Need advice on PDW for home.

[venomballistics]

Since then, I have been sleeping with a .22 rifle next to me. I know it's not ideal but it's all I have right now.

I need advice on an adequate caliber for a middle of the night go-to-gun in case something horrible does happen. I have a budget for about $500. I'm working out some makeshift alarms for my apartment door. A shotgun is out of the question due to the nature of the apartment, so I'm looking for a close-quarters pistol.

If your gut feeling is accurate, you don't have time for 20 questions of afterthought.
You need a weapon right now, that you can transition to with as little effort as possible.
I'd propose the shotgun you feel is out of the question .. because you are far more familiar with long arms, given that your current solution is a long arm, however less than ideal it may be.

Nothing says you cannot pick up a handgun to compliment the shotgun and work to become proficient with it.
Forget about the 380. Pistol calibers suck, some, like the 45 auto, suck less. Larger framed pistols are easier to shoot well than the miniscule pocket rockets as well.
The only time I ever think 380 is when the individual honestly cannot handle anything else due to age, injury, or illness that prevents the use of a proper caliber.

If the threat to yourself is real, you can't afford to fart around with barely adequate tools or tools you cannot use effectively.
get ye a solid 12 or 20 Ga today ... look at 45's 40's and 357's tomorrow. because you only get once shot at saving yourself.

 

[sac-gunslinger]

Durango, consider the fact that you live in an apartment with neighbors very close on the other side of your four walls. A shotgun, even loaded with birdshot, will penetrate the sheetrock walls of today's apartments. Plus, a shotgun needs to proceed you around corners giving a miscreant an opportunity to wrest it from you.

I would suggest the humble four inch medium frame revolver, a Smith & Wesson Model 10 is a good example. Load with it 95 grain hollow point ammo. These bullets expand if they hit a cross-breeze (well, not quite, but on almost any resitance) and protect you quite well. I have had experience investigating a couple of shootings with this load and was surprised how easily it upset. Probably perfect for an apartment setting.

Caveat: you must learn how to use any defensive item you buy. Most especially firearms. I would recommend having a small individual gun safe bolted into your nightstand to keep your firearm secure at all times. It will still be readily available but you will avoid accidental discharges and robbers finding and removing your gun.

 

[durango]

Thanks, everyone, for your advice. Thanks for the barricade suggestion. I'm working out furniture arrangements and door replacement, along with exterior motion sensor lights. Interior walls are a big concern for me as my bedroom door faces one with a neighbor. I will look for a used shotgun and a revolver in .38 tonight/tomorrow and consider moving to a different, more defensible place when I can. It never dawned on me when I moved here that I would ever have to worry about this stuff. Thanks again, everyone.

 

[sac-gunslinger]

Interior walls are a big concern for me as my bedroom door faces one with a neighbor.

My accidental discharge (yes, we all have one who carry a great deal) was at a friend's apartment. Shot through his front door and his neighbor's front door. Had to have the SO come out to inspect and to make sure I hadn't accidentally offed the nieghbor. (all was OK).

The phone call to the neighbor offering to replace his door and his couch was interesting. Very interesting.

 

[durango]

Yikes! Yeah, I don't want to have to make that call if I can possibly help it.

 

[Smoke]

First, I have to say that I doubt very seriously that your former employer is a “friend of the friends” or that he was doing anything overtly illegal out of his business. If he was you wouldn’t be working for him.

If I’m wrong your first move should be to move. Break the trail and go live somewhere he doesn’t have the address to.

Then before you worry about which gun to buy take a look at securing your home against intrusion (which you should be doing anyway.)

Harden the locks, invest in an alarm system, make sure that your home is always locked, use the peephole (If you don’t have one have one installed). If you live in a controlled access building (and if you’re that worried about your former boss you should) don’t buzz anyone in without verifying exactly who it is and why they’re there. Put a lock on your bedroom door. Make sure the lights around the outside work and any bushes are cut back.

If you do all of that you’ll essentially stop anyone who isn’t there looking for you long before you even need a gun.

 

[durango]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not in the habit of lying. I kept most of the details out of it and changed some to protect myself. I have always kept my nose pristine. I didn't go looking for this.

The direct threat was from the younger coworker, not the employer. He was very direct. Suffice it to say that the employer's name comes up in Google searches more than once and it's not good. I'm not willing to share more information.

 

[MaximumLawman]

Sounds like BS to me...Little bit of Martyr Complex. Get a shotgun with a light on it so you don't kill your kids because you can't see them. Then again, if it's THE MOB, they'll just get a bunch of "friends of ours" to stand out in front of your house with AK-47's and shoot it until it collapses and then they'll burn it while the Rolling Stones play "Paint It Black" in the background. At least that's how I'd write that scene!

 

[Smoke]

I'm not in the habit of lying.

You don't have to be lying to be wrong

 

[durango]

You don't have to be lying to be wrong

It must be nice to be omniscient.

I would much rather be wrong and prepared than right and unprepared.

I'm done here. Thank you again to everyone who helped. I am very grateful. If any of you ever need advice on computer problems or a good editor, I'd be more than happy to return the favor. Just PM me.
Have a wonderful week!

 

[Smoke]

It must be nice to be omniscient.

I would much rather be wrong and prepared than right and unprepared.

Good God man, I was trying to point out that I never called you a liar.

It is entirely possible too be 100% sincere and 100% sincerely wrong at the same time.

I'm also going to reiterate that if you really believe that your former employer is a Mafioso who you suspect may want to retailiate against you and you're still living in the same house (that he has the address to) you were when you worked for him then you really aren't all that interested in your own security

 

[Springfeildkid585]

I suggest going to your local gun shop. Tell them about your needs. Not the full story, but what your needs are. I recommend 9mm, .40, or .45. I say this because they are accessible and competent calibres. There is no magic bullet or magic gun. I'm told Hipoints are reliable, and I know they're cheap. Either way, your best bet is a local gun shop, they'll let you handle afew pistols and help you get one within your budget and feels right to you.

 

[Springfeildkid585]

*edit: Timn8er, I have trouble maneuvering a rifle around because of the odd floor layout, so I don't think a shotgun will be any easier.

Are you living alone? If so, you shouldn't have to maneuver at all. Don't go looking for trouble if your door gets kicked-in, let trouble find you and your gun in a defensible position (your bedroom).

 

[B.O.F.H.]

$500 could buy a maverick 88 and a ruger p95.

 

[WR Moore]

I once read a management book where it stated that everyone should be fired at least once. You'll find the sun still rises, your dog still loves you and life goes on. Consider it a learning experience.

If you seriously think you've come upon a RICO type situation, relocation is a good idea. As in, find another city, not move across town. While the guy with suggestive gestures is most likely a blow hard, there's no reason to be stupid.

Hardening your residence is good advice. For firearms, on a pistol stay in the .38 Spl/9 mm range. Where you put the bullet is far more important that the size of velocity of same.

 

[sac-gunslinger]

If you do all of that you’ll essentially stop anyone who isn’t there looking for you long before you even need a gun.

I have to agree with Smoke on this one. Better to scare an attacker away long before you realize he (or she) is even there. Lights turning on, especially several sets of lights, robs your would-be attacker of cover.

Even better if you could hook an alarm in the house to ring whenever any of the lights turn on. Have them aimed so the neighbor's cat is below the sweep of the light sensor or you will never get a full night's sleep.

 

[Murdock]

$500 will also buy you a good used 12 gauge or K-frame .38 with enough left over to take an NRA Personal Protection in the Home (PPITH) course from a certified instructor. The NRA lists courses and instructors on their web site.

I respectfully offer that the opinion above about bird shot being poor for self defense is mistaken. In your home the range is going to be 3-5 yards or less. A shot cloud opens at about 1 inch per yard after leaving the muzzle.

Bull moose in rut in a stomping mood have been killed with birdshot at that range by bird hunters.

Also, there are purpose-made door alarms for travelers and home owners available on line for $20 or less. You won't have to jerry-rig one.

 

[wildenout]

I am so sorry to hear your plight! I would have to agree though with a lot of what some other members have said and tell you to reconsider the shotgun. A Mossberg 500 or Mossberg JIC is a great home defense weapon (what I keep handy in fact) and it is in your price range. I was told in a defensive handgun course that a 9mm can travel through 6 standard construction walls and a .45, 8. So if you think about it, that is putting a lot of your neighbors at risk. Whereas a shotgun will surely go through the first wall, it won't travel much farther than that. Even a slug would tumble off course and stop pretty soon. There is a reason for scatter guns like that, and there is a reason that (in Utah at least) if you hunt with one you are allowed 1/4 mile radius from urban areas.

 

[hotrod150]

My accidental discharge (yes, we all have one who carry a great deal) ......

I question this statement. That's like saying "there's them that has and them that will" when talking about landing a retractable-gear airplane with the gear up--it ain't necesarily so. I think there's plenty of long-time gun-packers who've never had an AD. There's a reason why sometimes they're called a "negligent discharge" nowadays. No offense.

 

[WR Moore]

I see a lot of Bidenesque "Get you a shotgun" advice here. While the shotgun does have impressive terminal effect, assuming proper shot placement and appropriate ammunition, it didn't get that rep with birdshot. I'll also note I've seen some gruesome results from stray shot, BTW, birdshot penetrates drywall with sufficient engergy to cause death or serious bodily injury.

The shotgun can be effective but it's long, heavy and cumbersome, making it difficult to contact 911 while handling it. It also has substantial recoil with appropriate ammunition. If you decide to go this way, look at the 20 gauge, especially if you're new to firearms. At home defense ranges it's a good choice.

Finally, one of the ways you prevent-or minimize-the dangers is to practice so that misses are unlikely at the ranges within the home. Another is to examine your home -or have someone with proper knowledge do so-with a eye to figuring out where you have lanes of fire and where you are best advised to hold your fire lest you do a neighbor a mischief.