.45 too much for home defense?

[AvidshooterTX]

We shoot to STOP the threat - not to kill or wound or anything else. We shoot center of mass because a head shot is shooting to kill and a knee cap is shooting to punish. When the threat is over you stop shooting.

[Unfettered Might]

We shoot to STOP the threat - not to kill or wound or anything else. We shoot center of mass because a head shot is shooting to kill and a knee cap is shooting to punish. When the threat is over you stop shooting.

I disagree, we meet deadly force with deadly force and are specifically allowed to do so for good reason. They are not showing mercy or restraint and as such neither do they deserve it from us.

Barring a complete shutdown of the central nervous system, you are not assured the threat is over. So a shot through the spinal column or a head shot are the only way to instantly end a deadly threat. Even a shot through the heart doesn't guarantee immediate incapacitation, there is still enough oxygen in the brain for it to function for a short time.

I'm going for the head if given the chance.

[jtg452]

I saw something in a forum on another sight that got me concerned. Someone mentioned that (in his/herstate?) using a .45 even to defend your home can be used against you by the law, because it can be considered overkill and you could be charged with aggravated assault because you selected a gun with the intent of doing the most damage or quickest kill. I could see where an anti-gun court might use that to paint you as over aggressive, but otherwise is there any legitiamcy to this concept?

Overkill would begin with, "After the artillery barrage lifts ..." or "After the air strike ..."

Well, that and maybe a flamethrower.

Fighting fair in a gunfight will work out for you about as well as trying to follow the London Prize Fight rules in a bar brawl. You 'cheat' so you get to live long enough to feel bad about it later. If it comes down to 'me or him' (and it's reached that point in a self defense situation), I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure it's 'him'.

I aim center of mass because that's the biggest target and I know that with all the adrenaline caused by fear pumping through my system, the fine motor control necessary to aim at something smaller is gonna be gone and all those big ,slow, heavy bullets have a better chance of finding something vital so the threat to my life and/or well being comes to an end. I don't care if I miss and he hollers, "Lord Jesus," as he breaks the Olympic record for the 440 clearing out of there as long as Mrs. Joyce's baby boy gets to go on breathing.

[kelcarry]

hEY Debray: Your missives on having a gun "made my day". Wrote them down and will share with likeminded gun owners

[myblacktruck]

I to carry my 45 at all times and wouldnt have it any other way . I think you should use whatever your comfortable with . At home I got the 12 gauge with 3 inch slugs my 45 lastly my 44 mag . I guess I'm completly overkill then . If someone is in your house uninvited it shouldl't even be an issue to defend your family and what you work to have . Its a bad feeling when you get home and your stuff is gone as I recently found out , but had I been home I wouldn't have thought twice about using any of my guns ! Hope none of you have to go through it ever

[jtg452]

I to carry my 45 at all times and wouldnt have it any other way . I think you should use whatever your comfortable with . At home I got the 12 gauge with 3 inch slugs my 45 lastly my 44 mag . I guess I'm completly overkill then . If someone is in your house uninvited it shouldl't even be an issue to defend your family and what you work to have . Its a bad feeling when you get home and your stuff is gone as I recently found out , but had I been home I wouldn't have thought twice about using any of my guns ! Hope none of you have to go through it ever

Why 3" slugs?

Have many cape buffalo or grizzly bears doing home invasions in your neighborhood?

The advantage a shotgun gives is multiple projectiles. Throwing .75 caliber, 1 oz masses of lead around at 1400fps sounds impressive but in fact, is slow to shoot multiple times and is going to really over penetrate unless you need it to stop a vehicle by taking out the engine.

EDIT: At home defense ranges, even Cylinder Bore chokes (no choke at all) give you a pattern little bigger than your fist. My 12 gauge 1100 housegun using a 21" rifle sighted barrel and a Cylinder Bore choke throws a pattern the size of the black of a standard 100 yard rifle target at 17 yards when shooting either Winchester (16 ball lead) or Federal (20 ball plated) #1 Buck . At across the room distances (3 or 4 yards), the pattern isn't discernible because it causes 1 big ragged hole of over 1 inch in size.

Besides, you normally can get 1 more round in the tube if you use 2 3/4" shells and mo' bullets is always mo' better.

[AvidshooterTX]

I disagree, we meet deadly force with deadly force and are specifically allowed to do so for good reason. They are not showing mercy or restraint and as such neither do they deserve it from us.

Barring a complete shutdown of the central nervous system, you are not assured the threat is over. So a shot through the spinal column or a head shot are the only way to instantly end a deadly threat. Even a shot through the heart doesn't guarantee immediate incapacitation, there is still enough oxygen in the brain for it to function for a short time.

I'm going for the head if given the chance.

If you shoot for the head you are more likely to miss and hit something unintended beyond your target. My instructor recommended that if the BG doesn't go down after a couple shots at center of mass then switch to the hip area, which is hard to cover with body armor. One or two hits there will likely spin him around and bring him down. His other point was that if you've taken a couple of center-of-mass shots and decide to switch to the head he may fall from the previous shots and your intended head shot may kill some innocent bystander. We were taught in our CCW class that we shoot to STOP the threat - period - and that's what you better say when questioned.

[myblacktruck]

You know how them damn buffalo and bears can get sometimes . I guess its just laziness I just leave the slug barrel on after huntting season is over . So true though mo'bullets is always a good thing thats for sure ! but I can take out the car too if it even looks at me just a little funny

[kelcarry]

If you are really an experienced and good shooter, and really believe that under the pressure of a home invasion you will not first be peeing in your pjs and in a state of "personal flux", then slugs seem ok. I would think that most posters, if they are really honest with themselves, will not be so calm and collected and experienced at this sort of thing and there is nothing like a bunch of 00 pellets, which will not miss like a single slug.

[jtg452]

Kel,
That's why I decided to use #1 Buck and use the Cylinder Bore choke tube. The #1's are .30 caliber, which is still a decent size and has a respectable amount of weight and there's twice as many of them as in a 00 Buck load. Inside 20 yards, there's not going to be much difference and inside the house at ranges of less than 10 yards, nobody short of a coroner is gonna be able to tell the difference. Besides, the lighter projectile will over penetrate less than the heavier 00 shot (less mass but same momentum) if there is a miss.