Best Bedside Home Defender

[BigPimping]

Rock out with your Glock out.

[SNCaliber]

Sig P220 or 12 ga.

[dogcatcher]

Full size P220. If it is not going to be a CCW, you might as well take advantage of the full sight radius, mag capacity, and extra barrel to get that heavy 45acp bullet up speed.

[not-fishing]

My best bedside first response home defender.



Just a little Louisiana State Prison Dog Breed that the prison used for over a hundred years.

[clc2112]

My best bedside first response home defender.



Just a little Louisiana State Prison Dog Breed that the prison used for over a hundred years.

I see he's packin', what's he chambered in?

[clc2112]

Thanks everyone for the info. Lots of good stuff to chew on. I'll be putting this gun in a speed vault mounted between my bed and nightstand. That is the reason I originally was thinking compact.

I have never owned or even shot a 1911. In due time after a few more of my wish list guns are obtained.

My first path is to try and buy back the P220 combat I sold recently. Stupid! If that doesn't work out I will look at some of items mentioned here and pick the one that best suits me. I do like a cool, tactical or bad *** factor when I get new guns.

Thanks!

[zack_trp1911]

I have a Springfield operator 1911 full size with an X300ultra. It is chambered with 7+1, and two spare mags next to it.

I'm comfortable with this gun and train with it a lot. It's my EDC

[zack_trp1911]

You should definitely test out more pistols and once you find one, train with it

[scotchblade]

You got me thinking about my own choices.

Thoughts on a 4" Ruger Redhawk loaded with a Buffalo Bore (or similar) .44 Specials? Had not considered it for HD in the past, but seems like it could be a good back up to my 590A1 instead of my Glock 19.

[Lead Waster]

You got me thinking about my own choices.

Thoughts on a 4" Ruger Redhawk loaded with a Buffalo Bore (or similar) .44 Specials? Had not considered it for HD in the past, but seems like it could be a good back up to my 590A1 instead of my Glock 19.

Keep in mind your neighbors and people in other rooms and also try and preserve some of your hearing as well.

IMHO it's better to be able to hit the intruder, even with smaller rounds and use him/her as a bullet catcher than miss with a larger caliber bullet and send it into your neighbors house.

For less lethal...
Add pepper spray (stream, not fog!) to your bedside. Sure it will suck if your bedroom fills with it and you are both stung by it, but you know your house and he/she doesn't. Follow that up with a baseball bat to the sternum.

[Ronin2]

Best bedside home defender?

Its a team effort in my house.....

[sholling]

You don't need or want a carry sized gun for a bedside weapon because they are harder to handle and the short barrels limit ballistics. Unfortunately my 1st choice S&W M&P45 fell off the roster of approved handguns, but you can still (for now) find an M&P40. The M&P can be fitted with a weapon light and a Crimson Trace laser backstrap. Having the laser's switch integrated into the grip allows for a far more instinctual/rapid off/on/off in a HD situation than flipping a switch with your off hand.

Weapon light choices for the M&P:

http://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Trace-Lightguard-Full-Size-9mm/dp/B004PZ7FKO

or

http://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-69.../dp/B00B8Q31UQ

+

http://www.amazon.com/Strmlght-Tlr-Remote-Fits-Std/dp/B008IOCYJK

A good cheap but reliable and easier to find choice is S&W's SD40 VE for less than $400. Add a TLR-1 weapon light or TLR-2 light + laser and you're good to go.

[ScottsBad]

Forget the pistol, get a light weight AR-15 with a 14.5" barrel and a good light. Fewer over-penetration issues and more effective. I keep one of these and a Walther PPQ in 9mm with +p HP hidden next to my bed. Along with two dogs, a security system, and a wife who shoots and is an incredibly light sleeper. Being paranoid I'm thinking of a surveillance system too.

If you do stick with the pistol, get a full size ala Glock 17 size, or medium size ala Glock 19. No smaller than that. I think Sig has a full size .45 that has a 10 round cap. Be careful, pistols over penetrate even with hollow point even with 9mm. The hollow point fills with material from the barrier and sometimes fails to expand. It is pretty well known now that a 5.56 55 grain round penetrates through walls less readily than many pistol rounds.

There are frangible safety rounds like Glazer that are devastating in tissue, but do not penetrate like a regular HD round. If you hit someone you'd better realize that they will probably expire because of all the small fragments. Here is a very good video with shots into gel and through a wall into gel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZChpQCdBfg

Realize that a regular .45acp round can easily go through a couple walls and out of your house if you don't hit something hard.

[J.D.Allen]

From the choices you posted? The Sig. Easy. No contest. A long gun would be best for HD but a sidearm is not a bad idea for bedside in case you have to fight your way to your rifle or shotgun. I would echo what other have said and make it a full size though...

[J.D.Allen]

And a dog is a great idea as others have stated. It doesn't have to be a big dog but they can hear and smell things that you can't and alert you to a potential intruder, maybe even before they get into the house. They can also tell you what direction the threat is coming from. Being awake and alert before an intruder gets to you in the middle of the night is worth ten guns