Best gun for home defense for a novice shooter?

[Babalonian]

If i had to choose a home defence weapon it would be a PTRS-41. (no i didnt get it from one of those call of duty games, or as i say call of nerds) Its a large caliber-gas operated anti tank weapon. it might blow a limb or two off but it will teach him to never come back!
(Image removed from quote.)

Yet you chose to post a pic of the call of noobs bipodless scoped varient, most uncommon of the PTRS during WWII.   

[ROX]

A robbery is a crime done person-on-person with a weapon.

What you described is a burglary.

To remember the difference just remember the scene in "Pulp Fiction" where the Brit gets up in a crowded eatery...pulls and points his weapon and shouts "THIS is a ROBBERY".

If he fears another burglary THE BEST thing to do is call around for estimates on a home security system.  The second a window gets broken, a door opens or a sliding glass door is comprimised the signal goes directly to the local PD or sherriff's office and they dispatch an officer or officers ASAP.  He NEEDS this kind of system.

If he fears a home invasion or robbery (as in someone has broken into his home and is brandishing a weapon) the best thing to do is have a handgun or shotgun at a "fallback position"...someplace he can quickly run to and lock the door while he's getting his weapon.  The BEST thing in addition to this is having a large dog...German Shepherds are fantastic for this.  The second the glass in the door breaks or even someone lurking around the house the ears go up, the dander gets up, rows of sparp scary teeth are open and the bark-alert of a big dog makes even the boldest of robbers turn and run for easier pickings.  All for the price of some water, dogfood, the occasional rawhide treat, and some well deserved ear and belly rubs (actually they are family so there's a ton of respect and love there but that's another thread).

That dog will give his/her life to bite the 'nads off anyone entering the house without consent of the master.  That gives you plenty of time to get to the fallback position to get armed.

"Beware of Dog" signs are a good deterrent even if you don't have a dog--but get one anyway.  We have two shepherds and the sight of 4 ears and rows of frightening teeth barking "somebody's here" through the small door window would be a great deterrent--and when you have deterrants bad guys leave and look for easier pickings.

I have a 45 cal semi at my fallback position.  If they get over the fence, get by 2 adult GS dogs and still are in my house--they have earned the right to have me aircondition them with .45.  Yeah, the next trip is to Hope Depot to get the paint and patch for the holes in the wall and bloodstains on the floor after the law enforcement reports are complete.

[Jayhawk]

.22 will kill someone just as easy as a 45 lllogggan

Define easy

If i had to choose a home defence weapon it would be a PTRS-41. (no i didnt get it from one of those call of duty games, or as i say call of nerds) Its a large caliber-gas operated anti tank weapon. it might blow a limb or two off but it will teach him to never come back!
(Image removed from quote.)

I Hope You Are Joking (Sorry Phone Is Freaking out On The Caps)

A robbery is a crime done person-on-person with a weapon.

What you described is a burglary.

To remember the difference just remember the scene in "Pulp Fiction" where the Brit gets up in a crowded eatery...pulls and points his weapon and shouts "THIS is a ROBBERY".

If he fears another burglary THE BEST thing to do is call around for estimates on a home security system.  The second a window gets broken, a door opens or a sliding glass door is comprimised the signal goes directly to the local PD or sherriff's office and they dispatch an officer or officers ASAP.  He NEEDS this kind of system.

If he fears a home invasion or robbery (as in someone has broken into his home and is brandishing a weapon) the best thing to do is have a handgun or shotgun at a "fallback position"...someplace he can quickly run to and lock the door while he's getting his weapon.  The BEST thing in addition to this is having a large dog...German Shepherds are fantastic for this.  The second the glass in the door breaks or even someone lurking around the house the ears go up, the dander gets up, rows of sparp scary teeth are open and the bark-alert of a big dog makes even the boldest of robbers turn and run for easier pickings.  All for the price of some water, dogfood, the occasional rawhide treat, and some well deserved ear and belly rubs (actually they are family so there's a ton of respect and love there but that's another thread).

That dog will give his/her life to bite the 'nads off anyone entering the house without consent of the master.  That gives you plenty of time to get to the fallback position to get armed.

"Beware of Dog" signs are a good deterrent even if you don't have a dog--but get one anyway.  We have two shepherds and the sight of 4 ears and rows of frightening teeth barking "somebody's here" through the small door window would be a great deterrent--and when you have deterrants bad guys leave and look for easier pickings.

I have a 45 cal semi at my fallback position.  If they get over the fence, get by 2 adult GS dogs and still are in my house--they have earned the right to have me aircondition them with .45.  Yeah, the next trip is to Hope Depot to get the paint and patch for the holes in the wall and bloodstains on the floor after the law enforcement reports are complete.

A Dog is an excellent Defense Or At Least Alert System, Great Point

[eagl]

Morally:
It's wrong to kill unless in self defense. If you disabled the intruder and you're in no imminent danger, you call 911. You don't go and murder.

Legally:
If something like that occur and involves anybody reading this forum, you may be charged with conspiracy to murder, or if you do it yourself, with 1st degree murder.

Don't talk about responsible gun ownership and give crapy advice like that.

Nonsense, pure hypocritical bleeding heart nonsense.

If I have the opportunity to kill someone who has illegally entered my house, I'm going to take the opportunity whether or not I have had the time to question his motives.  I'll shoot first and shoot to kill, rather than interview the intruder to determine whether his intent is theft, mayhem, rape, or murder.  I simply don't need to know his exact intent before I make every attempt to end his life.  Not only do I not care (and under TX state law it doesn't matter), I don't feel the need to place my life and the life of my family at risk in order to protect an intruder who may or may not at any time decide to add a violent crime to the one he has already committed by his mere presence in my house.

If I merely wound an intruder/attacker in my own home, I have committed an error and have placed me and my family further at risk.  Why would I ever consider simply wounding an intruder to be a satisfactory response when nothing good can come from it?

That said, I will assess the situation before pulling the trigger to determine if he (or she) has made a simple mistake by entering my house.  For example, a neighbor or someone calling out (hey anyone home, you have a huge water leak in your yard, hello!) probably won't get shot.  But I sure as heck will not give any intruder even the slightest opportunity to harm me or my family, and that means their last chance to not get shot passed them by when they chose to enter the house.  The same goes for someone on my property who continues to advance towards my family or attempt to enter the house without responding properly after being challenged.

Sorry, an intruder's life is worth nothing to me when compared to the lives of me and my family.  An intruder has all the opportunity in the world to decide to not enter my house in the first place and I will make every attempt to ensure they don't have the opportunity to commit ANOTHER crime after they are already in my house.  Any other response is simply suicidal insanity.

[eagl]

.22 will kill someone just as easy as a 45 lllogggan

Nonsense.

A .22 round in a critical area will kill someone for sure, but a more effective round not only will stop someone quicker, but also may have a completely different definition of "critical area".  As just one example, if you hit a major bone with a .22 you may have simply annoyed the target.  Hit a major bone with a .45 and the target may be completely incapacitated, and blood vessels running alongside the impacted bone are likely to suffer damage from the shattering bone, leading to a massive bleeding and rapid incapacitation.

.22s can be lethal, yup.  But they're a terrible defensive weapon except MAYBE in situations where extreme compactness of the gun is critical for concealed carry purposes.  But a tiny .25 or .30 will be somewhat more effective and not much harder to conceal.

[Belial]

Yea i guess if 50cent can get shot 9 times by a 22 they must suck


but seriously I'll take a 22 over a 45 anyday because I've shot a 45 quite a few times and they arent nearly as accurate

[Jayhawk]

Yea i guess if 50cent can get shot 9 times by a 22 they must suck


but seriously I'll take a 22 over a 45 anyday because I've shot a 45 quite a few times and they arent nearly as accurate

lol that's totally your call.  Accuracy is such relevant term though.  The .45 takes more training to become proficient in, with its higher recoil and often heaver weight, a lot of people have more trouble shooting it accurately.  A self defense shooting doesn't require you to cut a playing card at 100 yards,  a self defense shooting is usually within 7 yards (often less) and if you can't hit a person at that distance with a .45, You probably shouldn't own a gun.

It sure sounds like you just can't handle that .45 so you're blaming the entire caliber.

[Tupac]

If i had to choose a home defence weapon it would be a PTRS-41. (no i didnt get it from one of those call of duty games, or as i say call of nerds) Its a large caliber-gas operated anti tank weapon. it might blow a limb or two off but it will teach him to never come back!
(Image removed from quote.)

I'd love to try and watch someone take that 100 pound beast and try and maneuver it in a house.

[Belial]

Nah Ive shot alot of larger pistols we own a .357 magnum revolver...kicks like a mule but it's pretty accurate.


The thing with 45 is it isn't accurate at least from what I've seen...I was shooting a prison guards and I wasn't impressed at all.


Maybe because our .357 has about a 6inch barrel and the 45 is like 2 inches.


The thing literally couldn't hold a 24" spread at 25 feet.
And it wasn't just me shooting it the owner of it couldn't even do any better and he was in a war and a guard.
I expect a gun to hit exactly where I aim it and I know my 22 does

[Tupac]

 If I was moving out to the ghetto tomorrow, this would be my home defense weapon.

http://www.taurususa.com/video-theJudge.cfm

[Belial]

If I was moving out to the ghetto tomorrow, this would be my home defense weapon.

http://www.taurususa.com/video-theJudge.cfm

WINS^

[katanaso]

Nah Ive shot alot of larger pistols we own a .357 magnum revolver...kicks like a mule but it's pretty accurate.


The thing with 45 is it isn't accurate at least from what I've seen...I was shooting a prison guards and I wasn't impressed at all.


Maybe because our .357 has about a 6inch barrel and the 45 is like 2 inches.


The thing literally couldn't hold a 24" spread at 25 feet.
And it wasn't just me shooting it the owner of it couldn't even do any better and he was in a war and a guard.
I expect a gun to hit exactly where I aim it and I know my 22 does

A .45 with a 2 inch barrel?

I can tell you with 100% confidence that a decently made .45 is very accurate at 25 feet if you know how to shoot.

[Tupac]

WINS^

I was a little suprised noone had posted it yet.

One of the coolest pistols ever IMO

[Serenity]

Yea i guess if 50cent can get shot 9 times by a 22 they must suck


but seriously I'll take a 22 over a 45 anyday because I've shot a 45 quite a few times and they arent nearly as accurate

Really? I've spent time with .40 cal and .45 cal, and honestly, I can put a perfect grouping at range with the .40 and .45, but cannot hit jack with the .22. I've actually had a hard time even hitting the target with my buddy's .22s, but as soon as I picked up his Kimber .45 I was knocking 'em out like it was an action movie.

[skorpion]

Ok if it isnt a PTRS-41 its this sexy beast

Sleek, accurate and deadly....
but seriously try a .45 or a 12 Ga. shotgun