ammo load for home protection

[IronGeek]

Just want to check in with the crowd about my flavor of gun safety around my home, both being safe when handling, & staying alive, should it ever come to that.

I keep my gun (out of case) in a hidden place in my bedroom, where only someone very tall can reach it. Children have not been in my home since before I acquired my firearm, but should the occasion arise, my bedroom will be locked & my gun will be in a locked case within.

I keep the cylinder loaded & set as follows:
1 empty (I do this for added safety)
2-4 .38special jacketed
5-6 .357sjhp (let's hope that If I need these last ones, they finish the job.)

Additionally, I have stairs, doors & a big dog between me and a potential intruder.


Any feedback appreciated,

IGgy

[chris in va]

Got a shotgun?

[swjr72]

federal hydra-shok .40 S&W

[WillBrayjr]

Black Hills JHP, Federal Hydra-Shok, Hornady XTP, Remington Golden Saber, Speer GoldDot, Winchester SXT!

[Hard Ball]

I think your loading system sounds very good. However, given your other precautions I feel that keeing one chamber empty adds no real safety. I would load it with one more .357 round. Also consider one speed loader kept with your revolver just in case,

[Archie]

I'll second Hard Ball's comment. Load your revolver fully, unless it's an old style single action. Even then, for your purpose, there is no real danger in a fully loaded revolver.

And a speed loader. Having an extra six never hurt.

[RWK]

I endorse Hard Ball's and Archie's recommendation re six rounds versus five.

In addition, I would load the first two -- perhaps three -- rounds with a .38 Special GOLD DOT P+s; the remainder (three or four rounds) with any top rated .357 magnum JHP/personal defense load of your choice. Standard pressure .38 Special FMJ loads have two significant problems for home/personal defense: (a) lower pressure, therefore marginal muzzle velocity and muzzle energy and (b) no expansion. These are the reasons I suggest altering your concept to substitute +P JHPs.

Does your reviver have at least a four-inch barrel? That is quite important for the weight of .38 Special P+ Gold Dot suggested.

[Para Bellum]

no handgun is a sure stopper, why lower your chances by not using all the potential of your Magnum?

[IronGeek]

<quote>Does your reviver have at least a four-inch barrel? That is quite important for the weight of .38 Special P+ Gold Dot suggested.</quote>

Yes, its a 19-3 with a four inch barrel. A speed loader & a shotgun both sound like good ideas. I'm sure you're all right about the sixth shot as well. I was taught this one by my father, but I agree that it seems overly cautious.

I've yet to try any 38P+ loads, but will pick some up this week, along with a speed loader.

Parabellum, I see your point. If someone's on the premises, don't pussyfoot around, eh?

Thanks for the feedback, all of you,

IGgy

[InToItTRX]

federal hydra shok.

[Bullrock]

Perhaps this is old thinking. For HD I think 'more' is better than 'big'.

How fast can YOU pull a S/A trigger? I keep a PT-92 9mm at my night stand cocked and locked with 17 Rd. mag. and a scond 17Rd. mag. beside it.

It has been said, "no handgun is a sure stopper". If I miss with the first 34 I would then consider the situation dangerous, and reach for my Winchester 1300 Pump.

I'm not against wheelguns, I grew up with them, and still have my old .357 Ruger and a newer SW66. Just my way of thinking for what it's worth.

Regards,

[2002gti]

yep my house gun is my 1300 too stocked with #4 buck

[IronGeek]

Hm, looks like I should start boning up on shotguns.

Thanks again, guys.

Iggy

[oneeyeross]

Try a 1897 trench gun, or one of` the modern types. 5+1 rounds 00 buck work wonders at convincing someone to stop NOW.

Or several someones....

The trench gun could also be slammed fired by holding down the trigger and pumping another round in...

[40CalGuy]

walther p99 in .40 s&w OD green, 2 hicap (12 round) mags loaded with 180grain Federal Hydrashocks, kept bedside. Just added Surefire X200 tac light. Damn that things bright. Tried it on myself in a mirror in the dark. Blue spot for a good 7 minutes. 2 extra 10 round mags keptin biometric safe in closet (less than 10 feet from bedside). No shotgun yet, but i am looking at Mossberg Mariner 12ga. I'm thinking salt shot for first 2 rounds, then 000 buck for the next 6, last being a 3" magnum slug.

[gb_in_ga]

Personally, I've got my 686 fully loaded with 6 Speer .38 125 gr +P Gold Dots, along with 2 more speed loaders loaded up with the same. I figure that I've got confidence in that load, so I go completely with that, for consistency and repeatability sake. I shoot it well, and I am convinced that if I do my part, keeping it on target, it will do it's job. If I didn't have confidence in that round, I'd go with a good .357 SD load, again loading them in all cylinders along with the 2 speed loaders. I don't see any advantage in mix/matching -- you either have confidence in the load or you don't. If you don't trust the load in rounds 5 & 6, why would you trust it in rounds 1 through 4? Go with what you shoot well and trust.

BTW -- I chose to use the .38 +P's instead of the .357's because of the lesser recoil/flash/bang, not because I can't handle the .357's. I just feel that the .38's give me a tactical edge over the .357's, even though the .357's are more powerful. It is a compromise, I think I can get off quicker follow-up shots with the .38's if it comes to that.

[smokinron]

Considering our neighborhood, I keep the following safeguards

-The P85 loaded with 115 gr, silvertips along with one extra 15 round mag stays in my nightstand, along with my surefire light.

-M66 with 6 .357 golden sabres stays in the briefcase

-One helluva good alarm system

-2 dogs

-Kimber .45 with 3 mags of 230 gr. hydoshocks stays in the pickup.
(Model 1200 12 ga.(the terminator) is behind in the rear seat also.)

[pamick]

IronGeek, for home defense, you should indeed bone up on shotguns. Think about it, pointing as oppsed to trying to aim under stress in the dark. One, maybe two shotgun blasts and it's over

[Hayley]

Is there some kinda finesse to using some 38sp and some 357 rounds in the cylinder that I don't understand? Don't sort of shoot em...shoot em!

[caegal]

I have the same question as Hayley, what is the purpose of starting with .38 specials?

Kill em as dead as you can, as quick as you can.

[Jkwas]

two inch snub with magtech 38spl 158gn jspfp. At the ready.

[xXStarScreamXx]

7 rounds of 165 grain hydra shocks and 6 180 grain talons.


more is better.

[Double Naught Spy]

IronGeek, why are your first rounds composed of less powerful .38 spl and your last rounds .357? You mentioned the .357 for finishing the job. That is fine, but what makes you think you will be able to fire the other rounds to get to the .357? Heck, if you do get to shoot, what makes you think you will get off more than one shot? Wouldn't the prudent avenue be to end the conflict with the first shot of .357 as opposed to building up to using the .357?

I have read several tales where LEO and non-LEO folks have managed only one or two rounds in a fight before something happens such as their gun malfunctioning, their gun being struck by incoming rounds, the gun being lost in a scuffle, or the operator of the gun going down. In some cases, the operator did manage to hit his opposition, but the strike did not incapacitate the opposition and allow the opposition to operate long enough to harm or kill the good guy.

It is your call, but saving the best for last in a fight is not prudent. The longer you are in a fight, the more likely you are to be harmed or killed.

[Duxman]

Bedside would be 2 9mm's: 92FS with 10 rounds of Fed Hydra Shock, and a CZ100 with another 2 rounds of glaser #12's and 8 rounds of Fed Hydra Shock. If I was downstairs watching TV during an encounter, then its my friendly 12 ga Mossberg with #5 birdshot.

Plus a bulldog. Getting an alarm system.

[Greybeard]

Quote: "Wouldn't the prudent avenue be to end the conflict with the first shot of .357 as opposed to building up to using the .357?"

Yea, if the first shot was a "for sure" stopper, which we know is not necessarily the case.

While such is not always the case, my 340 is loaded right now with the first 4 chambers keyed up with .38+Ps and only hole #5 with a .357. What is known to me is that, with that particular gun, my shot-to-shot "on target" recovery time is appreciably faster with the +Ps than with full-blown .357s. With significantly fewer decibels and less muzzle flash in an enclosed space.

Personal choice, based upon practice and testing. I've done similar with shotguns. Similarly, what a lot of folks never realize (due to lack of actual comparison) is that, at short range, a 20 gauge pump shotgun can often be used to put more lethal hits on target(s) in less time than the same type of 12 gauge ...