As the title states, lets discuss opinions on what is the best "Home Defence" weapon. Some say shotguns, some say pistols, some say rifles. So lets here what you think and why.........
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As the title states, lets discuss opinions on what is the best "Home Defence" weapon. Some say shotguns, some say pistols, some say rifles. So lets here what you think and why.........
What do you guys know about this bad boy?
Saiga 410 Shotgun (semi-auto)
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i...0Shotgun-1.jpg
Shot guns are good because you're most likely to hit the target while shacking like a leaf LOL there kill or wound area is wide and when you miss your neighbor across the street won't get hit by a stray bullet. There a little long though so maybe a pistol grip to help shorten it up. Shotgun also having the longer barrel makes it easier to hit things at night as well If you go with a pistol you can get ammo that's designed to become useless after it hits the first thing in its path instead of going threw the burglar then the wall and who knows from there. A rifle not sure who thinks that's the best way to go as long as we are talking inside a house, maybe defending against a zombie attack the rifle would work LOL. A revolver would also help with the night time shooting longer barrel a little heavier helps steady things up a lot more accurate I know there not cool but they do get the job done with great efficiency and accuracy and loads of stopping power.
I say shotgun for two simple reasons... They stop the bad guy AND keep the bullet in your house so no innocent person is injured or killed by a loose round.
My vote is shotgun because of the previously said reasons. I agree with Dan, if you hear the rack of the pump and stick around to find out what that noise was......you are an idiot. Altho, on either a shotgun or pistol i would use a flashlight attachment. This way you can make sure you are shooting in the right directio and at the intruder. ...not your loved ones.
Good point on the flash light. Thats one thing I always worried about at my old house. My parents room was at the top of the stairs. And well my dad always had a pistol under the matress. How would he know it was me when I got home late. What if he blew me away..damn..thats intense..haha
i wouldnt be racking no shotgun, its already loaded and ready to go. :) too much hollywood in " racking a shotgun " or the slide on a pistol.
A flash light will also give your position away making it loads easier to shoot you and also I can tell were you're looking because you will starring where ever the light is pointed. Racking the shotgun yes it is a unmistakable sound and will send most people running but so will you announcing you have a gun. The reason I think leaving chamber empty so you can rack it is a good idea because that pause it takes you to rack it is time for you to think and avoid mistakes. Lets face it most people breaking in your house think its empty and will split when you start moving. The home invaders will take a little more convincing to leave like starring down the barrel of a tricked out shotgun :)
And kills your night vision...
Long ago and far away, I too had a shotgun for home defence. One night I was awaken by the sound of someone coming in the front door.
I had a double barrel with a 16" barrel and bird shot. I braced myself against the corner of the door frame, barrel pointed down the hall
waiting to see what was going to happen next.
A light popped on in the living room.....don't know this for cerrtain, but I don't think too many burglars turn on room lights when they enter.
A friend of mine starts walking down the hall, stops and see me, with my sawed off doublebarrel shotgun in hand, pointed at him.
He freaked.....
Several years later, we were to go hunting on a Saturday morning and he came to my place about 2 in the morning.....He opened the door, and yelled hey pirtle it's me.
He reminded me of our earlier excitement, saying he knows better than to just walk in 'cause he has shotguns!
This is true, but I would rather have the light and not shoot at shadows. I don't know about your house, but one quick sweep of the light will show my whole room quickly.
Can you get a "wide angle" light? Something that lights up more area.
I'd rather not chamber a round till I'm completely sure I heard an intruder, but that's just me.
They make police flashlights..Well i guess they are just flashlights..but they are a dual click. First click is just a standard beam. Second click is a strobe that will blind and confuse the bad guy.
As a LEO I can tell you that we do NOT enter a home or search an area with our lights on, we use them just to help us know where we are and identify subjects, if you use a light (and I suggest you don't) they you need one with a push button that you can turn on and off quickly and then move immediately after you have used your light so the bad guy does not know where you are.
If you need light which I still feel is advantage bad guy just turn the lights on. He's coming in from the outside street lights and headlights have his eyes in that middle ground another reason having your outside house lights on are good one more thing to kill his night vision. He is also entering an unfamiliar place as well. You are just waking up so your night vision should be good for what ever light is coming into your house which is advantage towards you plus you knowing the layout is another advantage to you. You know where he is by sound and can stalk a corner or intersections where he must come past based on his location advantage you again. Look we don't call the first person threw the door the dead man spot for nothing. I feel using lights takes most of those advantages away from you. The last time my alarm went off the first thing I did was get count of my family. Hit the wife check she's there kicked in my daughters room check she's there and still sleeping LOL My sons room not there ok pause situation changes kids under 3' tall no barrel exposure below my shoulders check. This all took about 4 seconds to accomplish about the amount of time a intruder needed to recover from the alarm making him deaf then give him another second or two to decide if he is leaving or continuing on at which point I'm ready for him. Weapon on safe finger off trigger that gives you time to think about what you're doing. That second it takes to flip the safety and transition to the trigger allows you to soak in your sight picture and make a good shooting decision.
Lol, she sleeps like a log! You could probably steal the bed from under her. I knew a guy like that, you could paint his whole face with a sharpie and he would not wake up at all. Lol....good times.
I know police use flash lights and I get it. They are also trained to use those lights properly with multiple other cops using them all together. There also not defending territory while doing it either you are the situations are different and bad guys usually run from cops if there still in your house at this point bro there not running so just kill them. Take advantage of all the things on your side giving you an edge that I stated and I'm pretty sure you will turn out on top. FYI my alarm being as loud as it is takes another sense from the bad guy that I don't need and can do with out and thats hearing. Neither of us could here a gun go off in my house when that thing is on but I'm probably the only one that use to operating and thinking clearly in that type of environment. So who comes in will have a sight and hearing disadvantage plus a knowledge of the layout disadvantage like I said just keep staking the deck in your favor so god for bid that day ever comes the chances that you're the one walking away is high. Also please rehearse what you will do if someone comes in your house. This will shave seconds of your response as well as calm you down a little if it does happen.Go over once in your head as you lay down for bed as well. You will be surprised if you tell your self what to do just before you fall a sleep that you will actually do it subconsciously if it happens. I have to kinda of do the opposite and tell my mind to ignore certain things so I can sleep at night with out sleeping pills.
all the information in here is very good & keep it coming.
Caleb, share the vid...if it is a link.
SAL, when my alarm went off, i went to shut
it off, not sweeping the house for intruders.
i bet a lot of people are like this, or dont think
clearly enough to hide and lock the door.
Without knowledge and forethought, youre
in deep ****. Imo...
We also have places in our home where we know to go in the case of a home invasion, these are the hardest places for the bad guy to get too and the easiest place to get out when you get a chance.
Heres a recent one :
We have been having a rash of door bell rings at night this summer. You answer the door and nobody there. So last Monday was at the shop late installing my antenna mount and got home a 8:45. As I pulled onto our street my phone rang, it was my wife. She wanted to know where I was at, someone had just rang the door and wouldnt answer her so my wife was going to call the cops but called me instead. Well there just happened to be a group of teens walking away from the house a bit. So I pulled up to them :
Me : Hey guys, yall wouldnt happen to be ringing doorbells and running off would you ?
Them : No ! We were just coming from my house. ( a lie, they dont live on our street )
Me: WEll let me tell you guys a story. It happened last week at midnight and scared my wife. She woke me and I went to the door with a pistol in my hand. If you guys hear who is doing this, tell them it aint cool. Some bad things can happen when you trespass on someone's property in the middle of the night.
Them : Ok, no problem.
Now you have to understand my neighborhood. Its a gated community with 4500 homes, middle -middle upper class. These kids have anything they want and theyre still bored and getting in trouble. If they are brave enough to come on your porch at midnight it would be nothing to reach in your car and grab your ipod or gps. Hopefully I scared them enough that they at least wont ring my bell anymore. :)
Me and my friend had a long discussion about this recently... he's in a division of Special Ops and also swears by the shot gun for basically all of the reasons mentioned in this thread (even the "sound" of the shotgun).
However, for how my house is set up and with kids, my choice is a handgun. It's a bit hard to explain but because of how my house is setup, if someone's breaking in (and im not home) my wife (who happens to be a great shot btw) knows the drill is to get the kids in my sons room at the end of the hallway, close and lock the door and dial 911. If someone comes up to the door, announce that she had a weapon and that police are on the way (FYI we're 2 miles from the police station and 1/4 mile from a fire station). If they're dumb enough to try coming though that door..... they're done. She can hit an index card with a .45 with ease from 15' away, she's not going to miss someone coming through a door from 8' away. Reason for the pistol is I want something that my wife can handle with one hand if needed (say to keep the kids at bay and cover their eyes/ears). It's also easier for us to conceal in a small locked case.
To add to that, i think one of the most important aspects of choosing a home defense weapon is simply choosing a weapon that you're comfortable and skilled with using. In other words, don't buy a gun of any kind for home defense and never use it.... go to the range once in a while and make sure you're familiar with it. If it sits for 6 years collecting dust and "that night" comes, you don't need the added stress of not remembering how to load it, where the safety is, the feel of the trigger, etc. In that case, you're better off throwing frying pans down the hallway (hey... they can hurt!)
I sleep so darn hard I could be robbed and the robber could be eating Dorito's next to me in bed watching sportscenter while drinking my beer. They only reason I'd wake up is because I had to take a leak. Weird how pee dreams wake you up just in time.
So that's why I use Claymores, but there again it'll be the police shaking me awake to ask WTF happened.
All joking aside for average joe get a good old fashioned scattergun as my grand pappy would say. I prefer pistol. I train with it, know where it will hit just by pointing it and I don't want to find flesh a month later in my hallway light or somewhere else I forgot to look. Yuck!
Putting up motion lights and an alarm company's sign in your yard will work 89% of the time. Leave no entry point in the dark.
Another VERY good suggestion, Years ago we installed an alarm in the house but nobody ever used it and the monthly fee was too much. We stopped using the system years ago but still have the sign in the front yard and stickers on key windows (burglars will hit a house without the sign before they hit yours). You can purchase the signs in the internet.
I've been procrastinating..... I need to order some signs/stickers and put up a few motion lights.
No better time then the present!
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-HOME-SECURITY-...item5ae1dae7f5
I need to as well, where I live the back of the house butts up against natural preserve and so no lights back there and need to put some motion lights up. (I rent so I don't want to put to much on the house) Safty trumps everything else so I will need to do someting.
Im all for pistols when it comes to my home invasion deterrence. Shotguns work for some people, but I find that the damage they cause with misses ends up costing more to the average home owner than simply yelling "ive got a gun and you best gtfo as the cops are on the way". Pistols while you may miss the target more, they dont do a large area of damage and most intruders will be near high cost equipment and not in an area where there is just random home stuff. No one steals the picture of your grandma, but that 60" plasma is sure gonna catch their eye.
As for intruders looking to cause personal damage and not just rob... well... figure a shot from anything is going to put them on the defensive. Most likely they have a weapon on them for intimidation purposes if not real injury. Once you fire a shot, they will cover and either return fire or run like hell. Those are difficult encounters regardless... so make that first shot count. I tend to prep myself on occasion as much as possible. Multiple times a week I will wait till its dark as hell and with all the normal lights off, I will navigate my home and work on my night vision and navigation. Being as stealthy as possible as well as tactical in my "room clearing" and knowing every nook and cranny as well as creaky boards. I also do this with alarm clocks that will wake me in the night and I do this exercise. My wife hates it, but she understands and supports it. She also knows that if I ever jump out of bed, hit the combo on my bedside gun safe... that she immediately grabs her phone and dials 911 and waits to hit "call" till i give her the signal.
Most robbing intruders will have some sort of light with them, so their night vision will not be that great. Use it to your advantage. Recon your targets, strategize your approach, breathe, engage.
Little story...
My wife and I just bought our first home. We literally moved in on July 1st. As we were moving in, we had the security screen door closed but the front door open. Our neighborhood is one of those where no soliciting of any kind is allowed, which is great. But we heard some voices on the front porch. We walked down and a guy was standing there with a clipboard. He started up on his speech about being a "second chance" person and I told him whatever he was selling, I was not interested. He did not take No for an answer and tried showing he was telling the truth by displaying a ripped and broken ID that wasnt up long enough to even verify it was him. I explained once more that he needed to leave and he pressured more stating that he wasnt selling anything but needed me to sign a sheet and look at some magazine info. I told him he needed to leave immediately to which he replied that he "knew why" I was telling him no and implying it was the color of his skin and not what he was selling. I told him to hold on for a brief moment, walked over to a box I was unpacking that had my gun cleaning supplies in it... and withdrew my extra NRA sticker. I opened the door and told him to back off my porch, to which he did with puzzled eyes.... and I slapped the sticker on the front window right next to my front door. I then turned and looked at him and asked him politely "Do we have any problems now?". He turned with his friend and walked away. I surveiled and saw the car they drive into the area in, wrote down the identifiers and went on with my business. Have not had a problem since.
I saw a quote one time where a gentleman who was an avid gun owner and enthusiast had a conversation with his neighbor who was very anti-gun. The neighbor made it his business to complain constantly to anyone that would listen to him about how the gun owner was bad for the neighborhood and that by owning a gun, you give power to an intruder as they can take it and slaughter the owners family with them.
The gun owner told the neighbor it would never happen.... then proceeded to place a sign in his front yard that simple said:
"The owner of this house is well armed and trained... My neighbor on the other hand is against weapons of any kind and has a nice TV --->"
Also... I am for pistols simply because it is only myself and my wife in the house and using a 9mm, the penetrating force wont injure people in adjacent homes. I worried more about that in the apartments and my wife is always in the safest location in the house.
9mm (or just about any decent defensive handgun round) can and will overpenetrate a typical modern construction home. Check out http://www.theboxotruth.com/
To the original post - absolutely no way on the rifle. Those could shoot clear through into the neighbor's house even after hitting the inteded target.
That being said, I keep my 1911 ready to go. It's easier to keep secure yet ready to use. My wife got me an 870 tactical shotgun for my birthday which I would like to be my main house gun, but I am not confortable just putting it under the bed with kids in the house. My kids (7 and 4) both know the rules about guns but I can't necessarily trust any of their friends not to touch it if they found it.
As for preventive measures, I don't have an alarm, but I do have a noisy, black, 110lb lab/rotty/newfie mix. She barks before anyone even has a chance to ring the bell. My friends know this and therefore do not ring, they just weight for me to answer. When the doorbell does ring, I know it's a stranger. Also, the dog leaving her half eaten cattle thigh bone outside the backdoor is probably a good deterrent for anyone approaching from the rear.