Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns The Top Three Tactical Home Def Handguns

Go with what ever is comfortable. If you have the scattergun and you like it stick with it. Yes it is not as maneuverable as a pistol but with proper training turning corners and opening doors is a piece of cake. I opened doors with a 30pound key for several years and a 14" Benelli with #4buck was my favorite entry weapon, not as sexy as an MP-5 but I was never worried about it.

Second thing to consider is a semiauto that will take a white light mount. I would much rather have a white light than a laser aiming device. At close ranges a light such as the surefire x200 or the streamlight will offer enough precision to act as a crude aiming device if desired while making absolute confirmation of the target and the threat they present.

My current choice for bedroom duty is a Ruger PC4 carbine. It has a streamlight mounted and two extra magazines in a pouch on the buttstock. I load it with 165 Golddots that exit at about 1350 from the 16" barrel and dont worry about anything that goes bump in the night. The recoil and muzzle flash are easy to handle and most importantly my wife is very comfortable with it. If I need to use it with one hand it handles like a 10-22 and its solid enough I would have no qualms about using it as an impact weapon to create distance.

For a dual purpose trail gun I would second the .44mag mountain gun, hardcast LBT solids in the field and a midrange load for two legged defense. Another option would be the SW 625 in .45acp. The moon clips make it super slick and it will take any .45 super load you care to stuff into it.

glock 23 with night sights, a hi-cap mag and one extra and a light on the rail.

gives me enough ammo and time to get to my real house gun, and AR15.

they get to choose the size of the boarding party, I get to decide how many "friends" get to assist in repelling their attack.

I'm not an advocate of a 44 magnum in a dark, enclosed area for self defense. If its all you have, fine. But, a big bore revolver is loud in a confined area, and you need your hearing to find the other guys.

Also, muzzle flash is nothing but bad in a self defense night time scenario. It's either telling them where you are, or blinding you to there they are. all that is bad.

a 45 ACP revolver - Maybe. A 44 magnum? not for me...at least not at night in the house.

David,
Have you ever shot a .223 in close quarters or even in an open roofed shoot house? Its hideous and one reason I chose a .40 carbine over my AR's that are in the safe. Whenever I made an entry with an AR I was wearing the electronic earmuffs. An AR is an excellent weapon but the noise is enough to create huge problems if communication is necessary.

varmintsinc,




I can understand why some would want a long gun for self-defense in one's home. But there are a few extremely serious negatives associated with using a long gun. First, if you have to leave your room to check on other family members, it will become unwieldy. Second, one becomes extremely vulnerable to having a long gun taken away by even a not too well trained bad guy. Also, when chambered for most pistol cartridges, ballistic performance is only marginally improved. Finally, if you are armed with a long gun but decide a handgun is tactically more advantageous, you gotta render your long gun inoperable before leaving it behind lest it be use on you!

I have made many dynamic entries with a shotgun, but it was to protect the guys holding handguns. When I had to enter potentially hazardous areas alone, I always did so with just a handgun. Also, if you have to confront a bad guy while you're holding a drawn weapon, keep it as closed to your body as possible, tucked at your side is safe. God, do I know of too many stories where bad guys have reached out and taken guns pointed at them.

However, if I knew I could stay in my room until the good guys arrive, I would hide behind my bed with an 870 with 000 buck pointed at my bedroom door!



Happy New Year,


Mando

Rather than keep guns stashed all over my house, I just don't take it out of my holster till I hit the sack. Then it sits on my night table till I put my pants on in the morning, when it goes back into the holster.

I'm with you.

Mando,
With proper training negotiating corners, manuevering and weapon retention are not issues when deploying a long gun. I have no plans of cuffing or restraining and cannot fathom why someone would possibly put it down once you knew someone was actually in your house.

You illustration and explanations of tactics are sounding more and more like something read rather than something done hundreds of times.

I will never forget somone telling me many years ago. I don't want to see you pull that 45 until you are out of shotgun shells. He was carrying a carbine and I had a pump shotgun.

What's a disconnecter and why is it undesireable in a tactical shotgun? Just curious.

Paul

varmintsinc,




Varmintsinc,


I have read it, been lectured about it, and have practiced it. Let there be no doubt, taking a weapon away from an aggressor is not that difficult albeit not a desirable endeavor. And negotiating the interior of a home alone while armed with a shoulder weapon is asking for trouble. I know of no law enforcement training that instructs such a "tactic."

I am curious. Why do you doubt my education and experience? It seems as though you're intimating I am a liar. If you believe this is the case, come right out and write it. I have always been wary of back door types.

Next time you get to the Disneyland area, let me know. I'll be more than happy to buy you a cup of coffee. The invite is in your lap. I can fully understand your refusal to meet me, though. Also, I can bring a hard copy of CA POST courses I have completed.

For your further edification you can see if Calibre Press will sell training videos to those not in law enforcement. They do put together quality stuff, but I like the training stuff from LAPD Training and LA Sheriff Training much better. Rich Wemmer is an authentic officer survival expert. I have learned quality tactics from his most excellent training videos.

BTW, what do you think is the percentage of cops murdered with their own weapons???


Happy New Year,

Mando

A disconnecter on a pump requires you to release the trigger between shots, preventing you from holding the trigger back and pumping away. IIRC the older Ithaca 37 did not have one I dont recall any current manufactures being made without them.

No idea why it would matter either way. If you can pump a gun fast enough for it matter you will be fast enough to pull and release the trigger between shots.

varmintsinc,

I forgot to post this link for you.



Happy New Year,

Mando

Mando, here's something I'm curious about. In the "convince me" thread I asked you to help me locate the article you repeatedly cited as the only legitimate reference while ridiculing everyone else's references. I provided a link to the FBI LE Bulletins for a ten year period including when you suggested you had read the article. You had made about 29 of the first one hundred posts in that thread until I called you on your reference, then you skedaddled. I can't find that reference where you said it would be. If you can't find it for me I'm going to assume it doesn't exist. If that reference doesn't exist, you may or may not be a liar, but it would certainly appear you are a BSer. Happy New Year.

varmintsinc,

Oops, almost forgot: one of the best training films I have ever viewed was a surveillance tape of inmates at San Quentin practicing gun take aways from cops in the prison yard. Believe me, bad guys do train and they are probably better trained than you can ever imagine. Also, many of the black LA area street gangs train as well. Very scary stuff indeed!!!

Here's potentially lifesaving advice for you. You can discount it if you so desire. The only proven way to survive a gunfight is to not get in one!


Happy New Year,

Mando

RufusG,

I am not going to research if for you. You can believe whatever the hell floats your boat! And if you read my last post in that thread you would know that I politely bowed out of it.

Rufus, before you attempt to impugn my character, you ought to go to your local library and research it. I read the article in a So Cal university library around 2000. It was in cataloged issue. So if I was able to find it, I am sure it'll be no trouble for a sharp dude like you!!!


Happy New Year to you, Rufus,

Mando

I believe that your reference does not exist. Since I handed you the ten year index and you chose not to point out the article which was the lynchpin of your argument, I'll assume you KNOW it doesn't exist. Why should I go to the library? I gave you the link to ten years of the LEB, including year 2000, of pdfs of the journal you claimed contained the article. I'm not attempting to impugn your character, I just want to read the article and decide if I think it says what you claimed it does. And I may not be as sharp as you suggest, but I am sharp enough to spot a BSer when I smell one. I'd be more than happy for you to prove me wrong.

Edited to add Happy New Year!

Mando,
What have I said that makes you so concerned about my well being? A link to Caliber Press Street survival?? Been there a couple times starting in the early 1990s and find it to be a nice refresher.

I seen plenty of training tapes and did an intership at Corcoran SP and have seen the gangs training first hand. I guess the next time I submit an article for the NTOA I should have you go over it first to check it for scientific errors.

I glad you have plenty of POST certificates from course you have attended. I have a big pile as well, also a bunch of certificates on course Im qualified to teach on, one of which is urban carbine deployment. You act as if going into a house with a long gun is foolish and I disagree completely.

Sorry if I come off as brash, sometimes it hard in a typed message to convey intent of subtle tone. If I wanted to call you a liar I would. I dont think thats appropriate or warranted. From my perspective you seem as if you have the answers to everything and anyone who disagrees is wrong. I feel the world of tactics is a giant toolbox. Get as many tools as possible from as many sources as possible and find what works the best for you. If your not comfortable with a carbine at CQB distances than dont use it, take your pistol or whatever you need to provide you with the best defensive or offensive capabilities. Im not here to argue with anyone, I offer my post based on my experience that is shaped my what I have been taught as well as how it worked in the field for me and those I have worked with.

Goodnews: Sorry for the Hijack, good luck finding what makes you comfortable, confidence is more important than anything you can buy.

RufusG,





So you ARE calling me a liar. And what omniscience plagues you to assume you can spot a BS'er? Well, that is not the first error you have made here. And you're making another another obvious one by assuming the "FBI LE Bulletin" as been around for merely ten years.

So, sharp dude, how will you make in worth my while for finding it for you? Any decent private researcher in So Cal is going to charge about a hundred bucks an hour. I should have if for you in about two hours of my time, three tops. So sharpo, put your money where your too often flapping mouth is. You give me two hundred bucks, possibly three hundred and I'll produce the volume and page number where you can find the article about which you're confident I am lying. And if I can't, I'll compensate you for wasting your valuable time. Tell me what it is worth to you! But it won't matter because I am a hundred percent confident you'll be compensating me for educating you!!! And let's put a time frame on this of no later than Jan 11, 2008. That will give me time to make the drive to find it. If I can't produce it by then, I'll compensate you. Are you gentleman enough to agree to this???

Put up or shut up!

BTW, I have been commended in open court more than once, by defense attorneys no less, for veracity. Too bad they didn't have your intelligence to pick me off as a BS'er!


Happy New Year,

Mando

varmintsinc,

You do come off as caustic and omniscient, pedantic even.

So why don't you cite reference of any legitimate tactical training institute that advocates searching the interior of a home armed with only a long gun?

And I take it you do not want to have coffee with me. Well, at least I tried. BTW, we can use the money I am going to earn from Rufus to enjoy Disneyland after morning coffee.

As we all know, people often portray themselves as firearms/tactical experts on forums such as "24 Hour Campfire." While I will admit right up front that I am no expert, I know how I was professionally trained. With that, I am able to recognize that you might not be what you want others to accept.

Oh well, no hard feelings.



Happy New Year,

Mando

varmintsinc,

BTW, please tell me where I can read your published work. And law enforcement interns are never privy to confidential law enforcement information. Are you really telling me that CDC officials breached this cardinal rule of law enforcement and possibly risked termination/prosecution for your sake? Interesting!

So, what kind of work do you do that provides your basis of tactical firearms knowledge? You have be curious yellow!



Happy New Year,

Mando