Right kind of ammo for home defense?

Question

I'm thinking of purchasing a Glock 26 or 17 to use for home defense, and I want to use ammo that doesn't penetrate easily as I live in an apartment with my child. I've heard that hollow-point bullets are often best for this, but I've also heard there are bullets with a gel tip that don't exit or ricochet at all - what kind of bullets are these, who makes them, and do gun shops commonly carry them? If there's no such thing - what's the best bullet to use to make sure no shots go through any walls?

Answer 1

Ah, the ammo you are looking for is made by Corbon.

It is their blue tip ammo. It's a bit expensive and for defense only. It has a very fine compressed shot inside of the copper jacket, like very tiny bb's. The blue plastic tip smashes when it enters flesh, and then the bb's fan out from the point of impact. This disperses the energy of the slug into all surrounding tissue due to the fragmenting, and causes massive shock trauma to the area. Definitely the worst thing a robber wants hitting him in the chest.

Answer 2

Frangibles are designed to start breaking up in drywall, so is the safest pistol round for indoors. You won't have any trouble whatsoever with hollowpoints cycling in a glock.. so that is a good alternative. If using hollowpoints.. check out Hydroshock bullets. I used these for duty rounds as they have great expansion and body penetration. There is a pin in the center of the hollow point that keeps the bullet going straight after mushrooming out, which will slow it down faster than if it spins. None of these bullets will guarantee safety and will all penetrate two layers of drywall. The damage they inflict on the other side will vary, but all should be considered lethal. The best home defense gun for this would be a shotgun. You can get some pretty short tactical guns for much less than the glock. Since it will be very short range shots, you can use a #9 pellet load with short brass. The pellets aren't much bigger diameter than sand, yet are very lethal close up.. and will quickly lose power at a distance, or in contact with walls. Another round to consider would be a "less than lethal" round like the ones used by anti-riot police. These are lethal at close range, yet shouldn't kill someone in the next room. You can usually buy these from www.ammunitionstore.com . If you go the shotgun route.. buy a pump action. The number one reason for this is reliability as the semi autos can be picky about short brass loads, and generally tend to jam a lot more than the pumps do. The second reason is the intimidation factor. Often times just the sound of the pump cycling the bullet is enough to send a criminal running. The pistol also has a higher learning curve if you're not an experienced shooter. You're 3 times more likely to miss with a pistol over a shotgun.. especially when fighting the effects of adrenaline in an emergency situation. When you do buy your weapon and ammo, test it out. Take two pieces of drywall and shoot them. Place a watermellon on the other side and evaluate the damage. If you've got the shotgun, do this test at different ranges to get an idea of the energy loss at distance. If you end up with the pistol, practice at least once every 4 months. It's nothing like riding a bicycle, the skills fade with time. If you haven't already, take a course in gun safety. They will teach you how to introduce guns to your children as well as how to use them safely. Children need to be taught gun safety to eliminate the curiosity that can get them killed. Good luck! Be safe!

Answer 3

I would stay away from FMJ or TMJ (full metal jaket, total metal jacket or Complete Copper Coat) bullets. These do not expand and will over penetrate. Any bullet that will reliably penetrate a human, will over penerate a wall. Getting a non-frangable hollowpoint (CCI Gold Dot, Federal Hydra-Shock, Remington Golden Saber, Winchester X) will be what you want. going with a lighter bullet weight will tend to limit penetration best (i.e. in 9mm a 115 grain weight in the same bullet design will penetrate less than a 147 grain bullet). Developing 'safer backstops' is one thing I would recommend. This includes book cases, heavy furniture and the like in likely avenues of fire. I personally have no faith at all in Glasers. They underpenetrate and are too expensive to practice with. We do not have any 'magic bullets' that will stop an attacker and disappear when they hit a wall or other object. For home defense I would even recommend ditching the pistol and obtaining a shotgun. Loaded with buckshot, not birdshot. Less penetration, more stopping power, more accurate, and less expensive to boot. You also have the option of loading with birdshot (i.e #6) which will create a nasty contact wound and MAY stop an attacker, but not penetrate as deeply as a handgun round will.

Answer 4

What you are looking for are Glazier type pre-fragmented slugs. They are more expensive but essential if you live in an apartment or in a home with loved ones sleeping in the next bedroom. They will not penetrate dry wall, something that regular (even hollow point bullets) will do. Usually these bullets are sold in packages of six, but that is all you need since you won't be practicing with these.

You can load the first six with pre-fragment slugs and the rest of your magazine with quality defensive .9mm ammo. Remember, load the regular bullets first and the pre-frag slugs last. You can buy these at any store that sells guns and ammo but you may have to order them. They are not hard to find in .9mm caliber. Also, when buying regular defensive ammo remember that the .9mm works best with lightweight, say 115 to 127 grain hollow point bullets and NOT the 147 subsonic round.

Congratulations on your choice of pistols. Either one will serve you well. If I may, let me recommend the one that fits your hand best. I bought a Glock Model 26 for my 22 year daughter and she loves it. Consider also the Glock Model 19, which falls in size between the 26 and the full size 17.

Best.

H

Answer 5

Use hollow points for home defense. Full metal jackets have higher penetrating ability and are more likely to go through your target. A hollow point will "mushroom" when it makes contact and thus has less chance of penetrating all the way through. I've never heard of a gel bullet but have heard of wax filled hollow points. And don't worry about using hollow points in a Glock. Glock is known for it's reputation for not hanging up or miss firing. I have a Glock that I carried when I worked for the police dept. I shot thousands of hollow points through it with no problem at all.

Answer 6

I would highly suggest to you frangible rounds. These are essentially bullets designed to break into tiny pieces once they impact a target so as not to overpenetrate or go through walls if they miss. These are the same bullets carried on airlines by Air Marshalls in case they have to use their weapons. Lessens the chance for a round to puncture a wall or window and cause decompression. The first link will tell you about them. The next is a link to a place where you can order them.

Answer 7

The best kind of ammo for home defense is RBCD. Hollow point rounds will overpenetrate, putting others in danger. This ammo is a blended metal technology, it holds it's form until it hits a water based mass. It then fragments into little pieces that lodge themselves in the mass. It is truely a one hitter quitter. There is a video of this stuff in action on the following website.

www.donnellsshootingsupply.com

go to the link that says RBCD on the left side of the page, click on it, and about halfway down the page a video will start playing. This is your live demonstration.

I know this guy will ship it to you just give him a call and talk to him about it.

I am a firm believer in this stuff. I have been at a live demonstration and it's pretty incredible stuff.

Best of luck, hope this helps.

Answer 8

People on here are clueless. You need buckshot. 00 or 000. Bird shot is not very good for defense (ask the guy Dick Cheney shot). If you were going to shoot slugs, you would be better off with a revolver. To the guy who said the sound of the gun would scare someone: Stop watching so much TV. The first indication that a perpetrator should have that you are armed is the muzzle blast from your weapon as you shoot them. "Jacking" a pump shotgun is a nice way to give an intruder time to shoot you, especially if you F it up while it's pitch dark and you are under pressure.

Answer 9

Corbon or Glaser Safety Slug.

Glaser Safety Slug is used by those airline cops because the bullets won't be able to penetrate through a plane causing Cabin Decompression. It will smash the tip and a bunch of fragments will scatter into the person if they're hit. It won't be able to go through drywall so you won't have to worry about missing and hitting your neighbor.

Answer 10

I have the same situation, I use hornady TAP. they expand well and don't overpenetrate. they also have a low muzzle flash so you don't blind yourself in the occasion you have to shoot in the dark. bullets still go through walls. think ahead and pick a safe spot in your apartment to shoot from. think about being in different rooms and run through some dry fire exercises school your children on what to do if someone comes in your house, let them know to lay down on their floor until you come and get them etc. and don't overthink your neighbors safety if you or your family are in immediate danger aim for the center of the assailants body and empty your clip in their chest. then call the police tell them someones been shot and don't say another word till your atty. comes.