There is .22 and there is high powered .22 like the high velocity .223 hornet or 5.56 NATO round used in the M-16 (and others). I don't think a .22LR will bounce around much or do much damage unless it hits a vital organ.

Now an M-16 hit is likely to ricochet internally if it hits bone. But not if it only strikes soft tissue.

For larger caliber you want more mass and less velocity for knock-down power. My .45 ACP rounds do this nicely. I just prefer a revolver for home defense. Less chance of jam. And many of us old timers don't like to keep a round in the .45 chamber. But if you don't keep one there, chambering a round gives an assailant a wake-up call to shoot first.

I prefer a shotgun when it comes to active home protection. It minimizes the chance of accidentally hitting someone else (I'm more worried about thin walls than bad aim), and it's a really great form of passive protection. There's a reason cops will always have them, the sound of the pump alone is sometimes enough to dissuade an intruder.

Although first I would recommend some security company signs (even fakes ones) and a good home emergency plan for everyone in the house to know and practice.

-David

I was thinking about going bigger but i havent a need for a larger caliber gun since i moved to belonte shores acouple days ago, i live in a nice area now, I use the .22 for target practice cause ammo for a 22 is alot cheaper. CCI 100 rds 22lr $5 at walmart. I mean if someone does break in and i have to shoot, im sure the person getting shot isnt going say "Hey thats a 22, there for ill stay and watch some DiscoveryHD." They do make hollow Points for .22 caliber Long Rifles like my P22 so as far as home protection. I feel im ok, i dont want the persons head to explode....unless i have a high speed camera rolling. ;)

I did have a Mossberg 590 12 gauge shotgun with a pistolgrip top folding stock & heat sheild but too damn expensive to use at any range and if i shot that thing i would be worried that the rounds went through the walls and kill my neighbors so i sold it....Looked like this VVV

If you go the firearm route, I agree with all that has been said about the shotgun. As for handguns, I'd probably go with a Glock (uncompensated) with stock night-sights. For an extra $300-400 or so, you can get the lazer Max.

http://www.lasermax-inc.com/

Personally, I'm not a big fan of .22 or 9mm/.38 because of the relatively poor stopping power as compared to a .357, .40, .45 or dare I say the 10mm cannon. I do feel that the .22 and 9mm/.38 are among the most fun to shoot (unported/uncompensated). Of my collection, most people enjoy shooting this from Taurus:

http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=250&category=Revolver

Being that it is chambered for the .357 you can cheaply shoot .38 with it.

So you agree that you would want to see someones head blow up on a high speed camera with a shotgun, jk. :D

CJ -- *LOL* I think I was writing my post as yours was getting posted! Let me rephrase, I agree with all that has been said regarding the shotgun as a choice for home self defense. Personally, I don't want to shoot anyone nor any animal, except perhaps when playing Gears of War. Of course, should my brother-in-law take out a buck or two, I don't mind that tasty deer sausage.

I feel the same way about shoting a human or animal as you do, i had a dream years ago that i shot a person in self defence and i was depressed in the dream and depressed all day when i woke up.

HOWEVER i also had a dream that i was on an ultra exclusive island where all the worlds political figures and even terrorist hung-out regardless of current event and I tricked Bin laden into being my buddy and after i left the island he came to my house to pick me up to hang out and i killed him and his bodygaurd and i woke up happy LOL i know, weird dream that i can atribute to playing Socom III way too much about a year ago. :D

Sounds like you have a lot better recall on your dreams. Mine are usually gone before I get my first cup o coffee. *L*

We live in the front of a nice neighborhood in my town (a nice house), so a certain company (starts with an A and ends in a T) contacted us and gave us a free security system as long as we advertise their sign in front of the house. We got window break sensors on all windows, sensors on all doors, smoke detector hooked to alarm, and remote fobs for arming and disarming the system. We got this all free and we only pay like 20 bucks a month for the service. We didnt go looking for this, they contacted us. So unless you live in a real upscale place at the head of a swanky neighborhood Id just go ahead and buy the system and a AK47.

________________________________

Machine guns are illegal in MI, but if they were'nt I'd own a few. Of course we shouldnt call them machine. . . .just something more friendlier. How about "repeatative."

Excuse me but I'm leaving to go online to purchase some green tea pungi sticks, enviromental friendly smokeless gunpowder with cinnamon spice scent, Free Range steel core ammunition, happy handgrenades, "somerassault" weapons for toddlers, lead-free plasticine bullets, redsand-putty Claymore mines and some "natures' way-LAW rockets -all for my home. Gotta feed Fluffy the friendly attack dog, buy some acid free wire cage for my dive-bombing homing pidgeons, and make sure to put a warning sticker for my new Tesla selectric/electric security system, so I don't get sued.

Boy, JAAY's got me paranoid after his attempted break-in. I'm acting and sounding crazy.. . . .what was that noise???

CJ,

Actually the shotgun with the right loads, even buckshot, would be LESS likely to penetrate as many walls as your .22, or any other pistol or rifle. See, round balls lose velocity pretty quick.

Check out www.boxotruth.com for some practical penetration tests. You might be surprised.

As far as someone you shoot with a .22 wanting to watch Discovery HD with you... ;)

Some hyped up crackhead kicking in your door isn't likely to be persuaded, or much affected by such a small round.

I hope you never have to find out that your .22 is inadequate. ;)

At his contract, I don't think I could afford Andrei Kirilenko in addition to the security system! *L* (sorry, a Utah joke).

Alright, so now atleast if I need to form a militia, This is the place to do it. I am going to have a few companies come in and give me there estimates and what not. As for a fire arm in my home, I like the idea of maybe a 9mm or something that can go in a safe. I have no kids but I do not want to be tempted to take out my neighbors dog in the middle of the night or blow out my plasma when I can't find the remote in the middle of the night. As for my house being secure with locks and all, it is like for knox. My girl makes fun of me but I sleep better knowing that all is locked up. As for a gun fight in the street in my community the only thing that happens here is old people in motorized chairs. So no wheel chairs doing a roll by. As for the suffolk county comment??? Do you know how big suffolk county is? :) There are bad parts of any County. As for my area I live, on the water on the north shore out east of long island. Old people, lambos, and well I guess Crack Heads. Thanks all for your posts.. Cheered me up for bit.
J

Boy, this could get long...

The original question was about a burglary attempt and thoughts on alarms, etc. , so I'll start there.

This is how a monitored alarm system functions where I am: The alarm is triggered, for whatever reason. The alarm signal is sent to the monitoring company and is answered in turn (1 min). First, the alarm company phones the residence to ask the homeowner if the alarm is real or false (1 min). Assuming there is no answer, the alarm company phones the Police Department and speaks to the call taker, passing on the pertinent information (2 mins). The call taker passes the information on to the dispatcher by CAD (1 min). Because it's an alarm and not a breaking in progress call from a distressed homeowner, it is placed at the bottom of "the stack" behind all previous 911 calls. When it comes to the top of the stack, and two cars are available, it is dispatched (12 mins). The Police respond from wherever they happen to be in the District "routine response" (15 minutes on a good night). Thirty two minutes have passed since the alarm was triggered. I'm not knocking the Police or the alarm companies, that's just how it works. In thirty-two minutes, the burglar has robbed, raped, pillaged and is on his way. The monitored alarm is typically not very successful and the Police don't take them overly seriously because 90+% of monitored alarm calls are false alarms. A call for help from a panicked homeowner is a completely different story and the Police will be there, ready to rock.

So what works? Well, there are a few things criminals hate, mainly light and noise. Motion detector lights are good and they're cheap. Wire a couple of motions to the corners of your house with powerful spots to flood your backyard. Also, put your front porch light on motion. Next, be sure that there are no hiding spots on your property. Clean up any junk you have in your yard, and trim your bushes and trees and stuff from in front of your windows and doors, so that a criminal can't hide while trying to jimmy his way in, or worse, waiting for you to get home.

Next, install good deadbolt locks. Any lock can be breached, but make it as difficult, time consuming and noisy as you can and you'll deter most bad guys. Remember that if your doors have glass or there is a window within arm's reach of the door, you'll need to install double cylinder deadbolts. Otherwise, the guy can punch out one pane of glass, reach in and turn the lock. As important as installing good locks is actually locking them. You'd be surprised how many people leave their doors, windows and cars unlocked. Duh.

As an aside, while we're talking about cars, don't leave your car anywhere outside with a garage door opener in it, especially in plain sight, like the sunvisor. If I get the garage door opener and push the button, I'm in the garage and out of sight where I can work. Get a keychain remote and keep it with you.

Now, if you want to install an alarm, get a self contained unit with multiple sirens from Hell. Wire up all basement and first floor doors and windows and any other window that can be reached by climbing. Learn to use the alarm correctly so you never set it off by accident. That way when it does go off, your neighbors will look to see what the Hell that noise is and call for help.

Also, as Vouvoune said, you can get ADT alarm signs and window decals from ebay. While the monitored alarms are not terribly effective, the signs are. Given the choice between a house with a sign and one without, the bad guy will typically choose the house without.

A barking dog will deter criminals as well, regardless of their size. Another cool trick, whether you have a dog or not, is to get a giant dog house, some giant dog bowls and a giant dog chain for your yard. Tie the dog chain to a tree and leave it on the ground. Let the burglar try to figure out where that big son-of-a-******************** is.

There's lots of other stuff, but that should get you started. It's all about layers of protection. If you make them jump through enough hoops, they'll go elsewhere.

About the guns...

I hate to say it, but CJ is dead wrong about a .22 bouncing and around causing damage. It's not a good choice for home protection. The .22 is small and travels fast. When it hits the body, it travels right through and doesn't do a whole lot of damage. Assassins like them, but that's because they're very quiet and the assassin is taking a headshot from a protected position, in an environment that he controls. Making that shot after being startled out of sleep in the middle of the night...well, that ain't gonna happen. You don't have to get fancy with home protection. Any .38, .357, 9mm .40 loaded with hollowpoints will do. Be sure that you and every other adult in the house knows exactly how to use it, and under stressful circumstances. For God's sake keep it out of the reach of children, yours and everyone else's. The key with a handgun is practice, practice, practice.

Here's a tip on shooting people. :eek: They do not go down like on TV. They do not fly across the room and crash into walls and stuff. They stay up and keep right on coming. I don't care what you're shooting them with. Even people who are obviously mortally wounded will continue to come and will do a whole lot of damage before they finally expire. There are two ways to deal with this, and they are not mutually exclusive.

1) Your best chance to instantly stop someone is not a center mass shot or a headshot (that you won't make). Your best chance is an abdomen shot. First, it will evacuate the attackers lungs quicker than a center mass hit will, like being punched in the gut. Second, the body's natural reaction is to double over, which will stop forward progress. Third, it is so excruciatingly painful that only the most determined attacker can continue much farther.

2) Keep firing until the threat is neutralized. By that I mean, don't fire once and think it's over; it's not. Keep firing until the threat goes down and doesn't get up.

Hope I helped.

Oh ya, and to add to griz, shoot to kill. Seriously, if you dont kill them they will sue you to kingdom come. Any tiny loophole and a good lawyer will get you if you dont have a gun license or something stupid. They cant sue if they are dead, its self defense.

Geez, Grizzly. Very, very useful post but kind of depressing.

Think I'll go lay down.......

JAAY maybe you got it all wrong. It was most likey your ex girlfriend who wanted come come and pay you a visit!

When I think things may be turning ugly at the house I just go get Sam...


Samuel L Colt .45

I believe an 18 inch shotgun is all that is needed here.

Take aim in the general direction of your fav crackhead and pull both triggers.

Or, the pump is nice if you prefer.

Then, ring up the cops and have a glass of wine while you wait.

:)

RE: home defense gun
 

What you want in a home defense firearm is:

--high incapacitation power (not to be confused with lethality)


--reliablity/dependability (jams, easy operation under stress)


--low outside penetration threat (is round going to hit Jimmy sleeping in next room?)


--easily handled under stress


Shotgun, it's a little indiscriminate. Unbeatable knockdown power.



Assault rifle, unwieldy in close quarters, over penetration, jams, overkill.



Semi-auto pistol any caliber any make has a possiblilty of a jam (try clearing a stove pipe under extreme stress). Statistically 1 in 1000 rounds will be a dud, then you have to cycle the round. Fumbling/forgetting safety under stress, unless you have a Sigsaur.


IMO clear winner is a revolver, .357 or .38 +P minimum with Glaser safety Slugs or Corbon. Utterly reliable. Dud? no problem pull the trigger again. Dependable, just pull trigger, no safety worries. With the safety slugs you get good stopping power without over penetration. Only downside I see is muzzle flash is more so with stubby and might be a bit slower for subsequent target aquisition after initial shot. If you need more than 6 shots, you didn't have much of a chance to begin with. Either you were highly outnumbered or your markmanship preparedness was bound to fail you.