Question on home protection firearms

GB1

Gold Member
Jul 12, 2017
7,428
21,863
East TX
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Teknectics eurotek pro
bounty hunter time ranger
bounty hunter quick draw 2
used a teroso compadre.
Primary Interest:
Other
Stopped reading comments when it got political. Anyway, to answer the OP's original question, a shotgun is youre best bet. Cant believe some of the suggestions posted. The issue with home defense, and todays poorly constructed homes is over penetration. Some suggested an AR, a 9mm, really? First off if the intruder is far enough away that you need an AR, let him go, a 9mm round will penetrate 2- 3 walls and may hit an innocent person. A pump shotgun loaded with #7-8 birdshot is ideal.

if there on my property and haven't jumped the fence yet they going down
 

1942 merc

Sr. Member
Sep 14, 2012
413
755
sd
Detector(s) used
xp deus , Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Get a fake home security sign . Get a dog or a fake dog door bell .Get a fake security camera .Beef up your door locks .Move to a better place .
 

Duckshot

Silver Member
Sep 8, 2014
4,455
9,643
trapped on the earthly plane of causation
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
"This house is protected with deadly force in accordance with State and Federal legislation"

"All legitimate means of egress from this building are keyed both sides. If you break in you will be required to break out as well. Thank you for your consideration".
 

DirtDiggerDaveinMD

Hero Member
Jan 31, 2005
638
730
Stopped reading comments when it got political. Anyway, to answer the OP's original question, a shotgun is youre best bet. Cant believe some of the suggestions posted. The issue with home defense, and todays poorly constructed homes is over penetration. Some suggested an AR, a 9mm, really? First off if the intruder is far enough away that you need an AR, let him go, a 9mm round will penetrate 2- 3 walls and may hit an innocent person. A pump shotgun loaded with #7-8 birdshot is ideal.

Bird shot will also penetrate interior walls, especially at close range like in a home invasion scenario. Frangible ammo is made in 5.56mm and popular handgun rounds like 9MM, .45 ACP, 38/.357, and .40 S&W that make over penetration much less likely if one of those calibers is used for home defense.
 

NOLA_Ken

Gold Member
Jan 4, 2011
5,214
4,178
Formerly New Orleans.. Now Pueblo Co
Detector(s) used
several, mostly Garrett
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ar is not something my wife can handle. Semi auto 20 gauge 18" is what I am thinking with pistol grips?

Pistol grips make a shotgun basically useless except as a club in my experience. Especially for a novice shooter. They are nearly impossible to be accurate with and the recoil going directly into the web of your thumb is no fun either. A self defense situation is no time to be shooting from the hip, get the full stock, you'll be much happier with it

An AR is a decent rifle platform for anyone, with very little recoil and easy to operate, but you risk over penetration of the rounds... going through the intruder, or the wall if you miss. I wouldn't recommend a rifle just for the chance of injuring or killing someone other than the intruder, either in your own home or your neighbors if their house is close to yours.

In my opinion, a decent 9mm with "Frangible" ammo is the best. Frangible bullets are designed to break up on impact with anything solid (like a wall) which greatly reduces the risk of collateral damage
 

Last edited:

hvacker

Bronze Member
Aug 18, 2012
2,357
1,904
New Mexico USA
Detector(s) used
My Head
Primary Interest:
Other
If I was a thief most of the suggestions made here tell me there are guns in the house. Guns are of little use if no one's home.
Guns are almost irresistible for most thief's. They are easy to sell and get good $$.
Thief's are not easily deterred. If you think strong threats will cause a thief to go somewhere else, think again.
They want stuff that's portable and easy to move and won't give a second thought of how bad a$$ you say you are.
I can almost guaranty that unless you are combat proven a situation will almost never go the way your imagination or fantasy thinks it will.
Most thief's aren't armed, they are just sneaky. I don't know about where others live but here it seems if caught they get released very easy. If you want to find a thief, follow the drugs.
Just to mention. At Christmas time, all the big boxes of stuff that a family bought and put the boxes out for the garbage collection is a huge sign that there is good stuff inside. Blue light special.
Cut the boxes into small pieces and if it takes two weeks to get rid of it that's ok.

I know a guy that's a big bad a$$ but that didn't stop the thief's that were neighbors. He had an alarm system and a 44 mag that he fired at them as they were escaping but they watched his house and kept coming back. Eventually when he noticed the gas meter was missing from their house just before winter he knew they would be gone. No meter, no gas, no heat cyaby.
Normal people respond to threats but theif's aren't normal.
 

Duckshot

Silver Member
Sep 8, 2014
4,455
9,643
trapped on the earthly plane of causation
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
NOLA Ken said:
In my opinion, a decent 9mm with "Frangible" ammo is the best. Frangible bullets are designed to break up on impact with anything solid (like a wall) which greatly reduces the risk of collateral damage.

Ken's opinion is a fine opinion in my opinion.

Either MagSafe or Glasser Safety Slugs. They are expensive at about $2-$3 apiece in packages of six last time I bought some which was in the late 1990's. These pretty much consist of lead bird shot packed into a copper cup. The shot is expelled from it's wrapper on impact leaving a wound that resembles a contact shotshell wound- not too much penetration, but lots of crushing and stretching.
 

NOLA_Ken

Gold Member
Jan 4, 2011
5,214
4,178
Formerly New Orleans.. Now Pueblo Co
Detector(s) used
several, mostly Garrett
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ken's opinion is a fine opinion in my opinion.

Either MagSafe or Glasser Safety Slugs. They are expensive at about $2-$3 apiece in packages of six last time I bought some which was in the late 1990's. These pretty much consist of lead bird shot packed into a copper cup. The shot is expelled from it's wrapper on impact leaving a wound that resembles a contact shotshell wound- not too much penetration, but lots of crushing and stretching.

That may be the most times anyone has used "opinion" in one sentence... :tongue3: Yeah, the rounds are pricey, but for anyone considering them, just remember you won't be using them for practice at the range, and hopefully you'll never need to use them at all
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Discussions

Top