Rifle for home defense
 

I was talking to a friend of mine about the subject of home defense. His daughter likes he Glock .45, and is good with it. She has his freaky 20/10 vision, both of them can hit stuff way out there with an AR or Mini 14 using iron sights. I am going to buy him a nice pad for the Moisin, that thing can really go long, but I hate shooting it, kicks like a Russian mule.

His wife is rather diminutive, she has eyes more like a normal human, wears glasses. Does not like the hand cannon(.45) or hand cannon jr.(9 mm) 12 gauge is an option, but she does not dig that much either. She is comfortable with a rifle, after trying everything, .22 Marlin auto was it. I thought it was a bit odd, but his reasoning was solid. It is small enough maneuver in a residence and she is good with it. Stand in the doorway to the closet and if they come in the bedroom door, shoot them in the face or chest. I counter with, a .22, really? One shot is not going to stop them like a .357, but she is not going to shoot them once. Shotgun going off in a room will stun everyone in the room a bit, as would a .45 or .357, .22 rifle not so much. Someone getting shot is probably not going to think it is just a .22, they are going to think, I am getting shot.

Mom was talking about home defense, figure we will give her the variety to try out, but I think a 10/22 might be just the ticket, not as much worry about over penetration too. .22 revolver might be okay too, will try that too, or rather, give it a shot.

What do y'all think of a rifle for home defense?

I'm not as experienced as some of the other guys, but I would be thinking, something like an AR. High cap mag, semi-auto, just pull the trigger until they are gone, down or there's no more "bang."

A .38 revolver might be the right gun. .38 Special is very manageable. Plus something nice like a S&W in stainless would be nice to have around, and the double action means no safety to be ferking about with in the time of need.

Maybe a puppy sized one like a Model 36.

Shotgun?

A good friend of mine is a cop. He always says the last gun he'd want to be shot with is a .22. I don't recall his reasoning but it had something to do with the bullet bouncing around on entry.

Manuvering a long rifle indoors in a panic situation might be tough . It is better than nothing but I believe a pistol is a better solution . Even a .22 pistol is better than nothing and is much easier to manage indoors . Sounds like a 38 revolver would be a good choice . Decent power , not too heavy and relatively cheap to practice with .

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/walther-hk-g36-semi-automatic-22lr-181-barrel-201-rounds?a=1820083

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/mossberg-715t-red-dot-combo-semi-automatic-22lr-rimfire-1625-barrel-251-rounds?a=1795570

A 22 round is not going to “bounce around.” It’s soft lead and lacks stopping power. It’s a round that is not going to have a lot of penetration power if you’re shooting center of mass. Of course, the person you shoot may be deterred by the noise of the round being fired and getting hit with it. Then again, maybe not. During one of my many excursions to Third World countries, courtesy of the US Army, I got shot in the leg with a 22 round. It hurt like a mofo, but did not deter me.

If she's gonna shoot the intruder in the face, don't miss — use snake loads for the 1st 2 rounds. Load the other chambers with something heavy and blunt.

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High velocity / lower mass rounds tend to expend their energy inside the target instead of just going in one side and out the other. It's a lot harder to survive something that tumbles around inside the body rather than simply blowing through. A regular ol' .22 that's not high velocity doesn't apply here.

Someone correct me here on the physics, but I believe momentum = mass x velocity. Momentum is what keeps something going in the same direction, as in straight through the target.

Kinetic energy = mass x velocity (squared). So higher velocity has a lot more energy, and the lower mass means it won't necessary keep going in the same direction. It expends its energy inside the target rather than going through and out the other side.

It's the same reasoning told in the old story (true or not) about why the US military switched over to the 5.56mm round of the M16 right after convincing NATO to go with the 7.62mm back in the 60's.

At least I believe that is the theory / story.

If that’s what she’s comfortable using then that’s the best option. No use providing her with something she won’t use. That’s worse than nothing.

I wasn't able to find the clip, but the mythbusters once did a test where they fired guns down into a swimming pool. I think they started with something like a 38spl or 9mm, and worked their way up to a 50cal out of a rifle.

I wasn't able to find the entire clip, because I'm pretty sure that they tested multiple types and calibers of guns, but I think the determination was that you were pretty safe as long as you were a few/several feet underwater.

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If she's not comfortable handling a gun, she shouldn't have one at all. If she is comfortable handling one, and is willing to use it, she needs to be trained on whatever she selects it until she is comfortable. A .22 rifle sounds to me like the worst of all worlds in a home defense gun. It's unwieldly and not very effective, but you certainly can shoot a lot of rounds without worrying about recoil.

But if recoil is her main concern, and ease of use is an issue, something compact in an AK or AR platform shooting .223 would be easy to handle, have very minimal recoil, and fire an effective home defense round. They look dangerous and have a bad image in the media, but a woman's sized AK or AR sounds like it would be perfect for her.

A .38 revolver would also probably be a nice option too. If she got some practice in on it the bang and recoil might not bother her anymore.

Remington 870 with a 18" barrel, tac 14, akm.

Those are what I keep in the house for animals/tweakers... That is if they ever make it out here.

While the 870 is a wonderful home defense weapon, it doesn't sound like a good choice for a woman who shies away from a .45 or 9 mm auto because they kick too much and make too much noise.

Low recoil, or mini shells.
Keep them on hand for when younger family visits.

Winchester "gallery gun". 1890, 1906 or 62. Let her have fun with it.

The whole idea behind any self defense weapon is stopping power, as in stopping the threat immediately. You want to shoot someone w something that will allow them to shoot back 2 seconds later.

At least that's the way I've always understood it.

Exactly. Rifles are for extended combat, which is unlikely in a home defense scenario. In my own home I want the bad guy down ASAP. My bedside gun is a P226 in .357SIG with 18 rd mags and Mossberg Maverick 12g with 00 Buck. If the neighborhood is under assault, I have plenty of other options. But for close quarters combat with what's likely to be garden variety bad guys, a good pistol or shotgun will likely suffice. If it ever gets to rooftop battle, I have guns for that, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.