HD gun

[electric7]

The M&P 45 is nice, comes with 10 round mags. Also could consider the P220 and get the 10 round single stack mags with extended grip. The P220 does not have a safety because it's double-action. The M&P 45 is available without a safety, but might be more difficult to find that version. I would go without a safety because you might forget to hit the button under stress if you don't practice regularly, like at shooting matches or something.

[Ritchie8719]

Do it right and get the CZ!

He has a CZ. This is a stupid thread, I have to go take a shower because I posted twice.

[Tekguy]

Glock 17 is the best value for the price. You can find them for 375 on here occasionally

[Ronin2]

IWI Uzi Pro Pistol

Hey, hey... thats not a HD weapon without one of these bad boys;

[North Bay Guy]

My Remington 870 is always ready with 00 buck. For a pistol it's between my Glock17 and Glock22. That's just my preference, there a lot of good HD guns out there and people have different needs, hand sizes, wants, etc.

[hcbr]

OP, all that you have are great choices, as for my personal opinion (and me being a glock guy) i'd say go for the Glock 21 SF

That or Glock 17 as well if you want to stick with 9mm

[Erick Danielsen]

Do a little searching and you'll find M&P9 mags for under $30. The unavailability and high prices have been a thing of the past for a couple months now.

[tommyfly]

you live in AZ?

My vote goes to a short ar-15 loaded with soft points. Easy to mount a flashlight. I would think an EO tech would be easier to use in low-light than irons. 30 loving rounds of firepower. You could find ways to mount extra mags to your rig.

If your stuck on a handgun, try each one out. Then buy the one you end up having the tightest groups with.

[L84CABO]

Would you find it difficult to walk around your house with a shotgun?

Tactical slings are great for guns if you need two hands.

Yes. I find it difficult to walk around and navigate my house with a shotgun.

And it's still challenging to shoot it one handed if you need to even if it's on a sling.

[cusco19]

Handgun rounds make poor manstoppers. We use handguns because they are small, portable, and easily concealable. If you aren't bound by those constraints then use a long gun like a shotgun or carbine. Make sure the fight is as unfair as possible by having more firepower than the intruder. Chances of them having a long gun are very slim.

funny you mentioned that, cuz today one of my friend and i had the same discussion. i told him i was looking into getting a handgun for HD and he told me that's a bad choice, unless if i'm very accurate.

he suggested getting a shotgun so for sure u will hit the threat. but then i told him if the house has tight hallways and lots of corners, wouldn't a long gun be hard to maneuver around in high tense situations?

[North Bay Guy]

wouldn't a long gun be hard to maneuver around in high tense situations?

Yes. That combined with the fact during the unthinkable my first priority is going to be retrieving my young son from his room and bringing him back to the master. I can only imagine that would be a much easier task with my handgun in hand verses a shotgun. Once back in the master bedroom all gloves are off and my wife and I will level the playing field with an AR and shotgun.

[Ronin2]

There is NO DOUBT that the shotgun and rifle are superior in threat negation than the handgun for so many reasons. If someone told me I was going to be in a gun fight, with no other specifics, I would take my rifle. If denied my rifle I would take a shotgun. If denyed my shotgun only then would I consider a handgun.

What no one wants to discuss in these home defense threads that seem to want to pit the long gun crowd against the handgun crowd are the issues of;

1) Weapon familiarity and manipulation in the dark under stress?

People generally are not as familiar with their rifles/shotguns as they are with their handguns. Should they change that? YES. Do they? apparently not if you look at the ratio of handgun to shotgun/rifle classes offered by the myriad of professional firearms schools. The bottom line reality is that most long gun owners DO NOT GET PROFESSIONAL TRAINING and to not train on a regular basis with their long guns. Very few ever leave the square range with their long guns for shoot house training and familiarity, ever!

2) Defensive (barricade ) weapon or offensive (structure clearing) activities.

Without a doubt, if you believe there is someone illegally in your home' the best course of action is to 1) call 911 and STAY ON THE PHONE 2) count noses and roundup your family into the most secure room 3) take up a barricade position in that room BEHIND the hardest cover available with a SHOTGUN and wait for police to clear your house.

If you choose to "clear your house" you expose yourself to huge risk. The intruder is wide awake, probably dressed in dark clothes and will have the element of surprise as you enter whatever room he is in. He WILL hear you, and if he stays to fight' or is/feels trapped, he WILL try to surprise you and if he is unarmed, knock you to the ground. If he is armed with a gun, he will take a barricade position in a dark room and try to shoot you as you make entry. Dynamic (lights on) house clearing is the best but in most cases, you have to enter a dark room to get to the light switch. That means being silhouetted while passing thru the doorway into the dark room. Doorways are called "fatal funnel's "for a reason as you are always most vulnerble when passing thru them. A scared teenager may well hide behind/under furnature in this situation . An experienced criminal who knows its him or you, may very well be waiting just inside the door, ready to rush you, fight you for your weapon, assuming he is unarmed, and disarm you. To make your long gun ineffective, all he has to do is bat it a few inches off axis with his hand if its held at high ready or you are looking thru the sights and if its at a low ready, simply rush in and trap it into your body. Then its just a wrestling match for the long gun. And winner WILL take all. As long as the intruder has his hands on the barrel, you will most likely NOT be able to shoot him and once his hands are on that barrel, leverage is hugely in his favor to keep you from bringing the long gun to bear again. If you have specialized weapons retention training, then go for it but the vast majority of homeowners do not and my only reason for recommending the handgun over the long gun is the inability of most average Joe's to retain their long gun and BRING IT TO BEAR in a physical altercation with a potentially younger, stronger and more trained opponent. Period.

The handgun is a far easier weapon for an untrained person to "retain" and bring to bear at contact distances. If this wasn't the case, you would see police SOP requiring the officers retrieve rifles and shotguns before clearing a structure. They usually do not AND remember they make the single best choice possible whenever they can...they always try to clear a structure with partners or teams, vastly reducing the inherent risk in structure clearing.. Another option most homeowners do not have.

Comments will be made that our troops in the middle east use long guns when clearing houses...don't forget that's is all most are armed with and also remember that they too clear structures in teams, dynamically, often with the use of explosives. Again very unlike the lone civilian homeowner in his dark house alone.

Nothing telegraphs that "you are coming in" like the muzzle of your long gun entering the room first and silhouetted in the doorway by the lit hallway behind. Clearing a hallway or room requires "slicing the pie" and training dictates that you stay as far as possible from outboard corners and you clear to inboard corners. The corner of a doorway into a room or a hallway is an outboard corner. It's damn hard to stay far away in the confines of a typical middle class American house while looking down the barrel of a long gun. Can it be done? Yes. Are there lots of risks and issues using the long gun? Most definitely. Have most all homeowners with a long gun trained to mitigate those risks and issues inside the home? NO!

The above are just my opinions and observations. I have trained extensively in structure clearing with both handguns and long guns. The fact that I have done far more training with the handgun, makes it the weapon of choice for me.

Use what you feel will best serve you but if you choose a long gun, please do not do so blind to the risks there are inherent in its use inside a structure.

Cheers!