ATTN: Gun People

[Rev Den]

"Safty Slugs" get REAL expensive for practice. You should practice with the same ammo you use.

Rev

 

[ECKSJAY]

"Safty Slugs" get REAL expensive for practice. You should practice with the same ammo you use.

Rev

Sheesh Rev, if you practice enough it doesn't matter what you use. At least that's what I've found anyway. The carry ammo tends to feel better and not be as dirty. You're right though, 135gr Cor-Bon .40 hollowpoints get expensive to shoot regularly. If you can find some hotter target ammo it actually makes things closer to 'real'. I just use whatever since I can't really distinguish between target and carry ammo 'feel' anymore. These days I'm concentrating on target assessment and speed/accuracy of shot placement.

 

[Grifter144]

that corbon stuff is sweet, i carry 185 grain corbon 45. in my sig 220 and love what it does. love the way the sig falls right back on target with that grain and its smooth as all heck too....my lil lady likes that set-up better than some of the hot 9mm stuff thats out there that she has played with. working on pickin up a sig 357. w. corbon though...according to corbon its 357 has more energy at impact than the 45...ok i'm rambling.....
Maier

 

[Big Cholla]

What "Kropper" said. I also am an agency Firearms Instructor and a "Concealed Carry Weapons" instructor for the public. A quality .357mag revolver is hard to beat. You can use much cheaper .38 special ammo for practice and then switch to the more potent .357mag ammo for self-defence. You need to practice a lot in low light/no light conditions. If you can afford to do so, buy another near identical revolver in .22 Long Rifle and practice mostly with it.

There is available a small safe that is "one pistol" size and can be bolted to most anything. You activate it by placing four fingers in grooves and pressing the preset combination. The door pops open and your pistol is right there. Great setup for home defense. I recommend that you get some training on what ever you choose to arm yourself with.

I no longer have any children in the house nor coming into the house, so I have a short barrel Remington 870 lying under my side of the bed. It is in "cruiser ready". That means it has ammo in the magazine, the chamber is empty, the safety is off and the action is slightly open. There is a very bright flashlight mounted on the front with a press pad back by where my left index finger would rest.

As part of my CCW class, I have a presentation that is about 1 hour long just on "Home Defense". There is a lot to consider. PM me and I will give you a little bit of it.

 

[Tarakian]

Few places in the world are as civilized as Germany. Even Canada.
But on the flip side of that coin, believing your own press and failing to be prepared, is most ways, just wishfull thinking.
Even in Canada (read most any psych book), 3 % of the population are born with a screw loose and are dangerous.
Hopefully, you will live out your life, without having to deal with a psycho. But they are sure enough out there. And have a tendancy to be even bolder, when the chances of a summary confrontation, is lower. Hopefully the wolf, will attack some other sheep. And you can live out your life, believing guns are the problem.

Ditto

I would rather be the Ram in the sheep. Give the wolf something to worry about!

 

[8Mud]

For the guys that like to keep a shotgun handy, the best set up I´ve found, is two rings of 2 1/2 inch wide elastic material, kind of like two garters. One for the front grip and one for the stock. With a patch of felt sewn on one side. And a matching patch of velcro glued and/or tacked to the bottom of the bed. Or in my case, a long side table next to the bed. This is for my auto loader, but I´d guess a similiar set up, can be figuered out for a pump, that won´t interfer with the slide action. I hand sewed the whole thing up in an hour one night, it´s been holding up for years.
Things go in the gun safe, when away.

 

[ECKSJAY]

For the guys that like to keep a shotgun handy, the best set up I´ve found, is two rings of 2 1/2 inch wide elastic material, kind of like two garters. One for the front grip and one for the stock. With a patch of felt sewn on one side. And a matching patch of velcro glued and/or tacked to the bottom of the bed. Or in my case, a long side table next to the bed. This is for my auto loader, but I´d guess a similiar set up, can be figuered out for a pump, that won´t interfer with the slide action. I hand sewed the whole thing up in an hour one night, it´s been holding up for years.
Things go in the gun safe, when away.

Sounds cool, but for $50 here's what I prefer.

http://www.knoxx.com/NewStyleKnoxx/Products/Cornerlock.htm

 

[8Mud]

What "Kropper" said. I also am an agency Firearms Instructor and a "Concealed Carry Weapons" instructor for the public. A quality .357mag revolver is hard to beat. You can use much cheaper .38 special ammo for practice and then switch to the more potent .357mag ammo for self-defence. You need to practice a lot in low light/no light conditions. If you can afford to do so, buy another near identical revolver in .22 Long Rifle and practice mostly with it.

There is available a small safe that is "one pistol" size and can be bolted to most anything. You activate it by placing four fingers in grooves and pressing the preset combination. The door pops open and your pistol is right there. Great setup for home defense. I recommend that you get some training on what ever you choose to arm yourself with.

I no longer have any children in the house nor coming into the house, so I have a short barrel Remington 870 lying under my side of the bed. It is in "cruiser ready". That means it has ammo in the magazine, the chamber is empty, the safety is off and the action is slightly open. There is a very bright flashlight mounted on the front with a press pad back by where my left index finger would rest.

As part of my CCW class, I have a presentation that is about 1 hour long just on "Home Defense". There is a lot to consider. PM me and I will give you a little bit of it.

.357 is a good caliber for a revolver and with a medium to long barrel, amazingly accurate, out to quite a distance.
Part of my job as a Game manager, is to go find wounded animals and relieve there suffering. I´ve followed many wild boar into a thicket, that where broken up by a car or truck and/or shot and left to die by an irresposible hunter. My experience of what will work, on a human, is limited as far as handguns are concerned. But I have noticed, the affects of the .357 on rather large game. I´ve never tried hollow point ammo, but the semi wad cutter (or soft point), is often more shock than expansion. It´s often all the way through, before it has a chance to expand much. And many wild animals, will shake off the shock rather quickely (I´ve seen them run for 50-60 yards with a heart turned to jello). Many people have forgotten about the old, 44. special, but at least for wild game, it´s a fairly sure knock them down and stop the charge type of bullet. Just about the right cross section, right velocity, right expansion characteristics, in a semi or flat nosed (lead) bullet, that seems to get the job done. A 44 magnum, has such a hairy recoil, a second shot, takes way too long.
The 44 special has about 2/3 rds the velocity of the .357 magnum, around 250 grains of wieght, compared to 158 grains, for the .357 magnum. And the 44 special has a 1/3 rd larger cross section to aid in expansion. A lead bulleted 44. special will expand out to near 5/8" to 3/4". If it hits bone will splatter and if it does exit, will leave a cratter.
IMO the .44 special is an under rated and largely forgotten bullet. That´s not really uncomfortable to fire, like some of the magnums.

 

[Wayne Sihler]

.357 is a good caliber for a revolver and with a medium to long barrel, amazingly accurate, out to quite a distance.
Part of my job as a Game manager, is to go find wounded animals and relieve there suffering. I´ve followed many wild boar into a thicket, that where broken up by a car or truck and/or shot and left to die by an irresposible hunter. My experience of what will work, on a human, is limited as far as handguns are concerned. But I have noticed, the affects of the .357 on rather large game. I´ve never tried hollow point ammo, but the semi wad cutter (or soft point), is often more shock than expansion. It´s often all the way through, before it has a chance to expand much. And many wild animals, will shake off the shock rather quickely (I´ve seen them run for 50-60 yards with a heart turned to jello). Many people have forgotten about the old, 44. special, but at least for wild game, it´s a fairly sure knock them down and stop the charge type of bullet. Just about the right cross section, right velocity, right expansion characteristics, in a semi or flat nosed (lead) bullet, that seems to get the job done. A 44 magnum, has such a hairy recoil, a second shot, takes way too long.
The 44 special has about 2/3 rds the velocity of the .357 magnum, around 250 grains of wieght, compared to 158 grains, for the .357 magnum. And the 44 special has a 1/3 rd larger cross section to aid in expansion. A lead bulleted 44. special will expand out to near 5/8" to 3/4". If it hits bone will splatter and if it does exit, will leave a cratter.
IMO the .44 special is an under rated and largely forgotten bullet. That´s not really uncomfortable to fire, like some of the magnums.

Thats why I use a 45 Long Colt to hunt deer,a 250 grain soft nose at about 1200 fps(from a TC Contender)big hole lots of energy not too much recoil
Wayne

 

[theslacker]

Few places in the world are as civilized as Germany. Even Canada.
But on the flip side of that coin, believing your own press and failing to be prepared, is most ways, just wishfull thinking.
Even in Canada (read most any psych book), 3 % of the population are born with a screw loose and are dangerous.
Hopefully, you will live out your life, without having to deal with a psycho. But they are sure enough out there. And have a tendancy to be even bolder, when the chances of a summary confrontation, is lower. Hopefully the wolf, will attack some other sheep. And you can live out your life, believing guns are the problem.

Ya, but up here if someone breaks into your house you can defend yourself with a 9 iron. Does the job and is alot quieter.

 

[BrettM]

Ya, but up here if someone breaks into your house you can defend yourself with a 9 iron. Does the job and is alot quieter.

you mean psychos up there follow gun laws, but not "don't break into other people's houses" laws?




atriot:

 

[Rocketman]

Proper training and safety are the keys when chosing a weapon for personal defense. THIS CAN NOT BE OVER EMPHASIZED. Weapon is whatever YOU feel comfortable with using. IMHO a handgun and a finger key safe at the bedside do the job well. That type of safe sits on the table, holds a single handgun, and opens with a combination of finger presses. Better than fiddling with keys and locks in the middle of the night when something scares the piss out of you. The weapon is OUT OF SIGHT when stored. Much better when little ones are around.

As far as wall penetration and concerns with that... Glazer safety rounds. Small shot filled, plastic jacketed that will stop someone COLD but disperse easily when hitting walls and studs. That minimizes worrying about background damage.

 

[Eagle]

There is a lot of good advice in this thread, but please remember that what works in a single family residence way out in the country probably won't work in an apartment. The problem of bullets or pellets penetrating apartment walls (either due to a miss, or because you shot right through the bad guy) is very real. Jacketed bullets WILL penetrate walls ... often even after going through a bad guy. You ARE responsible for your bullets, even if you can't see what's on the opposite side of that wall. While I agree that it's best to practice with what you shoot "for real," Magsafe, Glaser and other types of frangible ammo are too expensive to shoot up a lot of it at the range. But at typical home defense range, if you have practiced with inexpensive (a relative term!) target ammo, you should have no trouble hitting a man-sized object at a distance of ten feet.

Everyone involved in this thread, and especially the people living in apartments who are contemplating using a gun of any kind for home defense, should look at this site:

http://theboxotruth.com/

Read especially articles #1, 2, 4 and 10

 

[copperhead]

Everyone involved in this thread, and especially the people living in apartments who are contemplating using a gun of any kind for home defense, should look at this site:

http://theboxotruth.com/

Read especially articles #1, 2, 4 and 10

Great site Eagle,

Some good reading there. I'm wondering if he's tried any of the "Home Defence" low recoil 12ga rounds. I've always wondered about them.

 

[RichP]

Then there is the flip side, out in the country, infrared detectors about 300 yards out, a 300win mag and 20power nite scope make a nice defensive weapon.... I believe that a defensive weapon should be able to reach out and touch someone before they get within touching range with theirs...
However there's that pesky 'they better be inside the house when the police and the coroner get there' rule, ankles over the threshold toes up might not count... :laugh3:

 

[karstic]

Then there is the flip side, out in the country, infrared detectors about 300 yards out, a 300win mag and 20power nite scope make a nice defensive weapon.... I believe that a defensive weapon should be able to reach out and touch someone before they get within touching range with theirs...
However there's that pesky 'they better be inside the house when the police and the coroner get there' rule, ankles over the threshold toes up might not count... :laugh3:

Yep I vote for all three, pistol, shotgun and rifle.

Then you can shoot 3-gun matches for 'practice'

 

[JeepFreak21]

As far as wall penetration and concerns with that... Glazer safety rounds. Small shot filled, plastic jacketed that will stop someone COLD but disperse easily when hitting walls and studs. That minimizes worrying about background damage.

Very interesting... I'm going to look into that. Anybody else have experience with these safety rounds?
Billy

 

[JeepFreak21]

There is a lot of good advice in this thread, but please remember that what works in a single family residence way out in the country probably won't work in an apartment. The problem of bullets or pellets penetrating apartment walls (either due to a miss, or because you shot right through the bad guy) is very real. Jacketed bullets WILL penetrate walls ... often even after going through a bad guy. You ARE responsible for your bullets, even if you can't see what's on the opposite side of that wall. While I agree that it's best to practice with what you shoot "for real," Magsafe, Glaser and other types of frangible ammo are too expensive to shoot up a lot of it at the range. But at typical home defense range, if you have practiced with inexpensive (a relative term!) target ammo, you should have no trouble hitting a man-sized object at a distance of ten feet.

Everyone involved in this thread, and especially the people living in apartments who are contemplating using a gun of any kind for home defense, should look at this site:

http://theboxotruth.com/

Read especially articles #1, 2, 4 and 10

GREAT LINK! Very interesting and informative!
Billy

 

[Eagle]

Very interesting... I'm going to look into that. Anybody else have experience with these safety rounds?
Billy

The guy at the Box 'o Truth site tested one brand. Glaser, IIRC. They didn't work.

Or, more accurately, they DID work, but not as designed. They did NOT fragment into harmless bits when they hit the sheetrock -- they fragmented, but the fragments still penetrated the walls and were big enough to do serious damage if there were a person on the opposite side.

Read the articles at the linked site.