1911 for Home Defense — The Best Choice?
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
DavidDSmith
Operator
HansGruber
Ronin
.45 JHP’s go through just as many walls as .45 FMJ. You don’t get expansion in a dry medium, just at little deformation at best. Usually, the nose just plugs with drywall, though.
rcurtner
Professional
Have you tried the Speer 230 gr Gold Dot G2 bullet?
rcurtner
Professional
Surely you're joking, I've seen folks stare down 12 ga shotguns.
HansGruber
Ronin
No, but it won’t expand either when hitting a wall. It might not plug, but it won’t expand from drywall.
rcurtner
Professional
Yeah I know it wouldn't expand, just checking to see if you had ever used the Speer G2
ammo. Although I don't carry a 1911 any longer I still have great respect for the platform & caliber. I have several boxes of Doubletap Speer Gold Dot 230's rated at 1015fps from a 5" barrel. Haven't chronographed them but I bet their tests aren't far off.
HansGruber
Ronin
I’ve pretty much settled on HST’s or Golden Sabers in my .45’s.
No but I definitely look into them
Far more important than the platform OR capacity is skill with whatever you intend to use. Jerry Miculek with a J frame is far more effective than bubba with his blaster and 6 30 round mags. Doesn’t matter how much ammo is available if you can’t consistently, reliably hit what you’re shooting at. The first round or two on target will beat a Mag dump of misses every, single, time.
Bassbob
Emissary
True to a degree. I mean we all know Jerry can shoot the crap out of anything with lightening speed on the range, but it's also true that a guy who's a dead eye shot at competition matches and has zero defensive training is likely to be way less effective than a guy who shoots minute of bad guy even under stress or threat of death and is trained with in defensive tactics with a defensive mindset.
Good fundamentals is important and shooting accurately is important, but you need more than skill punching paper.
Hammer67
Professional
Yes. But when the **** goes down, things don't always go according to plan, and even really well-trained shooters miss. I'll always opt for a platform offering me more ammo than less. There's no downside to having some leftover if everything works out the way you hope.
PAGunGuy
Master Class
This is why I carry my 1911 for the msot part, and trust it for home defense. I am far more accurate with it than any other handgun
As long as an individual isn’t relying on capacity as a substitute for skill you can use what you wish, just be able to HIT with whatever you use. We see lots of news reports where police officers fire a ton of ammo only to achieve one or two hits. And yes, I know every circumstance is different. Heck a lot of cops are NOT gun people and shoot for qualification once a year. . Still, if you’re going to use a weapon as a defensive piece you NEED to know how to run it WELL. A hit with the first or second round will beat a hit with the 10th every single time. I keep a CZ 75 handy, not because of capacity, but because I shoot it well. Ditto for my 1911’s. And yes, punching paper is NOT the same as shooting under stress. You need to induce some stress/challenge into your practice/training. I’d love to see accurate statistic on “shots fired per hit” by PD’s comparing the 1970’s to the 2020’s. I’d bet the number of rounds expended has tripled.
Hammer67
Professional
I don't think anyone is suggesting that accuracy isn't important, nor that one should compensate for a lack of accuracy with capacity. It's entirely possible to have both.
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rcurtner
Professional
While stationed in Germany I was on the 8th Infrantry Division pistol team. I was a very good paper puncher. Went to Vietnam in 67. I won't tell a long story but I had to defend myself against a VC teenager from a distance of about 30 feet. I fired 7 rounds from my 1911 striking the guy twice. Like I said I was very good at shooting targets. But when the adrenaline is flowing and you're scared s**tless all bets are off. Back then we had no tactical training other than shooting at stationary targets.
Hammer67
Professional
100%
I rarely go to the range just to put holes in paper anymore, unless I'm checking zero on sights. I try to go to the range with a purpose, and specific skills I plan to work on, with particular drills. Sometimes, that may mean that I only shoot a box or two of ammo in a range session, but I get a lot more out of it.
I'm also lucky that I belong to an outdoor range that allows for holster work, drawing from concealment, etc. They also have an "open bay" that I can set up however I want with different obstacles, etc. to work on movement.
I’m continually amazed at folks who’ll get a weapon, burn a few magazines through it and then feel they’re “good to go”. Shooting is a perishable skill-you use it or lose it. Doesn’t matter how “good” you were back when. Unless you regularly practice your skills and abilities are not what they were., and the longer it’s been the more you’ve lost. If a person proposes to keep a weapon for self defense then they have a responsibility to themselves and their family to be proficient in its use. Simply owning a weapon no more makes you skilled with it than owning a guitar makes you a musician