Gun for home protection?

Question

I'm thinking of buying a gun? I'm not interested in your opinions other than which one to buy. What's the most sensible and reliable option. I was fully satisfied with my old M9 from my Marine Corps days. So something in that ballpark would be fine.

Answer 1

Consider a 12 guage pump shotgun. Many manufacturers make a "home defense" model. There are many reasons...
> Buckshot, unlike a bullet has less of a chance of travelling through a wall (or walls) and harming anyone else in the house.
> The "chi-chunk" sound of you chambering a round will usually be enough to scare away an invador.
>Most important: A shotgun has a better chance of killing the bastard who otherwise will be free to rob and kill you and rape your wife and take your children and destroy other families as well.

PROTECT OUR 2nd AMMENDMENT. IT PROTECTS US FROM EVIL ON THIS EARTH.

Answer 2

Whatever you're comfortable with and are willing to pursue additional training with...

That said, if concealed carry is not an issue, consider an AR15. With lightweight rounds, it penetrates interior walls less than 9mm or .40 cal (or buckshot). It's accurate, and you can mount a flashlight to it.

I would also not use it for home defense until you put 500 rounds through it and 100 or so rounds through each individual magazine you intend to trust your life too.

If you don't anticipate keeping up with maintenance often, can I suggest the S&W Model 327 M&P R8(http://www.bigskyguns.com/M_P_Pistols_Revolvers-S_W_Model_327_M_P_R8_8_Shot_357_Magnum_Revolver.html) fitted with an underbarrel light and 4 or 5 full moon clips. Simple, tolerant of abuse, and accurate...

Whatever you choose, I suggest a few things:

+If there is a local concealed carry class (even if you don't intend on carrying) take it. It will cover the legality of having a gun and when you can legally employ it.

+Get a flashlight. Get two. Surefire Nitrolon G2's are cheap and effective and give a lovely white light for target identification at night.

+Find out what your local cops carry (gun and ammunitionwise) and consider selecting that gun and seriously, seriously carrying that ammunition. It's generally effective and more legally defensible if you ever need to actually shoot someone.

+Get a proper cleaning kit.

+Get a holster or an appropriate sling.

Just some thoughts...

Answer 3

There are several factors you need to take into consideration when looking for a firearm for home defense. How much do you want to spend? How close are other people such as family and neighbors? What type of neighborhood? What are you comfortable with? How are you going to store the weapon? How are you going to prevent it from being used on yourself?

Lets discuss accessibility first. You want any firearm you decide to get, to be readily accessible in the case of a home intrusion. You do NOT want to keep the gun loaded in a dresser drawer. First there is liability if a child should take the gun out, second, that is the first place anyone looks upon entering a house in a burglary. So your choices are a gun safe, such as the hand safe or a gun lock. Problem with a simple gun lock is you have to have the key to get it in use. Try doing that while stressed about someone entering the home. A simple hand safe will contain a pistol and is accessed by placing the hand on the print and pressing the correct combination. This solution will not work if you are going to use a shotgun though. A shotgun would have to be under the bed or in a closet, but you would need a lock to secure it.

Remember people are killed by their own guns because a home invader has obtained their weapon or taken it away from the home owner.

Next, would be the ammunition type. Shotguns are great because you point and fire. Don't really have to aim, but then you have to worry about penetration. Also if they have someone else from your family, not like you can shoot the invader only. In pistol loads, you don't want standard ammo for home defense because of penetration. Firing a pistol in a domicile does not leave opportunity to think about where the bullet will go, besides toward the invader. So you want to look into ammo such as safety slugs. Bullets that will not normally go through walls.

Next is caliber of the firearm. .22 up to .50 caliber is available in pistols. Obviously each caliber has different characteristics. I would look at the availability of safety slugs to see which are most likely to be useful. I would recommend going to a gun store and holding some of the guns in the various calibers to get a feel for them. I have several firearms , but found the Glock in .45 was not a comfortable feel, though the 10mm was better. Some gun stores have indoor ranges so you can practice with some of the firearms before purchase.

Your M9 is also known as a Berretta 92F in 9mm. Many people don't care for the 9mm as a home defense weapon because it doesn't have great knockdown, while the .45 does. But it does come in a safety slug, it is something you are familiar with also. That pistol is available from about 500 used and up to 900 new. There are more expensive versions, but I found the 700 range is good.

Next, how do you use a firearm in home defense? Simple, someone has entered your home, DO NOT LOOK FOR THEM!!! Call 911. Tell the police dispatcher that you have someone in your home, you are armed and remain on the phone and in the bedroom. Go ahead and be loud!! I HAVE CALLED THE POLICE AND AM ARMED!!! Your only concern is safety. If you have family living with you, make sure they are instructed prior to get under beds or enter closets and hide when they hear that from you. Stay on the line with the dispatcher until the police arrive. Let the police come to you, and give them your firearm. They can search your home for you and hopefully find and arrest the invader.

If the invader tries to enter your room, that is when you will fire. Remember, you pulled a gun, that means you decided to fire it. You do NOT threaten with it. You fire it. Do not approach the down individual, do not fire in pursuit or at a down subject. Only shoot if you are still in danger. Stay on the phone!!!

Remember, when you call 911, unless you are in an extremely rural area, an active home invasion will get police response in minutes. If you are worried about such a situation, get an alarm system also. That will let you know when the noises you heard are an invasion vs. a cat walking about.

If you are unable to call the police or you are positive it most likely your imagination, you might choose to search the house. Do NOT carry the pistol facing up, point it down. Raising the gun and it being blocked will possible hit the person in the legs, vs going straight into the ceiling. You are an ex-marine. You might have been trained in clearing a building, if so build on that. If not, some community colleges offer courses in home defense. But I would recommend you practice searching your house with an unloaded gun and with the lights on. The more familiar you are with the house layout in searching, the more comfortable you will be with the lights off.

Just remember, searching the home and doing anything more than calling the police and waiting is unadvisable. There are large legal responsibilities, not to mention your own personal safety.

But I would simply say buy the Berretta 92F, you know it and you can get Blazer safety ammo. It is very reliable, very accurate, 15 rounds per magazine if you have the high caps. The .45 commander is similiar to the standard .45 used by the military prior and isn't bad either. If you are worried about the firearm sitting for long time and not being cleaned, you might go to a revolver. A snub nose would be best. That won't jam, but you drop to six shots. I would stay above 9mm and no more than .45. 9mm, 10mm, .38, 357, 44 and 45 are all good. Stay away from cheap manufactures. Beretta, Ruger, Colt are good for example. Talk to you local gun store, not K-mart or Walmart.

Answer 4

If you want to be able to conceal and carry (legal in my state with a permit) the Carr Arms P-9 (9mm) is a good choice. It is thin and compact, but the grip is large enough to hold comfortably.

Ruger makes some good .22 caliber semi-auto pistols, the Mk. II is no longer in production, but you should be able to find a used one. It has been hugely popular, reliable, and is surgically accurate. It is also infinitely customizable, with many companies making alternate parts. (even silencers if you can somehow get the permit) Ruger now produces the Mk. III, but there have been a few problems with it. I'd give them a couple of years to iron out the bugs before buying one.

On the other hand, the good old .45 ACP has been relied upon by soldiers and civilians alike since long before I was born. For a large caliber pistol, the .45 is less likely to over-penetrate. A gun dealer or gun smith can help you choose a good one.

Answer 5

A pump shotgun, and the smallest shot size you can find. Filled with just sawdust a shotgun charge is deadly at 20 feet, and you will be hard pressed to get farther away from an intruder inside a house. The problem with a hand gun is that you will have to discharge it before anyone knows you have a gun. In a face to face confrontation you only have a 50-50 chance, I don't care how good you are. With a pump shotgun, when you jack a round into the chamber, every one for a city block knows what you just did. And, if they stick around, they need putting out of their misery anyways.
Any other firearm combination puts your family at risk for collateral damage.

Answer 6

I recommend a pump action shotgun of some sort. I'd go with a Remington 870 or a Benelli with the flashlight attachment. Some people will say that a shotgun is a bit overkill, but I don't think so. You'll get full doorway coverage, and wall to wall coverage in a hallway. If you absolutely have to you can punch a hole through the wall. On top of that you won't have to worry about a 9mm round traveling through multiple walls. Which may injure a neighbor.

Besides the sound of you just raking a round is often enough to scare someone. It just let's people know you mean business.

Answer 7

In my opinion picking a pistol is easy.

.45 ACP is the best for home defense
Its a big, fat, slow bullet. The chances of it going through the wall and hitting a family member are less because as stated its a big, fat, slow bullet. However its knockdown power is huge, you can hit a guy in the hand with a .45 and you will probley knock them down still, unlike a 9mm. Should you ever have to actually use it for home defense you dont want to have to shoot twice, you want something that you shoot once, and the guy goes down. The M9 has a magazine of 15 rounds but are you actually going to need 15 rounds in a pistol fight? No, and if you do need 15 rounds in a pistol fight you should be using a rifle or shotgun anyway.

So if your getting a pistol get a good one for your purposes, in a pistol fight in my opinion the .45 is the best.

Ask a cop who has had to use their pistol they will say the same thing.

I would go with a colt commander, or colt 1911 variant.

Thats just me

Someone below me mentioned a shotgun. Shotguns are ideal for home defense...if your alone. If you have other family members in your house I wouldnt recommend a shotgun, you want to kill the bad guys, not your own family. However if your alone nothing beats a shotgun at close range.

Answer 8

If you don't have kids then I like the 40 caliber glock 22. I think they have a newer 40 cal glock out there right now but that is my favorite. It doesn't have a safety so NO KIDS in the home with it. The M9 is a 9mm and worthless in close. Goes through the target and wastes all that energy. Hollow points are a good option because you don't want to have crazy ricochets and wall penetrations putting your family at risk.

Answer 9

For me personally, I have a pistol in .45 ACP with a 230 Grain Hydroshock Hollowpoints and a 12 gauge shotgun with 00 loads in 3 inch magnum shells. However, a cop buddy of mine says to get whatever the local law enforcement is using in the way of firearms and ammunition. That way if you have to go to court over blowing someone away, the prosecuting attorney can't claim you unnecessarily blew bad guy to bits. And you can respond with, "Hey, it's what the local cops use." So you have to think about what you're going to do AFTER the shooting should there be one. And of course I hope there is not. Go 2nd Amendment!!

Answer 10

A great home protection weapon is a short shotgun. like a Coachman. Easy to handle and if loaded with a light shot or a home security shot, will most likely not be lethal.
A short 38 is also good