buck in a break down shotgun will nearly break your shoulder when you fire it but in a life or death situation you take the pain and move on. Those old Topper's could be loaded quick BTW. I've seen double clays get knocked down by a single shot shotgun.

That .410 in the hand isn't nearly as effective as 00 buckshot is. So there I take the .22.

 

[ku4hx]

My best bad choice was a Ruger Blackhawk .357 Magnum 6" in the mid '60s: six shots (five if you felt the need for greater safety) and single action. Since it was all I had for a good while, it was a multiple application "bad" choice.

 

[texasred777]

In the late 60s and early 70s, I was driving a bobtail tank truck for a Gulf Oil distributor. We had a station about 15 miles from the warehouse that I collected cash from when I made a delivery. There was no good place to count the money I was handed when I gave the man his invoice. He just handed me a stack of bills and some credit card invoices. I sat at his desk, which was sitting in the middle of the main office/sales room of the station. This was a full service station. I got very aware, very quickly, of people watching me sit there counting the money. I started carrying an old RG 6 shot, .22 mag, SA, revolver with a 6" barrel. I also delivered gasoline to the highway patrol! One of the patrolmen told me that I shouldn't carry a handgun; that I should be carrying a shotgun. I told him it would be 'rather bothersome' to have to pull up a shotgun and try to use it while driving. I asked him if he would rather have his handgun or a shotgun when driving down the road, if someone pulled up beside him and tried to rob him. He just kinda shook his head and said nothing else.

 

[texasred777]

One other thing. I have a double barrel sxs 20 gauge with buckshot, a .357 mag, 5 shot revolver, and a little Walther PPK/S .22LR very close to my bed for 'home defense'!

 

[Hammer059]

I'd definitely take the .22 revolver with 10 rounds.

Since it's a handgun, I'll have an extra hand free to turn on lights, open doors, or hold a flashlight.

8 or 10 rounds of .22lr is no slouch. It also won't obliterate your hearing like a 12 gauge if shot indoors. Realistically, if it's a face to face encounter with one or more intruders, I won't have the chance to reload. So having 8-10 rounds in a revolver is a plus, along with the fact that if a round is a dud, I just pull the trigger again. Sure, .22lr isn't the "manstopper", but I'm pretty sure someone with multiple rounds of .22 in them won't be too hard to handle if I run out of ammo.

Just my take on it.

 

[mokin]

The choices in scenario one sound A LOT like "relics from my childhood". I wouldn't feel under gunned with either firearm. My first experiences with a shotgun were with a single shot. I learned to shoot it fast and fairly accurately (at stationary targets with target loads anyway). Given my current family situation, I'd take the shotgun and give the .22 to my wife as I doubt she could handle the shotgun.

For scenario two, I'd take the .22.

 

[g.willikers]

The best choice for home defense is skill.
"The gun is the least of it."
The best advice I ever heard.

 

[JSH1]

The only bad option I see is the .410 single shot pistol.

 

[sawdeanz]

The Marlin, of which I own one I'm sure would be pretty deadly with its long barrel and ability to put multiple hits on target very fast. But then that long barrel might make it hard to navigate a home. Also the .22 isn't quite as reliable and the biggest problems with the tube fed rifles are clearing a malfunction. So its an interesting experiment and not at all as easy a choice as it might initially seem.

 

[readyeddy]

I would grab whatever gun would be fastest to put into action. If I then had more time, I would grab the second gun, in either scenario, so that both guns would be at hand and ready, at which time I would wield the more powerful gun and be ready to grab the 22 for follow up shots.

 

[Deaf Smith]

What would I chose?

Well at a pawn shop I stopped by today on the way back had a Mossberg 590 military model 12 gauge, with bayonet lug, and someone added a speed-feed stock. $250!!!!

That would do and I'd forget all the other long guns mentioned, I mean heck.. $250?

Handgun?

Oh, I guess a Bersa .380 if cost is THE major consideration.

Deaf

 

[MacTech]

The correct answer would be "the one you shoot with better"

For me, both scenarios would be the .22's, the only difference is in my case scenario 1 would be a Ruger 10/22 (and in this case, a BX-25 mag, that's how it sits now) vs a H&R Topper Deluxe Classic 20 gauge, and scenario 2 would be a Ruger Single Six with .22 Mag cylinder installed vs, well, nothing comparable from the second scenario, the RSSS is currently my only handgun

 

[oneounceload]

The Best Bad Choice for Home Defense

I read this another way - to me it would be leaving your doors unlocked and open at night with no means of protecting yourself.

 

[Sol]

Anything is better than nothing in my opinion.

 

[Agsalaska]

The only bad option I see is the .410 single shot pistol.

agreed.

 

[Mike J]

I would grab the Marlin model 60. 18 shots of .22 ought to be downright discouraging to anyone trying to come through that door.

 

[redneck2]

. single shot .410 pocket pistol and a pocket full of #4 and 000 buckshot .410s

Every time I hear somebody that rattles on about their badass .410 Judge or whatever, I just cringe.

A slug out of a .410 is doing maybe 900 fps and weighs 88 grains. A lead bullet from a .38 Special is typically 158 grains at maybe 800 fps. I don't consider something that has 1/2 the power of a.38 to be a real hard core round.

Buckshot would be worse IMO. Worse yet are those goofy rounds with the discs. If they hit any way except directly on edge, there would be almost zero penetration.

A .22 would have better penetration and multiple rounds would be a distinct advantage in my world.