Glock or Beretta...?

[Newc]

I don't believe in warning shots or the "click clack" in a dark room. The "warning shot" was the word about "don't go breaking into other people's homes". The "click clack" could always be greeted with random gunfore from an armed intruder, and someone gets hurt by a stray bullet.
Leave the shotgun in ready-to-fire mode, point it at them and shoot. They should only hear 2 things - "bang" and "riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing"

[rjohnstone]

I don't believe in warning shots or the "click clack" in a dark room. The "warning shot" was the word about "don't go breaking into other people's homes". The "click clack" could always be greeted with random gunfore from an armed intruder, and someone gets hurt by a stray bullet.
Leave the shotgun in ready-to-fire mode, point it at them and shoot. They should only hear 2 things - "bang" and "riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing"

While I would agree with you in principle, it is irresponsible to have any gun in a "locked, cocked and ready to rock" mode in your house.
That is unless you live alone. In which case, party on.

I can cycle and pull the trigger on a shotgun before the SOB standing in front of me registers what the hell is about to happen to him.
Keep it loaded with the safety on and nothing in the chamber and a cable lock through the feed and ejection port.
Know your weapon, you should be able to handle it blindfolded.

[dd3keegs]

DD3, does your wife have small hands, or can she handle full size autos? That would be my primary concern in finding a common self defense handgun in the home. If it doesn't fit her comfortably in the hand, it will not be comfortable for her to shoot.

For smaller hands I would suggest... Walther P99, HK P2000, S&W M&P, Steyr M9/40 series...

If she can hold a Glock 17 or Beretta 92FS fine, then most of the handguns out there would be suitable, take her to the range and let her try a few different rentals.

She has smaller hands...I was looking at the Glock 36 Slimline .45 Auto with single stack magazine for her. Me...I'm dying to try a .50 Cal. Auto. Our friends teach classes at a local range. He and his wife have quite the collection. I guess we will have to try out both the Beretta and Glock.

[jrnic]

Personally, I have a Glock model 22 (.40 cal) that I use for work and I really like it. I just got it recently so I have to still get used to how light it is compared to my older service weapon, a S&W 5946 (9mm.) The Glock is very comfortable to shoot and does not tire your arm holding it up for long periods of time when at the range. Even though it is very light, the re-coil is definitly manageable. Overall, a very nice sidearm, IMHO!

[Cleveland Metal]

I don't believe in warning shots or the "click clack" in a dark room. The "warning shot" was the word about "don't go breaking into other people's homes". The "click clack" could always be greeted with random gunfore from an armed intruder, and someone gets hurt by a stray bullet.
Leave the shotgun in ready-to-fire mode, point it at them and shoot. They should only hear 2 things - "bang" and "riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing"

No warning shot, no nothing. Shoot the threat until the threat is not a threat...

My philosophy is that you'll pay considerably less to a dead scumbags family for his death, than you will a crippled scumbag for his suffering when they bring a lawsuit up. And they probably will....

[FusionFarmer]

+1 on the Winchester Defender

That is my choice for home defense, plus you can interchange barrels for hunting

[npacheco]

That is my choice for home defense, plus you can interchange barrels for hunting

That's what I do. I have the Camp Defender.

Not to hijack the thread, but any idea where I can find a WinChoke choke tube? I can't seem to find one anywhere. I'm looking for a turkey choke as the one that comes with it is not quite full enough.

[442w30]

That's what I do. I have the Camp Defender.

Not to hijack the thread, but any idea where I can find a WinChoke choke tube? I can't seem to find one anywhere. I'm looking for a turkey choke as the one that comes with it is not quite full enough.

Cabelas $65

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0037684228041a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=winchoke+turkey&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=winchoke+turkey&noImage=0

Also, try sportsman's warehouse (Las Cruces, albuquerque) has a great choke selection here at least.

[npacheco]

Thanks. I'll take a look again. Sportsman's here in ABQ didn't have what I need. All they had was Invector and other generic brands that may or may not work on the model 1300 series.

Cabela's doesn't carry WinChoke either...although they have a good selection. It's hard to be sure if it will work on the model 1300 which seems to be drastically different than most shotguns, even within the Winchester line.

Again, sorry for the hijack.

Whoever had the PX4, how did you like it? Been considering checking these out. They have CX4 as well now.

[xenophobe]

She has smaller hands...I was looking at the Glock 36 Slimline .45 Auto with single stack magazine for her. Me...I'm dying to try a .50 Cal. Auto. Our friends teach classes at a local range. He and his wife have quite the collection. I guess we will have to try out both the Beretta and Glock.

The Glock 36 isn't going to be recoil freindly. I would definitely suggest one of the full size 9mms I suggested to her. If she isn't recoil shy or has experience shooting (a few thousand rounds downrange), go for a larger caliber, but remember this, letting her fire something with too much recoil in the early stages of learning how to shoot, you may destroy her confidence, and leave her with the instinct to flinch or anticipate the shot. That is a bad bad bad thing. It will take the fun out of it, and may leave her giving excuses to not go to the range...

Also, any of the premier 9mm self defense cartridges out there has plenty of knockdown power, despite what everyone likes to say about it.

Go to a gun store, find out which she likes best. Don't focus on brand name too much, but find something she says "I like the way this feels". Be very picky. The full size pistols that will fit her are the Walther P99, S&W M&P, HK P2000. Also have her hold the XD 9 and the Glock 17. I would say the Beretta 92FS is definitely NOT on the short list to look at, at least for her.

A girl that can shoot 9mm comfortably may shoot .45 ACP comfortably, but will probably not shoot .40 S&W without discomfort. The recoil on 9mm is a little snappy, the .45 has a solid push, and the 40 is like a combination of both, and even I don't care to target shoot .40 S&W much.

Oh, and I do have over a decade of retail firearms sales experience.

[St.James]

AR-15, must get in my list.

Better hurry... The Dems are eager to abuse their control!

The gun shop here has a sweet AR-15 308 I plan on getting real soon.

[Stinkbug]

As others have said get a pump 12 ga shotgun for home defense...and an alarm system, a gun safe, and a dog.

Remember you own every bullet you shoot and all the damage it does. Shotguns are much less likely to get out of the house or go through walls with the right loads.

[xenophobe]

For a girl? A pump 12ga is overkill. A 20ga youth model is perfect for home defense for a girl.