Firearms for home defense?

Posted by Effective-Client-756@reddit | Firearms | View on Reddit | 19 comments

Attached is a rough sketch of my house and surrounding neighborhood for context. The distances are not to scale, but my closest neighbor is approximately 10 yards from wall to wall. All of my exterior walls are log, and the one wall between my bedroom and living room is log. All other walls are drywall. My current plan upon discovering an attempt to break in is to stand guard posted in the little space between my bathroom and bedroom while my wife moves our kids from their room to our room. She will lock the door behind her, place the kids safely behind our bed, then call 911 while I remain in position ready to stop the threat. I know that this is the best plan as my bedroom is the only room surrounded on three sides by hard walls, and if my wife ends up having to fire, it’ll be in the direction of the tree line and creek.

My question is, given that someone coming through my front door would absolutely put my neighbors across the street in danger, what firearm/ammunition should I have to minimize the risk of over penetration but still put down the threat? I currently use a 10.5” AR with 55 grain AAC and a Dagger compact with hornady critical defense 124. Would you change either of these guns/ammo, keep the set up, pick a different gun entirely, or change the defense plan to where over penetration isn’t as big of a concern?

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Animal907@reddit

It looks like you're the land baron of 7 share croppers. You wouldn't have to worry about an uprising if you paid a living wage.

Effective-Client-756@reddit (OP)

I forgot to explain the sketch lol

The left section is a zoomed in look at my house, the right section is zoomed out and my house is the center

PapaBobcat@reddit

Modern problems call for modern solutions.

Ok_Crab_3522@reddit

When I first looked at this I thought you labeled all the other houses on the street "Negligent Boom" and then realized NB probably stood for neighbor.

Back to topic though, 5.56 grain tends to break up upon contact with pretty much anything hard so you should be fine there. 55 gr AAC though.... gotta question your choice in ammo. And 124 gr 9mm will pretty much punch through multiple drywall sheets all day every day and keep on going.

Also a dagger? AND AAC ammo? Do less shopping at PSA my man. You deserve better!

To your PS no lmao I’m just now realizing I forgot to explain the sketch. The left section is a zoomed in look at my house, the right section is zoomed out and my house is the center. My bathroom is the size of an outhouse almost lol

UnarmedWarWolf@reddit

If you’re worried about over penetration a 5.56 AR is not the wisest choice. Sure there are specific ammunition types that you can chose to limit it buts that like putting breaks on a speeding train.

It’ll stop but after it takes out something.

englisi_baladid@reddit

And what do you think is better?

JonL337@reddit

Shotty would make quick work of that whole area without unnecessary over penetration.

Kromulent@reddit

i remember a discussion about M193 ammunition being pretty good about breaking up against interior walls, minimizing overpentration. this effect depends upon velocity and a short barrel makes things worse

the smaller sizes of buckshot also minimize the hazard

Correct_Addition_411@reddit

Your shorty AR will do you plenty well. Plan your angles well and do dry fire practice.

Synectics@reddit

Did a minority recently move into your little neighborhood or something?

lugersvizzere@reddit

Damn this is a level. I’m guess you aren’t in a high crime area?

pattybruh@reddit

Your blueprint for holding that specific choke point between the bathroom and bedroom is solid, especially since you're utilizing those log walls as a heavy natural backstop.

Regarding your caliber and over-penetration concerns just stick with the 10.5" AR as your primary option for holding that angle. A lot of people think 9mm is safer for residential walls, but the reality of ballistics is the exact opposite. A fast, lightweight 55gr .223/5.56 projectile (like soft points or fragmenting ammo) inherently dumps its energy, destabilizes, and breaks apart much faster when hitting drywall and barriers than a heavy, dense 9mm defensive round, which tends to just sail straight through multiple rooms.

However, your staging conditions are a massive liability for a 3:00 AM emergency. Keeping a defensive pistol in Condition 3 and a home-defense AR in Condition 4 is setting yourself up for failure. When a door gets kicked in and the adrenaline hits, your fine motor skills drop to zero. You do not want to be fumbling to seat a magazine or risking a short-stroke malfunction while trying to rack a slide in the dark.

Since both guns are already securely locked away in a safe and a StopBox, they are perfectly safe from kids. You should absolutely step them up to a ready state, Condition 1 for the handgun, Condition 2 for the AR, if it were me.

Zealousideal_End6437@reddit

Just buy an Uzi

InsideJokesOnly@reddit

In which room do you keep your firearm and do you keep them loaded?

In my room, handgun in a stopbox (only during night time, I know the weaknesses of them, it’s carried during the day) on my nightstand and AR in quick access biometric safe mounted under the bed. Both are loaded, handgun is kept condition 3 and AR condition 4

Successful_Link4541@reddit

Angles

also

Plans A-Z

Independent-Exit7434@reddit

I hear #4 buckshot will only go through about four walls while still hitting hard. Might be an option.

ArceusTwoFour_Zero@reddit

Thanks, I'll keep this image in my folder of house layouts.