What is the best caliber of weapon to use for personal / self defense?

Question

What is the best caliber of weapon to use for personal / self defense?

Answer 1

The best weapon for personal defense is a telephone.  Most guns used for self defense are taken away by the attacker and used against the citizen.

Answer 2

Stainless Steel Ruger GP-100 .357 Magnum.

Cor-Bon 125 Grain JHP .357 Magnum Cartridges.

I am an NRA Instructor for home Defense.  The firearm that I normally recommend to my students for defense of their own home or person, is a revolver normally equipped with a 4 inch barrel.

Be the revolver made by Taurus, Colt, Smith & Wesson, or Ruger, you cannot go wrong with the simplicity the revolver provides.

If you are in a gunfight that requires more than 6 rounds to get you out of harms way, you are simply in the wrong war.  

Basically, the issue that I have with a semi-automatic being used for a home defense weapon, is this.

If the first round fails to fire for any reason, you have to put down the phone while you cycle the slide to chamber the next round.  With a revolver, its pretty simple, you just pull the trigger again.  One of those 6 rounds is definately going to go bang.

Plus when you take the revolver to the range to practice, (which you should often), you can shoot .38 Specials in it, so you are not beating your hands up with full charges.

This is not to be said, that you should not practice occasionally with the .357 Magnum loads.  Its a very good idea to understand how the pistol is going to react with the hotter cartridges.

Good Luck, and happy shooting.

Answer 3

Number one stopper:  The .357 Magnum revolver with the 4" barrel and loaded with quality defensive ammo of 125 grains semi-jacketed hollow point.

Number two stopper:  The .45 acp w/quality defensive ammo.

Two other good choices:  The 9mm with quality defensive ammo of 115 to 127 grain weight and jacketed hollow point design.

The old .38 Special again with quality defensive ammo of 110 to 125 grain semi-jacketed hollow point design.

With 9mm stay away from anything of full-metal-jacket design or subsonic for defensive purposes.  With the .38 Special stay away from ball ammo like the 130 grain solid or the 158 grain round lead ball.

H

Answer 4

9MM for concealed carry...... 12 gauge Pump action shotgun for home.....

Mossberg 500 shotguns....

http://www.mossberg.com/products/default...

Heres whats at my residence......

http://www.mossberg.com/images/Mossberg_...

Answer 5

swordgun(made it up), never have to reload after you don't have any bullets.

Answer 6

large bore, like .44 Special or .45 ACP or Long Colt

Answer 7

What ever you feel comfortable with and fits your needs.  A 12 gauge is great, except for concealed carry, or if the recoil is too much for you.  Its better to hit someone with a .38 Special than to miss them with a .44 magnum.

Answer 8

The one you're most comfortable with.

Evan Marshall's study showed a larger percentage of one-shot stops with 357 Magnum among the handguns, but his methodology was not perfect, and his numbers were too small to be take-to-the-bank certain. A 12-bore shotgun, 45 Colt, or 45 ACP all will do a reliable job roughly comparable to 357.

Answer 9

What if the telephone lines are down, or the police can't make it on time?

And when you are scared fine motor skills are lost, so dialing the phone would be difficult.

It is up to the individual to provide for himself.  You have to work to pay your expenses, no one will do it for you, so why would anyone defend you? You are responsible for you.

Anyway, I'll cut the c**p and answer your question.

12 GA 00buck

230gr. .45ACP JHP*

125gr. .357 Magnum JHP*

(**Jacketed Hollow-Point)

Answer 10

12 gauge shotgun. 00 buckshot or #4 buckshot for indoors, and slugs for distance.

Answer 11

There are only two (2*) best choices.* The tried, true, tested, and proven 357 Magnum in a 4 or 6 inch revolver loaded with 125 grain jacketed hollow points.* No.2= A 20 or 12 gauge shotgun loaded with number 4 bird shot will take care of business.* Its better to have both on hand.* I do.*

Answer 12

9mm easy to use and preaty light weight so easy to carry

Answer 13

The gun that you can make 2" groups at 25 yards under stress with. Always make head shots w/ calibers less than .380.  

Answer 14

For indoor use, you can use pistol, rifle, or shotgun effectively.

A shotgun is typically inexpensive and allows for some variety of rounds and shot patterns.  I would go with 12 gauge 00 buck, #1 buck or possibly #4 buck with slugs for back up.

A rifle is generally overpowered for indoor use, but .223/5.56NATO tends to be even less lethal than pistol rounds after going through a wall, so it may actually be a safer round if collateral damage is considered.

However, shotguns and rifles, while offering a more powerful and accurate payload are sometimes cumbersome indoors, and typically require two hands to use effectively.  Pistols can be more effectively weilded with one hand freeing the off hand for a variety of tasks, including opening doors, holding a cell phone, picking up a baby/leading family members out, struggling with an intruder, etc.

So a pistol remains an excellent choice for home defense.  For caliber, .380 is probably as small as you would want to go, and it isn't much smaller than 9mm.

9mm is also cheaper than .380, so you are far more likely to practice frequently with the 9 versus the .380.

.40 and .357SIG kick a little hard, but both are good enough.  More expensive than 9mm, though..

357m and .44m are both excellent manstoppers, but usually only come in a revolver which has its own limitation and advantages. Once again, more expensive than 9mm.

.45ACP is a tried and true round that is more expensive than 9mm, but many folks swear by it.  I personally use it because I have a 1911, but I don't buy into the hype that it is the be-all/end-all of pistol technology.  ...45ACP is also heavier and bulkier, so it limits your capacity.  If you live in California where there is a 10 round mag limit, then no big deal, but in the parts of the US where the Constitution still applies, the higher capacity of the smaller rounds may be more appealling.

So, to recap, 12g and .223 are both very functional, but a pistol allows for greater mobility.  I like .45ACP, but I wouldn't feel the slightest bit underarmed with 9mm.

You didn't ask about platform, but for Home Defense, I would pick something with a weaponlight rail, and for Concealed Carry I would pick whatever you will actually carry, (The Kahr .380 in your pocket does more good than the .44mag DEagle in your gunsafe.)

Good luck and remember that whatever cal you choose, training and range time will be what helps the most.

Answer 15

most weapons used for self defense are most often used on the owner.   A good caliber is always a 22.  It doesn't pack much punch but a fired gun can often freak the $hit out of most burglers.  Plus the 22 doesn't have the power to go through the bed room wall and kill your kid while its sleeping.  

Answer 16

12 ga

Marshfield

Lets try a little experiment

Pretend that I am a Bad Guy

You stand about 20 feet away from me with a telephone and a handgun and I'll have a simple pocket knife

When I start toward you you grab the tool you think will stop me before I get to you and cut your throat

Ptrobrn

Please show me the link to the credible source that tells you that handguns are usually taken away from the owner

I don't want some biased Brady link I want to see the research that they get their talking points form

Answer 17

Chuck Norris's fists

Answer 18

I believe 9mm, .40 caliber, or .45 acp for semi-autos and .38 or .357 magnum for revolvers are you best calibers.

If you want low recoil and cheaper ammo. I would go with 9mm. Many police departments in my local area still use 9mm rounds. My next favorite round is the .45acp. Basically it comes down to personal preference. I am not a revolver guy and I do not like the .40 caliber's snap recoil.

It also depends on the brand and model of handgun you are looking at. Smaller handguns could have more recoil.

Answer 19

A compact .380 would do.