One gun for two purposes?

S

sw99guy

New member
Does anyone else use their carry gun for their home? Is this a good idea? I have a ruger P95 that I keep in the box because i just like to take it to the range and shoot the hell out of it cause it's cheap. For my carry gun i use a sw99c in .40 s&w and put in my nightstand gun vault at night. Should I have two seperate guns, or is one ok?
 
I'm really sorry to pick on you for spelling, since mine is not the greatest... but what do you have against those pourpuses's ???

my carry gun battery is at ready at my bedside to use for home defense, as well as one being on my belt each day...
 
As for myself, I just keep carrying my carry gun while in the house. It serves a couple of purposes:

A> It means that I don't have to remember to put it on when I leave the house, I've already got it on.

B> It means that wherever I am in the house, I've got a weapon handy. This is important when you consider the very real threat of home invasion. A whole lotta good it does if and when they kick in the door if I happen to be in a room where none of my SD arms are.

My carry gun gets switched out for my bedside revolver when I'm off to bed. Even then, the carry gun is there for use as a backup.
 
like I said... I suffer with the spelling also... so I understand...

I think it's purposes...;)

you can go back & edit your title if you'd like... & welcome to the forum...

as GB said... I wear which ever I put on in the morning, until it's time for bed, or I switch at shower time or change of clothes... I live in a pretty safe rural area, so I don't carry every day, but if I'm "wearing" that day, I don't just go & take it off when I get home...
 
What's this? They are coming out with a new Flipper movie, this time when he kicks bad guy a@@ no more funny tricks, he is packing heat? Well he better get some of those Glocks to shoot underwater!:p
 
You can get by with one...I did for a little while but it didn't last long. They get lonely and like to have company to visit with and who am I to deny them someone to talk to? :)
 
Using the same gun (or two guns with identical manuals of arms, trigger pulls, sight pictures, and grip shape) is better than using two different guns.
 
I have a few handguns & I got my favorite carry not nessasary the best one, I would hate to have $900 gun confenscated for S/D shooting. But I do shoot all of them. I carry a auto loader & keep revolver on night stand, put up the rest.
 
You can never have too many guns. I suggest keeping most if not all of your firearms loaded (just follow all the safety guidlines). I do suggest, though, to have a primary weapon. The one that you fell more confident and comfortable with than your others. Keep it in the same place when you're home at all times. That keeps you from searching for your weapon, or trying to find the external safety on your Glock in the heat of the moment.
 
I have a Glock-21 as my nightstand handgun, and usually carry my G-30 or G-36. I have been around and have shot many guns since I was about 12 years old. ( iam 56 now) I feel comfortable changing carry guns from time to time, especially since most are Glocks anyway, same trigger pull, same everything so nothing really different to slow you up or confuse you in a bad situation. However for a person that is really not used to guns or doesn't shoot often I would recommend getting one gun that you are comfortable with and can shoot well enough, and stick with it. just my .02
 
You might find the following article link interesting. I have a G26 carry gun, and a G17 house gun. I think it is a good combination, although I'll admit there are times when I just keep the G26, instead of switching it for the G17 at bedtime. When I don't switch, I also keep a 17 round reload for the G26. The article makes some good points. Unless there is a financial issue, there really isn't much reason to limit yourself to a smaller concealed carry gun for house defense(harder to shoot, less capacity, etc.,), when you can just as easily use something larger (longer sight radius, higher capacity, easier to shoot accurately).

http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/House%20vs%20Carry%20Guns.htm
 
Last edited:
My bedside and carry guns are different but very similar. My typical carry gun is a 2.5" S&W Model 66 revolver and my bedside gun is either my S&W Model 28 or 629. The bedside guns offer better velocity due to their longer barrels (they're both 4") and a significant increase in caliber with the 629, yet the manual of arms is exactly the same as the more packable carry gun.
 
I carry my Springfield Micro Compact, at night it goes next to the bed as a home defense gun. I also have a GP-100 and a Hi-Power that get carried now and then, and double as the home defense gun on the days I carry them. I used to keep the GP-100 loaded next to the bed all the time, regardless of what I was carrying, but stopped that when children became more frequent in the home (as in, at my home when I am not). I also keep a full mag/cylinder in my 870 and whichever pistol i am not carrying at the time ( they always get locked up in the safe though, so no worries about the kids getting to them)
 
There are advantages either way when it comes to using the same or 2+ firearms for different purposes.

If you use the same gun, you should be very familiar with it, well practiced, and won't accidentally think to do something from a different gun that you don't do normally, or vise versa. It would be terrible to pull the trigger on your cocked&locked home-defense 1911 after forgetting about the manual saftey that your carry Glock doesn't have.

Having a second firearm can provide a larger, more comfortable option (with higher capacity, better muzzle velocity, etc) that you don't have to worry about lugging around all the time. Just be sure you are familiar with it and stay practiced.


Personally, I usually use the same gun for both; it just depends on which one it happens to be. I have several guns which I will carry and I rotate through them every few weeks or months. It just gives me all the more reason to take them to the range; I have to be well practiced with them! I've considered putting one of my larger revolvers in my quick-access safe for home defense for their ease of operation (I don't leave my auto's chambered when I take them off) but have not yet felt compelled to do so.
 
The recommended strategy is to first convince your wife that these two purposes REQUIRE separate firearms, then use that same argument to convince her you MUST buy another one!

Note: In MY experience, this only works a couple of times before she'll catch on!
 
"Beware the man with only one gun, he knows how to use it" or words to that effect. Captain38 has the best answer, otherwise it doesn't matter. If a perp breaks into your house and finds himself staring down the barrel of your carry gun he's not going to say, "Hey, you're cheating, you're supposed to use your house gun." If the gun is loaded, functional, and you know how to use it, it doesn't matter how many you've got.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top