personal security

[Skean Dhude]

Swings and roundabouts. You want a balance that is right for you. Skvez is right.

A .50 that you can't hit your target is useless and yet a load that does not take your target down quickly is useless too. This is a big argument on the US sites and will never be resolved because it is so dependent on the person aiming the gun. What is good for one is not always good for another.

My view for man control is the largest caliber and powder load you can control and get on target with the minimum amount of time is the right one for you. Practice with it and don't get fixated on getting it in 1 inch groupings. If they don't fall keeping shooting and vary aim points until they do. (This is for countries that allow self defence unlike the UK)

However, there is also other issues such as number of shells in a magazine, how many shells you can carry and how quickly you can reload.

Choosing a personal defence weapon is not a simple task. The process for choosing one though is well defined and results in a weapon that is specific to each user taking into consideration your size, strength and ability. As we cannot get self defence weapons in the UK we won't go into too much detail.

In conclusion a .50 is OK for one person, a .357 for another and .22 for another. To each your own.

[grumpy old man]

a big cal gun would be great but unless i took it off someone i don't think i would have my dream gun!
the thing with guns is if you have a .22 cal you would have to be really close to some one for it to kill unless it's a 5.56mm standard nato round
the best to settle for would be a 9mm the the police carry but you would have to sink a few into a person to keep them down
and for a shotgun the lower the number the better for stopping some one.
also if you do use a knife you should learn how to fight with one because if the person attacking you does you will lose.
with you can in safe times take up lessons now you will always keep you know how and skills it can never be taken away from you unlike you stuff.

[Skean Dhude]

You should learn as much as you can.You never know what the bad guys will bring.

imo : Start with a superior firepower and keep on top.
Take a gun if you have one, a knife if you do not, a sharpened stone if you don't have either, a blunt stone if you can't sharpen one. Carry legal weapons with you at all times. A spork can be lethal. Make sure you know the basics for defending yourself without any tools bar your body as well but if you are down at that level of technology you are in trouble.

[grumpy old man]

i have use many guns in the past but i love my japanese weapons their simple and effective.
knowing how to use something well could be all the advantage you need.
most people have never handle a gun and don't know what it can and can't do. to shoot good you need to be calm when you are scared you panic, that make shooting hard.
if some ones is close to you it might be that little bit hard to pull that trigger.

[kapncobs]

Weapons-wise, I think people overlook crossbows a lot. Not only are they fully legal (!!), they've got intense penetrative capabilities. Pistol crossbows are also quite good due to the portability and insanely low cost.

[Skean Dhude]

Kapncobs,

Agree with that. I've a couple of those but no hand helds. Should fix that when I get flush..

[Brian]

Placement is the key to all ballistics as a graze from .50 M82 Barrett round is no more effective at stopping a person than that from a plinking .22 pistol.
For centre of mass hits in the larger the bore the better but velocity of the round also comes into play (as Einstein defined in E=mc2). The stopping power of a round is a very complex subject involving the factors of weight and velocity of the round at impact, position and direction of travel through the body, vital organs in the path of the round, penetration though outer clothing or body protection, shock of the impact (ie. hydrostatic shock), physical characteristics of the round (full jacketed, soft-point, hollow point, wad-cutter etc.), temporary and permanent cavities caused but the round, but generally the larger the round and higher the velocity the better. For reliable stopping forget Wyatt Earp gun-slinging or Dirty Harry antics, nothing beats a 12 bore at close range and nothing beats a rifle at longer ranges although a handgun is better than nothing and is more concealable.
Brian

[grumpy old man]

why do our soilders seem to be the best in the world?
it's not the kit HMG to tight to spend where needed most.
it's the training you have to train hard to fight easy.
and know how, if you now your weapons then you know what to counter with.
if using a 12 bore get the lowest number with the largest shot remember your not shooting birds where you need a scatter pattern.
and if your shooting a rifle know how far your little .22 round will travel with killing power humans aren't rabbits?
crossbows are brillient can go straight through a car door and into the other side at 40 yards but a hand helded crossbow a waste of time and money would be best of with a catapult.
get a samurai swords (proper one) would be of more use if SHTF cut straight through a crowd.
you need to think which weapons are for your hunting game and which will be to keep you alive

[Megatron]

Great point Grumpy. I can say from personal experience that its all about the training. 99% of the general population couldn't hit a door at 10m with a sidearm of any description.
Practice and do it again and again. Jump about a little and get your lungs working and your heart going and practise like that as any situation that involves using a weapon on someone is going to have your heart going overtime.
Keeping calm and collected is what's going to give you an edge!

[SecretPrepper]

Could always learn krav maga the israel martial arts...it is pretty much 101 ways to hit someone in the crotch

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(19 September 2011, 15:24)kapncobs Wrote: Weapons-wise, I think people overlook crossbows a lot. Not only are they fully legal (!!), they've got intense penetrative capabilities. Pistol crossbows are also quite good due to the portability and insanely low cost.

Xbows are cool. I am looking to join an archery club in the summer for recurve bows.

I would not get a compound bow or Xbow as restringing them is more complicated