I keep a glock with extended threaded bbl with flashhider, night sites, and a 65 lumen weapons light attached. I think any quality firearm that you are compatent with will work, but the attached weapons light is extremely nice at 3am when you have just been woke up by an odd noise- before that I had a 3 cell mag light on te nightstand the attached light is much better for me.

I keep the .40 close but the 870 will be the first thing I grab. I can destroy the drywall all night long because all of the bedrooms are upstairs minus the master, they're gonna catch hell with this 9 pellet fire breathing shotty!

since we are talking handguns a 45 w/hollow points but my preference for home defense would be my Mossberg 88 Maverick w/18.5 barrel w/buck shots.

I just have em all in close proximity....45 , .40 , .357 , short barrel 12g not far

So will pistol rounds, YouTube it

Why would you want to handle a shotgun one handed

At home I use a laser on the FNH 5.7 x 28. I prefer a hand held light

My pick is a 4" revolver. When the mellon hits the fan I don't want to be worrying about does the safety go up or down or such foolishness. Point, pull the trigger and it goes "bang".

Same with Glock, XD, M&P's....

No safety on my sig

I have a H&K USP .45 in the nightstand. Then have a short barrel 20 gauge semi auto under the bed with Winchester Defender loads. I love the way the 45 shoots so I own several of them.

The only problem with the Mossberg idea is recoil. It will sure clear a room, but hold on to it. The muzzle flash will likely start an inferno or an eclipse!

I keep a Taurus Judge in the drawer by my bed, but I also have a Mossberg 590 very close by with #4 buck. While I am keeping you busy with that, my wife is headed to the dresser for either the XD45 or the XD40.

I think the one that matters the most is the one you can handle the best. My wife can handle every gun in the house from .22 to the .45 Colt Judges (she has her own).

I remember my instructor telling me to forget about caliber. Carry the biggest gun you can handle and conceal properly. I think it is the same with a house gun.

There is nothing in the world like the sound of a pump shotgun being racked. It is the ultimate universal language to tell home invaders that they just screwed up and picked the wrong house.

I never really understood this ^.

1st, if I rack my home defense shotgun I've just jacked a round to the floor. Why keep the chamber empty and be one round short. 2nd, The first and last thing I want a home invader to hear is the sound of the round being fired.

I agree, but I think they mean they don't keep one chambered and they rack it first to put one in the chamber in hopes of that scaring people off....I'm not into scaring people who are out to hurt my family or rob my house.

Plus, I don't want my wife to have to think about re-racking a pump shotgun. That's why I keep semi-autos in the house with home defense loads. Just keep pulling the trigger and it keeps shooting. They are more expensive, but it's one last step to have to think about. In the event someone is in our home, all I want my wife to have to think about is "Pull the trigger, pull the trigger, PULL THE TRIGGER"! Lol

Racking a round into the weapon just puts you behind the power curve. If you have to rack you probably need to shoot.

Agreed and that's my point. They're also saying they are keeping one round less in their gun than they can for home defense.

Just an aside, keeping a shotgun mag full has been know to weaken the magazine spring and some guru's say to keep one less in the mag or to replace the spring periodically, whatever that means.

That's interesting. I wonder how long you would have to keep the shells in there (without either firing the gun or emptying the magazine) to actually cause that to happen. It's probably like them saying that the steel ammo will eventually wear out your semi-auto pistols....no one will every really shoot enough to make that happen.

I like the Taurus Judge Public Defender with 000 buck home defense loads.

I actually know that guy. Many years ago he made a comment to the effect that you should never bet on someone pulling through if they have a rifle or shotgun injury to the torso.

They may linger in the ICU for a long while, but those people usually die.

I wish more people could see what quality buckshot does to people/animals. It is absolutely devastating. Not to mention there are a lot of people that think a shotgun is not an inherently accurate weapon. The Federal tactical 00 buck with True Flight wad is some amazing stuff. You can keep all 8 pellets in a man's chest at 35+ yards, some shottys like it a little better than others. 10-12 yards and in, you get all 8 pellets in a 1" hole. Accuracy is not a problem with modern ammunition. Slugs are phenomenal too.

.38

Ithaca Model 37

12 gauge hand gun?

I do agree with the scattershot being the best home defense load. I also believe in a revolver over semi-auto's because revolvers never jam. That being said, the best home defense handgun is amy revolver chambered in 44 Mag, or 45 Long Colt with shotshell ammo. It will ALWAYS be reliable, you won't have to accurately aim to hit your target, and you don't have to worry about the projectile going through walls and hitting someone else in a nother room, etc.