advise on home defense (guns)

I live in Phoenix. I've never been to Caswell's and haven't been to Shooter's World in years. I prefer to shoot outdoors, but Scottsdale Gun Club is a great indoor range (it's supposed to be one of the best in the US). I'm pretty sure they'll have the largest selection of rental guns.

My ex-wife took a class at SGC and really liked it.
 
Lord of Lies said:
I live in Phoenix. I've never been to Caswell's and haven't been to Shooter's World in years. I prefer to shoot outdoors, but Scottsdale Gun Club is a great indoor range (it's supposed to be one of the best in the US). I'm pretty sure they'll have the largest selection of rental guns.

My ex-wife took a class at SGC and really liked it.
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thanks.

I've heard SGC is awesome but I live in Central Phoenix so I wanted to check out somewhere closer that was more feasible to get to.

I'll check it out after work next week- I work near there.
 
Depends on where you home is, how your home's floorplan is layed out and your neighborhood. It also depends on your budget and your spouse's level of firearm comfort.

In apartments and townhomes, you really have to think about penetration and your neighbor's well-being. Birdshot in a 12ga shotgun is the best idea for the lease about of collateral damage in this situation. A 12ga might be a bit much for your spouse though...

A house with an open floorplan, I think a 9mm carbine or a 12ga with 00-buckshot is a solid idea. 5.56 or 7.62 will fly through house walls, so I am not a fan of those in urban house defense situations. 9mm+p HP's and buckshot have shorter ranges post penetration of building materials. Keeps you safe and your neighbors safe.

All else fails... buy a Glock 19, some good self defense ammo, get a 32-round mag, and take some classes.
 
DocAltie said:
Depends on where you home is, how your home's floorplan is layed out and your neighborhood. It also depends on your budget and your spouse's level of firearm comfort.

In apartments and townhomes, you really have to think about penetration and your neighbor's well-being. Birdshot in a 12ga shotgun is the best idea for the lease about of collateral damage in this situation. A 12ga might be a bit much for your spouse though...

A house with an open floorplan, I think a 9mm carbine or a 12ga with 00-buckshot is a solid idea. 5.56 or 7.62 will fly through house walls, so I am not a fan of those in urban house defense situations. 9mm+p HP's and buckshot have shorter ranges post penetration of building materials. Keeps you safe and your neighbors safe.

All else fails... buy a Glock 19, some good self defense ammo, get a 32-round mag, and take some classes.
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Thanks. I live in a historic neighborhood and my home is a little over 2000 square feet with the master bedroom being on one side sort of down a hallway. The house was built in 1929 so the outer walls are all block as opposed to the normal structure of wood, stucco and drywall + insulation.

The way the house faces it seems as though it would make sense for a perpetrator to attempt to enter in through either my bedroom window or the back of the house (they would have to go down the alley and climb over my back wall and then break glass to enter). Either way, they would trip my alarm if they broke any glass.

I'm going to check out a couple of shotguns as well as a 9mm as those were the two most highly recommended choices by everyone I asked including those in this thread.
 
DocAltie said:
Depends on where you home is, how your home's floorplan is layed out and your neighborhood. It also depends on your budget and your spouse's level of firearm comfort.

In apartments and townhomes, you really have to think about penetration and your neighbor's well-being. Birdshot in a 12ga shotgun is the best idea for the lease about of collateral damage in this situation. A 12ga might be a bit much for your spouse though...

A house with an open floorplan, I think a 9mm carbine or a 12ga with 00-buckshot is a solid idea. 5.56 or 7.62 will fly through house walls, so I am not a fan of those in urban house defense situations. 9mm+p HP's and buckshot have shorter ranges post penetration of building materials. Keeps you safe and your neighbors safe.

All else fails... buy a Glock 19, some good self defense ammo, get a 32-round mag, and take some classes.
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Did you even read the OP? Let alone the follow up posts? Because it sure doesn't look like it.
 
Can't go wrong with a Mossberg 500 or Remington 870 with 00 Buckshot. I used a Mossberg 500 in Afghanistan and never had any problems with it. The Remington has be proven in Law Enforcement many a time.
 
Something to take into account which hasn't already been beat to death is ammo price for practice. I'm not gonna get into all the other banter that has already gone on.

Ammo is not cheap for certain calibers. I am a firm believer in practicing with the round you will use whenever possible. Buck shot goes for about $5 dollars give or take for a box of 5 shells. .45 rounds go for about twice the price of 9mm on a box of 50.

Yes I know there are cheaper brands of most everything out there. But if all you ever practice with on your shotgun is the $8 dollar target shells and then go home and load 00 buckshot in your shotgun you will be in for a rude surprise if you ever have to use it. Same applies for other ammo. Cheap ammo is cheap for a reason.

Seeing that the OP doesn't seem like the kind of person that is gonna go out and spend a lot on ammo because she like to go to the range an blow stuff up. Ownership costs will affect how often she or anyone would practice.

If your a casual shooter and know that session at the range is gonna cost you $50 in shotgun shells, a sore shoulder, and you'll be done in 15 minutes ,you simply won't go that often.

But if you can go to the range and go through a couple of hundred rounds of 9mm for $40 and have a blast for an hour, you'll be more apt to practice on a regular basis.
 
TexasDrugAddict said:
I cant say why WoW would say it but i.prefer a 9mm over a .40cal. I find a .40 to be a snappy rd and pushes the barrel up more then a 9 would, so my follow up shot are better with a 9mm. i also prefer a .45 over the .40 too. the .45 seems to push back the barrel instead of up. Thats just why i prefer a 9mm over the but it be i just dont have enough exp shooting the .40.
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I was just about the post the same thing. I find 40s to have the most snappy recoil out of 9, 40 and 45s, with 45s having more of a "push" feel to the recoil. I would recommend .45acp over .40sw and 9mm over 40s and 45s for an novice shooter. Even for myself, my 40s see less use than my 9s and 45s.
 
krait said:
Something to take into account which hasn't already been beat to death is ammo price for practice. I'm not gonna get into all the other banter that has already gone on.

Ammo is not cheap for certain calibers. I am a firm believer in practicing with the round you will use whenever possible. Buck shot goes for about $5 dollars give or take for a box of 5 shells. .45 rounds go for about twice the price of 9mm on a box of 50.

Yes I know there are cheaper brands of most everything out there. But if all you ever practice with on your shotgun is the $8 dollar target shells and then go home and load 00 buckshot in your shotgun you will be in for a rude surprise if you ever have to use it. Same applies for other ammo. Cheap ammo is cheap for a reason.

Seeing that the OP doesn't seem like the kind of person that is gonna go out and spend a lot on ammo because she like to go to the range an blow stuff up. Ownership costs will affect how often she or anyone would practice.

If your a casual shooter and know that session at the range is gonna cost you $50 in shotgun shells, a sore shoulder, and you'll be done in 15 minutes ,you simply won't go that often.

But if you can go to the range and go through a couple of hundred rounds of 9mm for $40 and have a blast for an hour, you'll be more apt to practice on a regular basis.
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thanks for bringing that up. Someone else gave me the same advice which is why I'm shopping for a 9 now. I went and checked out prices on lessons and I'm waiting to get set up with a private instructor to go over everything.
 
The problem with a handgun vs. a shotgun is that when your life depends on it, you'll less likely to hit someone with a handgun. Even with a lot more training with the handgun in something like a 9mm. Cops, with tons of training, sometimes still miss completely at close range when the adrenalin is all pumped up.

The advantages of a 9mm is that in AZ, you can get a CCW and carry it around for protection. I say get both. You don't really have to go crazy on the training with the shotgun.
 
I'm a 24 year woman and my husband always worries about me. :) We have guns but he is bugging me to pick out a security system for while he is on business trips. Can anyone recommend one? The only one I can even think of off the top of my head is adt home security. I went to the link and did a bit of research but I don't know what to look for in an alarm system. Any advice? I'm hoping this question is appropriate for weapons and tactics. I would consider it a tactic. :)
 
98bird said:
The problem with a handgun vs. a shotgun is that when your life depends on it, you'll less likely to hit someone with a handgun. Even with a lot more training with the handgun in something like a 9mm. Cops, with tons of training, sometimes still miss completely at close range when the adrenalin is all pumped up.

The advantages of a 9mm is that in AZ, you can get a CCW and carry it around for protection. I say get both. You don't really have to go crazy on the training with the shotgun.
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When your life actually depends upon it you're more likely to actually have immediate access to a pistol though.
 
Sandor OG said:
i am now recommending semi automatic assault rifles for home defense. I am completely serious.
get like a ar-15 or some shit like that (the usas shotgun is pretty sweet too).

get something with at least a clip that can hold 20 rounds.

see this crap? this is what people do now


how long before these pieces of shit decide to start doing this to people's houses?
but without secret alarms and camera's they will probably do beating and raping and stealing.

you will see groups of 20 plus dirtbags robbing people's houses soon, so you better be able to kill a lot of people quick.
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An Ar-15 would kill everyone on the block. The bullet wouldn't just stop after the initial penetration.
 
black koala said:
An Ar-15 would kill everyone on the block. The bullet wouldn't just stop after the initial penetration.
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Depends on the ammo used. Blanket statements are usually a bad thing to run around passing off as complete truth.
 
The Thing said:
mps-aa12.jpg


;D
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yea
 
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