semi-auto handgun vs. semi-auto carbine for HD

[PTS1]

I am familiar with and currently use a semi-auto handgun for HD. However, I keep reading that a ar-15 type is a better choice. Now I am considering getting one. What do you guys think?

[Playboypenguin]

I guess it would work okay but you would need to be more concerned about over-penetration and missed shots. Just get a shotgun and stop over thinking it.

[GoSlash27]

I prefer a handgun. A carbine is harder to bring to bear in close quarters. You could potentially get a carbine taken from you.

[DonR101395]

You could potentially get a carbine taken from you.

The same could be said of any weapon.


I prefer a carbine, but also have a pistol in the night stand. Nothing wrong with a shotgun either. Just get some training and decide what is right for you.

[Kermit]

FOr HD, I have a handgun in the night stand that I use to get me to my pump shotgun

[sholling]

It depends on how you intend to use it. If your plan is to hunker down in the master bedroom with the family (usually the best move) or to defend the upstairs hallway then either a handgun, carbine or short barreled shotgun makes sense. If your plan is to clear the house (not usually a good idea - call the police and let them) then a pistol is usually the best option. That long barrel of a rifle or shotgun proceeds you at blind corners and gives a bad guy great leverage to take it away. That's a lot less likely than with a pistol. Where a rifle or carbine comes into its own is if you live in the country and may have to defend your home in general from whatever.

I keep a pistol and a shotgun by my bed because I like to keep my options open.

[gianelli280]

AR-15 increases the intruder's pucker factor :eek:

I think more than half of HD is intimidation... the goal is to remove the intruder(s) without seriously injuring or killing anybody unless its necessary. Staring down the barrel of a semi automatic carbine with a big mag sticking out of the bottom seems more intimidating to me than a handgun with half that much ammo.

Plus it can be used as a formidable beating stick! Conversely, there is much more leverage on a 16 inch barrel rather than 4 inch.

Like everyone's saying, its about what you feel comfortable with in your household. If a pump shotgun or a handgun is what you feel comfortable with in this type of situation, go for it.

Either way, the sound of a bolt carrier/handgun slide chambering a round, or the pump of a shotgun is pretty intimidating.

[PTS1]

Thanks for the input! Would you say a shotgun with 00buck is as lethal as a .223? I already have a mossberg 500 I use to hunt dove and could get an 18 inch barrel for about $90.00 and a shorter stock for about $100. (A lot cheaper than a ar-15).

[sholling]

PTS1,

I've looked down the barrel of a 12ga from up close and it looked to me like a rail road tunnel. :eek: Anyway unless the bad guy is wearing a vest 00 bock is going to be devastating at close range. If he's wearing a vest then .223 or 308 will do much better. Because I live in a suburb and like my neighbors I load my shotgun so that the first two rounds up will be #4 shot. It's still a drywall penetration hazard but it won't go through several layers of drywall and stucco to accidentally harm the sweet little old lady next door. It will also make a bloody and painful mess out of a bad guy's chest, but may or may not be quickly fatal. Next up are five 00 buck. 00 buck will penetrate walls and limited amounts of stucco and will turn a chest to hash at 10 yards. Think of it as getting hit with 9 shots of 38 special - per shell - in a 3" group. On the stock are five full power 340gr 1610fps Federal Hydra-Shok slugs that will penetrate any likely cover and hold a 4" group out to 100 yards. Escalating levels of destruction, penetration and range. I also have a bandoleer with 25 spares just because.

If I were you I'd buy a short barrel with sights for that Mossy, maybe a magazine extension, and leave the stock alone. But that wouldn't stop me from buying an AR and a dozen mags, just because you may not have the chance in the future. Plus they're a kick to shoot.

[plom]

at home defense range, OO buck is at least as lethal as .223
9 pellets trough the chest kick as good as a torso hit with 223. I've witnessed people runing after being hit with .223 but never heard of a guy runing after being hit at close range with a 12ga 9 pellets :D

[omnibus1967]

+1 on the mossberg for SD. i like #1 buckshot myself.i avoid pistol grips on mine....like the full stock better.

[chilie23]

Carbines are good with shot placement and handgunds are good with shot placement and shotguns stoked with 00 buck are awesome at in the house distances with shot placment. An old WWII veteran recalled the knowing feeling, at a shotgun blast, that someone had just eaten a shotgun round and would no longer be around. If it were me and i could have it anyway, it would be hunker down with my 12ga affixed on the closed and locked door, 5.56 at my feet and 45 on the hip.

[Rant Casey]

Personally I use a USP full size .45 and an m4 with front grip, tac light and red dot for HD. The reason for the .223 as opposed to the shotgun? More ammo, my beta mag holds more than my mossy, and it may seem that I'm paranoid, but better safe than sorry. No worries about it going through walls to my neighbors, no houses near by. I also have no children, just a girlfriend who sleeps in bed with me, so I'm not worried about that either. Besides, most BGs will see an m4 with a 100 round drum and think twice.

[SilentHitz]

Would you say a shotgun with 00buck is as lethal as a .223? Much more lethal. At close and medium ranges (most likely in SD) 00buck will do more damage. As plom said, I've never seen anyone run after catching a load in his chest.

[varoadking]

I also have a bandoleer with 25 spares just because.

In case an IDPA 3 gun match breaks out in your living room?

[p89ruger_9mm]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/p89ruger/Gun%20Pics/more%20guns/DSC00019.jpg

[sholling]

In case an IDPA 3 gun match breaks out in your living room?Just because I faced down (bluffed) a pair of home intruders with an empty rifle way back when. Not one round in the house. I don't care to ever experience that empty feeling again. ;)

I heard someone mention carbine magazine capacity and it's a very cool thing. So is the ability to keep topping off in the magazine in your shotgun.

[Northalius]

Get one if you can; they might be [illegally] banned soon, for all we know.

I'd also suggest a shotgun, as well. Get both, if you can. :D

A carbine is harder to bring to bear in close quarters. You could potentially get a carbine taken from you.

That's why we smart people have secondary backup pistols on us, even while carrying a carbine around the house when we hear someone break in... :cool:

[Mastiff]

For what it's worth, I agree with Omnibus. #1 Buck is probably better than 00 for HD:


12 Gauge Shotshell Ammunition
For personal defense and law enforcement applications, the International Wound Ballistics Association advocates number 1 buckshot as being superior to all other buckshot sizes.

Number 1 buck is the smallest diameter shot that reliably and consistently penetrates more than 12 inches of standard ordnance gelatin when fired at typical shotgun engagement distances. A standard 2 ¾-inch 12 gauge shotshell contains 16 pellets of #1 buck. The total combined cross sectional area of the 16 pellets is 1.13 square inches. Compared to the total combined cross sectional area of the nine pellets in a standard #00 (double-aught) buck shotshell (0.77 square inches), the # 1 buck shotshell has the capacity to produce over 30 percent more potentially effective wound trauma.

In all shotshell loads, number 1 buckshot produces more potentially effective wound trauma than either #00 or #000 buck. In addition, number 1 buck is less likely to over-penetrate and exit an attacker's body.

http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm

[soldiercraig]

I got myself a remington 870 for home defense, with at S&w .38 special backing that up. If I an auto loader I would go with that over the Smith. With the shotty I like 00 buck. Hard to be a NY reload, thats why I carry the smith.