Your choice of caliber for home defense?

What handgun caliber would you choose from this list for home defense?

  • .38

    Votes: 18 13.6%

  • 9mm

    Votes: 34 25.8%

  • 10mm

    Votes: 2 1.5%

  • .357 Magnum

    Votes: 13 9.8%

  • .40 S&W

    Votes: 23 17.4%

  • .41 Magnum

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • .44 Magnum

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • .45 Colt

    Votes: 3 2.3%

  • .45 ACP

    Votes: 38 28.8%

  • .460

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • .500 Magnum

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • Total voters
    132
  • Poll closed .
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Ok good comments but I can show you how to come to the right conclusion.
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All valid information for another question. "Should I use a handgun, rifle, or shotgun for home defense."

But I don't see that choice in the OP.:D

If you were to pick one from the following calibers for home defense, what would it be?
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In a handgun, any of the choices listed would be OK, some over the top, like the 44, 460, and 500 S&W magnums. The important part is which caliber the shooter is most competent with.
 
Lots of pros and cons...( and maybe shooting at a moving target is one way to evaluate it )....but I'm inclined to think there are too many variables in terms of how a house is layed out, how many corners, length of shotgun vs handgun etc...

I still prefer a handgun for defense over a shotgun ...not that a shotgun doesn't have its good points ( if I have that much room )....but a handgun is still what I would reach for first.

I also don't think its about caliber ..vs shot placement ...but if the discussion is only about caliber, I'd pick a .45 acp...but the platform I choose to shoot it in is more critical than the caliber ( I'd pick a 1911, because I'm old school, and trigger system is superior in my view )....but a 1911 in 9mm is superior to most other platforms in my opinion as well.
 
I've got a 9mm and considered moving up to a .45 for a while, but with the right ammo, it's really not necessary. Plus, the 9mm is a little easier for my wife to use if I'm not around.
 
While I have 38spcl, 357 mag, 9mm, 40 cal and 45acp and shotguns, ar 15 (5.45x39) types and AR 10 types and others, I keep pistols all around me (just me and the wife in the house).

However not only the ability to use those weapons is important, but the willingness to shoot at a human, if necessary (as a last resort), is important and possibly most critical, IMHO.

I often wonder about that with myself but think I know the answer. The last time I shot at a human was in 1969 in Southeast Asia. When I came home I would not touch a gun for well over 30 years....they turned my stomach as I had seen and participated in what they could do even if I was paid to do it at the time.

After a couple incidences of attempted car jacking and home break in I knew I could do it again..... I started with a revolver (Ruger SP101 spurless...357 mag/38 spcl) and have not looked back. Now I can not fathom not having one on me or near me.....heck on the spur of a moment I went to the local express store a few weeks ago and realized I had left my usual carry at home and I usually had another in the truck but had forgot that I had taken it inside to clean.........I felt naked and empty....was a weird feeling.....I know I rushed back to the house.
 
To add a little bit to "dontcatchmany"

Hunters get to witness animals giving up their life. Sometimes it is almost instant. Sometimes it takes quite a while. Sometimes it is downright ugly. My son shot a nice bull elk with a 54 cal muzzle loader a few years ago. Nice hit right in the old boiler room. Took that elk a while to check out, and lots of kicking and throwing its head. I have shot prairie dogs where a good percentage of their body is gone, and they drag themselves around and take long time to die.

Consider this--If you shoot an intruder, how you going to deal with him dying a slow ugly death? A good hit from a shotgun right in the gizzard should take him down quick. That would be my choice.
 
This, with some 00 buck. This gun has a flash light and some velcro glued on the left side of the receiver, in case I want to stick an extra card of shells...though if I need more than 8 rounds of 00 buck, I'm already having a REALLY bad day.

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From that list, I chose .45 ACP, but I use .44 special for my handgun at home. Both deliver a good payload with relatively low blast and flash (compared to .357 or .44 mag, for example). .40S&W and 9mm to a lesser extent have the same high-pressure supersonic issues unless you handload a heavy bullet.
 
OTHER....

I'd opt for other & say the old stand-by; .44spl. :D
A Glaser Safety(silver), Cor-Bon PowRball, DPX, MagSafe frangible, or Buffalo Bore JHP(200gr) in .44spl could do very well in a high quality .44magnum wheel gun. :D

I voted for the big .45acp pistol for a # of valid reasons; it's powerful, easy to find-buy in most locations, offers a fast, practical reload(switch mags), it's not going to have a massive muzzle flash or blast in low light(compared to a .357magnum or 12ga 00 buck). With a modern semi-auto you can also add a laser sight or white-light to ID possible threats. Many pistols now have 1913 rails. Even medium frames or compacts.
I used a M&P compact .45acp loaded with MagSafe SWAT rounds, www.Magsafeonline.com & sometimes the Critical Duty 220gr +P .45acp round in 2013. I'd feel safe & well armed with either load in a home defense pistol.
 
Rare .45acp Thunder Ranch model with 1913 rail.....

I was thinking too about the limited ed Thunder Ranch .45acp DA/SA revolver from Smith and Wesson.
There are 2 versions but Id consider the .45acp revolver with the slick 1913 rail.
You can slide a Surefire or Streamlight white-light on it at night or just carry the revolver as a regular CC sidearm. :D
It uses the .45acp and it's well made.

Win-win!

Clyde
 
So your worried about your hearing in a life or death situation, really?
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Yes, absolutely! In an emergency I'd grab anything available, of course, but why not plan ahead? I also keep a set of ears close by. Why let some criminal cost me my hearing?
 
The last thing I would be worried about if I had to use deadly force would be securing hearing protection.
 
The last thing I would be worried about if I had to use deadly force would be securing hearing protection.
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Hold on there slick, don't shoot me, stab me, or rape my wife. I have to get my hearing protection on before I can shoot!

OK, yes hearing protection is an important thing, but at three in the morning with somebody coming through your door? Really?
If one incident of loud noise, be it loud guns, machinery, loud music, or race car engines caused immediate hearing loss I would have been completely deaf by age 35. About 30 years or more ago.
 
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