How about a 22 for home defense?

[381465]

Clint Smith said, “The only purpose for a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should have never laid down.”

Under most circumstances, I agree.

 

[KWCrazy]

The best weapon for home defense is a pump shotgun. The sound of it is enough to make the average burglar run because you don't have to be accurate, just close. If a 12 ga. has too much kick switch to a 20 ga. It's still pretty impressive and a 3/4 oz slug traveling at 1,288 fps makes a pretty solid impact. As for depression, just think of what Christ felt at Gethsemane. Then remember that He went through that for you. If He thinks your life is that valuable, maybe you should listen to His opinion more.

 

[66/40]

OP, Don't own a gun. You'll only hurt yourself.

 

[cloudyday2]

Thanks, everybody, for those replies.

For those who think a gun would be risky, what alternatives do you recommend specifically? There are tasers, pepper spray, baseball bats, etc. but there is a lot of variety of tasers and pepper spray and different methods have different limitations. For example, pepper spray and tasers seem like short range and you better not miss with your one shot. But I don't know much about it all.

 

[cloudyday2]

When a person is considering suicide, the last thing you want is to wake up crippled or brain damaged in a hospital. The risk of that seems higher with a .22LR, so it seems less tempting.

I'm not a high risk at all, but there are times that I fantasize. I have never attempted, and I am 50 years old now. Very low risk IMO.

 

[cloudyday2]

The best weapon for home defense is a pump shotgun. The sound of it is enough to make the average burglar run because you don't have to be accurate, just close. If a 12 ga. has too much kick switch to a 20 ga. It's still pretty impressive and a 3/4 oz slug traveling at 1,288 fps makes a pretty solid impact. As for depression, just think of what Christ felt at Gethsemane. Then remember that He went through that for you. If He thinks your life is that valuable, maybe you should listen to His opinion more.

I was considering a 20 ga shotgun - especially if there is some distance. I have never fired a shotgun, but I know they can bruise the shoulder and so forth. I had friends in grade school who had 20 ga shotguns, so I assume the kick is much less. IDK

 

[cloudyday2]

Here is the article I saw that suggested the feasibility of .22 for home defense. Apparently he is talking about using a .22 rifle instead of a handgun. I don't know why that would make a difference aside from easier aiming and more spin on the bullet. Most .22 handguns seem to shoot the same .22LR as the rifles.

Greg Ellifritz wrote an excellent article for the Buckeye Firearms Association, on how effective a .22 is in real-life situations.
...
"Over a 10-year period, I kept track of stopping power results from every shooting I could find. I talked to the participants of gunfights, read police reports, attended autopsies, and scoured the newspapers, magazines, and Internet for any reliable accounts of what happened to the human body when it was shot.

I documented all of the data I could; tracking caliber, type of bullet (if known), where the bullet hit and whether or not the person was incapacitated. I also tracked fatalities, noting which bullets were more likely to kill and which were not. It was an exhaustive project, but I’m glad I did it and I’m happy to report the results of my study here."
...
The .22 took an average of 1.38 rounds to incapacitate the victim.
...
To be clear now, I’m writing about a .22 long rifle in a rifle and not pistol.
...
Let’s look at the numbers for what everyone considers to be “better weapons” for home defense. The ONLY weapon that took fewer rounds to incapacitate the enemy was the shotgun, which came in at 1.22 rounds. Better? Yes. Can you shoot 1.3 rounds into someone? If so, you’ll be better off with a shotgun than a .22. If not, it’s the same [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse] thing. It still takes two shots on average to ensure the guy is incapacitated, no matter what round you use, except for the .45 ACP, .40 S&W, 9mm Luger, and the .25 ACP, which /GASP!/ all take more than two rounds on average to incapacitate the attacker.

EDIT:
I wanted to add the following quote for better context on the advice in the article.

A weapon is just a tool and you need to use the best tool to suit the situation you’re in. If you’re planning on being up against an armored assailant, then go big but realize it has its negatives. If you’re planning on defending your home against an attacker, consider the .22 but realize it also has its negatives. I haven’t seen any hard facts on the effectiveness of pistol vs rifle when it comes to .22 but even though a larger gun doesn’t make much difference when hit, I’d opt for the rifle. Also, once you gain proficiency with shooting, I’d step up to something larger. Once you’ve learned how to control a weapon, the advantages to a .22 start falling away. Greg Ellifritz had some great points in this article that break down pretty much how I feel about the .22 overall so read that.

When .22's may be the best home defense weapons

 

[Ygrene Imref]

Not strong enough IMO. Even the most minimal shielding will block a .22 bullet.

But, if you happen to connect correctly, it has an advantage of compounded ricochet within the target.

Pretty good for NOT killing someone, but incapacitating them so that they get hauled out, possibly tried and other matters of due process.

A.38 or .45 may be more effective, though.

 

[Darkhorse]

Just for perspective, my wife has clinical depression, takes anti-depressive medicine (which works well for her), and carries a gun everywhere she can.

It's never been a problem - for her.

The "kick" of shotguns is often exaggerated, and is usually the result of improper shooting posture. Holding the butt of the stock firmly against your shoulder distributes the recoil through your entire body and makes shooting a shotgun easy. They are noisy, but good hearing protection (like ear covers) solves that.

 

[cloudyday2]

The "kick" of shotguns is often exaggerated, and is usually the result of improper shooting posture. Holding the butt of the stock firmly against your shoulder distributes the recoil through your entire body and makes shooting a shotgun easy. They are noisy, but good hearing protection (like ear covers) solves that.

I just finished watching a video where the narrator mentioned the issue of noise and flash from firing a shotgun in a closed room with no ear protection. In a home defense scenario there might not be time to use ear protection.

Apparently the noise can be so loud that the shooter becomes dizzy.

Here is the page containing the video. I don't know if the narrator is an expert or just a guy with an opinion.
http://homedefensegun.net/22-rilfe-for-home-defense/

 

[Darkhorse]

I just finished watching a video where the narrator mentioned the issue of noise and flash from firing a shotgun in a closed room with no ear protection. In a home defense scenario there might not be time to use ear protection.

Apparently the noise can be so loud that the shooter becomes dizzy.

During a home-defense situation, ear protection is out of the question. However, a person will be so full of adrenaline and operating in "fight or flight" mode that they probably won't notice the noise.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

.

 

[Dave-W]

A.38 or .45 may be more effective, though.

Anyone make a hand gun that uses .30-30 or .30-06 rounds?

 

[381465]

Anyone make a hand gun that uses .30-30 or .30-06 rounds?

The only I can think of would be a Thompson Contender pistol with .30-30 barrel.
Single shot.

 

[Ygrene Imref]

Anyone make a hand gun that uses .30-30 or .30-06 rounds?

I don't think so - not handguns...

 

[Ygrene Imref]

The only I can think of would be a Thompson Contender pistol with .30-30 barrel.
Single shot.

I think the military did an experiment with .30-30 fired with a handgun under water and found that the water significantly deformed the bullet (or, likely the caliber doesn't work for a handgun.)

 

[381465]

I got curious.

T/C G2 Contender® - Thompson/Center

 

[cloudyday2]

I've been watching a few videos on .22 handguns and rifles, and several have mentioned that .22 guns tend to jam. Apparently .22 bullets are rim-fire and tend to be dirty?

 

[Ygrene Imref]

I've been watching a few videos on .22 handguns and rifles, and several have mentioned that .22 guns tend to jam. Apparently .22 bullets are rim-fire and tend to be dirty?

Dirty out, dirty in, and dirty out.

They are about a couple of steps up from loading your gun with a pond-smoothed pebble in my opinion. It tends to be easy to handle, but subject to many dampening and dynamic forces (drag, muzzle angle, fit...) and then, if/when it enters a body, it tends to bounce around the target if fit hits vascularly strong organs, or bone. As someone said earlier, it can also be stopped by a small amount of matter - like a book, or even your flesh. I know people with bullets that have been lodged in their bodies for a while, with the flesh healing over.

 

[GeorgeJ]

I got curious.

T/C G2 Contender® - Thompson/Center

Yup. I've got a TC pistol frame and several interchangeable rifle caliber barrels. They're fantastic for hunting and IHMSA/NRA metallic silhouette shooting....and yes, they make them in 30-30 and 30-06.