best ammo for home defense??

[RX-79G]

You must be very thin, since you can't conceal a handgun behind your body while holding it in your hand.

[Glockstar .40]

You must be very thin, since you can't conceal a handgun behind your body while holding it in your hand.

that's why I like a rifle for hd. So I can hide behind it while the burglar is ransacking my underwear drawer.

[RX-79G]

You are contributing some very insightful points. Thanks.

[Glockstar .40]

Just trying to stay on par with your idea that hiding the gun behind your back while sweeping the house in the middle of the night is somehow good tactics

[RX-79G]

Then tell us how it is bad tactics.

You hear something that might be innocent, but you want to check. If it is innocent you don't want to scare either the awake person or the ones currently asleep...

[AK103K]

Todd forbid someone get scared.

If they are already in the house, and acting like anything but someone who belongs there, they are going to get scared, be it pistol, shotgun, SMG, rifle, whatever. Why in the world would you hide your gun, or hinder/limit your chances of employing it, if its needed?

I dont understand your fantasy of having to be so careful not to offend, especially if whatever it was, warranted you to go get your gun, and traipse around the house looking for it.

If you really feel the need to "sweep the house", you'd better "sweep the house", not wander around acting like nothing is wrong, and trying not to offend the cat or something.

If you havent bothered to take some minimal home security measures, and/or teach your children how to behave when coming in, or moving around late at night, etc, etc, you have a lot of other worries than what gun you chose to respond with.

[Glockstar .40]

It's bad tactics because what if it's not someone innocent. Something goes bump in the night you have a 50/50 chance of it being innocent or not. I'd rather offend my son having a late night snack than have my family be victims of a horrible crime. If you do choose to sweep your house than you should be at the "ready" position not have it hiding behind your back or in a pocket. It sounds to me like your betting on the situation being innocent. Assumptions like that my friend is how people become victims.

[RX-79G]

It's bad tactics because it isn't 50/50. 99 times out of 100 it is something entirely innocent making noise in the kitchen, digging through the trash or knocking on the door.

You fellows are acting like you've never heard of the ability to fire a pistol from retention. It allows someone holding a handgun out of sight to transition immediately to firing at contact ranges.

There is no equivalent of this with rifles and shotguns. You pretty much need to sweep the room with a gun already pointed at your kids, guests, neighbors, whomever. And you likely have to use both hands to do it, unless you are planning to point a loaded gun at someone with the safety already off. 8 pound rifles are not nearly as ergonomic as handguns.


Adults, even gun-lovin' adults, are entirely unlikely to play commando in their own house every time the raccoons visit. Most grownups are not going to walk around their house with a rifle at the high ready position, potentially pointing it at people and banging up the trim. And answering your front door with a shotgun either means giving the old lady on the porch a heart attack or not having the shotgun pointed in useful direction if an assailant does burst in.

A handgun solves all those problems by both remaining discreet, being able to transition it from concealment to retained fire instantly and freeing up the other hand to open doors and operate the lights.

The only thing you're giving up with the handgun is some stopping power. In return you're getting flexibility, discretion, safety and the ability to react at much closer ranges than a long arm.

[Glockstar .40]

1) I didn't say that 50% of the time there's a noise that it's not innocent. I said when there is a noise you have a 50% chance it could be something bad.

2) have you not heard of the low ready position? You should look it up that way your not pointing your gun at your kids .

3) your plan is to fire from retention with your pistol I REALLY hope your extremely proficient with that! that's a great way to shoot your neighbors or kids in the next room if your not.

4) if it's raccoons playin outside than why do you need a gun? Isn't it against the law to discharge a firearm to scare off pests in your city limits?

5) Get yourself a peephole on your door and you don't need to worry about scaring those old ladies off

[RX-79G]

1. You don't understand math. Those two are the same.

2. Low ready is not effective at safeguarding your muzzle from being grabbed.

3. Firing from retention is used for contact distances - the distance where you can't maneuver a shotgun. At longer distances you extend the handgun toward an aimed position. If you are at retention range, you won't miss. If you are at a further range, you don't need to fire from retention.

4. If you knew they are raccoons, you wouldn't have gotten out of bed. We're talking about dealing with the unknown.

5. Does you peep hole show a 70 year old lady by herself, or a 50 year old meth head with two men out of view?


All this stuff gets really easy when you know exactly what you're going to be facing. The unrealistic bit is that you seem to think you'll know before you get out of bed whether there is a threat or not, and what kind of threat.

[Glockstar .40]

1) I understand math just fine. It's you that is having a hard time understanding.
2) you got that backwards, high ready is when you get your barrel grabbed unless your perp is laying on the floor.

3) yes I know what retention shooting is and can be a useful tactic with a handgun. But that close of range you have a very good chance of your pistol being knocked out of your hand. My AR has a sling so the chance of it being knocked from my hands and used against me is slim to none unlike a pistol. Also a rifle doesn't have to be pointed at someone's head to be effective as you seem to presume. Close quarters the low ready can be brought up fast enough to shoot the lower body.

4) your worried about a meth head being offended that you brought a rifle instead of a pistol

[RX-79G]

I was going to respond, but then I read line 4. We aren't communicating. Bye.

[Glockstar .40]

That's the same thing my wife says I'm seeing a trend

[Derbel McDillet]

Unless you don't want to wake up your kids...

Well you don't HAVE to shout - you can whisper LOUDLY - if you have house guests and suspect that's the situation.

...give away your position, etc, etc...

So you're gonna wait until you're at the brink of using deadly force before you attempt positive friend or foe identification?

A verbal challenge establishes your presence - your ARMED presence, if necessary.

[Brotherbadger]

Never once did I say the .357 magnum was the "most powerful handgun you can have."

Your exact quote is(emphasis is mine):

I want the most powerful handgun I can have if I MUST use a handgun for defense work. That my friend is a .357 magnum loaded with 125 grain JHP loads.

From that quote, i inferred that you think a .357 magnum with 125 loads is the most powerful handgun you can have. Once again, this is incorrect(For self defense or otherwise). If this is not what you were implying........well......... then I'd not say things like "I want the most powerful handgun i can have", then say it is the .357.

[EnoughGUN]

I read a couple comments about rifles and shot guns for home defense. Ill say right off I am no expert but I see no reason a short shotgun In 12 gauge with low recoil rounds isnt suitable. The current bullpup options like a ksg give you a small tight package that can be easily maneuvered in close quarters and a ridiculous round count. My ksg will hold 24 short shells like aguilas of buck, bird or slug. Besides, a 12 gauge is a christmas canceler. How many stories are there about someone not stopping after being hit x number of times with x handgun round. I cant think of one instance of this involving a shot gun. That being said my home defense gun is an FNP 45. 14 rounds of .45 seems like more than enough and honestly I dont plan on clearing my house with it anyway. Ill be in the bedroom behind a locked door on the phone with the cops. Gun is a last resort incase they feel they just have to come through the door.

as far as sweeping your house with whatever weapon I dont know anyone with experience that thinks that is good tactics. You are for no reason willingly putting yourself in an unknown position. You have no idea how many possible attackers there are or how they are armed. Why look for trouble. If you believe there is a real treat retreat to a safer defensive position and call the guys with guns and backup. If some one if going to do the shooting I would rather it be them then me unless absolutely necessary.

[Glockstar .40]

as far as sweeping your house with whatever weapon I dont know anyone with experience that thinks that is good tactics. You are for no reason willingly putting yourself in an unknown position. You have no idea how many possible attackers there are or how they are armed. Why look for trouble. If you believe there is a real treat retreat to a safer defensive position and call the guys with guns and backup. If some one if going to do the shooting I would rather it be them then me unless absolutely necessary

While I agree with your tactics, I have a child so staying put in my room is not an option.

[EnoughGUN]

Ok lets amend that to get the family then lock yourselves in if possible. I understand that sometimes their rooms etc may be on other floors which complicates things. My point being dont roam around looking for trouble. Have a plan. If the kids (assuming they are old enough to do so) hear something or think there is an intruder they could head for your room if access able of know to lock themselves in their room. That is something you would have to decide on depending on their age, logistics of the house etc. In a perfect world their room would be past yours from any entrance.

better yet just have a pet tiger, take your door completely off the hindges and post a sign that says " come on in and see how that works out for ya"

[RX-79G]

My point of view is based on the idea that you aren't looking for trouble, but you may need to look. And when you do look you are most likely to find very innocent situations where an obvious weapon sends the wrong message.

If you can barricade yourself in a bedroom, by all means set yourself up behind a belt fed machinegun.


Though, if you actually live out in the country and you think the evil people are going to try to get you, your bedroom better be fireproof and armored - because you are a sitting duck.

[Alpena]

Nosler match grade ammunition. Because it is match grade. In the end most ammunition is the same because it all goes "Bang". A lot of people worry about over penetration only to not realize that it's not really in their control. Bullets travel very fast so it will happen but in a self defense situation I'd be more worried about my bullets firing then anything. You can get search engine anxiety researching this but the simplest choice is usually the best.

[RX-79G]

What about "match grade" makes it suitable or even preferable for defense? Are you saying a fraction of an inch additional accuracy is more important than terminal ballistics?

[Alpena]

I said Nosler as a joke because there's always a non stop argument on what's the best so I just nominated a "Match Grade" manufacturer.

[AK103K]

Though, if you actually live out in the country and you think the evil people are going to try to get you, your bedroom better be fireproof and armored - because you are a sitting duck.

Around here, they just wait on the hill a couple of hundred yards away, and wait for you to come out for a smoke. Just for the record, a 25-06 worked well in that case, and in the dark yet.

What about "match grade" makes it suitable or even preferable for defense?

As long as they work well in the end, does it really matter?

Ive always found Nosler BT's to be very accurate, and terminally, extremely effective against critters. Kind of a "best of both worlds" thing.

Sierra Game Kings work very well too, and are just as accurate.

[.38Catt]

Speer Gold Dot 124 +P is my 9mm of choice.

[dayman]

I like Winchester Ranger T's (9mm - 124g i think) - in part because I was able to acquire several 50rd boxes for like $30 each a year or so ago.
But, I'll echo what a lot of other people have said, and admit that most any premium "defensive" JHP from a major manufacturer is going to work just fine.

The one caution I'd give is that if you're going to use something of the "+p" or "+p+" variety, make sure you practice a bit with it first, and make sure that it's something you can handle well in your gun.
While it is slightly more effective, if you have trouble with follow up shots, or have to keep readjusting your grip it's not going to be worth it.

I'm also going to agree with the general sentiment that a handgun is a better choice than a long gun for home defense for most people - certainly for people living in heavily developed areas (like the OP). So you did good.

IMHO their biggest advantage is their ability to be operated one-handed. You can open/check doors, grab kids/dogs, pull back shades, and whatnot far easier with a handgun.
While long guns work great for SWAT teams, I neither have nor want a team in front of me kicking down doors every time I have to scare the racoons out of the shed. I guess that's the difference between "sweeping" my house, and checking out a noise.

Besides, since I do CC, it's convenient to put my CCW in bedside biometric lockbox at bed time, and leave the rest of the guns locked up in the safe.