Which Gun Should You Buy for Home Defense? A San Diego Instructor’s Honest Answer
One of the questions I hear all the time from students is, “Which gun should I buy?” My answer is usually: I don’t know. That might sound strange coming from a firearms instructor, but asking someone which gun you should buy is a little like asking which shoes you should buy or which car you should drive. The answer depends on you. Your size, strength, experience, hand strength, tolerance for recoil, willingness to practice, intended use, and personal preferences all matter.
Unfortunately, people sometimes walk into a gun store looking for their first defensive firearm and walk out with whatever the person behind the counter thinks they should have. That firearm may be a perfectly good gun. It just may not be a good gun for them.
Most Gun Owners Aren’t Gun Enthusiasts
This is something firearms instructors and enthusiasts sometimes forget. A large percentage of people who purchase firearms for personal protection aren’t competitive shooters or firearms hobbyists. They don’t want to spend every Saturday at the range. They aren’t interested in collecting guns or debating calibers. They simply want a firearm available to protect themselves or their family if something terrible happens. There’s nothing wrong with that. But it means we need to consider their needs differently than we would those of an experienced shooter who trains regularly. A defensive firearm that requires considerable practice to operate effectively may not be the best choice for someone who realistically intends to shoot only occasionally.
Is a Small Revolver the Answer?
One common recommendation for inexperienced shooters is a small revolver. I understand the reasoning. Revolvers are mechanically simple from the user’s perspective. Load the cylinder, close it, and the gun is ready to operate. There are generally fewer controls to learn than on a semi-automatic pistol. But small revolvers have disadvantages that are frequently overlooked.
A lightweight .38 Special revolver, for example, can produce surprisingly sharp recoil. Small guns are generally more difficult to shoot well than larger guns, and a new shooter who finds the experience painful or unpleasant probably isn’t going to practice very often. I’ve seen this repeatedly with students. Someone, often an older person, was advised to purchase a small lightweight revolver because it was supposedly simple and easy to use. Then they fired it and discovered they hated shooting it. That’s not particularly helpful.
Revolvers can also have relatively heavy double-action trigger pulls. Someone with limited hand or finger strength may struggle with a long trigger pull that requires substantial pressure. Does that mean a revolver is a bad defensive firearm? Absolutely not. I’ve carried small revolvers myself for years. For the right person, they’re excellent. The point is that the firearm needs to fit the shooter.
What About a Small Semi-Automatic Pistol?
Small semi-automatic pistols have become enormously popular, particularly for concealed carry. Again, they’re excellent firearms for the right person. But physics is physics.
Small, lightweight pistols can be snappy. They generally produce more felt recoil than larger and heavier pistols chambered for the same cartridge, and their shorter sight radius and smaller grip can make them more difficult for inexperienced shooters to control and shoot accurately. For concealed carry, those compromises may be worthwhile because the firearm needs to be small enough to carry comfortably and conceal effectively.
For a firearm that will spend its life at home, however, concealability isn’t much of an advantage. A full-size pistol may be easier to grip, easier to control, and more comfortable to shoot. Some modern pistols also have interchangeable backstraps that allow the grip to be adjusted to better fit the shooter’s hand. If you’re purchasing a handgun strictly for home defense, there’s no rule saying it has to be small.
Should You Buy a Shotgun?
Another traditional piece of advice is to buy a shotgun. Shotguns can certainly be effective defensive firearms, but they aren’t necessarily ideal for everyone. A lightweight defensive shotgun firing defensive ammunition can produce substantial recoil. Pump-action shotguns also require the shooter to operate the action correctly under stress.
You’ve probably heard someone say that simply racking a pump shotgun will scare an intruder away. Maybe it will. I wouldn’t build my home-defense plan around that assumption. I’d rather have a firearm I know I can operate effectively if I actually need it.
For someone who is physically strong, comfortable with recoil, and willing to practice, a shotgun may be an excellent choice. For an older or more physically frail person who dislikes recoil, there may be better options.
Don’t Overlook the Carbine
Here’s an option that doesn’t receive nearly enough consideration for home defense: a pistol-caliber or rimfire carbine. A rifle or carbine can actually be easier for an inexperienced shooter to control than a handgun.
Think about the points of contact. With a handgun, your hands are essentially your only point of contact with the firearm. With a shoulder-fired carbine, you can have your support hand on the fore-end, your shooting hand on the grip, the stock against your shoulder, and a cheek weld against the stock. Those additional points of contact make the firearm much easier to stabilize.
For someone whose home-defense strategy is essentially to retreat to a bedroom or other defensible location, call the police, take a position away from the doorway, and defend that location if necessary, a lightweight carbine may make considerable sense.
A .22 Rifle May Be Worth Considering
For someone who is particularly sensitive to recoil, a lightweight .22 rifle such as a Ruger 10/22 or similar firearm may be an option worth exploring. They’re lightweight, have very little recoil, and are generally easy to shoot. Add a simple red-dot sight, and someone who struggles with a handgun may discover that they can operate and shoot the rifle reasonably well.
There are tradeoffs, of course. Rimfire ammunition can be less reliable than centerfire ammunition, particularly when inexpensive ammunition is used. Some .22 semi-automatic rifles can also become unreliable when dirty or when they’re fed ammunition they don’t particularly like. That leads to another possibility.
Consider a Pistol-Caliber Carbine
A pistol-caliber carbine can provide many of the handling advantages of a rifle while firing common handgun ammunition. One example I demonstrate in the accompanying video is the Ruger PC Carbine chambered in 9mm. There are many firearms in this general category, so I’m not suggesting that everyone should rush out and buy that particular model. I’m suggesting that the category itself is worth considering.
A pistol-caliber carbine can provide a stable shoulder-fired platform, relatively manageable recoil, a full-size grip and controls, and the ability to mount a weapon light and a red-dot or similar optic. For someone who isn’t comfortable with handguns but wants a firearm strictly for home defense, that combination may be much easier to manage.
Your Carry Gun and Home-Defense Gun Don’t Have to Be the Same
There’s another group of students we see regularly in our California CCW classes. They want a concealed carry permit even though they don’t necessarily intend to carry every day.
Their reasoning makes sense. They’ve seen friends or family members suddenly face a stalker, threats, or some other dangerous situation. They realize that waiting until something happens to begin the California CCW process isn’t necessarily a good strategy. So they obtain their permit now to preserve the option of carrying later. That person will probably want a relatively small handgun listed on the permit because, if they ever do carry it, concealability matters. But that doesn’t automatically make the same small pistol their best home-defense firearm. They might ultimately decide to own both a compact pistol for concealed carry and a larger pistol or carbine for home defense. There can even be advantages to choosing firearms within the same family or caliber so ammunition and, in some cases, magazines or operating procedures remain familiar.
Try Before You Buy
This may be the most important advice in this entire article.
Don’t buy a defensive firearm simply because someone tells you it’s the gun you should have. Whenever possible, shoot different firearms before making your decision. Try a small revolver. Try a compact semi-automatic. Try a full-size pistol. Try a carbine. If appropriate, try a shotgun. Pay attention to more than whether you can make the gun fire. Ask yourself some practical questions:
- Can I comfortably operate the controls?
- Can I reach and press the trigger properly?
- Can I manage the recoil?
- Can I manipulate the slide or action?
- Can I load and unload it safely?
- Can I shoot it accurately enough for its intended purpose?
- Am I comfortable enough with this firearm that I’ll actually practice with it?
Those questions matter far more than the brand name stamped on the side of the gun.
The Best Defensive Firearm Is the One That Fits You
There isn’t one handgun, shotgun, rifle, caliber, or brand that’s right for everybody. A firearm that works wonderfully for a 230-pound lifelong shooter may be completely inappropriate for an 80-year-old woman with limited hand strength. Likewise, a firearm that’s perfect for keeping beside the bed may be a terrible choice for concealed carry.
Start by deciding what you need the firearm to accomplish. Then consider your experience, physical abilities, willingness to practice, and comfort level. Get some training, shoot several different firearms if possible, and make an informed decision based on what actually works for you. That’s a much better approach than walking into a gun store and asking: “Which gun should I buy?”
Firearms and CCW Training in San Diego
Practical Defense Systems provides professional firearms, concealed carry, security, and defensive training in San Diego. Our goal isn’t to tell every student what they should buy. It’s to give students the knowledge and practical training they need to make informed decisions for themselves. To learn more about our training programs, visit pdsclasses.com and explore our current classes and courses.