Home safety is something that every person is cautious about. Having some kind of defensive weapon at your home not only ensures peace of mind, it also equips you with necessary deterrence in, God Forbid, case of robbery or any such crime. Therefore, a question that probably crossed your mind here is, “Which gun is best for your home defense?”.
There are certain factors such as affordability, local laws, ease of handling, and most importantly the quality of weapon, which play a vital role in selecting a gun for your home safety. Quality factor encapsulates the safety feature too. This is something that you should be very prudent about and you must properly learn this feature before purchasing any weapon.
Arming yourself to protect your home is a reasonable and justified act but it brings with it huge responsibility. Apart from conformance to local laws, you have to have genuine training regarding the handling of the weapon.
There have been cases of accidental shooting because the owner was not well trained on how to use the weapon. Therefore, it is necessary to sharpen your skills in this regard as the ultimate purpose is to scare away criminals and not your family.
Table of Contents
Shotgun
Over the years, shotguns have been one of the most common recommendations for home safety. The primary advantage is that with a shotgun you hardly have to aim before taking a shot. A shotgun scatters a glut of pellets in the general direction you aim and increases your chances of hitting the target. If we unbundle it a little more, a three inch shotgun shell with 00 buckshot is like shooting 10-15 steel ball bearings at the target, all together.
Sounds quite scary and this is why the government banned short barreled shotguns because the shorter the barrel length the faster those steel pellets scatter out. Another reason to shun short barrel shotguns is that these become problematic when it comes to accuracy and comfort while shooting. These guns with barrel length less than 18 inches should not be preferred.
The best home defense shotguns should have a barrel length of 18-30 inches as this length ensures that the spread remains tight.
A considerable disadvantage of shotguns is that they have a heavy recoil. Some people find it hard to use these guns because it just seems too forceful to them.
Breaking down further, shotguns have two main types: pump-action and semiautomatic. Pump-action shotguns are usually more reliable while semiautomatic ones are faster to fire. The downside of semiautomatic shotguns is that they are prone to jamming.
Well, shotguns are reasonably affordable. You can get a pump-action Remington 870 for less than $400 while used shotguns cost even lesser.
Also Read: How To Use Foam Boards To Insulate Your Home Against Mould
9mm Pistol
These pistols are also very common as defense weapons among homeowners. The size and easy handling are in many ways perfect features for home defense. These semiautomatic pistols are economical and their ammunition is easily accessible. Common types in use are Glock, Beretta, Ruger, Garrison, and few others.
These 9mm hanging have power and low recoil which makes them an excellent choice for newcomers. You also have a lot of options in the 9mm range, including lightweight and concealable models such as Sig Sauer P365.
These handguns are simple in execution and control and being semiautomatic can fire full magazine without the need of reload. These are reasonably affordable as compared to other options.
Semiautomatic Rifle
Semiautomatic rifles pack more ammo than shotguns and pistols. Also, they have little recoil and are swifter in their action. A rifle also brings with it added accuracy and stability.
AR-15 is probably the most recommended and purchased rifle for home defense. It can provide accurate fire out to moderate ranges. Other common options are Ruger 10/22, Ruger mini 14, and Ruger mini 30.
One disadvantage of rifles is that they are generally longer and trickier to use in confined spaces like inside a house with narrow hallways and doorways. Therefore, these bullets may miss the target and endanger your safety. Moreover, these bullets may strike at unintended places causing unintentional harm.
Also Read: Gun safe vs Regular safe – What’s best?
Revolver
Revolvers, owing to their disadvantages, are generally not preferable as home defense weapons, yet they cannot be completely ignored as a comparatively reliable option. The cylinder of a revolver holds only 5-8 rounds of ammunition which is not reliable. Also, you have to reload it every time before shooting and the loading method is not very handy. Anyhow, with proper practice you can become proficient in handling a revolver.
Smith and Wesson .357 magnum is one of the best revolvers you can pick up on market. It has high stopping power. It can shoot both .357 and .32 caliber and has enough power to penetrate through walls.
Glock 19
Glock 19 falls under the category of 9mm pistols. It usually has a 15 carrying capacity in a standard magazine. It is a popular and preferable weapon among house owners as far as home safety is concerned. Glock 19 is also a concealable pistol if you have the right holster. You can easily assemble and disassemble it using guidance from a chunk of YouTube videos. Glocks have a reliable grip which makes them easier to handle.
Sig Sauer P226 Legion RX
This one is also a 9mm pistol. This handgun is highly reliable and its reliability score is proven to challenge almost all others of same category. It is an amazing handgun and is truthfully a gun best for home defense purpose. Its dovetail grip gives you good control during firing. P226 is costlier than other various options. In P226, changing between magazines is quick and easy due to spring powered magazine ejection. Rather than gravity dropping your empty magazine, you can just pop it out and reload quickly.
Handguns
Looking for a gun with easier shot? Handguns can be a good pick for your home defense. They’re quite easier to fire with than a shotgun as they don’t have the shoulder-thwacking recoil. Anyhow, it’s difficult to fire correctly as it has a smaller sight radius. You got to prepare and do practice. But overall, this gun outperforms in case of personal protection in the house
While having a handgun, you can protect yourself while moving along an enclosed place of a house like a corridor. In these places, gun with long barrel is not a good choice.
Smith & Wesson
If you’re looking for a safe and reliable self-defense weapon inside a home, this full grip model has a lot to offer. With hammer lightly triggered and full-grip, you’re good to use it without much error. Springfield XD Mod 2 and Sig Sauer P320; is a good weaponry for home defense.
