Best gun for home defense?
- Thread starter aclockworkorange
- Start date
Not sure what I favor as I have never shot at anyone's head before. Only in FPS games ofcourse, if that is the case I have over 1000x headshots.... and BOOM.
LOL well played sir.
For pistol firing we teach what we call failure drills, two in the chest one in the head at 15 yards. Combat qual is a blast too, but hits count anywhere. It might sound stupid for the target to drop when hit anywhere, but in reality most aggressors will stop the instant they're shot, regardless of caliber or location they're hit. We teach to 'shoot to disable, not to kill, but if he's dead he's disabled'.
For pistol firing we teach what we call failure drills, two in the chest one in the head at 15 yards. Combat qual is a blast too, but hits count anywhere. It might sound stupid for the target to drop when hit anywhere, but in reality most aggressors will stop the instant they're shot, regardless of caliber or location they're hit. We teach to 'shoot to disable, not to kill, but if he's dead he's disabled'.
Incredibly false. Many many many, victims and attackers report not even knowing they were shot until the adrenaline wears off.
Worse advise iv seen an a LONG time. Your risk of over penetration becomes huge and your potential to cause damage goes through the floor. Uses ball ammo cause a wound channel of roughly half the bullet diameter. Lets use 124gr 9mm. Using ball ammo will easily give you 24"+ in gel. So 24"+ with a 4.5mm(roughly .18) diameter hole. Mean while a quality 9mm hollow point will give you around 12" but with a .60 or better wound channel. Shots are about destroying vital tissue and the CNS. This is what stops fights. Hearts, lungs, liver etc. these cause exanguination but wont stop a fight instantly quite often. A CNS will stop it instantly.
A post ago your talking about margin of error, then post about SEVERLY limiting your wounding potential and margin of error.
I won't suggest a dog for your home protection. Lot of the dogs in my area has been stolen, included one of my own dogs. Not mentioned that some of dogs might be um....a little too stupid.
I have a Remington 870 here and is best shotgun I ever owned!
I have a Remington 870 here and is best shotgun I ever owned!
First of all, yes. People report being hit and not knowing it. Caliber has no effect on this. Soldiers (both our side and our enemies) get hit with rounds that have a much higher terminal energy than ANY pistol and don't know about it, up to and including 7.62 x 51, which I shouldn't HAVE to tell you has ten times the terminal energy of any self defense round. Saying that having a 9mm or .45 over say a .32 or a .380 would have made a difference is a profoundly, unbelievably ignorant statement. I know you didn't say it yet, but I can see that is probably where this is going. The simple fact of the matter is unless you get lucky enough to hit something that will kill our bad guy instantly, which isn't nearly so easy as ballistics gel quoting people seem to believe, if he's hyped enough to keep coming, he's going to keep coming. No pistol round that is commonly used in self defense packs the energy necessary to create secondary wound channels and hydrostatic shock in order to kill instantly like a high powered rifle round.
Second. I will agree that wound channels are important. I however, feel that hollowpoints are overrated. The only rounds I would consider are ones with penetrator tips like Hornady Critical Defense or the Federal Hydra Shock. Even so, there are many instances of hollowpoints expanding to quickly or fragmenting in order to not reach any vital targets. I'll take over penetration with the smaller associated wound channel over under penetration that fails to reach any vital organ any day. This is why I carry .45 ACP, combined with the fact that I like the feel of a 1911.
Third; About margins of error: what I would recommend for an amateur and what I would do myself are two very different things. My wife wants to learn to shoot and to carry. I'm getting her an XD in 9mm and it will be loaded with hollowpoints. Why? Because of my first arguement. If an attacker is going to stop, they're going to stop regardless of what they're hit with. My statement was in reference to the psychological aspects of being shot. Once I get her proficient with her weapon, she's going to be taught failure drills as well. Two in the chest, one in the head. I personally place value on the headshot and as such, I want the greater sectional density of the solid fmj round in order to penetrate the skull effectively.
Fourth; What you take as 'advice' I call doctrine. The methods I speak of here are tried and true in battle. Why do we two two in the chest and one in the head? Because even with ball, its been proven time and again that a 9mm doesn't have the penetration to reach the vital organs to kill an enemy. It will often enough stop one, again, going back to the psychological impacts of being shot. At the end of the day, a handgun round with ~350 fpe doesn't have the energy necessary to be a one shot killer, short of landing a lucky hit. That is a simple stone cold fact.
Fact: Any weapon is better than no weapon.
Fact: Practice with your weapon of choice makes you dangerous.
Fact: Ammo type matters much less that consistent, correct shot placement.
Fact: 90% of assailants will break off the attack if they're able to once they're hit.
Fact: Most amateurs won't be able to get a shot off anyway, let alone place them effectively.\
edited for a sharp tone that wasn't called for.
The vast majority of aggressors want something that you have. They choose to prey on you because they believe that you're unable to fight back. Once they realize you are armed as well, they will break off the attack. The vast majority of criminals aren't willing to risk their life to steal a few hundred dollars and if they can run, they will run.
PCP loaded freaks and armor wearing professional bank robbers are by far and away the minority.
Out of curiosity, what's your opinion of the Hornady Critical Duty round, specifically the 9mm 135 grain +P I mentioned earlier? I ask since it's my round of choice; one of the reasons I chose it because its the only hollowpoint that I know of that passed the FBI's various barrier tests.
