Would you feel undergunned with only a 9mm pistol and a dozen mags? Do you think a rifle is a must for home defense?
Home defense? Depends on your threat and location. In the suburbs, while I have rifle and shotgun accessible, handguns have an advantage for “bump in the night” clear the house situations. One handed, with a light attached (and still a separate handheld light for searching) it’s easier to open doors, use the telephone, guide kids, etc. At some point you may have to call 911, a handgun with a light allows you to keep an intruder at gunpoint while operating a phone easier than the alternatives. There’s no one answer to this, it’s all situational, if I was in an urban environment where I was going to get bum rushed by the half dozen thugs I would want a rifle, if I was in a very rural spot in my concern was two-legged predators or something bigger being a concern, a shotgun with the option of slugs might be a better option.
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If I could appendix carry my SBR I would. Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Im in a very rural area but believe it or not methheads love rural as much as city.
It’s not ideal, but there is certainly a lot of advantages to the pistol for home defense. Practically, I grab my pistol for most low intensity situations just because I can conceal it and it is much easier to navigate inside a home with a pistol —plus I really like shooting pistols and I’m pretty good at it.
But I feel like I could deal with almost any realistic scenario with a Beretta 92 or similar. Wouldn’t want to have to though.
Kinda like owning a crescent wrench and deciding that’s the only tool you need. At least that’s my $0.02.
Since I CCW a 9mm handgun no. It’s ridiculous to think “I am good to go in a parking lot but not my living room.” Now if the world were a practical place we’d probably sling a carbine to go to the grocery store and use a handgun to defend the home.
I need a light for my pistol but yeah it is much easier to handle than a rifle. To be honest when i investigate noises at night i usuall have my 22lr revolver.Damn armidillos and racoons are pests zt night.
Dave Chappelle already addressed this.
I wouldn’t feel undergunned. A rifle has it’s advantages and I feel is the best tool for the job of home defense. But that doesn’t mean a good handgun suddenly doesn’t work.
The only caveat I have is your mentioning 12 magazines. That implies that you are anticipating an extended fight. If that’s true, I think you’d better think of a more capable platform. I think of a handgun as a three magazine encounter, max. If it’s going longer than that, I don’t have the right tools for the situation.
Guess i mentioned a dozen mags because i consider that a lifetime supply. To some those are rookie numbers.
I took it as I might be shooting 500+ rounds in an encounter… that’s rifle territory. That rifle, and a friend with a rifle territory, or a few friends. I think 12 mags is a pretty good number. Use a few in practice, get a couple more each year to ‘retire’ older ones.
And don’t forget a holster. CCW and OWB for dress and messy situations. The best thing about a handgun is its portability, and conceal-ability.
You’ve been on M4Carbine since 2011 and you gotta ask this? :laugh:
I just realized that my gun room makes my earlier comments, unreliable… :). And of course after the Hamas attack, if I lived there I’d want a M249 with 20k rounds, a 9mm handgun, and some grenades. Same for East St. Louis.
^^^ This, 100%. I took a Defoor class 6-7 years ago where you also did some combative and it really opened my mind to not only EDC but home defense because he had (he now works for Vortex Training) the head of training for one of the biggest local SWAT teams going over the realistic post cases of carry but also of home invasion and the lawsuits that followed. James Yaeger at one time did a video basically outlining the following, “get a 9mm pistol unmodified because if you reach for the shotgun or rifle, the lawyers will argue you wanted to kill them” and other things that really made me think that a basic reliable pistol with a light and some night sights was all I was going to use for home defense.
That said, if some amped up Jihadi ever decided to paraglide into my neighborhood, I have multiple 50rd Magpul drums of 175gr 308 from multiple rifles coming his way as fast as that 2 stage trigger will allow.
I’m trying to imagine a scenario where I would use anything but the most advantageous and effective tool available to me. Legal considerations, though very important, fade in light of tactical ones. Win one fight at a time. If you, or your loved ones are dead or injured, it’ll be no solace at all that you “used a pistol so the prosecutor wouldn’t say you were trying to kill the bad guys.”
I think you can get the job done with your pistol.
But a rifle is a better tool for gunfights, for many different reasons.
Bedside bump in the night gun is a Glock 34 with 24 rd mag and light. Basic, simple, and reliable.
Although I hate math, I like statistics and probability. The probability of me needing anything more than a pistol in any capacity is pretty slim. In fact, using anything other than a pistol is a very low-probability event. I have more than that, but I am fine if I had only that.