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Home Defense handgun and ammo

13590 Views 37 Replies 26 Participants Last post by  darkgael
Hi guys,

I was just wondering about everyones choice of home defense handgun and what kind of ammo you use in it.

My home defense is my S&W model 15 .38 with a 4 inch barrel.
my choice as far as ammo is winchester .38 SPL. +P 125 grain JHP


Mike.
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well when it comes to bullet styles i would recommend either hollow points or full wadcutters cuz those r the bullets thats least likely to over penetrate

ok now onto calibers i myself would use either a .44 special or .45 ACP cuz those r big bullets that will stop a man easily but not have too much energy behind the bullet to overpenetrate
I use a .32acp because it's bigger than my .22. Eventually I'm going to get a S&W 500 magnum. (Insert evil laugh here) Until then I'll stick with what I have.

Ideally I would say 45acp because it's big but won't overpenetrate.
a .500 magnum for home defense? jeeez u must be expecting a buffalo to rob ur house

lol o well that gun would take care of the robber n all 3 of his friends behind him :twisted:
Not quite, they're just cool. I doubt anyone would be dumb enough to advance on a 500 magnum. I wouldn't even have to use it.

I could use it as a club if I was caught with it unloaded too. :D
I use my 40 s&w because its accessible. But if I had the time, the 12ga will come out to play. For some reason the sound of a pump gun makes people want to run.
.45 for me. Less worry about overpenetration, especially with glaser safety slugs. Do keep some hollow points around, but think they'd be a little too much on over penetration. I want the bullet in them, with little chance for exit.

if it does exit, then it transferred max energy to the target.

I have a sp101 as a carry gun, in 357. it'll knock the snot out of you. I'd never prefer it as a HD gun, too much oomph and flash with the 357. 38s do nicely in it though.
S&W 586 .357 125gr semi-jacketed HP

Courtesy of Even Marshall and Ed Sanow.
I hate to re-use a post in the other thread.... but it fits to darn well not to......


The way I look at my self defense pistol comes form two friends I have the the Dallas / Ft. Worth area. They both are United States Air Marshals, I happen to have the same pistol that they carry on air craft a SIG P229 in .40S&W.

The U.S.A.M. Service has switched to .357SIG so I have re-barreled mine also to the SIG .357 P229

The service supplied ammunition is .357 SIG Speer Gold Dot Hollow Point, which I now carry in my pistol also.


Though I to hope to never - EVER need to draw my side arm in self defense, should I need to, the gun is unmodified, no wolf springs, no fancy toys, but straight SIG from the factory, using the same pistol and ammunition that the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT uses to protect us all.

Think of it as a first step in the anti-sleaze lawyer defense, in the after math of a defensive shooting. With the gun being unmodified I can not be portrayed as some psycho-gun-nut that altered his weapon to see who well it would shoot humans.


I suggest you research what your local Police, Sheriff, State Police or other government agency uses and match what they use for hardware and ammunition.
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Keltec P32 for everyday carry, (I know it's small, but a 32 in the pocket is way better then a .45 on the dresser) thats filled with 60 grain silvertip hollow points. For home defense there's always that .45 on the dresser with 230 gr stx and three mags. And that should get me to the safe, thats when it will get ugly.
Seriously though, where I live, and with as much as the neighbors look out for each other, and with a deputy sheriff on one side of the road, and a gun dealer on the other side, This would be a really bad place to try something!!
Scott
Usually a 40 cal or 9mm. As for ammo, i use hollow points. My briefcase pistol is a .380.
I'll have to update mine from .32acp to .357 magnum. I just shoot whatever's on sale. You don't have to worry about jams or failure to feed on a revolver.
Keltec p-40 in 40 s&w. On my wifes side of the bed, a Taurus 85 in ,38 sp.
Glock 19 - 9mm. It's an easy handgun for my wife to use, so we adopted 2 of them.
H&Kc .40 will..... CorBon DPX 140gr...... :twisted:
I use my Steyr GB 9mm, cause I got 18 chances to hit him in a mag. Times 3, i like my odds. Before anyone jumps on me that was an attempt at humor, I'm not that bad of a shot. Just like the 18 round cap.
Hard to beat the 45 ACP, 230 gr RN. Not much chance for over penetration, but has plenty of knock down power. :wink:
Rev. said:
Hard to beat the 45 ACP, 230 gr RN. Not much chance for over penetration, but has plenty of knock down power. :wink:
If you want knock down power you may want to consider a 2x4. :D I like the 45 for SD too, I just don't own one yet.
CZ52 with 7.62x25 with 85gr Hollow points
that is if my trusty 870 didn't do the job.

for my CCW I carry a Beretta 92F with Speer gold dots
and a 25acp backup pocket pistol
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