Excitement @ 1:20 a.m.

[SCRubicon]

I'm sitting here on the computer watching Youtube videos. (w/ the headphones on) The doorbell rings, (strange for this hour) so I get upstairs to the front room and there is some nut on my porch. Ringing the doorbell and now banging on the wooden door. I ask who it is and what they want. The guy replies, "Shawn." To which I say, "I don't know you." He then starts to turn the door knob and push against the door. F'n great... I'm in shorts and a t-shirt without any kind of weapon near by if this fool decides to break the door in. I stick my foot against the door - like it will keep the door closed... He then says, "I'm cold and hurt, just look out your window, I'm standing right here." Not happening. I tell him, "You have about five seconds to get off of my porch and beat it or I'm calling the Lakewood PD." Then I get the heart dropper. "Just shoot me." Holy $h*t, not what I want to hear... My wife is sleeping 20 steps away upstairs, (now awake at this point) there is a crazy dude on my front porch asking to be shot and I have to go and grab a phone to call the cops... Joy! Even w/ the snow and ice it didn't take long for the police cruisers to make a showing. I didn't get a good look at him before he took off. All I know is he headed east down my street. I hope the cops caught up w/ him. I'll have a wonderful time trying to get some sleep tonight... Moral of the story, never never NEVER open the door in a situation like this.

[Brody]

If I am in bed and the door bell rings or there are strange noises going on outside, either the 44 or the shotgun go right into the hand and things get checked out. If the doorbell rings really late, I go out through the back door and 'surprise' whoever is on the doorstep. BTW, Ladawn will have the other gun and be on the phone by this time.

Glad everything was Ok, but how very strange. Me, I guess I am just a shoot first, ask questions later kinda guy, redneck as that sounds...Hell, I check out cars sitting on the block with the engine running if they have been there too long, knife or baton in hand behind my back....

[Jimmy]

I never go to the door at night without a weapon in hand and a phone in my pocket/clipped to the undies. Now that I have the shotgun at the ready, it's first in my hand. Prior to that, a pistol would have accompanied me. I figure the sound of my shotgun being racked from the side of the door should be convincing enough to get off my property.

One night Lisa came home early from work one night but didn't call to let me know (didn't want to wake me up). Well, since our bedroom is over top the garage, the opener wakes me up anyways. I was up-n-out of the bed, grabbed the phone and dialed her cell, and raced to retrieve my pistol before anyone could get into the house (Lisa or not). Just as I grabbed my pistol, she answers the phone and I verify it was her. The silly thing: I never thought to look out the bedroom window to see if she was pulling into the driveway. :o

[Brody]

Yep...nothing like the sound of a pump shotgun being racked to get your attention...Always better to be safe than sorry...there are just too many wierdos out there...and they seem to breed faster than most normal people, too....

The first round in my shotgun is 10 dimes, followed by a 3/8" ball bearing sitting on top of 00, then just single ought. I mean...why screw around... The dimes make a killer pattern, too, going everywhere and covering about a 2' spread in about 8-10'. I had another shotgun that I duckbilled the end of (very high tech, too...just kept beating it with a hammer until it flattened out...) and firing buckshot through that would cover a doorway side to side in about a 1"-1 1/2" wide pattern at about 8'. I just had to remember not to fire slugs through it....I always wanted a SPASI auto, but they are a bit illegal....

I am all about home protection....

[Funrover]

WOW, sorry you had such "fun" Steve.. hopefully everything is figured out!

[SCRubicon]

I'm still a little agitated by the whole thing. For someone to ask to be shot is pretty F'ed up in the head... If he kicked the door open he would have been bleeding to death on my oriental rug...

[JeepersCreepers]

I simply don't answer the door. I don't have any guns, but I do have a softball bat that will work plenty well if it ever comes down to it. Which I hope it doesn't

[Pathrat]

That is pretty screwed up. I am glad you got to stay behind the intact door. But the odds of you getting another 'visitor' are pretty slim.

Very interesting shotgun mods and loads Brody. I have thought those would be good for home defense but just have not gotten around to buying one.

[SCRubicon]

That is pretty screwed up. I am glad you got to stay behind the intact door. But the odds of you getting another 'visitor' are pretty slim.

I'm glad we have a strong deadbolt...

[Brody]

Yeah, Pathrat, a shotgun with the right load and an 18" barrel is a great home defense weapon. Double ought buck puts around nine 32 caliber loads in the air at the same time and if the gun is a little sloppy, or you make it sloppy, you can hold the trigger down and just pump the bejusus out of it. If you are fast, you can get around 120 32 caliber rounds in the air in just over a second. And since most shotguns you can buy will hold 7 or 8 rounds...well just multiply it and see what you think....With a short (shortest legal length barrel is 18"), your rounds start to spread really quickly and from around 12-14' away will punch a fist sized hole through a door...and this is with basic, over the counter ammo...As you can see, aiming becomes not too critical, especially in a relatively closed environment like a room in a house. A semi auto shotgun will work, too, but the pump has a very distinctive sound when it gets racked that is a real attention getter...For your size, a 20 guage is going to better than a 12 guage with about 3/4 of the stopping power.

Oh yeah...they are also damn cheap, both new and at pawn shops...

Here is a link for some info. This site has a huge amount of valuable gun and ammo information on it, pistols, too..:

http://www.internetarmory.com/shotgun_ammo.htm

[Pathrat]

Jacking your thread a minute SCRubicon...
Thanks Brody. I appreciate the advice on the shotgun. I might look into that sooner than later now that I have one less weapon in the house. We'll see, I have a list of stuff to get this year, after the money-sucking months that hopefully will calm down after tax day.

[Brody]

Holler if you get to the point where you are seriously looking and I'll start keeping my eyes out for you. Like I said a 20 guage is about perfect for you and packs about 3/4 of the punch of a 12 with less recoil...Happy to help...

[bskey]

OT a little, but like Pathrat, I have been contemplating getting a hand gun. I dont want a shotgun, as I have pretty good aim and don't want to deal with concealing a shotgun in my house. What cheap, reliable hand gun would y'all recommend, and how much should I pay for it? Anyone have one they want to sell... or trade would be even better, as I have a bunch of wheeling and other stuff lying around.

Back OT, glad to hear you didn't have to resort to violence SCRubicon; times like that can be scary! It's so awkward dealing with someone so out of their mind they dont know whats going on, and who genuinely thinks you are the one who should be helping them.

[Brody]

PM Bear(AKA 4LoLo) last I heard, he had or knew someone who, quite a few hand guns for sale in various calibers, none especially small. 9mm was the smallest, I think.

For a personal defense/home protection hand gun, I'll make the same suggestion I did to Pathrat: a 357 revolver with about a 4" barrel. You can find these about anywhere for a good price, in gun shops on consignment or just for sale used or in pawn shops. You shoot 38 rounds for plinking and 357 for home defense. Revolvers are better than auto loaders simply because you can leave them loaded with 5 or 6 rounds, leave them untouched for years, pick them up and they will go bang. An automatic will lose the spring tension on the clip and it is almost a fact that your first round will jam. I like both, actually, and have had my share of autos, but for pure reliability, you cannot beat a revolver. I wouldn't go for anything smaller as there are too many stories about people taking a clip of 9mm and still coming at you..If you are worried about the number of rounds, either get a bigger revolver in a 40, 41, 44, or 45 caliber and a bunch of speed loaders with it. You can, with practice, change a speed loader in about 2 seconds....

[Chris]

You can find these about anywhere for a good price, in gun shops on consignment or just for sale used or in pawn shops.

What is a "good" price?

[Brody]

Anywhere from $250 to $325 would be considered a 'good' price. New, these are around a $600 hand gun. These prices are for a good gun...like a S&W, not some POS Saturday night special.... I saw a nice S&W 357 in a pawn shop on Broadway awhile back that the shop wanted $275 for and probably would've gone for $250 cash. If you haven't heard of the brand, it is probably not worth buying.

Never pay what pawn shops ask.....The guns, contrary to popular belief, are run through the data base before the pawn shops take them on pawn. As such, they are about as clean or cleaner than you would get from an individual...

They are real easy to check, too. The good revolvers, even with a bunch of rounds through them, have cylinders that don't wobble, hammers that don't move side to side, and triggers that don't move side to side. Some small play is to be expected, but too much slop is junk. Easy to see how well the gun has been maintained, too, by checking this other stuff as well as looking down the barrel to check the rifling, though the cleanliness is less critical in a revolver.

[Chris]

Thanks Pete, if anyone's selling something in the $250 range I may be interested.

[Brody]

I'll keep my eyes open. You also might want to PM Bear or Dave Pritchett to see what they might be selling.

[bskey]

Yeah, thanks for the info... that's what I was looking for! Ditto to what Chris said.... if anyone has one to sell.

[Chris]

Yeah, thanks for the info... that's what I was looking for! Ditto to what Chris said.... if anyone has one to sell.

I kind of bullied my way in the line here, if anyone has anything Brett should be contacted first. ;)

[scout man]

bskey - if you are looking for something small and concielable, I picked up a S&W M&G compact 9mm for like $300. It is extremelly compact, but I could not ask for a better shooting gun for the size/price. And as a guy with larger hands, its one of the few compacts that I feel really comfortable shooting. And thats my 2cents. I will be in the market for a 12 guage myself when/if the money starts rolling in again.

[Pathrat]

Dang bskey, one day too late. I just sold my .32 Berretta Tomcat with custom holster this week!

[Roostercruiser]

two years ago i was living by sheridan and mexico and my neighbor comes over and says there is someone naked in your truck. we go outside and sure enough he naked and out of it. we thought he was on meth and called the cops and it took five officers to get him under control and to not walk on to oncoming traffic on sheridan. moral of story strang things happen at any time. and lock your truck doors ( i forgot that day)

glad to hear thet your ok