Rifle - Best Defensive Weapon?

[terryg]

So, I have read the cliches that a pistol is what you use to get back to your rifle, etc. I can see how that would be true in some situations - like fighting off a mob or a zombie attack. But considering something like a multiple BG home invasion scenario, would this still hold up? Doesn't a handgun maximize your ability to fire from cover and to quickly change targets? I can see some advantages to a shotgun by lowering the accuracy requirements. But other than magazine capacity, I really don't see many benefits to a rifle over a pistol in a short range situation like a home invasion.

Just curious.

[TxSheepdog]

I wouldn't pick up my rifle unless I was sure the BG had body armor, or it was a wave attack. Too many houses withing 50 feet make over penetration a serious issue. A shotgun round or 230gr .45 to the face will just as easily solve the armor issue.

My 1911 and surefire are the go to guns for investigating the bump in the night. The shotgun is for hunkering down and defending the stairwell. If I have to break out the AK I'm in serious doo doo...

[Dave2]

Disclaimer: I have *zero* tactical training...

It seems to me that the size of a rifle, carbine, or shotgun would make them impractical for home defense once the intruder is inside. I understand that they can be intimidating (especially the shotgun), but I know how big I am, and I know how big the hallways and furniture in my house are, and I don't really see a long gun as practical.

[The Annoyed Man]

Well, issues of wall penetration and target over-penetration aside, a single hit from a .223 bullet is far more likely to instantly incapacitate a bad guy than a hit from a .45 ACP bullet. I think I could probably shoot from cover as easily with a carbine as with a pistol. The highest capacity magazine in our house is found in my wife's Glock 19. It holds 15 rounds. My carbine magazine holds 30 rounds. My pistols have tritium night sights. My carbine has an EoTech sight. The advantage of the EoTech reticle is that, since it is holographic, parallax is virtually eliminated, and so is "lining up" the sights. Place the reticle on the target. Shoot. BTW, I keep two magazines handy with my carbine, both stoked with 55 grain soft points to try and minimize over-penetration.

To me, the biggest disadvantage of an AR carbine over a pistol is that I could probably get the pistol into action a little faster. This would be enough to cause me to probably go to the pistol first, unless judgement really called for a rifle.

As far as shotguns go.... I only own one - an over and under 12 gauge skeet gun. At some point, I'll probably buy a 12 gauge pump gun for HD. But I don't feel a sense of urgency about that. That said, Box O' Truth has some interesting things to say about shotgun patterning with 00 Buck out of an 18" barrel. At 20', patterns don't open up that much. That would seem to indicate that accuracy is still important. Buy a shotgun because it is more powerful than a handgun, not because it absolves you of the responsibility to aim accurately before pulling the trigger. The largest room in my house is the 2 car garage which the former owners converted to a family room. It is 21'x21' from the inside walls. Inside that room, I would still have to reliably aim a shotgun.

So my conclusion is that my pistol is my primary home defense weapon, and any long gun would be a secondary choice. But that is largely determined by the fact that I live in suburbia. If I lived in a rural area, a long gun might be my primary choice.

[Purplehood]

I think it is all personal preference. I am much more comfortable with my AR15 carbine due to years of handling that type of weapon. I have always had a poor mindset when it comes to pistols.
With a carbine in my hand, I would feel much more confident when trying to fend-off home-invaders.

[i8godzilla]

I prefer a hand gun in the confines of our house. We keep our Judge - Public Defender loaded with 000 Buckshot--three pellets per shell. We also have readily available our daily carry weapons--my wife's .40 and my 9mm. Our bedroom door in an 'exterior door', thus our goal is to just get the door closed and locked (our kids are grown and on their own). There is nothing in the house we are willing to die over.

When we had our children at home, weapon and ammunition choices were much different. We kept a 20 GA with birdshot. We both had a real fear of penetration resulting in injury to our kids.

[MoJo]

A long gun trumps a pistol any day. A .223 FMJ will not penetrate as much as a FMJ 9mm so if you are using an AR carbine loaded with JSP or JHP ammo you have the ultimate home defense weapon.

[PRO]

My thoughts on the matter are based on my personal situation. The first floor has brick lining the outer walls, it is a two story house, I sleep upstairs, roommate downstairs and there are no children in the house. I sleep with a 92f under my pillow and I’ve had many years of training with it so there is a comfort level bestowed upon this weapon. My roommate has what little training I am able to provide and I do not feel comfortable that she would be able to aim and fire a handgun under a desperate situation and hit her target. As she will primarily be downstairs surrounded by brick, a 12 gauge with #4 buckshot would allow enough blast from a rifled 18.5” barrel, (the rifling’s cause a 20” donut spread at 7 yards), for any hallway or room in my house. While I would love to have an AR for TEOTWAWKI or other reasons, I would only view an AR as a weapon for if I need to fire out of a window at a distance greater than 20 yards.

[Excaliber]

A long gun trumps a pistol any day. A .223 FMJ will not penetrate as much as a FMJ 9mm so if you are using an AR carbine loaded with JSP or JHP ammo you have the ultimate home defense weapon.

Maneuverability isn't usually an issue unless one is planning to engage in a one man house clearing operation, which is a recognized form of attempted suicide and not recommended.

Nothing beats a long gun when something absolutely, positively, must be stopped right now, and MoJo is correct that the .223 has significantly less danger of over penetration when compared to 9mm rounds.

[karl]

I also choose the pistol since I've never had any training with the carbine. If I felt more comfortable with the AR in a CQB type setting, didn't fear over-penetration, and it wasn't locked in a safe I would probably choose that instead for reasons stated above.

[OldCannon]

There's a lot of factors to consider, but it boils down to two critical things:
1) You're using a weapon that you can operate efficiently in low-light conditions. Night sights, reload drills in the (near) darkness, illumination skills (properly using light+gun), etc.. Any defensive caliber will stop a bad guy. But pistols also offer a highly unique advantage of being operable with one hand. Tactics trumps firepower in home defense situations, but without training, you're likely to be as much of a threat to the other occupants and neighbors as the bad guy. If you come into my home, you will encounter me with my Glock 23, just as if I was carrying concealed. I own ARs, AKs, Shotguns, etc, but my Glock 23 is what I _live_ with.
2) I allude to the second point in my first one: You hold the "high ground" advantage. You know precisely where all available cover and concealment is, light sources, even that darned lump in the carpet that will never go down that is a tripping hazard unless you know about it (c'mon, who hasn't watched "Home ALone" and not learned that lesson? ).

These two factors (training and terrain advantage) pretty much trumps everything else.

[jbirds1210]

I will leap for my pistol when my shotgun runs dry. Nothing says loving like some 00 buck.

[jamisjockey]

I'm going to take issue with part of your commentary:

I can see some advantages to a shotgun by lowering the accuracy requirements

Myth. Firing a shotgun at home defensive ranges will still require aiming and accurate shooting. It is not some magic hall-way-clearing talisman.
And, I would contend, knowing how your shotgun shoots and patterns with your standard loads is possibly more important. At closer ranges, most hunting shotguns will likely not shoot to point of aim.
The advantage of the shotgun is power: A chest or face full of 00 buck is like being hit with 9 .38 caliber bullets all at once. However,
If you are not delivering the center of your pattern onto your intended target, you might not deliver any of your pattern onto target. At accross the room distances, you might see a spread of only 2 or 3 inches for the buckshot.
Purouse this box o' truth article:
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot20.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Pray and spray accuracy is used for suppressive fire. That is, to keep the other guy's head down. Arguably not a tactic you'll need to employ for home defense.


Now, IMHO, to answer the rest of your question:
It depends. What you use is wholly dependant on how much training you have, what you're most comfortable with, and what your typical defensive layout and situation entails.

[The Annoyed Man]

The box o' truth link I posted above draws similar results, and that was for shotguns with an improved cylinder choke in place.

[threoh8]

I'm glad that, for the time being, we can choose for ourselves, and can even have an assortment of rifles, pistols, and shotguns in our homes to choose from. What works for you in your situation may not work for me in mine.