What's the best caliber for HD?

I feel ok with .38 SPL, 9X18 or 9X19. They seem fine for in-the-same-room situations. The Model 10 is kept closest as it's the most natural shooter for me.

I also keep a Glenfield 60 (loaded with Velocitors) handy. If I had sufficient time, I'd grab it first. It's real accurate and After shooting many, many thousands of rounds through it, it's almost like it's a part of me; I can shoot it accurately almost as fast as a machine gun. 18 rounds, too!

I know a shotgun would be best but, gee whiz, I just painted the place....
 
IMHO, after seeing a program on the subject, there is one factor many people do not take into consideration on this subject: What if you miss you intended target and hit a wall. The 9mm and the 40 Smith will go through at least two rooms before being slowed down enough to stop penetraition of any flesh it hits according to the program I saw. So if you miss your target and hit the wall behind the subject and your loved ones are in the next room there is a good chance one of them will be injured at best and Killed at worst so I would recommend sticking with a 38 special or 45 cal either Colt or Auto be cause those calibers didn't go through the wall as far or as violently.
And Don't ever fire a Magnum of any kind indoors the blast and flash stands a great chance of totally disorienting you and blinding you. So no FULL HOUSE MAGNUM LOADS they were not designed for Defense.
Jim
 
Enjoy the madness. The flash and bang is worse for the bad guy then the shooter. Magnums aren't any worse then a shotgun...

And, always know what is behind your shooting target.

As I said earlier, your choice of weapons is going to be different, depending on the back stops, or situation you are shooting in.

I like a Mosin Nagant 44. Cheap, probably won't rust too much in an evidence locker, 1/4 of the recoil of a shotgun, and, a MORE then proven record for stopping...for about 120 years...
 
I'm more inclined to go the wheelgun route. Of the OP's list, that means the .357 Mag. That's what I happen to have at my bedside -- a 4" 686, but mine is loaded with the same .38 Spl +P 125 gr GDHPs that are in the S&W 15 that SWMBO has on her side of the bed. Partially, this is for her benefit, since she has already determined that she can't handle real magnum loads due to her arthritis. Partially, it is because I can make quicker follow-up shots with the .38s than with the magnums. And partially it is because I feel that, given a good hit, the BG isn't going to know the difference. Stopped is stopped, ya' know. In either case, the handguns are really there just to give us the chance to make our way back to the closet where the .30-30 (loaded) resides. After all, a handgun is not a rifle, and since we have no children I'm not really concerned about shooting through interior walls.

Regarding the choice of the wheelgun: It is due to a number of reasons, and not because I don't have suitable autoloaders on hand because I do. Some reasons include:

> Simple point and shoot interface. If I'm roused awake in the middle of the night, I want to keep it simple. Just grab the gun, point it at the BG, and pull the trigger. No safeties to fumble around with or forget to release. Yes, I have a DAO autoloader that has the same interface, but...
> Extremely reliable. There's next to no chance of a feeding failure, and little chance of any other failure.
> Bullet design. Handgun bullets do not have to be designed with reliable feeding from a magazine as a criteria, they can be designed to maximize their SD potential.
> SWMBO doesn't have to be able to rack the slide since there isn't one. She has rheumatoid arthritis. This is a deal killer with her pertaining to autoloaders.
> No hot brass bouncing around for me to step on in my bare feet. For that matter, no hot brass bouncing around to hit me in the face, or some-such.
> The face-on look at a wheelgun loaded up with SD/HD hollow points is pretty darned intimidating. The BG can SEE what he's about to be shot with, maybe giving him a last, final reason to reconsider his life choices.
> Adequate capacity for the intended purpose. Ok, so my wheelgun and SWMBO's wheelgun both have 6 round capacities. That means that between the 2 of us, we have 12 rounds ready without reloading. That's enough to either stop the fight right there, or should the Huns be attacking it will be enough to cover our retreat to the closet where the real firepower is.

Hearing loss? Unless you are shooting a BB gun, anything you shoot indoors without hearing protection will give you hearing loss. YOU have to determine what level of loss is acceptable. I have determined that the amount of loss that would come from a SD/HD encounter using the weapons that I have on hand is acceptable to me given the alternative -- being seriously injured or dead. I can live with a little bit more hearing loss, I can't live with being dead. YMMV.
 
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My first choice: 00 Buckshot.
My 2nd since I live in an apartment, I load my revolver with .38 spcl +p wadcutters so I dont wory about overpenetrating the wall as much. Not that I would miss though :)
If I had a house with some distance between my neighoors I would load .357 125gr JHP.
 
It is almost guaranteed that if any of us here played the part of a burglar/home invader, and heard the rack of a 12 gauge shotgun, we would probably not want any more of that and exit the residence immediately.
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It's a nice urban myth, but not always the case. If the intruder is a lifetime thug and armed, he may lie in wait, hoping for a fatal mistake on your part - such as attempting to clear the house yourself. And one can never predict the reaction of some crack/meth head who has broken into your home. Thugs who have been to prison learn countermeasures against not only police, but citizens from experienced individuals.

But with regards to using either a 9mm or .45, I would personally go with the .45 acp round. I hear about folks saying they kick, too much recoil, etc.
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If the .45ACP kicks too much in a pistol platform, the user should attempt to fire it from a revolver. A 4-inch to5-inch .45 wheelgun recoils much less than a semiauto.

And Don't ever fire a Magnum of any kind indoors the blast and flash stands a great chance of totally disorienting you and blinding you.
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There are plenty of magnum Sd loads with flash retardants today. The noise isn't going to disturb you as much as it'll scare the bejesus out of (and deafen) the BG.

A standard velocity .45 ACP makes a good HD gun because it is low velocity and the large frontal cross section.

But the real truth is that any round that is capable of stopping a BG will penetrate one or more walls of your house - unless you have concrete, cinderblock or other solid material walls.

What if you miss you intended target and hit a wall. The 9mm and the 40 Smith will go through at least two rooms before being slowed down enough to stop penetraition of any flesh it hits according to the program I saw.
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Those were likely empty rooms too. If you're concerned about it in your own home, rearrange furniture so that dressers and bookshelves line the hallway walls and beds are out of the likely line of fire. A bullet penetrating sheetrock barely slows down, but it takes more energy to penetrate solid wood. Books are just thinly sliced wood and will slow down a bullet greatly.

But houses and their contents are not bulletproof and thus are not "cover" in the true meaning of the word.

In actual practice, shooting at an intruder is not likely to cause many rounds to exit the exterior of your house and injure a 3rd party. In over 35 years of reading about self-defense/home-defense shootings, I think I recall only one such incident and that was a bullet exiting through a window striking a neighbor in his garage or carport.
 
Hmmm... a 9 feels like a 45acp to me or should that be a .45acp feels like a 9 ! Honestly?..i really don't feel much of a difference between my xdm 9 (it's not very forgiving on the recoil) and my Loaded (finding it a joy to shoot).
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Those guns are probably half a pound different in weight. That will make a considerable difference. I have no trouble with .45 ACP, but I find it a bit more than 9mm, even though my 9 is a rather light Glock 26.

I'm a Master of all of those handgun types and more, some people that know me personally say that I'm a Grandmaster with most handgun types. I am, believe it or not, a modest person and try with the utmost of my ability to share and convey accurate information to other gun people.
The point I wish most to convey is a simple one, it's not the weapon, but the man behind it.
A fair analogy would be race cars, the fastest one around the track, is not necessarily the most powerful, it is usually the one with the most experienced and skillful driver.
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And that would be me!:D I'm a master at race driving. I'm the only one professional enough in this forum to drive a race car......................crash
 
car......................crash
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Thats probably what would of happened if I would of driven the night I wrote that post.:p

I usually don't write about myself, or what I'm capable of doing. I occasionally write about past experiences, if they are relevant. I really am fairly modest and don't like tooting my own horn, but if you look up the ISPC and IDPA definitions of Master and Grandmaster I most definitely meet, or have met the time requirements for Master in all categories. I also have exceeded them on various occasions.

I really do believe that there are many suitable hand guns and ammunition combinations for defense. I also really do believe that none of them are magic and capable of producing a winning outcome to a deadly confrontation, without a practiced and competent person behind the trigger.
 
Well, my vote is for 38 Special.

Much as I love autos, I wouldn't count on myself to get everything right (not to jam it or forget a safety) when I'm barely awake.

38 is powerful enough, not too much flash or recoil, and there's very little to screw up.
 
Smaug,
What I would like is to use 38spl load in a 357 revolver. It leaves me with option to use higher (357) load if needed.
 
This is somewhat of a repeat thread but IMHO one worth repeating from time to time. When I lived in the city(apartments) I used to worry just as much about a neighbor shooting through walls missing BG as much as I worried about BG. In alot of areas today houses are on top of each other and not built as heavy. HD cal. and ammo should be choosen on an individual bases taking into consideration where each of us live. Today I live in the country,kids are grown and with wife,dad(he lives with us) and two dogs living in house my weapon options for HD has increased. If its a bump in the night and I`m in bed, my first gun will a smith 4" .357. Hopefully the dogs and 357 will buy me the time to get to shotgun. PS. There are a few autos throughout the house.
 
Don't like the muzzle flash and recoil (for HD purposes) from the .357 mag so that's out.
9mm - i think will lead to over -penetration.
I'm leaning towards the .45 acp or .40sw as I don't want over-penetration and want to be able to at least see afterwards!
 
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