WidenersRepackboxInline FabricationLoad Data
Titan ReloadingMidSouth Shooters SupplyPBcastcoLee Precision
Reloading Everything RotoMetals2
Page 2 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 97

Thread: Which Would You Choose for a Home Defense Long Gun?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    2,794
    Under any situation that forced me to use a gun in the house, repairing the Sheetrock and slopping up the mess is just a nonissue. Something inside my home intent on harming my family, I want the most power I have available that I can use proficiently, and I am most proficient with an 870. There’s a handgun beside the bed but I will grab the 870 if I have time. Lever guns are fine to hunt or play with but not my cup of tea when evil is about. Too much motion of my trigger hand and things(like a bolt) emerging and needing to return, then a hammer and in some cases these stupid new safety thingies, nope not a good plan. I hunt and compete with 870s, I know them inside out and trust them to work every time, based on firing 10s of thousands of rounds thru them over my life time. The dispersion, at household distance, is just not a bunch different than a single bullet, but the terminal effect of that .720 bore is notably more and my time to deliver a 2nd if needed is quite short.
    “You don’t practice until you get it right. You practice until you can’t get it wrong.” Jason Elam, All-Pro kicker, Denver Broncos

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
    Rick Hodges's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Taylor, Michigan
    Posts
    1,421
    12ga. pump shotgun with cyl. bore loaded with 2 3/4" #4 BUCK. My first choice for wet work inside of 30 yds.

  3. #23
    Boolit Grand Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Northern Michigan
    Posts
    8,879
    I live in a very rural area. I have both a Mossy 500 shotgun and AR 5.56. I currently use low recoil stuff in the 12 ga and can reload soft shooting 12 ga if need be. With either gun, it would be wise to wear hearing protection if fired indoors. If someone busts through the door wall or window a Glock and Kahr are next to the bed.

    I have a Universal clone of the .30 cal military M-1 and think it would be a dandy choice. Short and light weight and little recoil. Just need to get off my butt and work up some SP loads. Too bad the originals are so expensive.
    Don Verna


  4. #24
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Midcoast Maine
    Posts
    170
    Quote Originally Posted by Baltimoreed View Post
    Neither one, a .45 DA revolver or 1911 with a weak hand tactical light would be my choice. Can shoot it one handed while holding the light away from my body or to defend myself if surprised by an attacker.
    If that’s how you train and are proficient then great but I wouldn’t recommend this to someone seeking advice on self defense with a firearm. You would be better off with a weapon mounted light and a strong hand supported position than an oddly balanced strong hand unsupported position as accuracy suffers as well as recoil control and you’re not gaining much by moving the point of focus of an attacker up and to the left two feet vs hitting the attacker in the face with a really bright light. You only have to worry about aiming the light and firearm as a unit as opposed to aiming a firearm with one hand and separately aiming a light with the other.

  5. #25
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Midcoast Maine
    Posts
    170
    Quote Originally Posted by dverna View Post
    With either gun, it would be wise to wear hearing protection if fired indoors.
    This is very valid and often overlooked. If your home defense plan includes a 12 ga then you should find someway to experience the sound and shockwave of one going off in a narrow hallway or bedroom. It’s not the same as firing one in an indoor gun range.

  6. #26
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Midcoast Maine
    Posts
    170
    Quote Originally Posted by bangerjim View Post
    Shotguns are good....................until you have to repair the walls, doors, floors, windows, and furniture that were behind the target you shot at with, in the panic of the moment, 5 or six rounds! Shotguns make a total mess of the target AND everything and around behind the target.

    I have had several law enforcement friends of mine tell me to use a shotgun ONLY as a last ditch protection.
    Neither one of these comments correlate with my experience. At 15 yds with 00 buck I have usually only one at most three pellets off silhouette out of a 14” barreled 12ga 870 after firing 15 rounds rapid firing sets of 5.

    Against soft targets within 30 yards, a sbs with buckshot or slugs would be my first choice followed by an ar style carbine with red dot and a handgun last as last ditch protection.

  7. #27
    Boolit Master Baltimoreed's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    NC
    Posts
    1,566
    ‘ If that’s how you train and are proficient then great but I wouldn’t recommend this to someone seeking advice on self defense with a firearm.’
    I’ll agree with you that one handed shooting of a big calber handgun is not for a newbe so a .38 would be much more appropriate but my comment was what I would use. I shoot 100% of my cas and Wild Bunch shoots as a duelist. And other combat pistol matches though not as often as a duelist.

  8. #28
    Boolit Master
    kens's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    coastal Ga
    Posts
    1,133
    There was such a conversation around the campfire some years ago.
    Seems the best gun is the one you got the most ammo for.....
    Seems the easiest one to use in a backup situation where a lesser experienced person needs to cover your butt, is a long barreled lever gun.
    Imagine a gun as simple as a lever gun, and it holds approx 15 rounds of .44mag.
    Anybody on your side of the fight can use it, and umpteen rounds of .44mag is a no-joke

  9. #29
    Boolit Master



    TNsailorman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Northeast Tennessee Hills
    Posts
    2,548
    I have a .357 within 18 inches of my pillow, a tomahawk 12 inches from my hand(between the mattress and the bed rail), and a 12 gauge Remington 870 with a 19 inch barrel about 3 feet away from me in the corner. I and most of my law enforcement friends have always considered the 12 gauge shotgun(pump or SbyS) to be the ultimate defense weapon at anything 50 feet or under. The alarm is set every night and the doors locked with all lights out. If someone comes into my house at night, he will have more trouble than he could ever imagine. I have lived in this house 49 years and I can walk thru my house with all the lights out without having to feel my way thru. I would recommend everyone try this a few times as a practice so that if the worst comes to worst, they will have an advantage. Oh by the way, my wife has a .38 S&W model 15 about 12 inches from her head also. I am between her and the entrance door to the bedroom(which is locked also at night). I pray that I will never have to use these weapons on another human being but I would if I had to. If I go down, I go down fighting, james

  10. #30
    Boolit Grand Master pietro's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    5,249
    .

    Definitely a shotgun, given a rifle projectile's possibility of passing through a human, carrying on to other rooms and people inside or outside the home.

    Since, IMO, "home" defense means somebody's actually trying to directly enter the home, ergo the distances involved inside a dwelling would make ANY gauge shotgun very effective - as within those short distances the shot charge will effectively act like a solid mass (slug).

    I elected for a self-modified 20ga pump, YMMV.





    .
    Last edited by pietro; 08-01-2020 at 10:39 AM.
    Now I lay me down to sleep
    A gun beside me is what I keep
    If I awake, and you're inside
    The coroner's van is your next ride

  11. #31
    Boolit Master Dapaki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
    Location
    Minne-Snow-Ta!
    Posts
    600
    HOLY_RUN_ON_SENTENCE!!! Sorry, didn't tread it, couldn't.
    Quote Originally Posted by poppy42 View Post
    12 and 20 gauge shotguns make great home defense weapons. Here’s the exception. People tend to believe the hype about shotguns. That hype being “ a shotguns are great because you don’t have to aim them, just point and pull the trigger” They don’t bother to practice and become familiar with their weapons. They buy a shotgun load it and by put it in a corner and it sits there. Until, God forbid, it’s needed. If you decide to go with a shotgun you need to make sure that everyone in the household that has a potential or possibility to use that shotgun is proficient with the use and operation of that particular shotgun. Don’t forget if you should have to use your weapon to defend you and yours it’s probably going to occur at night where you’re possibly awoken from a sound sleep with adrenaline pumping through your system. the last thing you want is an inexperienced person grabbing a loaded shotgun, or rifle for that matter, when they’re really not that sure of how to use it. Rifles have there place But let’s not forget the tendency for a rifle to over penetrate depending on the particular round that it’s chambered for. A rifle is usually longer, harder to swing around, maneuver, and bring to aim in tight spaces such as hallways and smaller rooms. Generally in urban or suburban environments I personally don’t believe a rifle is a good choice. If you can hit your neighbors house with a rock without any effort you’re probably too close to your neighbors to be thinking about using a rifle for home defense. And as far as I’m concerned unless it’s absolutely the only weapon you have I don’t recommend a 22 lr of any sort as a home defense weapon. Although it certainly hurts to be shot with anything and the 22 is more than capable of stopping a threat bullet placement is the key. It is far more likely in the dark, in a stressful situation, awoken from a sound sleep, Statistically you are far more likely to miss the 10 ring with a 22. I am a big proponent of carrying a gun chambered for the largest round you can shoot proficiently. Those same principles I apply to a home defense weapon. If that does happen to be a 22 caliber long rifle it is certainly better than a brick. I know this doesn’t really answer your question these are only opinions, my opinions for what they’re worth. Only you can decide what’s right for you and yours in your particular situation. Whatever you decide on I would strongly suggest that you have every person that has the potential of using that weapon practice with it! For someone not willing to put the effort in I would suggest that a better option then a firearm would be a can of oven spray or wasp killer sitting on a nightstand. Most will shoot out a stream of at least 20 feet. It’s someone in the face you’re probably going to blind them cause lung burns and at the very least an awful lot of pain and discourage them from doing anything else but running and looking for water or something to flush themselves off with. Just don’t make the mistake of caring either one of those products out in public. In your own home no one can possibly say that you purchased it for anything more than its intended use. Carrying it in public he’s gonna turn you from the good guy and a victim into a bad guy real quick even if you don’t use it. Good luck with your decision and be safe

  12. #32
    Boolit Master Dapaki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2020
    Location
    Minne-Snow-Ta!
    Posts
    600
    Not telling, the baddies will just have to find out.

  13. #33
    Boolit Master Drm50's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    SE Ohio
    Posts
    2,361
    Worked with a master machinist one time that was a functional alkey. He was divorced in his 50s and lived in a nice little cottage he had built in younger years as summer camp on a nice creek. Well he had to leave his truck at garage for repairs and they rode him home. With no vehicle and no lights on some no goods broke in. Waking him up, in half drunken stupor he commenced shooting with a deer rifle. He didn’t hit any of them but did all kind of damage to his house. His deer rifle was a 401 Win with custom 9 shot magazine he had made. You ought to see damage a 401 does going through kitchen cabinets full of dishes.

  14. #34
    Boolit Grand Master

    dragon813gt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Somewhere in SE PA
    Posts
    9,989
    Quote Originally Posted by Dapaki View Post
    HOLY_RUN_ON_SENTENCE!!! Sorry, didn't tread it, couldn't.
    The post has punctuation for sentences. It’s just not broken into paragraphs. The wall of text is a turn off.

  15. #35
    Vendor Sponsor

    DougGuy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    just above Raleigh North Carolina
    Posts
    7,387
    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Hodges View Post
    12ga. pump shotgun with cyl. bore loaded with 2 3/4" #4 BUCK. My first choice for wet work inside of 30 yds.
    This load USED to be the defacto standard issue to the PD in Norfolk, VA, until the crack and meth epidemics, and it failed to stop several subjects hopped up on chemicals, leaving the officers vulnerable to the continuing menace of the thugs.

    I have fired some of the NPD #4 buck reloads in my 500, and they are HOT. They went to 00 buck last I knew.
    Got a .22 .30 .32 .357 .38 .40 .41 .44 .45 .480 or .500 S&W cylinder that needs throats honed? 9mm, 10mm/40S&W, 45 ACP pistol barrel that won't "plunk" your handloads? 480 Ruger or 475 Linebaugh cylinder that needs the "step" reamed to 6° 30min chamfer? Click here to send me a PM You can also find me on Facebook Click Here.

  16. #36
    Super Moderator


    ShooterAZ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Flagstaff, AZ
    Posts
    12,034
    12 Ga 870 lives behind the bedroom door, and a 2" S&W Model 10 lives on the nightstand.

  17. #37
    Boolit Master
    toallmy's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    easternshore of va.
    Posts
    2,996
    Sliding my hand under the pillow knowing right where that 1911 is , is a very comforting feeling . But the Mossberg loaded isn't to bad either if you hear someone banging around the house at night . Be safe

  18. #38
    Boolit Master Shawlerbrook's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Central NY
    Posts
    2,904
    Shotgun !

  19. #39
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Posts
    35
    I keep a 12 ga handy in the event I have uninvited "guests". I added a light called iProtec that I believe I found on Amazon. It is a very bright red light, and the width of the beam is adjustable. The really cool feature is the button that activates the light. It's a spring loaded button, and there's a coiled wire, similar to a tabletop phone handset, that connects the button to the light. That way, your hand can maintain it's natural grip while you're working the pump. If that doesn't dissuade the rapscallions, then the 300 Blackout will have to come out to play.

  20. #40
    Boolit Grand Master Good Cheer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    the Ark
    Posts
    5,258
    If a shotgun is all you have then you're just one weapon away from a panic attack like Evil Roy Slade suffered in the psychiatrist's office.


    And yeah, I like a 12 gauge but hey, a one hand snub nose double action no-think-'em* of some sort (stainless because pillows can cause rust) is almost as good as melatonin. Seems to me that .41 is the Goldilocks zone.


    *Duh, did I rack one into the chamber? And where'd that safety go?

Page 2 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check