Home defense/ Where you live

H

headbangerJD

New member
Where a person lives should be considered when picking a home defence gun.
I would just like to hear about what you personally use as a home defense gun and how it is affected by where you leave.

Some people use shotguns for increased accuracy and less penetration, which is important living in an apartment.
Others keep a carbine handy because the nearest neighbor lives a mile away and overpenetration isn't an issue.

So, what is your home defense weapon of choice, and how does your place of residence affect that choice?
 
Last edited:
defense- the need to defend yourself
rifles are more long range tactical weapons.
handguns are the weapon of last resort.
if you need to defend yourself it will be at close range nothing beats a 12 ga. if all i could have is one gun it would be a 12 ga pump next to my bed.
that doesn't stop me from having a 45 auto on my dresser or a mini 14 in my closet.
 
I live in a very rural area with virtually no police protection. My house is large with many nooks & crannies where someone could hide. I don't want someone to grab a long barreled gun surprising me from a hidden place in the house. I have a hidden handgun in every room & usually one on me. There are no kids around ever. Two big dogs protect the house & let me know if anyone comes around.
 
Last edited:
For me its a sig .45 on my night stand another one in .40 on my wife's night stand and her mossberg youth model 500 20ga beside the bed. I chose the sigs for their reliability and the mossberg because its the shortest shotgun we own(easier to use in a close environment). Other than that its dead bolts and two dogs as alarms.
 
Effective Anywhere

First preference goes to a Mossberg 500 police model (20") with 00 buck. If surprised & no time to rack it, a 1911 .45. I don't think I'd change that, no matter where I lived.
 
I live in an apartment, and my main defensive weapon is a Remington 870 Express with a 20" rifle-sighted barrel. I've also got a mini-14 as a backup weapon.

I don't really buy the less-penetration argument, though. Unfortunately, anything that works well as an effective self defense load will usually penetrate most walls. Better to 1) plan out some "shooting lanes" where a round fired down one of the "lanes" will be less likely to enter another home or apartment, and 2) try not to miss.
 
I live with two young kids, so next to my bed is a gunvault with a hi-cap 45 for me and a sp101 for my wife.
They are intended to buy time, until we can get to the shotgun. IMHo, nothing beats a shotgun for close encounters.
Our house is also guarded by two large dogs. I can not tell you how much the dogs help as an early warning at our house. They can not be beat as a security alarm. They are also soft, fluffy, and are always happy to see me.
 
I live in a decently sized home in a very rural area. For HD, I have my shotguns with 00 Flight Control for SD and a few bird shot shells for critters and bumps in the night. Next are my handguns.
 
We live on about 18 acres in a rural area in the most violent county (per capita) in the state. We're on a private road that dead ends at our closest neighbor's house. The neighbor's house is almost 300 yards away and is shielded from our house by a 40' steel shipping container used as a storage building. Our property line is fenced with a 6-strand hi-tensile electric fence (to keep cows in), inside the property line fence is another fence around the house itself (to keep dogs in and cows out). The fence around the house is gated and the gate is closed and padlocked shut except when actually in use. The dogs are two Fila Brasileiros and one Brittany. The Filas are very protective, territorial and have a distinct dislike of strangers. http://www.fila-brasileiro.org/

I habitually carry a S&W 642 in a pocket holster and one reload in a speedloader. DW carries a KelTec P3AT in a pocket holster when she can, but since she teaches at the university level, she cannot carry the gun when she's going on campus. Both of us carry at home.

"House guns" are Remington 870s with 18- 20" barrels and 12.5" LOP conventional stocks- they all fit my wife, and I adjust to the guns. DW carries "her" 870 (it lives on her side of the bed) to her parent's house in western NC when she visits, as there are occasional black bears in the mountains which show an untoward interest in people . Therefore 'her' 870 is always loaded with Brenneke KO slugs, and there are four more in the sidesaddle. She also does her practicing with slugs, which we buy a case at the time. We have our own 100 yard range.

The other 870s have the magazines loaded with Federal LE 127-00 9 pellet standard velocity buckshot (1325 FPS). They're all standard four round magazine guns, with empty chambers, three rounds of buckshot in the magazine and four slugs in the sidesaddles. The empty space in the magazine is to allow loading a slug first up if needed.

It's 50 yards from the front door to the driveway gate, 150 yards from the front door to the private road leading out to the highway. This really is 'rifle country,' it's flat and there are lots of open fields separated by woodlots and tree lines. But defensive use is apt to be short range, so the go-to guns are shotguns. But there is an AR-15 carbine with an Aimpoint outside the safe as well, just in case. A nylon pouch on the carbine stock carries a spare magazine. All the long guns go back in the safe whenever both of us are gone at the same time, which isn't too often.

All the long guns have white lights on board and provisions for slings as well. Response time for the SO here may well be 30 minutes to an hour or more, depending on the time and whatever else is going on in the county. If anything untoward happens, we are pretty much on our own. For LE background see http://www.facebook.com/pages/Suppo...-Lennis-Watts-for-Sheriff/414845290598?v=info .

fwiw,

lpl
 
Last edited:
I am not going to get into the specifics of manufacturers and all but I choose to keep a 12ga with heavy goose loads on the stock (turned down) and some OO Buck (turned up) and a backup pistol of a few selected calibers.
 
The first rules of home defense are;
- Have a gun
- Have a gun you can shoot well
- Keep enough ammo close at hand.

When we lived in an apartment, we had a 9mm and a .357. The downside to these is that standard sheetrock construction does little to impede their progress. What we did do, however, is examine the floor plans of the apartments around us to determine if certain areas were high risk to neighbors.

For apartment dwellers, I'd suggest an 18"-20" barreled 20-gauge shotgun, pump or semi, loaded with #3 buckshot. Some rough testing 30 years ago showed that the #3 easily made it through sheet rock, but seldom through both the wall and a piece of wood furniture except when fired from less than six feet.

While living in a townhome, the "go to" guns are a pair of .38/.357 wheelguns, loaded with .38+P ammo. Available speedloaders are the same. If necessary, the 20-gauge with #2 and slugs is sufficient within a small townhome.

In a single family home, the .38/.357 or .45 ACP takes the handgun role. Shotgun is either the 20 or a 12-gauge. When staying at a friend's 200+ acre ranch in Missouri, he uses a 4-inch .357 indoors or a 12-ga. As a trusted guest, he lets me keep the M1-Carbine nearby in case of need.

In most home defense situations I see most rifles as "too much" gun - physically as well as velocity. Unless someone is shooting at your home from afar (100+ yards) most rifles aren't well suited to the task. The exceptions I might make are for short lever-rifles in handgun calibers and perhaps a compact carbine (M1, 9mm, .45).

Your mileage may vary.
 
I can give you a classic case of how location affects defense guns, especially shotguns, and how they change to meet the threat.
What you have to do is make a "Real World" assessment of what the MOST LIKELY threat would be, and set up the gun to meet that threat.
In other words, if you live across the street from a biker bar who are known for assaulting neighbors you'd have one set up, and if you live next door to the police station you'd have another.

About 10 years ago I lived in a house in another small town.
My shotgun was a Remington 870P Police model with an 18" barrel, factory rifle sights, and a synthetic stock.

The local situation was as follows:
The police station was literally in eye sight, about 1 1/2 blocks away.
There was a street light that lite the front yard very well, the back yard was dark but almost inaccessible.
There were close neighbors on both sides, a steep hill with a church in back.
If trouble came they would walk up to the house, and probably would be one or two at most. At the first sign of resistance, they'd almost certainly run.
Police would be there in 60 seconds.

The gun was box-stock with the 4 round magazine. The ammo was #1 buckshot, no light was needed.

Due to the effort needed to maintain a house, we decided to move to an apartment in another larger town, but until the apartment was ready we moved out to the country to a trailer to wait.

The situation was:
The trailer was at least 1 mile from the nearest neighbor, and 10 miles to town.
The sheriff and Highway Patrol were at least 30 minutes away, so an extended gun fight with no help coming in time would make plenty of extra ammo a necessity.
There was NO light, and it's DARK in the country.
It was at the end of a dead-end road, about 1/2 mile off the highway.
Trouble would come in a car, and would likely be 2 or more people since there was a problem with car loads of criminals raiding farms to steal while they thought no one was around. The word hadn't got out that people were now living there.

The gun was changed to a magazine extension holding 6 rounds. A butt cuff holding extra ammo was added, and a canvas bag holding more ammo was with the gun.
A light was added to the gun and a flashlight and extra cell phone was in the ammo bag.
The gun was "Dutch loaded" with the first rounds being #1 buckshot, followed by 00 buckshot, with slugs last.
The idea was a confrontation would take place with the trouble outside their car, so the #1 would start off for the short range.
As they fled away to the car, the 00 would give extra range and penetration of the car.
As they took cover in or behind the car, the slugs would give long range accuracy and penetration of cover.

After a few months the apartment was ready and the situation changed again.

The situation:
The apartment is in an area with various handicapped schools, county health offices, city sports fields, assisted living facility, and a drug rehab center next door.
The entire area is very well lite.
The area starting a block away is the towns "bad" neighborhood with lots of drug activity and gang member wanna-be's engaging in various types of crime, usually not extremely violent, but there is some. They tend to stay out of this area.
Trouble will walk up, and will likely be 1 to 2 people. They don't do violent activities in this area, it's mostly burglaries of cars and houses a block or more away. At the first hint of a gun, they usually run.
The only time they stay to fight is in disputes with their fellow young criminals, usually over drugs and that's in their neighborhood.
There are occasionally some "delivery" attempts by buddies to the rear of the drug rehab center, but this is rare.
The police spend a LOT of time in the bad area and respond very fast to calls, usually no more than 2 minutes.

The Remington changed again.
The gun changed back to the 4 shot magazine. Due to the bright lighting in the area no light on the gun is needed. The ammo load was changed to #4 buckshot because of the close buildings and apartments in the area.
Due to the fast police response, close neighbors who watch out for each other and hear any trouble, and the likelihood of trouble to run away at the sight of a gun, no extra ammo was on the gun. It was felt that a light, fast swinging gun was of more utility than a load of extra ammo that wouldn't be needed.

Last, due to some serious shoulder problems, I can't fire a shotgun anymore, so the defense gun is now a older Pre-Bushmaster Quality Parts built AR-15 Carbine with a 30 round magazine, OR an AK-74 rifle loaded with surplus 5.45x39 7N6-PS tumbling bullets, with a variety of .357 and .45 pistols available as needed.
 
i live in an apartment complex so over-penetration is definitely something i take into consideration. i keep a mossberg 500, 18&1/2in barrel, under the bed loaded with 5 3in double 00 buck shells. i have a saddle on left side of the chamber that holds an additional 4 shells. i keep the chamber empty, i figure me chambering a shotshell will be the verbal warning(i live in liberal commiefornia). i also make sure the hammer is dropped that way i don't have to worry about pushing the slide release to chamber that first shot. since i'm poor, i electrical taped a surefire flashlight to the barrel right where my thumb would fall. if all that fails i keep a Springfield Milspec 1911 loaded with Winchester Supreme SXT hollow points in a drawer in my coffee table. that's what i answer the door with!
_______________
when guns are outlawed, then i will become an outlaw
 
Last edited:
I have a teenager in the house, so the scattergun stays in the safe since her friends are here all the time. All guns are secured at all times.

.45 ACP hollowpoints for me. Overpenetration would be an issue in my suburban neighborhood.
 
I live in a rural area, a hobby ranch about 10 miles from town. I dont see anything I cant handle with my little 642.

Mostly what I run into here is a few rattlers, since I cant get a rifle or shotgun in my pocket. Grandkids and rattlers dont play will together and I may not have the time to go to the house for a long gun.

The exception is the odd coyote, fox, etc, I nail with a rifle when they seem to want my critters for dinner.
 
rural and south

I keep an import 20" 12ga SXS w/ 00B in the bedroom, there are extra rds on a leather butt cuff. I cannot stand to keep the gun loaded unattended, so it lives breached w/ ammo nearby. The back door has a .410 single bbl by the water heater, primarily for dispatching snakes and pests, same status.

My two trucks, one beater and one not so beat, have carbines of some variety on board, usually behind the seat. I keep these half-loaded, empty chamber, mag full. The trucks set in the driveway of course, and are open if we're about. Our lane is long enough that a strange vehicle or subject approaching would allow getting to one of the trucks if I was so inclined.

I carry a well worn S&W M36 in a pocket in hot weather, when it cools a variety of other handguns may ride in holster under a outer garment. I sometimes open carry a handgun on my property, but not very often. Usually on the lawn tractor, or an evenings walk on my best neighbor, , who has substantially more land than me.

A bar/restaurant has gone in down the road, traffic has increased on our rural route, some less than desirable types have started to appear to and from. As an LEO, I have had contact w/ all sorts of people over the course of time, and I am aware that these sorts can carry grudges. I try and stay alert but not paranoid.

My nearest neighbor owns a small lot down the road, has an adult son who has cooked his brain w/ drugs. He surfaces about every 6-9 months and usually causes trouble when he does. The SO Tased him in the worst incident. He's a knife freak, big hat, whiskers. Walks around carrying on a 3 way conversation w/ himself. Crocodile Dundee and Jeremiah Johnson all rolled up into one, on meth.

Next nearest neighbor, an elderly fellow who drank too much and got hanging out w/ the wrong, younger crowd, was killed in a drunk fight w/ a hatchet over a quart of moonshine. Landlord boarded up the house, so it sets empty now.

The dogs, a Golden, and a chow mix, run loose, are great early warning devices, and a deterrent to strangers. When they bark stranger, my two worthless beagles that masquerade as rabbit dogs, are compelled to chime in from their kennel by the shed, and the four together are not unheard or dismissed. Redneck burglar alarm.
 
Rural area,about 100 yards off gravel road that goes to game refuge.ALWAYS have pistol on my side(varies from S&W 22A,40cal,7.62x25),while out on Rhino-pistol and either 10/22 or Maverick 12 w/Knoxx Spec Ops stock and 18" barrel,in shop is Mossberg 500 w/28" barrel plus wich ever pistol and a 10/22 ruger.Largest county in the state and the SO(sheriffs office) is 25 miles away,so we have to take care of our selves.
 
I live in an apartment complex. My apt is connected on 2 sides to 2 other apts. The other 2 sides face more apts, so penetration is the #1 factor when considering my home defence weapon, which is, drum roll please...
a Remington 870 Tactical.
:cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top