country1

I am not referring to my 'notes' but rather personal experience and personal experience of others professionally and well trained in firearms with real life experiences. You don't fire until the firearm is empty, you fire until the threat is neutralized. You don't shoot to kill, you shoot to stop the threat. A shot taken at 25 yards mostly likely will not be viewed as self defense in court.

A snubby vs. a 3" to 5" is not splitting hairs, and anyone who truly knows firearms knows this is true. Again, personal experience with many new shooters. Quite often, a new shooter who can't hit paper at 10' to 15' with a 2" revolver can put all of their shots on target with a 4" revolver. Compare the muzzle flash of a 2" revolver shot in very low light with that of a 4" or even 3" revolver. See which one creates more night blindness.

If the assailant grabs your firearm, I would rather have a long gun than a handgun. You have a lot more leverage with a long gun vs. a handgun, and when that leverage is used correctly the assailant looses. I will take the proper fitted pump shotgun over a handgun in a home personal defense situation any day. Ever listen to the brave soldiers who went into the tunnels in 'Nam in search of the enemy? See what their firearm of choice was then and ask them what they would prefer for home defense now.

Yes, I have read numerous articles. One thing you have to take into account are all the facts given in the article and the pieces that are missing. Another thing to look at - Is the writer putting a particular spin on the article to support their agenda or money coffers?

So, what percentage of the time do U.S. LEO hit their target in real life shootings? Compare this to the Israeli military. Do some research and you will be surprised at the difference. Then look at how the Israeli military is trained vs. U.S. LEO.

Knowing real world fighting and doing it properly can be a the difference between life and death. A 125 lb lady using the proper technique against a 200 lb male can dislocate a knee, break an arm, break an ankle, break a wrist, cause a concussion, take out an eye or kill the assailant. Force the cartilage of the assailants nose into their brain, and the coroner will most likely be contacted.

Nomercy448

Obviously, your mileage varies. I'll have to respectfully agree to disagree on this one. After over 15yrs of martial arts training, I'm not going to be swayed about a female "pushing cartilage into the brain of a mail assailant" (sounds great on paper, but never happens in real life-broken nose yes, brain, no), and obviously you're very staunch in your position about "shooting until the threat is neutralized". Personally, in a self defense shooting, I'd much rather be sitting in a courtroom with no opponent than a crippled burglar playing the pity card. But that's my personal opinion about it. I'd also disagree that while YOU might be able to get the upper hand on an equally sized man with your long gun, we're talking about a woman in this scenario. Put a 220lb man on one end of a shotgun and a 125lb woman on the other end, and see who ends up with it. It's your opinion to bet on the woman, but my money's on the man. I'd feel the same if it was a 150lb man and a 250lb man... The weight is gonna win out 90% of the time. It's not chess, it's hand to hand combat.

And while I agree with you that a 2" vs 4" barrel does make a difference on paper at 25yrds, I personally don't know anybody that owns a house with a bedroom 75ft long. 10ft is "point blank range". My fiancee practices "audible" shooting with a blindfold to practice POINTING with her body. She shoots a Ladysmith .357mag blind folded and can score 6 center mass shots on an IDPA target at 10ft. The only cue is a sports watch alarm that beeps once at the base of the target to signal the start. She gets the same result with her 9mm Springfield 1911 EMP. It's 10ft. If she's hunting deer at 50yrds, then it's a 6" colt Python .357mag, because it's 50yrds.

Again, your mileage may vary. The guy asked for opinions, and I gave mine.

Swampdog

JMHO ,But if she is not that familier with weaapons , give her a big 'ol can of wasp and hornet spray.Hell put one in every room .it is not but abouit 4 bucks will shoot about 25 or 30 feet ,And if the attacker gets hit in the eyes they WILL go to the hospital or go blind .Plus it's alot cheaper than bear spray.Squirt then run like hell.Call the 'po'po.If you have to have a gun then 870 pump in 20 or 12 (if she can handle it,18 1/2" barrell ,loaded with 2 3/4 #4's.I have some rounds for my 870 that have a slug and 6 #1's but still use #4 buck.

Blackelk

I suggest give her some proper firearms training, even taking a class in most places is less than a 100 bucks. Then get her a revolver 38spl preferably in a S&W 637 it's a perfect gun for women and hide out guns. I would also think train her with the pepper spray and maybe a few self defense tricks.

I laughed on the karate vs guns part. What if you assailant has the gun jackie chan? I'm not a karate guy even though I've boxed and took tae kwon do in highschool. It's nice to know if that's your last resort but it will get you killed in the wrong situation. If a 125 lb lady was attacking me and I laid one of these meat clubs on her she ain't getting up. Not that I would ever hit a woman mind you but the scenario given. Lmao just thought that was funny. You don't hit psycho women you shoot em. haha

M92

Ive been teaching defensive pistol rifle and shotgun for a good long time, and while I do somewhat agree with some of the things ya've said, to say that snubbies are not good for beginners is just not correct.

Anyway, snubbies are good carry guns, and easy to wield, but can be a PITA for people that don't spend a bunch of time with them. If you are looking for an everyday carry gun then cool, but not so much for a home defense gun, and Ill explain later on.

For basic home defense a shotgun works well, specially for a woman that isn't going to be clearing rooms. If she hears someone in the house she needs to just hold up and let em come to her. The shotgun works fine for this. If she is expected to investigate this then a good DA/SA revolver with a 4 or 6" barrel will suffice. Train train train. I don't like to advise autoloaders for new shooters, specially women, not because of most of the normal reasons, but because most of the women Ive trained lack the hand strength to clear a miss feed. Yes a shotgun will make it even easier to get lead on target when moving through the house, but for an untrained, or poorly trained person they can cause real problems. It is all a give and take. So try all the options.

The longer the distance from front to rear sight the more room for error when sighting. When your heart is pumping and you are scared for your life a two inch difference in barrel length can be the difference between a miss and a hit.

Take her to the range, one that has range guns you can rent. Have her pick out three or four to try out, show her how to operate them safely, and let her have at it. Do not train her yourself. Yes some women are able to listen to their man well enough that they can become proficient having their BF or husband teaching them. But Ive always found that if you have someone else train her she tends to learn better and faster. Ive trained thousands of Marines, and hundreds of civilians over the years, but I would never attempt to train someone Ive been intimate with. It just doesn't work out all that well most of the time. Once she found one she can shoot comfortably set her up for a few classes and work it from there.

Now all that done, sit her down and ask her, really ask her, if she thinks she has it in her to take a life. If she doesn't think she will be able to, then explore other alternatives for her home defense. Because drawing that firearm and not being willing to use it is likely going to be worse for her than simply hiding out and waiting.

No, no one can honestly say yes they will be able to pull the trigger, or no they won't until they are presented with that situation, but if there is doubt at asking the question, odds are there will be doubt when the time comes.

ADVWannabee

I would say go with pepper spray as you never know what wasp spray would do to a person. Poisoning an intruder wouldn't look good in court.

Bowflex

X2. For inside the house/apartment defense the pattern is no bigger than your hand. The recoil under stress is non-existent.

OldBuckstalker1187

Like some of the others have posted, perhaps she shouldn't be handling a firearm at all until she becomes familiar with properly handling one. Home defense is a serious issue. It is something that everyone should be prepared for, but something no one should hope for. In the unfortunate event of an intruder breaking into your home, alot of people could get hurt, if proper control and weapon choice has not been put into place. IMHO, size 5 shot or something similar is a better choice for home defense than buckshot, especially when you have neighbors close by or other people living in your home.

itsslow98

http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/waspspray.asp

Take a read

wasp spray =

longer range 8-25 feet with greater accuracy then OC spray
temporarily blinds people until they reach a hospital for antidote
cheaper then OC spray
looks a lot less suspecting to someone breaking in your home

ADVWannabee

Interesting. I guess the courts would buy that you just picked up whatever was nearby to neutralize the attack and it happened to be wasp spray.

FYI - Google "Snopes is wrong" and see how many hits you get. Snopes is biased in many cases and just wrong in others. I wouldn't depend on them too much.