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revolver or semi-auto for home protection?

4074 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  muddober
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Cloudbreak
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Posts: 3
(4/16/02 2:42:16 am)
Reply | Edit | Del All revolver or semi-auto for home protection?
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After talking to some people in my family, talking to the local shooting range guys, and reading articles i have gotten very mixed opinions on which is better for home protection. Im curious what you all think.
Marauder Shreddin

ruffitt
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(4/16/02 7:53:51 am)
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ezSupporter
Re: revolver or semi-auto for home protection?
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I know your subject title was revolver or semi-auto for home protection, however I feel you are handicapping yourself by limiting your selection.

If you are speaking strictly of home protection, inside the house or within the immediate (as in 10 - 15 feet) exterior of the house*, nothing beats a short barreled pump action shotgun.

My favorite home defense gun is a Mossburg Model 500 pump action with a slug barrel, but loaded with #4 buckshot.

To specifically answer your question though, the selection of a revolver or semi-auto for home protection is a personal choice that would be centered upon how comfortable you feel with either type weapon in your hand. Some people find that a revolver "fits" their hand better than an semi-auto, while others feel the semi-auto fits better. What it amounts to is that if the gun fits your hand you are probably going to be more proficient and comfortable with it. Your best bet would be to find a shooting range somewhere that rents firearms to shoot, pay them a visit and do some shooting with each type weapon. If you can't find a range to shoot at, maybe you have some friends or relatives who own firearms who would be willing to let you shoot a few rounds through them.

*In regards to use of a weapon (read this as ANY weapon), within the immediate exterior of the house, if such a situation ever presents itself, you must INSURE that there is clear and imminent danger to life and limb before bringing a weapon to use.
RuffItt

Edited by: ruffitt at: 4/16/02 9:06:17 am

AntiqueDr
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(4/16/02 9:48:05 pm)
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ezSupporter
Re: revolver or semi-auto for home protection?
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There is a Springfield 1911A1 with night sights next to the bed. But next to THAT is a short-barrelled Winchester 1200 loaded with #6's...

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warpig883
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(4/16/02 9:55:31 pm)
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Yep a nice shotgun can be very intimidating and your aim does not have to be as precise.

Cloudbreak
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Posts: 6
(4/16/02 10:15:32 pm)
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Ahh yes, very interesting, i had not thought about a shotgun. Ruffitt i have actually joined a local shooting range and i plan on trying out all kinds of different handguns. I guess i hadnt thought of a shotgun because i have never shot one before.
Marauder Shreddin

Rich in Lincoln
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Posts: 32
(4/17/02 1:46:47 pm)
Reply | Edit | Del Use a shotgun!
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When talking about shooting inside a house with a pistol, you have to remember that sheet rock is VERY easy to shoot through! In an emergence situation such as a home invasion or break in, you would have to have the ability to stay calm enough to think about your back stop. That's a pretty tall order in such a stressful situation. The last thing you want to do is to put one of your loved ones in danger of being shot by YOUR GUN! I totally agree with using a shotgun for home defense! Number 6 to bird shot at close range is devastating but is most likely not fatal through walls.
I have a Mossberg riot shotgun with a small flashlight w/pressure switch on the grip. Just put the beam in the center of mass and ventilate! You can even see the front bead on the target. I like the pistol grip indoors for quick maneuverability (with the flashlight for aiming). It's so easy to use my wife (4'10") can use it proficiently.
I suggest you find a place you can go and shoot some simulations. Take a couple pieces of sheet rock and a 2x4 and for fun a piece of plywood (outer wall simulation) out to the woods and shoot different guns and shotgun shot to see what goes threw them like butter. After you do this imagine your family and neighbors on the other side of the hole.

P.S.: It fun to have a good excuse to go out in the woods and shoot stuff, try a junk car door for an enlightening view. I WOULDN'T HIDE BEHIND A CAR DOOR AS SHELTER FROM ANY GUN FIRE!

Have fun!

Cloudbreak
Member
Posts: 11
(4/19/02 6:39:07 am)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Use a shotgun!
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Im takin your advice Rich and goin shootin in the desert tomorrow. Bringing a whole bunch of guns, including a couple shotguns that i can test out. Will be my first time shooting a shotgun, so im pretty stoked about it
Marauder Shreddin

Rich in Lincoln
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Posts: 33
(4/22/02 2:13:15 pm)
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You've got to tell us the results of your experiments (FUN) in the desert!

Looking forward to your next post!

-Rich

Cloudbreak
Member
Posts: 20
(4/23/02 12:50:23 am)
Reply | Edit | Del Re: Use a shotgun!
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Well we had a great time the other day. I shot a Ruger 10/22, .22 revolver, Colt .45, Beretta 92, an old 20 gauge shotgun, an old 30.06, and a Ruger mini 14.

They were all a ton of fun to shoot, but considering everything i think i liked the 10/22 the best (which is why i went out and bought one). I loved shooting the .45, but we only had 100 rounds, and we had 1000 rounds of .22, so i ended up shooting the 10/22 all day once i ran out of .45.

As far as accuracy goes i think i am really gettin the hang of it. I improved a lot over the course of the day and started getting real comfortable handling the guns. I cant wait to go again. My good friend bought a Ruger mini 30 the same time i bought my 10/22 so as soon as our ten day waiting period is up we'll be heading out to shoot again

P.S. There was an old plywood board we found out there and leaned up against the side of a dried up river bed. You were dead on. The handguns went right through it like nothing compared to the shotgun.

P.P.S There was also an old piece of junk metal stuck firmly in the ground that we shot at. It was much thicker and stronger metal than a car door and we could shoot right through it no prob.
Marauder Shreddin

Edited by: Cloudbreak at: 4/23/02 3:46:14 am

warpig883
*TFF Staff*
Posts: 3267
(4/23/02 9:00:22 am)
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ezSupporter
Re: Use a shotgun!
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Welcome to the lifestyle buddy I think you are now officially addicted
I'm a man of means by no means

Rich in Lincoln
Member
Posts: 34
(4/23/02 12:02:06 pm)
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Very COOL! It's a whole lot of fun for the sake of " home protection experimentation"! Remember, if your wife asks, you need to make sure that you have the tools to protect your family…if she doesn't bye that, take her out and let her shoot the .22! It's a great addiction! It's fun also to see bullets zip threw all kinds of different targets!

If you like .22 fun get a Romanian clip fed bolt action ($49 at Big 5) and put a half way decent scope like a 3x9/ 32mm ($27 from Wall Mart) and a case of Agulia Colibri .22 ammo (quieter than an air gun and great for a garage or basement gallerys (the bullet hitting the target makes more noise than the bullet coming out of the barrel!)).

Have fun!
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the majority of handgun "fire-fights" are concluded with the average of 2.2 rounds per incident. unless you're being attacked by a hoard of zombies a 5 or 6 shot and yes now 7 or 8 rounds from some revolvers is plenty if you do your job and hit what you're aiming at.
I shoot some IDPA, and the revolvers get longer times than
the semi-autos. From what I have seen, the average revolver
guy is slower and has to load more often. The really good guys
are fast as lightning no matter what the heck they are shooting.

Zeke
I lean towards the pistols. The malfunctions that previously gave revolvers an edge in life/death situations are pretty much so gone in modern, quality pistols. 9mm at the very least. S&W MP 9 and 40 are great guns. Beretta PX4 Storms are also great. I would agree that a shotgun is you best bet for home defense and you can never go wrong with an 870. The whole 2.2 shots doesnt really apply. I know I'm gonna shoot til the threat is stopped. Figure you can crack off about 6 rounds in 2 secs easily...
i really believe a revolver is best for home protection because of it's ease of use under stress . but john is 100% correct if using the proper ammo, meaning the ammo that feeds best in your pistol even the older automatics are reliable. and he gave some excellent examples though i do question the luger only because i have limited experience with one and the one or two i've played with seemed to be very picky. i at the time suspected it was because of very tight tolerences due to the finely made and fitted process of putting one together.but my hi-power and 1911 are 99.9 % reliable with most everything i feed them
Any port in a storm.

It makes no difference. I separate my guns into two categories: Reliable and Unreliable.

When the time comes to defend yourself or your loved ones it will matter not which pistol or revolver you grab - as long as it is from the Reliable pile.

The distances at which most gun battles happen is so short that accuracy is not a factor. Your least accurate handgun will be more than accurate enough.

The number of rounds fired in most gun battles is so low that magazine capacity is not an issue, either. Six rounds is more than enough in almost every case.

So.... sleep soundly. You made the right choice of home protection pistols. No matter which you chose.
In my view it is a matter of personal preference with one exception and that is if small children could ever get their hands on it then an HK squeeze cocker is the best way to go. No little kid could ever make it shoot.

Ron
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