Thread: Which Home Defense Weapon?

What is your choice for a Home Defense weapon? I say weapon because some depend on pistols, or shotguns. Others may depend on rifles while there are those who still prefer the good old splintered Louisville Slugger behind the door.

Personally I choose the Glock 23 and/or the 870 I just picked up.

Nothing beats a 12ga with proper ammunition choice for HD.

But I also keep a FNP-45 and a few .357's sitting around loaded in case I'm not in reach of a shotgun.

Pistol Baby Eagle 45 / shotgun Mossberg 590 w/light and laser

got a 9mm hiding in my living room hall closet....a 45cal hiding in a drawer in my kitchen.....another 9mm hiding in the stairway closet...and a mossberg pursuader loaded with 12ga buckshot in a closet between top floor bedrooms....got all 4 corners of my house covered....man i feel sorry for the intruder if he gets past my 9's and 45 because the pursuader will probably earn its name......

Mossberg 590- 8 rounds 00 buck in the tube, 3 more and 3 slugs on the sidesaddle
Glock 19 with TLR1 and a 32 round mag of Speer Gold dot 147gr JHP

For firearms, I can go either way on this issue. Shotguns give you the advantage of more firepower. However, for me, I need a small weapon in case it goes to room clearing.

The shotgun is great if you have wide areas to clear or are going to be in a static (non-moving) defensive mode. If you must clear small hallways or rooms, handguns give you a more maneuverable platform.

If I were to suggest anything, it would be to conduct a 'site survey' of your house. Decide what you can maneuver with inside it and what your needs are. If you and loved ones are in only one room, then room clearing may not be a necessity. my .02.

930 SPX.

For a handgun any decent revolver will do. I prefer semi-auto's, but when you're woken out of a deep sleep and disoriented, a point and click revolver is the way to go- k.i.s.s.


Or if you have a Class 3, a short barrel AR with a strobing light would be optimal

Originally Posted by BUZO71

If I were to suggest anything, it would be to conduct a 'site survey' of your house. Decide what you can maneuver with inside it and what your needs are. If you and loved ones are in only one room, then room clearing may not be a necessity. my .02.

Great advice. A two story house built in the early 1900's might be better suited to a different gun than, say, a new 2-bedroom condo.



Also, spend time "clearing" your house in the dark when everyone else is gone- practice makes perfect, plus it's not football season yet so there's plenty of downtime for activities like this!

Originally Posted by PhysicsGuy

Nothing beats a 12ga with proper ammunition choice for HD.

PhysicsGuy,

What ammo do you keep in you 12ga for home defense? I always thought you'd want to go with buckshot but I recently had a friend say otherwise. He said that birdshot (#6-8) would still have the ever heralded stopping power but it is far less likely to penetrate walls. Having four kids at home that is an important consideration for me. I obviously would never pull the trigger if I had to point anywhere near my kids room. The prospect bullets/pellets penetrating walls has always concerned me.

Originally Posted by eriknemily

PhysicsGuy,

What ammo do you keep in you 12ga for home defense? I always thought you'd want to go with buckshot but I recently had a friend say otherwise. He said that birdshot (#6-8) would still have the ever heralded stopping power but it is far less likely to penetrate walls. Having four kids at home that is an important consideration for me. I obviously would never pull the trigger if I had to point anywhere near my kids room. The prospect bullets/pellets penetrating walls has always concerned me.

It depends on your home and the way it is constructed, it also depends on the longest distance you will have to take at.

If you live in an actual house with a good amount of distance between houses, then there should be no problem with 00 or 0 buck, also if your house is built pretty solid (brick or similar), then you have little to worry about.

Usually #4 buck is the best choice for defense in most indoor situations if you are at all worried about over penetration, such as in close proximity houses or apartments, it still has stopping power, and does not penetrate as much.

I would strongly advise against bird shot because of the many encounters that I have seen that involve the intruder being shot and still killing or injuring the defender. Also bird shot's effectiveness diminishes dramatically over even moderate indoor distances.

Also as far as bullets penetrating as well, there are several companies that make bullets that are extremely frangible and will break up on most surfaces, but then comes the worry of not enough penetration on an assailant.

A good way to feel confident about penetration is to do tests yourself with different rounds/shells, using normal construction materials, and water jugs for ballistic gelatin equivalent. Or if you don't have access to such things, then an excellent resource is; http://www.theboxotruth.com/


Personally I use 6 and 9 pellet 2 3/4" 00 buck for my HD 12 gauges.

Thanks PhysicsGuy. I appreciate the detailed response

If I can interject something on shotgun rounds... the more projectiles, the more chance you have to hit something you did not intend. Also, the less weighted birdshot is less likely to reach vital organs and stop your burglar/attacker. #6, for example, has an average wound depth of less than 6 inches where a load like #1 buck is 12 inches. Of the buckshot, #1 is considered the best for defense.

Slug is like an over sized pistol round. You will see a lot of LE agencies going or having gone to rifled slug. There is a reason that translates well to defensive use. With 00 buck, you have eight chances to send a stray projectile. With a rifled slug, its one round to account for and its flight is relatively known or at least more predictable.

Last thing on mixing shotgun rounds. In the heat of the battle, its easy to loss round count. Ask anyone who has gone through confrontational simulations. Trying to remember if you have transitioned from bird to buck or some other conversion loaded in you shotgun can be a hard proposition. Especially when adrenaline is high and you are dealing with many things at once.

I have seen people walking around unaware there were shot with a .22. #6 bird, for example is .11 cal per pellet. Although shotgun pellets will have higher energy, that energy drops off quickly as distance increases.

Anyway, my .02 on shotgun ammo.

Although I have other options available, my go-to weapon for this is normally my S&W 60.

Wow... A lot of people go for Wheelguns! Interesting... Is it because of reliability? Why a wheelgun over a semi-auto with a higher capacity? Or a shotgun with more stopping power?

Originally Posted by pirateer2007

Wow... A lot of people go for Wheelguns! Interesting... Is it because of reliability? Why a wheelgun over a semi-auto with a higher capacity? Or a shotgun with more stopping power?

I feel most competent with mine. It's always loaded. It's easy to slip in my back pocket when I'm taking the trash out or answering the door. My wife knows how to shoot it.

Not to say you couldn't give the same answers above for many other weapons, but those are the answers for my revolver. I have a 12ga shotgun readily accessible, but I'm not going to answer the door for the pizza guy with it (What? No anchovies?? *Cha-chunk*) Likewise with my Glock - just seems excessive for my anticipated threats. Hopefully, I won't be wrong about that someday.

Originally Posted by pirateer2007

What is your choice for a Home Defense weapon? I say weapon because some depend on pistols, or shotguns. Others may depend on rifles while there are those who still prefer the good old splintered Louisville Slugger behind the door.

Personally I choose the Glock 23 and/or the 870 I just picked up.

My twin lol, I have the G23 and the 870, I'd probably rock the USP since that's the only one, besides the AR, with a light right now... gotta hook up the 870 with some gear.

Originally Posted by pirateer2007

Wow... A lot of people go for Wheelguns! Interesting... Is it because of reliability? Why a wheelgun over a semi-auto with a higher capacity? Or a shotgun with more stopping power?

A lot of people choose it because of reliability, some may semi autos are to prone to jamming, but I haven't experienced it. It's all personal preference and what you are comfortable with.

S&W 329 PD with .44 Special Magsafe loads and also a S&W 642 with .38 Special Magsafe loads. I use the frangibles because I live in a cul de sac with 360 degree innocent bystander backstops.

If I had to roll outa bed in the middle of the night I'd have whatever I carried that day from off the nightstand. Most likely my glock 23. Second most likely is my kel-tec pf9.

I use a Taurus Judge 410/45LC W/6.5" barrel for my Home Defense Weapon