Quote:
Have you considered a handgun? Rifles can fill the role, because something is usually better than nothing; but using a rifle in a home defense role can have its short comings.
Such as?
Ammo capacity? Nope, most modern auto-loaders have 20-30 round mags.
Power? Nope, pretty much any center fire rifle has 4-5X the foot pounds of energy as most handguns.
Ease of getting hits? Nope, rifles are much easier to get hits with.
Handiness? Maybe. Rifles are bulkier than handguns. OTOH, a decently durable rifle give you the option of striking with the muzzle or butt, if needed.
BSW
OK, are you talking about defending your home from invasion or fending off the zombie hords? Caliber or capacity has little to do with what you can effectively employ to defend your home should it become the target of those with ill intent.
A typical home is characterized by tight spaces and a lot of clutter in the form of hallways, doorways and furniture. There are loads of places to hide and obstacles that you have to contend with. Defending your home isn't going to be like shooting at the range or in the woods. And all of this is compounded by the fact that intruders rarely announce themselves and will likely be more alert than you are if this sort of thing happens.
Try doing a 180 in a hallway while holding a rifle at the ready, or sweeping a room and checking behind curtains or couches without leaving your back exposed to some other place where a bad guy can be hiding. You've gotta remember, you are likely to be doing this alone, without backup, so you have to do it in a manner that leaves you the least vulnerable.
The biggest problems with any sort of long gun is that they take two hands to handle and are largely dependent upon the position of your body when it comes to taking aim. There is also a greater probability that the invader will have the opportunity to get their hands on it and possibly take it away from you.
At least with a handgun, you will have one hand free to defend yourself against attacks and hopefully buy you some time to use your firearm. Handguns are also not as dependent upon body position and posture when employing them. There is also less of a likelihood that the bad guy would be able to get their hands on it.
Handguns also lend themselves to being hidden in key places around the home, rather than a rifle that is sitting in a closet someplace. Think about it, if you walk into a room holding a long gun and come across three guys, it is highly likely that you may get one or even two of them, but the odds of getting all three, without winding up in a hand to hand situation, are against you.
As far as firepower goes, I certainly wouldn't question the stopping power of a high capacity .40 or .357 Sig, nor even a good 8 round .45acp.
Of course, not everyone's situation is the same. I'm just pointing out that there are considerations other than caliber and capacity.
