BudsGunShop.com - Best Caliber & Ammo For Home Defense

Hey, Marc. As the father of six, and a life long shooter, I understand your desire to want to protect your family. SAFETY is THE MOST important aspect of your question. Children are naturally inquisitive about firearms. You should teach them, early to respect firearms, and when you deem them old enough, you should teach them how to safely handle, shoot, and care for your firearms. It is very hard for me to suggest a specific type or caliber of firearm. There is so much personal preference involved in that decision. I would suggest that you find a gun range where you can rent firearms and ammunition and try several different ones. One in particular that I own, and would certainly suggest that you try is the Glock 19. It is a 9mm with a 15 round capacity magazine. It is easy to load, handle, shoot, and clean. Glocks are accurate, dependable hand guns. I like a handgun due to its miniver ability within a home. Just remember, with a Glock, the only safety is a trigger safety, which is virtually NO safety. A three year old could fire a Glock. So, you are taking on much responsibility. Be CERTAIN that your children cannot access your firearms! The ammunition I would recommend for the Glock 19 is Federal HST. I have done extensive testing with this ammo. It is ideal carry/home defense ammunition. GOOD LUCK!

I have differences with some statements adjudicating shotgun or pistol, shooting down a unlighted hallway, and over penetration. First and foremost as stated previously safety within the household is paramount. Having a weapon that you are confident with, controlled access, and has usability. Shotguns while wide dispersion also have collateral damage which you will have to determine if you can live with. Also racking a round tells the bad guy where you are at and that in itself is not a good thing. Also as mentioned earlier "YOU" have to determine what weapon suits your needs. Size (compact, full, sub...), caliber, recoil, mounting for light or hand held? Focusing on the caliber I do not recommend Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) for a defensive round. High velocity, practice/range round, higher penetration. Regardless of the caliber my recommendation is a Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP) that meets the FBI penetration standards, which most manufacturers identify within the specifications of their ammo.
This is a very personal decision and we may provide suggestions but it is still personal between you and your wife. Also check your homeowners insurance for liability coverage. You really hope it never comes to you having to defend your home, Criminal and Civil lawsuits may result if you ever have to defend yourself. I would recommend ancillary concealed carry which has many businesses that provide reasonable cost and protection if you carry concealed or just in your home.

Marc- I went through the same thing when i started my family and even though i have figured out my Home defense gun and caliber of choice, i still have that old baseball bat within reach of the bed. We make these choices to protect our families and our own dedication to storing firearms safely can make relying on one in a dire situation cumbersome at best.
Here's my advice, until you have discovered what works for "you"... keep that bat close by. Any firearm in the hands of the unexperienced can do more damage than good. in the meantime, head to a range, rent a scattergun, rent a handgun, get comfortable with the one that fits "your" sensibility and go from there.

12 gauge, short-barreled pump shot gun, with a bright light. If it's dark, with a pistol, it's too hard to acquire your target, especially if you're frightened, and the bullet has potential to go through a wall or window and do more damage. The sound of a shotgun being pumped usually will get them to think twice. The bright light has potential in disorienting the perp, if only for a moment. And with the scatter gun, it's hard to miss.

Number one is something that you are comfortable using along with a light source (whether ambient, weapon mounted or in your hand). As many people mention, shorter length shotgun might be about the safest in terms of overpenetration of walls and will hit plenty hard at indoor ranges even with bird shot, unless your mansion has very long corridors ;).
But you asked about handguns. So once again it is most important that you be comfortable and able to see your target and be aware of shooting lines and possible over-penetration. I can do use anything from .380 to .44 magnum. And I'm honestly torn on which is more hazardous to the non-bad guys. I'll probably only have to fire once whether hit or miss with a .44 mag, so while over-penetration is guaranteed, I only have to roll the dice once. Lighter calibers and lighter bullets and loads give you better odds on your dice rolls, but you're still rolling the dice, and on average will roll them more times.
So what is best? It's best that you are practiced, comfortable with your weapon and lighting, and manage your shot lines the best the situation will allow.

Make sure to get what ever gun you feel comfortable with. Pistol calibers are great. I know everyone is always talking about shotguns, they are good as long as you know what's in area you are aiming. As stated before make sure you know what's behind the target because you could miss or have a pass thru

The gun you are comfortable with. Go to the range and rent different guns until you find something you like.

If you can hit a dime every time with a 22 rife & miss the target half the with a 9mm pistol, use the 22 until you learn to shoot the 9mm. The gun & caliber you shoot the best is the only one to use.
I know first hand S&W, Ruger and Dan Wesson Revolvers, CZ-75's in 9mm, Glocks, Hi Point, Kel Tec pistols and my Kel Tec Sub 2000 Gen 2 are reliable. All guns need at least 1000 rounds though them before you trust them for defense. The Sub 2000 is quieter with sub sonic ammo the any pistol. Add a green laser under the barrel it can be accurately fired from any position you can see the target.
I believe home defense guns need a light and laser. Having it all in one hand is important so you have one hand free to open doors, hold kids or continue to fight when one hand is out of the fight.
You need to consider the safety of your neighbors and others in your home when choosing the gun and ammunition. Hardening walls and planning firing positions so there is a back stop for your shots is a good idea. Finding ammo that will penetrate well enough and not go though all your walls and injure others is difficult. It's impossible for interior walls unless you harden them.
Shooting a 357 Magnum with a full bore load in a dark hall in the house leaves you almost blind from the muzzle flash and temporally deaf from the muzzle bast. Some hearing damage may be permanent. Shotguns with 18" barrels have the same problem. You need low flash, low noise subsonic ammo.

It depends, will you be using this weapon for any other purposes? If so find something you comfortable with, now lot of people say no no tp 9mm as home defense but with all the new types of ammo out there it's a very capable and proven round to take an intruder down heck our military and law enforcement use it ALOT. If you will not be using the firearm for anything other than protection i would opt for something like mossberg 500 youth 20 ga or 12 ga. I like the youth model because it smaller to use and if your wife needs it when your not around she can handle putting a few rounds down if need without a crazy recoil that might make her drop thw weapon..... also the shotgun is perfect for home defense!
Have you ever racked one and heard that unmistakable sound? Anyone coming into your home will definitely think twice when they hear a round racked into that chamber it all physiological at that point.
My 2 cents
Thanks

Personally, After having and owning many different pistols, shotguns and rifles, I'd suggest a 45acp pistol,
and/or a 45acp Carbine, or a 12 or 20 Guage shotgun! I feel 100% confident ant would be intruder, WILL either
retreat if fired upon or be blown backwards if hit! :)

Watch the news just had a home invasion in Oklahoma stopped with a home owner and his AR-15. Many have already stated the gun that you train with and are confident in should be the choice. If your wife thinks the shotgun is too heavy or is scared to shot it you will not get her to practice with it. A pistol allows for one hand on the phone after the event is over. All options can have a flashlight mounted for a bump in the night situation. Do not do modifications to the weapon your choose because depending on your state that weapon becomes evidence and modifications open the door for a prosecutor looking to make an anti-gun case. A light shows you wanted to identify your target. Practice is essential to what ever you pick when I ran a high stress range we gave everyone 5 practice rounds at a head shot target and at the end of the range they have 10 rounds at a full silhouette target, same gun same shooter and you can see stress will destroy accuracy. It always proved the point that your only half as good as your best day on the range in a stress situation. The fact your looking to arm yourself is commendable and do not rush into a choice find the gun that feels right and then you can look at ammo options all calibers have options now to not over penetrate so ammo improvement has made it less important on caliber. If you want the wife to shoot with you and are looking for one gun that does it all try to find one you both are comfortable with. Good luck.

The best caliber for self defense is the gun that you are most proficient with. The caliber is less important than the fact that you can consistently hit what you are aiming at. Find a gun you like and practice , practice, practice. Any gun in the hand of a competent shooter can be deadly and any gun is better than no gun. As far as ammo goes, try out different self defense loads in your firearm and see what performs best in your gun. Every gun will shoot different ammo differently and you need to see what your gun likes best.

Something like a taurus judge with .410 self defence ammo would be a good choice.

My wife's home defense gun is a Remington 870 20 gauge youth model loaded with Winchester number 3 buckshot. It's small enough for her but not so small I cannot use it comfortably too. Handguns are a bad choice for a primary home defense gun but may be useful if hidden in different locations. The Glock 19 is a good choice for the handgun with Federal 147 grain Hydrashoks. We had a shooting locally several years ago where a guy hid in a closet behind some clothes and the 115 grain hollowpoints did not have the power to hurt him much and the department switched to 147's.

Hey Marc, safety first with a child in the house. Even worse than a burgalar getting in is a child that doesn't know anything about guns having access to one. I'm sure you have taken that into consideration so just having a plan for that, I believe, is more important than the caliber. The caliber alone has a bunch of different options and then to add a particular ammo the options/combos are endless. I personally prefer a semi-auto pistol with hollow points, especially with a child or other loved ones in the house. Rifles have higher penetration and therefore go through walls easier, shotguns are great but depending on what ammo you are using, might cause more damage than anything, especially if you miss. Pistols allow you to maneuver and provide stopping power and with hollow points you mitigate the potential for a bullet to go through targets. Always keeping in mind what's behind your target as well. 9mm-.45 are all great and even the smaller caliber work as well with the right ammo. You should be comfortable with the firearm you choose. I would recommend going to a local gun store and getting a feel for a few. And always keep training. The more you learn about firearms and firearm safety the more you learn you need to learn more, kinda weird. I hope that helps and I hope you find something that works for you and your family.

I agree with Walentin, though a 20 gauge will be easier for your wife to learn to love. A handgun is going to take more practice to get comfy with. The key is train with the weapon and keep it handy and secure.

A 12 or 20 gauge pump shot gun with a short barrel 18 inch depending on your state, is best for home defense using #4 or larger shot since it has knockdown power and will generally not pass through walls like pistol ammo. If you use a pistol, 9mm frangible or hollow points are best. Always be sure of your target and background.