Home Defense?

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 3/27/2007 12:06pm

Originally Posted by TEA

Good choice, but I question the choice of 9mm. I'd go with .40 or .45 for better terminal ballistics. Do a search over on the Tactical Forums for terminal ballistics of pistol ammo to see what I mean. DocGR is Da Man when it comes to terminal ballistics.

I haven't ruled out 40 but I really think 45 would be silly for a first handgun and a home defense weapon that I share with my petite wife.

**pauli** · Posted On: 3/27/2007 12:28pm

for about $150 you can have a used mossberg or remington in 12ga or 20ga. ammo is cheap, manual of arms is easy, and you can change your style to chick-chick-boom.

whatever you get - shotgun, handgun, rifle - it has to be something you'll both practice with regularly, or it's pretty much useless. in case of emergency, i'd rather see my sister with the 22 pistol or rifle she's comfortable with than my 357 or 20ga that she doesn't practice with much.

goddamn i need to go to the range.

**TEA** · Posted On: 3/27/2007 2:24pm

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

I haven't ruled out 40 but I really think 45 would be silly for a first handgun and a home defense weapon that I share with my petite wife.

If you have a gun shop near you that does rentals, let her try out a few calibers and see what she feels comfortable with. Here is a link to a thread on Tacticalforums.com on pistol ammunition.

http://www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bi...;f=78;t=000964

Here is a pic from the thread:

I agree that its best to get a caliber that your wife is comfortable with, but you may be surprised by what she can handle. As Pauli pointed out, though, its better to have a .22 that you're comfortable with and have practiced with than a larger caliber that sits in a drawer unfired because you're not comfortable enough with it to practice with it on a regular basis.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 3/27/2007 3:09pm

TEA, I don't really get your point. Your second post seems to contradict your first.

What am i missing?

**TEA** · Posted On: 3/27/2007 4:26pm

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

TEA, I don't really get your point. Your second post seems to contradict your first.

What am i missing?

Bigger is better, but it ain't better if you don't practice enough to be able to use it. In other words, try out a few different calibers if you can and get the biggest caliber that your wife is comfortable with. You should both strongly consider taking a defensive handgun course, and practicing on a regular basis (at least once every other month). While .45 is probably the best defensive handgun round, it isn't going to do you or your wife any good if you can't hit what you're aiming at because you or she doesn't like to practice with it because it kicks too much.

**teddy_bear** · Posted On: 3/28/2007 1:22pm

Originally Posted by TEA

Bigger is better, but it ain't better if you don't practice enough to be able to use it. In other words, try out a few different calibers if you can and get the biggest caliber that your wife is comfortable with. You should both strongly consider taking a defensive handgun course, and practicing on a regular basis (at least once every other month). While .45 is probably the best defensive handgun round, it isn't going to do you or your wife any good if you can't hit what you're aiming at because you or she doesn't like to practice with it because it kicks too much.

Your post reminded me to say something about capacity and the price of ammo. Those are important to consider as well, since they can affect your ability to incapacitate and practice respectively.

**Robstafarian** · Posted On: 3/28/2007 4:46pm

You should also pay attention to penetration depth, you don't want to fire a bullet in your home and have it wound or kill a neighbor (something particularly important when talking about a rifle for home defense). As such, I recommend going with the 4" XD rather than the 5"; that extra inch of barrel will add just a little bit of speed to the bullet and I tend to want to keep the bullet as slow as possible (and a hollow point of some variety) in order to minimize the risk of overpenetration.

Other people here know a lot more than I do, I just wanted to curb any "might as well get the longer barrel" thoughts you might be having. As a geek, I find that I have to keep my needs firmly in mind to avoid getting carried away.

**teddy_bear** · Posted On: 3/28/2007 8:16pm

Originally Posted by Robstafarian

You should also pay attention to penetration depth, you don't want to fire a bullet in your home and have it wound or kill a neighbor (something particularly important when talking about a rifle for home defense). As such, I recommend going with the 4" XD rather than the 5"; that extra inch of barrel will add just a little bit of speed to the bullet and I tend to want to keep the bullet as slow as possible (and a hollow point of some variety) in order to minimize the risk of overpenetration.

Other people here know a lot more than I do, I just wanted to curb any "might as well get the longer barrel" thoughts you might be having. As a geek, I find that I have to keep my needs firmly in mind to avoid getting carried away.

Over penetration is highly unlikely to happen. It's even mentioned in the 'Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness' linked to in the thread that TEA suggested checking out.

**Robstafarian** · Posted On: 3/28/2007 11:36pm

Originally Posted by teddy_bear

Over penetration is highly unlikely to happen. It's even mentioned in the 'Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness' linked to in the thread that TEA suggested checking out.

Over penetration is mentioned with regard to a bullet that enters a body, I'm mostly referring to a bullet that completely misses the intended target. However likely this is to happen in a home defense situation is a matter of debate, but a given cartridge's ability to put a bullet through sheet rock is fairly well understood.