I love that type of thread but limiting us to a choice between a 1911 and a .22 rifle is just that - too limiting. But fun! Every answer so far is the same. 1911. So, let's do this another way. You can only have one gun for home defense. Maybe you own it now, maybe you wish you did. Pick one. If you must, give your reasons. One gun. Home defense only. You can play with it if you want to but this is for home defense. One gun.

My choice:

S&W M686+ 2.5" barrel

My reason:

Well, I do own it, but that's not the point. Same number of rounds as a 1911. Easier to operate (and I am very much a wheelgun guy!). And I am very good with it. It's better than a shotgun SOLELY because it's handier; I can tote it from room to room, etc. YMMV, of course, so let's see what the audience says!

***GRJ***

My choice? My beloved 33 year old Ruger Mini-14. (I know, I know). Unless a rampaging rhinoceros escapes from the zoo, I pretty much have everything covered with that old gal.

Colt 1911 government model. I prefer the '70's

I will take a shotgun if only allowed one gun, I just can't quit bird hunting cold turkey.

If I can keep my hunting guns I would just take my carry gun, currently an m&p 9mm compact. No real love for it, I have a few other pistol I'd rather have but it versitile and shoots well.

Home defense only? No contest- my 870 with 18 inch barrel, flashlight, extended tube loaded with 8 00 buck rounds and a Blackhawk collapsible stock. The SOUND of it being racked is why most police departments use this weapon. If it is good enough for them then it is good enough for me.

If I could have but one gun, and one gun only, and we aren't talking about a world-end, SHTF scenario, so normal parts and services are available, I would pick a M&P 45 midsize. The midsize has a 4" barrel, so it's just slightly more maneuverable in my hands (which is probably illusory, but I like it better than the full size) and it has the full size grip, which holds 10 rounds normally and will accept the 14 round magazine.

I don't have one currently, but I have owned one...and will again someday.

I'd pick my M625 in 45 acp.

Good for HD, but also a nice range gun.

The most common intruders into my home are raccoons! For that reason a model 17 has come in handy. 3 times last week alone! For serious home defense I'm an 870 fan. Skip the extended tube, because of function and balance issues. I have Sure Fire 2 cell flashlight mounted on a mag cap rail. Added a butt stock ammo sleeve. Always leave the chamber loaded, this way I'm ready to go silently but if I want to rack the slide I still can.

If you require a pistol: 1911
If you require a revolver: 1917 (almost the same answer)
Racking the slide on a 1911, got me out of a tight place one Saturday afternoon some years back! (can't do that with a 1917) Ivan

You JUST CAN'T have one gun!

But if I was forced.....Colt Commander

If it had to be a revolver - S&W Mod 58

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On the Oak Savannah

686 4" loaded w/ FBI 38 load. Recently round changed from 357 hydro shocks(you didn't ask for ammo choice but I think its a good question with what gun)
Reason--Simple gun don't have to worry about safeties or racking a slide. All the attention can go to what's the threat.
Gun I don't have but would consider great is a 45acp revolver

Same answer as the other thread, a 1911. One of my 1911s goes on my belt when I get dressed and goes on the nightstand when I go to bed.

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U.S. Navy - U.S. Army, ret

Since this is a S&W forum and I can't reply "if I only had one safe full of guns......" I will say my 13-3 3 inch. It does it all with style and simplicity. Though I have my 870's and my others. My 13-3 can be relied on and that is what I would need.

If I had only one gun for self-defense, it would be one of these...probably the CZ (the one with the hammers).


There are a couple of reasons for my choice. First, while I have a short-barreled Remington 870, my wife can't handle that one as well as the more diminutive double-barrels. She has no problem, cocking the hammers back on the side-by-side, snugging it up to her shoulder, and pulling the trigger.

If there was an intruder at our home and I wasn't there, she'd probably fumble around with the pump action, especially with fear and adrenalin kicking in. Not so with the coach gun. Easy to use. Less moving parts. No trying to figure out if the pump action goes forward or backward during the heat of the moment.

Second, a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun is a tad easier to maneuver than the longer, heavier Model 870.

And while the double-barrel doesn't make the ominous sound of a shell being racked into the chamber, there's something about the "snick-snick" of two hammers being cocked in the dark that would possibly make someone think twice about being aggressive.

Granted, it doesn't have the magazine capacity of a pump shotgun, but you'd be surprised how fast a person can shuck the empties and slip in a pair of ready-to-go buckshot when they've practiced extensively.

Yeah, I agree, there's probably better choices out there, but for our homestead, I think I'll go for the side-by-side.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

Well, I've made my choice:



20 gauge Remington 870, 18" barrel, loaded with #3 buckshot.

CZ 75 SAO 9mm - great trigger, great ergos, and I love to practice with it.

Home defense? I got it covered!

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

I'm with Mushki, (@ least when it comes to the shotguns), now which shotgun I keep would be a subject worthy of pondering for quite awhile...

Just my .02

-Klaus

Any decent pump action shotgun with a shorter barrel would be okay with me. I would like the 1897 Winchester takedown the bad guy used in the movie Bullitt.

John
Scoundrel and Ne'er-Do-Well in Training

I designed this as a street gun but got a good home defense gun at the same time. Colt series 70, 45 ACP, lightly tweaked by Clark Custom Guns. Most of the time it wears the other slide, which has night sights on it. It sits in a holster on my bed and another holster like it when I'm traveling. I manage to shoot it some so I stay in practise with it.

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Love it! Can I borrow?

I'd pick one I already own. My Sig P229.

If I had to keep my wife in mind, I might switch to her 686-6, since she's an all-star with it.

Sure! But you gotta clean it.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Sounds like a reasonable deal to me, hahaha.

One gun only????? A couple thoughts.....870 with both a long and short barrel....a TC Contender with all the barrels....an AR with 5.56 and .300 blackout uppers......I think you see where I'm going with this.

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Even older, even crankier....

.45 Combat Commander or 4" Model 29

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US ARMY
Viet Nam 70-71

If I were limited to just one handgun, I would be forced to be as practical and fun as possible. I'd want a handgun that didn't excel at any single thing, but did everything pretty well. I'd also want a handgun that requires minimum maintenance, is very user-serviceable friendly, chambered in an affordable commonly found caliber, and enjoys copious amounts of aftermarket support.



Glock 22 Gen4. With a drop in barrel, I can switch calibers from .40 S&W to 9mm and/or .357 Sig (less common). Glock magazines are relatively cheap. Korean mags are dirt cheap. The Glock design has a total of 36(?) parts, and can be detail stripped with a single punch. Glock parts are everywhere to be found.

Is a Glock my favorite handgun to shoot? Is it the handgun that gives me the greatest ownership sense of pride? No. A Glock is a practical, reliable handgun.

I get more fun out of alloy framed, hammer fire, DA/SA handguns.

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-John

Home defense, that easy. My M&P 15 with 30 round mag filled with Hornaday 55 grain TAP ammo, Shurfire light, and Burris XM132 red dot on top/with BUIS. Gun gets it done not only in home defense, but can hunt deer with it (in Maine anyway), I can hit anything breathing out to 200 yards with it very reliably, with TAP ammo, I'm not overly concerned with over penetration. 30 rounds of "how do you do" when a perp enters the house. Nuff said.

And a side order of maglight

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Halfway and one more step

On the first question like this that limited me to one of two guns I chose my 1911 Custom. On this one with more choices would be my Sig P226 in 9mm with 20 rounds of Gold Dot ammo in a Mec-Gar +2 magazine.

10.5" AR-15.

Something like this...

That's why I asked - I didn't like picking from just two choices!

I have two Remington 870s with 18 inch barrels. One is a pistol gripped version; the other is "normal" (and loaded and in a closet - just not my first choice - it's in a closet!) I also have an 18" Ithaca 37 (also loaded and available in another closet) and a similar 1897 Winchester - the first 3 are 12 gauges and the 4th is a 16 gauge (it's my cowboy action shotgun). Any one of those could be my home defense gun but it just seems to me that the practical advantage of having a gun with me every step of the way is a better plan. Thus the 686+.

2 quick asides.

First, the sound of a slide racking doesn't scare anyone already bound and determined to rob your home while you're inside; it's an urban myth. Bad guys about to invade your home will shoot first after they hear a slide.

As for the "snick-snick" of a side by side's hammers being drawn back, rumor has it that's what precipitated the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral - and one of the movies from just a few years ago followed that as part of the plot.

***GRJ***

It might, or it might not. What knowledge do you possess that you can say, with surety, that it will or will not work?

It could act like a rattlesnake's tail to skittish methheads, or it could reveal your location to a murderer.

Either one is entirely conjecture.

Governor, three guns in one. Can keep it loaded without worry of magazine springs, and maintain cartridge OAL when loading and unloading. Can shoot skeet when I'm bored, or cowboy action with 45 Colt. Conceal carry size capable. Only wish it was available in California.

If its an intruder looking to steal then any defense shotgun would do. If its a home invasion, then a H&R 12ga. synthetic stock using 3" mag no. 6 shot. Shoot 'em in the genitals then beat them over the head repeatly. Synthetic stock will last longer.

What is this obsession for the "just one gun" threads?

They frighten me.

Because my answer changes every day.

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U.S. Navy - U.S. Army, ret

Moss Cruiser, baby:

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my 4" 65. lee

Home defense, inside the home and outside ... Mossberg 590A1 Mariner.

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I'm with the banned ...

870 pump loaded with OObuck
Nuff' said.
Close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes....
and buckshot.

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

My 1897 Winchester trench configuration.
I prefer this for low light close quarters encounters.

From burglars to bigfoot and everything in between






Just in case what ever I was defending against needs skinnin when I'm done.

I can't stand them either............You will never be limited to 1.

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S&W Accumulator

Frighten you? I find them to be fun. Will you ever find yourself in a place were you can only have one gun? Probably not by choice but what's the harm in pretending?

My converted Saiga 12.

One gun?

Russian Izmash Saiga Sporter w/16" barrel in 308win.

It's the baddest semi auto rifle I ever shot.

Because....
One is all you can shoot at a time.
You gonna grab 2 or 3 if someones breaking in your house
at midnight?
It's all in fun and just suppose.....

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

Benelli M4. I'll take a longarm every time if limited to one gun, and I can't think of anything more versatile than a good 12 ga. with choke tubes.

Very Nice.
That one would serve a lot of purposes for the guy
or gal only wanting to tote one gun.

I Remember the old moniker my Uncle used to repeat
to me every time i pulled out some new hunting gun.

"Beware of the man with only one rifle".

He carried an old Remington bolt gun in .243 and Boy, he
could "shoot that old gun" on game from Ground Hogs
to Deer. Only rifle he owned or wanted. Always had meat
in his freezer.

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

For me the choice is the same as it has been for the last 40 years, a 1911 loaded with 230 grain ball. I know one only, but the same 1911 is backed up by a Remington 870 12 bore with a 2 shot extension and a mounted surefire light. Nothing is as effective at eyeball to eyeball range. All my very best , Joe.{an old fart who still believes that John Browning knew best for personal fighting iron}