Best firearm for home protection? I realize a lot is personal choice involved?

[RSKY]

Basically a "Get Off Me" gun. Have become popular for some reason.

The Beretta .32 Tomcat and .22 Bobcat are almost non-existant new or used.

The Seecamp had a 2-year waiting list back in the 90's and early 2000's. I believe they are under new ownership and have slowly increased production without compromising quality, or so I read. When I am out and about I do not want anybody to know I am packing a weapon. In this area it seems to make you more of a target if you have a visible gun.

RSKY

 

[MossRoad]

The Seecamp had a 2-year waiting list back in the 90's and early 2000's. I believe they are under new ownership and have slowly increased production without compromising quality, or so I read. When I am out and about I do not want anybody to know I am packing a weapon. In this area it seems to make you more of a target if you have a visible gun.

RSKY

I do not know why people want to open carry. Seems it would attract attention, and not the good kind.

 

[Loaderman22]

I trust what ShooterDon said, I mean shooter is right in his name! But seriously, there are a lot of good points in this thread. Where I'm at is to play out the scenarios in your head. If someone breaks in, it's typically at night in the dark while your sleeping. (or the exact opposite, middle of day when the average target is out of the house, & at work). Now of course there are the random crackheads (is this a PC term?) who intrude while chemically altered at any time of day. Let's go with scenario one: middle of the night. You're asleep and get woken up, you're likely groggy, blind, very afraid, and fumbling. When you are in a serious state of fear, your mind shuts down to basic functions (without proper training), so your fingers aren't going to work as well, your mind is busy trying to process the event, and you are now hopped up on adrenaline making it even worse. So if you manage to shoot towards the door (remember its gonna be dark), it shocks you just as much as the intruder, think of a flash grenade, meant to disorient. Did I mention that all you hear now is a loud ringing in your ears! It's great to think you are a bad boy and going to drop the perp in 2 shots or less, but all that fear says different. So, you get the gun out of the lockbox, point and pull the trigger and it jams (or fails to fire, etc) your mind is not thinking re-rack the slide, or pump again it's thinking just pull the trigger harder or a second time. (again this is all average person without training and practice) This is why the military keeps training, over and over especially in times of peace, the brain will do what it's trained to do. Repetition takes the brain out of the equation, then it's pure muscle memory. For this reason a revolver is a better choice solely based on the events that are unfolding. If you hear someone downstairs or another part of the house, you may have more time, still afraid, but a few extra seconds to get your wits about you. Scenario 2: a crackhead, they wont be disoriented by the initial flash the same as a burglar, and very likely wont get discouraged by being hit once or twice with non fatal shots. Now you want something with more knockdown power, like a shotgun (pick your choice of ammo) or a larger pistol. (sorry to the neighbors, or next 5 trailers in the park!!)
The point is, your only going to be as good as your practicing, so go to the range, or woods, or wherever, puts some rounds through it, get comfortable with it, that's the weapon you're gonna want in any scenario.

I'm of the thought that you will keep pulling the trigger until your mind catches up and tells you to stop pulling the trigger...

 

[RSKY]

I have a 22 Ruger automatic pistol positioned out of sight in my utility room. It is my emergency run in the house and grab it snake, skunk, rabid dog, burglar weapon. It is located on the side of an upright freezer next to the door from the garage. You have to reach in between the freezer and a wall to retrieve it. Full mag, safety off, nothing in chamber, must be racked to fire, located high enough my wife has to reach up to retrieve it. For years I had it loaded with CCI Stingers until I saw a guy do a gelatin test with that round on YouTube. To his surprise, and mine, the hot 22LR would not expand out of a pistol barrel. It would go all the way thru the gelatin and out the other side just like a FMJ from a rifle. When he fired the round from a rifle it expanded nicely and stopped at the 12" mark as is recommended. I do not remember the guy doing the test or have a link but I remember him being puzzled at the results. Hmmm....what useful info you CAN get from the Internet. So, I spent several hours one night watching many videos of people testing 22 Long Rifle ammo. The Ruger is now loaded with CCI Velocitors. I couldn't see any difference in the bullets but there must be a difference in the material used or the size of the hollowpoint. YouTube tests of that ammo showed bullet expansion and stopping at the proper distance.

The Speer company makes a personal protection "short barrel" handgun ammo in many calibers including 22 Magnum. Those rounds are made to expand when fired from short pistol barrels. As I recall the story the first of the line was in 38 Special and made at the request of the NYPD for officers and their wives who carried J-frame Smith & Wesson revolvers for backup/personal protection. I contacted the company a few years ago and asked if they were considering making a short barrel personal protection round in 22LR. I told them they could double or triple the price and probably sell all they could make if they would put the magnum bullet on a long rifle case. They responded that they had no plans to do so. Aww....shucks.

Hope y'all have a good day.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

After re-reading a couple pages of this thread I have to add something else to the discussion.

In many of the scenarios posted here it is always dark in the house when the intruder breaks in. Always, always, ALWAYS IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET before you pull the trigger. I would rather be shot myself than to accidently shoot a member of my family.

Hope y'all have a good day.

RSKY

 

[MossRoad]

Yep, we read occasionally where someone shoots a loved one mistaken for an intruder. Tragic.

 

[Robert_Actual]

In this thread there's some good info and then there's some "internet wisdom" that I hope those people never have to put to use.


The first thing I would say is to get some training that is specific to your local. Obviously shooting an intruder to save your families lives will get a much different reaction in rural Louisiana vs. San Francisco - the end result may be the same but how you get there is guaranteed to be different.

I would recommend these folks; Massad Ayoob

I took their class here in WA in 2019 and they spent the first 20 hours talking about the legalities of shooting someone IN Washington. They covered Stand Your Ground, weapon modifications, how to interact with police both on the phone and once they are at your home, what to do after the shoot, how your family needs to speak to the police, common internet misconceptions, etc. It was instructed with Mr Ayoob and 2 different defense attorneys from the area - both of which were NRA endorsed and have defended responsible armed citizens on multiple occasions.

The next 10 hours was spent talking about guns inside the home. We tested out different types of ammunition based on moc walls that were made and various pieces of ballistic gel.

The final 10 hours was shooting in low light/no light which was pretty helpful. The second half of the class was instructed by Mr Ayoob's instructors and the attorneys were gone.

There may be other classes that are similar. Check with your local gun range or your local advocacy group for who they might endorse.

 

[coffeeman]

Can a spear gun avoid any of the current laws, hurtles and possible future confiscation?

 

[coffeeman]

Can a spear gun avoid any of the current laws, hurtles and possible future confiscation?

Today i wonder, Is it worth keeping up with membership in NRA? How much help is the NRA able to do to protect 2nd Amendment? Also, if lucky, sign up for NRA membership has some nice drawing prizes. They also do other good things.
Cheers.....Coffeeman .... You all BE, HEALTHY AND SAFE!

 

[Jstpssng]

I trust what ShooterDon said, I mean shooter is right in his name! But seriously, there are a lot of good points in this thread. Where I'm at is to play out the scenarios in your head. If someone breaks in, it's typically at night in the dark while your sleeping. (or the exact opposite, middle of day when the average target is out of the house, & at work). Now of course there are the random crackheads (is this a PC term?) who intrude while chemically altered at any time of day. Let's go with scenario one: middle of the night. You're asleep and get woken up, you're likely groggy, blind, very afraid, and fumbling. When you are in a serious state of fear, your mind shuts down to basic functions (without proper training), so your fingers aren't going to work as well, your mind is busy trying to process the event, and you are now hopped up on adrenaline making it even worse. So if you manage to shoot towards the door (remember its gonna be dark), it shocks you just as much as the intruder, think of a flash grenade, meant to disorient. Did I mention that all you hear now is a loud ringing in your ears! It's great to think you are a bad boy and going to drop the perp in 2 shots or less, but all that fear says different. So, you get the gun out of the lockbox, point and pull the trigger and it jams (or fails to fire, etc) your mind is not thinking re-rack the slide, or pump again it's thinking just pull the trigger harder or a second time. (again this is all average person without training and practice) This is why the military keeps training, over and over especially in times of peace, the brain will do what it's trained to do. Repetition takes the brain out of the equation, then it's pure muscle memory. For this reason a revolver is a better choice solely based on the events that are unfolding. If you hear someone downstairs or another part of the house, you may have more time, still afraid, but a few extra seconds to get your wits about you. Scenario 2: a crackhead, they wont be disoriented by the initial flash the same as a burglar, and very likely wont get discouraged by being hit once or twice with non fatal shots. Now you want something with more knockdown power, like a shotgun (pick your choice of ammo) or a larger pistol. (sorry to the neighbors, or next 5 trailers in the park!!)
The point is, your only going to be as good as your practicing, so go to the range, or woods, or wherever, puts some rounds through it, get comfortable with it, that's the weapon you're gonna want in any scenario.

I'm of the thought that you will keep pulling the trigger until your mind catches up and tells you to stop pulling the trigger...

In my case and many others, the first thing that you and he will hear is the sound of a dog barking. Just another factor to consider.
My dog can be loud, but I do believe that his bark is worse than his bite. I hope that I never have to find out.