House Protection Firearm?

[ricksplace]

Home defense at my place is comprised of an ultra-viscious chihuahua. 8 pounds of imported peckerhead. Somebody makes a noise anywhere near our house, he starts barking. Advance warning so I can load the 12 ga.

[Crash_Corrigan]

Again and again I read about people having SD guns unloaded but nearby. What is the point of that? How much time are you going to have to load your firearm? I have at present 6 loaded firearms in my tiny tin trailer in which I live in a crime infested area of Las Vegas. I am never more than 6 feet from a loaded gun whilst in my house.

I keep a fully loaded SKS with soft pointed rounds (Factory) and a 40 round magazine next to my front door. Next to my recliner I have a Baker Side by Side 12 gauge fully loaded but with the action open but the weapon is velcroed to the leather chair and can be brought into action in about 1 second. I just do not trust the safety on the old shotgun.

I also have a .44 Special, .41 Magnum and a pair of 9 MM's scattered around but hidden from plain sight. Even the SKS is in a long cardboard box behind the front door and not visible.

I sleep with a powerful LED flashlight on the nightstand along with my cell phone and a loaded 9 MM.

As a retired LEO I am a well accomplished shooter and I know when my use of deadly physical force is justified and when it would not be. During my 20+ years of Police work I ended up using my weapon 5 times. On only one instance did I have to shoot more than a cylinderfull of ammo.

Whilst an LEO I always carried a back up .38 and mucho extra ammo. During a gunfight from a rooftop and at ranges exceeding 200 feet I fired 41 rounds of .38 Special and finally hit my target through his exposed knee. When the fight was over amongst all the 10 LEO's with me I was the only one not out of ammo. I still had a handfull left....

I have been sue in Civil Court for shooting somebody........it is not a fun experience at all. We won....

[olafhardt]

I live in the country and have poultry and we are requested by the county to shoot friendly polecats because several have tested positive for rabies. I have lost several birds to various predators. My daughter was bitten by a skunk in Boston. My point is that thugs aren't the only boogers out there. I keep the coyotes at bay with powerful LED flash light and a good dog that also scares off owls a nd anocasional possum is shot. I think cattle also discourage ner do wells. They are self reloading.

[ricksplace]

I live on a small spring fed lake on the top of a small mountain range in Northern Canada. My neighbours and I don't even bother to lock our doors. Yes, people still live like this. My home protection is critter protection. Bears mainly. Haven't had to shoot one yet. A load of 00 buck in the dirt right in front of their nose usually is enough to convince old blackie to go look for food somewhere else.

And if the 12ga doesn't get 'em, there's always the chichuahua.

[4570guy]

The wife and I both keep .45s at hand in pistol lock-boxes by the bed. There is also a 12 ga. Mossberg behind the bedroom door locked in a Shotlock gun vault. The first round in the shotgun is #4 for rattlesnakes. The rest are 00 buck.

[I'll Make Mine]

Home defense at my place is comprised of an ultra-viscious chihuahua. 8 pounds of imported peckerhead. Somebody makes a noise anywhere near our house, he starts barking. Advance warning so I can load the 12 ga.

I've got one of those, too, and just about that size (my girlfriend's dog) -- we call her the alarm dog; anything she wasn't expecting will set her off and she'll bark until we reset her (praising and petting usually does it). As you say, gives plenty of time to slip a mag into my .380 and drop a speedloader into my .357 (they'd both be loaded, but North Carolina prohibits that with 16 year old in the house, even though I'd bet he can load and fire any gun in the place with, at most, a minute or two of examination), and still gives me a chance to try to identify the "threat" (the dog's idea of a threat and mine don't always match) before I start sneaking through the house in the dark (I can navigate this place as well in urban darkness as a burglar can with a flashlight -- and his light means I'll see him before he sees me).

[xd4584]

The biggest thing here IMHO is that he isn't familiar with firearms... A shotgun is a large gun to come around a corner with for someone that doesn't shoot one often. If your getting him a shotgun take him bird hunting so he learns to shoot. I would rather have my full size springfield xd 45 with 13+1 rounds of Corbin 230 grain +p ammo. For me or my wife. She can unload it faster than I can and she is just as accurate as I am. Now she also has an XDS and I have my springfield 1911. I am also working on building a tactical shotgun ouwt of a remington 1100.

Also with shotguns... I had a mossberg with a birds head grip. Easy to shoot... Didn't kill your wrist like a regular pistol grip only would. I got rid of it because my wife and I use my 870 for small game and I have a 7600 and she will be getting one of those too. I couldn't deal with the safety after all the Remington's.. I had a 590 and it was an awesome gun. Just wasn't for me.

Bottom line is it doesn't matter what's beside your bed if you aren't prepared to use it properly. I try to shoot as often as possible. I still do not know how I would react to an intruder. I just hope God is on my side if I ever get into a situation where I have to defend myself or my family

[Coonazz]

Benelli M2 in the closet loaded w/#4 shot and a Glock 23 in nightstand.

[randyrat]

I have a cat that wakes me up if anyone/anything is near the house. The dog sleeps until I get up then he is a tough guy. I call the cat "night shift". I'd be more scared of the cat, he is one of those real big males with huge paws and when he jumps on you in the middle of the night, you will wake up. That's when i fall back on strategically placed weapons. The dog seems to kick it into gear when I'm not home, when I'm home he is relaxed.

[Wadestep]

I still say that for the new shooter, or unpracticed shooter, a revolver with 38+p or 357 is the best home defense gun. As long as you leave it loaded, every time you pull the trigger it goes bang. No saftey to fumble with, no concern about pumping the shotgun or racking the slide, just bang. If I'm deep asleep and hear something break open my front door, I don't want to think about whether I left one in the chamber, need to rack the slide or pump the gun or not. Especially if I haven't shot a gun in 6 months.
That's not a description of me, but maybe relates well to the original post.