Firearms Facts and Fancy—Part II: Choosing a Firearm for Home Defense

As I mentioned in my introductory article, I developed a keen interest in firearms when I was a teenager, and have been an active member of our country’s “gun culture” ever since. As such, my selection of a firearm for home defense is based on experience with three principal platforms—rifle, shotgun, and handgun—some of which are better than others in certain situations. Although I have the luxury of having a diverse armory and can choose a firearm from any platform for home defense (depending on the situation), most people will only ever have a single firearm in the house, and it may not be optimal for their particular residence or location.

In this article, I’ll discuss some key criteria that should be considered in the selection of a single gun for home defense (where “home” will be used in a generic sense to indicate any personal residence such as a house, condo, apartment, etc). Since there is no perfect platform, I’ll discuss the benefits and liabilities of each platform, and then conclude with my personal pick of the best platform for the majority of home defense situations.

THE RIFLE
Many homes across the country, especially in rural areas, already contain at least one firearm—a rifle stereotypically stashed behind a door or in the closet. However, most homeowners don’t realize that if deployed in an emergency inside (or even outside) the house, the long gun could potentially be a liability rather than an asset. Nevertheless, if I knew trouble was a comin’, a rifle might be my first pick simply because it offers the most reach and power of the three platforms, but this choice would be mitigated by several factors to be considered below. (I am here excluding any rifle chambered in .22 Long Rifle, as this recreational and small game caliber is generally inadequate for personal defense, although quite capable of killing any man with precise bullet placement. I am also not including semi-automatic rifles such as the military-derived AR-15 because the average person is unlikely to either own one or purchase one due to their high cost and relatively complex manual of arms.)

THE SHOTGUN
The shotgun is a devastating releaser of energy at close range. Of the three platforms under consideration, the 12 gauge is easily the most destructive and the one that kicks the shooter just as hard as it kicks the target. This means the average person will not be able to shoot a powerful shotgun without experiencing severe discomfort or even pain. Nevertheless, as with the rifle, if I knew trouble was headn’ my way, I would choose the 12 gauge shotgun over all else if I also knew that trouble would never be more than just a few yards away.

THE HANDGUN
Most handguns that are shootable by the average person are pathetically weak in power in comparison to rifles and shotguns (although there exist very powerful handguns that approach rifles in power, but they’re not even remotely suitable for anyone but experienced gun zealots who are also masochists). Handguns exist simply because it’s impossible to strap on a rifle all day long, or to conceal a shotgun under an Armani coat. As such, handguns offer a workable compromise between power, portability, and practicality. As before, if I knew that something wicked was this way coming, I would grab the rifle or shotgun, then stuff a handgun in my holster as a backup. There’s an adage among gun toters that says the handgun is what you use to fight your way to your rifle, and in general I would agree. But the handgun can be a very logical choice for certain well prescribed situations such as home defense.

THE PROS & CONS
So let’s take a look at the relative merits and demerits of the three platforms as a basis for my recommendation of a “good” home defense gun. I’ll consider six KPCs (Key Performance Characteristics) to aid in the selection of a single gun for home defense:

1.) Muzzle energy
A rifle chambered in the popular.223 Remington develops about 1280 ft-lb of energy at the muzzle. A rifle chambered in the also popular .30-06 Springfield makes a stout 2900 ft-lb. By comparison, a handgun chambered in .357 magnum develops about 580 ft-lb, and a shotgun chambered in the powerful 12 gauge loaded with buckshot develops about 1500 ft-lb. The rifle chambered in a significant caliber is therefore the clear winner here.

The rifle’s main advantage in a tactical situation is also potentially its greatest liability. The muzzle velocity and energy of a rifle is so great, that a rifle bullet fired at a target inside a house will almost certainly exit the target and continue on to cause further damage to whatever is beyond. Compounding the problem is that most rifle bullets are designed in a pointy, streamlined shape that naturally lends itself to penetration. Imagine firing a high power rifle in an apartment. The bullet could easily penetrate several walls before coming to rest.

Now consider that for whatever reason the defensive situation has escalated into the outdoors (zombie invasion?). Firing that high power rifle outside poses the same threats to the backdrop, and even more so since the bullet now has no intervening walls to slow its progress.

Over penetration due to high muzzle velocities is, to my mind, the rifle’s greatest liability in any home defense scenario. For this reason alone, I would not choose the rifle as my primary home defense gun. The shotgun is not far behind in terms of over penetration. A handgun, though much less powerful, is also at risk of over penetration in certain calibers, but this can minimized to an acceptable level through judicious selection of the proper ammunition, which I’ll cover below.

2.) Standoff Distance
Rifles have a clear advantage over handguns and especially shotguns in the “reach” they enjoy by virtue of their significant muzzle velocities. A sniper rifle in capable hands can engage a target at 1000 yds. A handgun might be useful at 100 yds if the operator is skilled. A shotgun loaded with buckshot might do some damage at 75 yds, but 50 yds is the realistic max, although a shotgun shooting a slug could certainly hit its intended target at over 100 yards. Again, the rifle is the clear winner here, but this parameter is only important if you live in a country setting and would like to keep the impending zombies from getting within 200 yards of your fortress.

3.) Accuracy
Rifles again have a clear advantage here. By design, they are inherently more accurate that handguns or shotguns. Many people erroneously believe that the relatively longer barrel is what makes a rifle more accurate, but this is not necessarily the case. Accuracy derives from three key factors:
a) Platform stability
b) Sight radius & sighting aids
c) Projectile design

The rifle offers a relatively stable platform; it can be steadied against the shoulder when fired. The shotgun has the same advantage, but suffers from an inferior projectile design in that buckshot scatters pretty quickly after leaving the smooth bore. The handgun, if deployed as designed, is fairly unstable and difficult to keep on target.

The rifle’s longer sight radius, if using open sights and not optical sights such as a scope, also increases accuracy in that the misalignment between the rear sight, the front sight, and the target is decreased as the distance from the rear sight to the front sight increases (a simple trigonometric relationship). Rifles also allow the use of optical sights that magnify the target and use a crosshair to establish point of aim.

The rifle fires an aerodynamically streamlined projectile at a very high velocity and with a very high rate of spin imparted by the barrel’s rifling. These factors make the rifle bullet very accurate indeed when considered simply in terms of the physics involved. As mentioned, spherical shotgun buckshot leaving a smooth shotgun bore means the shotgun is relatively inaccurate since there’s no way to impart a stabilizing spin to the pellets. A handgun lies within these two extremes and can, in fact, be every bit as accurate as a rifle out to a couple of hundred yards if the handgun is stabilized to the same degree as the rifle and is also using optical sights. Generally, however, the handgun will be used with inferior iron sights and held with unstable hands, so will be vastly less accurate that the rifle. In practical terms, however, how much accuracy do you really need? For home defense, handgun accuracy is more than adequate if the shooter does his part and aims properly.

4.) Close Quarter Ergonomics
In general, rifles (and shotguns) are relatively long and heavy. In the close confines of a dwelling, these attributes combine to make the long gun rather unwieldy. If the aggressor is within several feet and the muzzle is pointed toward the ground or sky, it may be impossible to swing the muzzle up in time to fire a shot and the muzzle could easily be blocked by the aggressor. The same holds true for the shotgun. The handgun enjoys a clear advantage here as it can be effectively deployed even at “belly contact” distances, and may be swung into action much more quickly than a long gun.

5.) Firepower
The average bolt action rifle holds from one to three rounds. Once these are expended, reloading new rounds is a time consuming affair that’s unacceptable in a tactical situation. However, home defense is not necessarily a tactical situation, and if shots are fired they are typically few, so the rifle’s limited firepower is not strictly a deal-breaking liability. Nevertheless, my Boy Scout training has tainted me for life and I personally find it unacceptable to not “be prepared” for any eventuality, therefore I would not choose a gun severely limited in firepower for any type of personal defense.

The shotgun is somewhat better than the rifle in terms of firepower, as it generally holds up to seven or eight shells. This level of firepower is more than adequate for home defense.

The handgun is available in two platforms: the revolver and semi-autos that require a detachable magazine. Revolvers typically hold the stereotypical six rounds, thought there are variants that hold five, seven, and even eight rounds. Semi-autos hold anywhere from seven to a very comforting 33 rounds with extended magazines. The advantage here therefore goes to a semi-auto stuffed with a really long magazine, but the semi-auto handgun is not what I’d recommend for an average single-gun home.

6.) Ammunition
As noted, rifle bullets tend to be long and pointy and over penetrate, while shotgun pellets are spherical and inaccurate beyond modest distances. Handgun bullets are generally short and fat with blunt or rounded tips. Blunt tipped bullets are generally designed for hunting. Round tipped bullets are available in a bewildering array of “self defense” loads that incorporate a hollow point designed to reliably expand and remain inside the target, thereby dumping 100% of the bullet’s energy into the target and precluding over penetration. For home defense, any of the current self defense loads from the major ammo makers is a good choice.

THE CONCLUSION
If I could own only one gun for all purposes, it would unquestionably be a high power rifle. This platform is capable of fending off the rats as well as bringing home the bacon. If I could choose only one gun for home defense, it would not be a rifle. For all the reasons listed above, I feel the rifle’s liabilities outweigh its many benefits. Same goes for the shotgun.

In my opinion, the best home defense gun for the single-gun home is a revolver. A revolver is extremely easy to use, being the original “plug and play” device long before computers coined the phrase. Simply point and pull the trigger. That’s it. Revolvers are very reliable. It’s very rare for a revolver loaded with factory ammo to misfire or fail to fire. Revolvers don’t jam. In the rare event that the pull of the trigger only produces a “click,” simply pull the trigger again and a fresh cartridge revolves into place. The six rounds a revolver holds are within the average rounds statistically fired during a home defense encounter.

The ideal revolver would be one with a 4 inch barrel, as this gives the best compromise between close quarter ergonomics and muzzle velocity (which increases significantly with even small increases in barrel length). It would be chambered in .357 Magnum, but would be loaded with .38 Special +P, which is a more powerful version of the .38 Special and about halfway between the .357 and the regular .38 in power. In the next article, I’ll go into greater depth in explaining why I would choose this caliber for the home defense revolver when I discuss choosing a handgun and ammo for general defensive scenarios.


10 Gun Safety Rules
1) Always treat any gun as loaded
2) Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction
3) Always keep your finger straight and off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
4) Always keep the gun unloaded until you are ready to use it (subject to very important exceptions I’ll address in following articles)
5) Never point the gun at anything you don't intend to destroy
6) Be sure of your target and what is beyond it
7) Learn the mechanical and handling characteristics of the gun you are using
8) Always use proper ammunition
9) Be sure the barrel is clear of obstructions before loading and shooting
10) Don't rely on the gun's safety to keep it from firing (the most effective safety mechanism is the one lodged between your ears)