If it will not go through walls it will not go deep enough into the bad guy to stop him from killing you. forget the shotgun advice. If you do not plan to carry and just want to use it at home get a full size Glock and a surefire X300 weaponlight. The light will be very much worth the price. Imagine all the times you have to go check on some noise. this way you have it as a light. Here is a 45 auto Glock, I would recommend a 9mm for the cheaper ammo though.
He lives in an apartment. He might get the bad guys and and dodge a murder indictment by claiming self defense, but if he takes out a neighbor with a stray bullet he's looking at criminally negligent homicide. Not going through walls is an argument FOR the shotty. The Glock is a great gun, no doubt. But only if you're willing to put in the practice that it takes to be proficient with it, and you realize what you're getting into keeping a loaded weapon in the house that only has an internal safety. You pull the trigger and it will go bang!
i also have a bersa, small and easy to handle wouldn't say it was for home protection though, just something to shoot with keep it locked up in a drawer
Ok so why does any of this matter? Magnum 00 buck will penetrate drywall further than 9mm. The 9mm will just actually expand when it hits the bad guy stopping him faster. Not hard to hit a center of mass at apartment ranges with a handgun.
Oh come on...it will give the cops a good laugh at the dead guy that loaded his shotgun with anything other than live ammo.
Ah I should've clarified. Some of these guns are in different countries where the size of the residence demanded much longer ranges as well more stopping power due to the breed of criminals (western Pakistan). Anyway, for the OP's purpose - very urban setting, a short barreled shotgun loaded with birdshot (ranging from #4 to BB) should provide adequate stopping power without over-penetration IMO.
good hand gun but a shotgun is the best for home protection for a very simple reason...aiming. You cover a wide area. in a worse case scenario, they will be a lot of movement, action, adrenaline and when you combine all those things an average shooter will not hit crap. (granted the lazer sight will help). That's why you see shootouts where people unload clips from 20 feet away and don't hit anything. And are you saying a shotgun won't have stopping power of an intruder?
shotgun is best, but for beginner's I recommend Glock. Especially the 9mm, use premium bonded 147 grain loads. good vid on ammo choice:... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4sycG22BvI
Perfect opportunity for me to post this here YouTurd viggio: [NSFW language] <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CtszaweiNeI?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CtszaweiNeI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> :grin:
When I used to have a shot gun, I would alternate magnum shells and hollow point slugs. If a shot gun slug doesn't knock someone down, nothing will.
There have been recorded instances of bad guys taking a load of birdshot to the chest from within a house and keep coming. Birdshot will rarely kill someone, even if would normally knock someone down. If you do use birdshot, put some buckshot in behind it, in case the birdshot isn't enough.
Case in point. Cheney shot his friend in the face with bird shot (from a pretty good distance). His friend still has a face.
