Best Gun for Home Defense

[dwid]

I'm a newbie, so forgive me if I'm repeating something already on the thread, as I only read the last few pages.

Anyway, best for home defense, to me, varies by scenario and person.

Currently, I live in an apartment building. Maneuverability is a priority, as is avoiding overpenetration. I use my .45 HK USP with hollowpoints. Lots of knockdown power, but the .45 is a relatively slow-moving round, so overpenetration is not as big of an issue as it would be with other rounds of similar power. Also, exterior building walls are brick, so I really only need to watch my lines with regard to shooting into other apartments.

If I lived in the country and overpenetration wasn't a consideration, I might still use the same weapon, or I might consider something in a carbine. I haven't thought about it much, as it's been a long time since I lived in the country.

For my wife, a .45 might be too much gun, and she lacks experience with a shotgun, so I'd put a 9mm in her hands, which is something she's more comfortable with.

Ultimately, I think it's a largely academic argument. You could defend your house with a .22 against most intruders. It might not be lethal, but 10 rds of .22 from a Mark IV or the like would probably take the fight out of most smash and grab type thugs.

[Pandinha]

I'm a newbie, so forgive me if I'm repeating something already on the thread, as I only read the last few pages.

Anyway, best for home defense, to me, varies by scenario and person.

Currently, I live in an apartment building. Maneuverability is a priority, as is avoiding overpenetration. I use my .45 HK USP with hollowpoints. Lots of knockdown power, but the .45 is a relatively slow-moving round, so overpenetration is not as big of an issue as it would be with other rounds of similar power. Also, exterior building walls are brick, so I really only need to watch my lines with regard to shooting into other apartments.

If I lived in the country and overpenetration wasn't a consideration, I might still use the same weapon, or I might consider something in a carbine. I haven't thought about it much, as it's been a long time since I lived in the country.

For my wife, a .45 might be too much gun, and she lacks experience with a shotgun, so I'd put a 9mm in her hands, which is something she's more comfortable with.

Ultimately, I think it's a largely academic argument. You could defend your house with a .22 against most intruders. It might not be lethal, but 10 rds of .22 from a Mark IV or the like would probably take the fight out of most smash and grab type thugs.

A .45 test...

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot2.htm

[Tom Kagan]

A .45 test...

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot2.htm

Nice.

If you can put your foot through a couple of layers of sheetrock, why anyone would be surprised that a .45 or even .22 can punch through a wall is kind of odd when if think about it.


dwid,


If you are worried about rounds penetrating walls, you should seriously consider using rounds designed from the start to not penetrate walls but still stop the bad guys. Bullet design - not caliber or velocity - is the single most determining factor in whether a round will or will not have the energy to kill in the neighboring apartments.

There are a few well engineered rounds for this purpose available, albeit expensive.

[dwid]

Yeah, and I have some of that stuff. Honestly, though, I'm of the philosophy that I want to put at least a couple of hundred of whatever load I use for defense downrange so that I get a feel for how the round performs in the gun/how it feels. If I do that with the special defensive frangible stuff, it would cost me hundreds of dollars, whereas standard hollowpoints are pretty cheap by comparison. Like I said, I watch my lines anyway, and shooting one of my neighbors via overpenetration is not, I believe, a high probability.