OP, years and years of training and experience in this very topic here. I eat, breath, and sleep home defense and defensive firearm use. Lucky you
First things first, you never mentioned your budget. Are we working with $200, $500, $1000, or sky is the limit? Based on budget, I can tailor some recommendations.
Second, if you are REALLY interested in proper home defense tactics, your primary home defense weapon should be a long gun (shot gun or carbine). Long guns are more accurate, more powerful, and potentially hold more ammo (carbine). The military and cops don’t go into a known gun fight with just a pistol, and for good reason. They always bring a rifle. And friends with rifles. If you are SERIOUS about surviving a deadly encounter in your home, you need to realize that long guns beat handguns. Every time. Depending on your budget, you can get a double barrel 28” shotgun for $150 at any pawn shop in America. Cut the barrel to 18” and good to go. A slightly better, and usually more expensive option, is a pump action shotgun. 12 or 20 gauge, doesn’t matter. Both are powerful enough for home defense. A Remington 870 or Mossberg 500 pump shotgun can be found for $200-$300 on average. Load shotguns with buckshot, never birdshot, for home defense. For a carbine, you can get a decent mini-14 or AR-15 for $550-$1000. These are the cream of the crop home defense guns. I highly recommend a semi-auto carbine, if you can afford it, as a primary home defense gun. Whatever long gun you buy, you are much more effective with that long gun if you have a flashlight mounted to it. Most crimes happen at night, and you are 5000% better equipped to handle a situation if you can see the situation. Don’t seriously handicap yourself by not having a light.
Now that we have explored the idea of a long gun, we get to the pistol portion of the home defense equation. Pistols have their use. They are highly portable. They are good to have in your hand behind your back as you answer a knock on the door. They are also good for when you hear a noise and just want to check it out but don’t actually think it is an intruder. If you ACTUALLY think there’s an intruder, you need to be reaching for that long gun.
Are you going to train with the handgun (regularly)? Are you going to practice type 1, type 2, and type 3 malfunction drills? These should be mandatory training for those that use a semi-auto. If you are the kind of guy that just wants a pistol around and most likely won’t get “real” training with it, than a revolver is not a bad idea. I know you said that you are not interested in a revolver. Lots of people aren’t, because they think they are just old antiquated technology. But they are a lot more forgiving and reliable when you consider some people just won’t get the proper training and practice with a semi-auto. I’ve read numerous stories of people using a gun for defense, it jams after the first round and then they are seriously injured or killed because their gun jammed and they didn’t know how to quickly clear it. Seriously rethink the idea of a revolver if you can’t or won’t train regularly. A 4”-6” steel frame 6, 7, or 8 shot revolver loaded with .38 special +p hollow point ammo is a formidable defensive weapon, and an ideal weapon for people that just want a gun in the night stand.
I’m flabbergasted at the idea of a PPK or PPS as a primary home defense arm. These are not very good choices, in my opinion. They are small, low capacity, and .380 is under-powered for home defense, in the case of the PPK. I don’t want you to get all offended that I’m poopooing on your choices here, just listen to my reasoning. Smaller pistols require a lot more training. They require a better, stronger grip on the frame to limit a limp wrist style jam. Instead, look at a 4” to 5” inch barreled full size railed 9mm semi-auto, high capacity pistol. Since its going in a night stand, you don’t have to worry about small concealability. They are much less likely to jam and they carry more ammunition.
Get a railed pistol so you can mount a flashlight on it. Some folks recommend a separate flashlight. I recommend a flashlight on your pistol, so it’s always there in case you need it. Flashlights get bumped off nightstands and misplaced, guns hardly ever get displaced. If you have a flashlight mounted to the weapon, you will be prepared when the time comes. A separate, hand held light is also a good idea, in addition to, a flashlight mounted on your weapon. One argument often repeated on the web is some people don’t want to point the flashlight/gun at something to see what it is. You don’t have to. Weapon lights are 200-600 lumens today and they will easily light up an entire room with the weapon pointed safely at the floor or ceiling.
Some good options for home defense pistols.
1) Ruger GP100, Smith & Wesson 686+, or Taurus 65, 608 4" steel frame revolvers (if you won’t get the proper training.)
2) Glock 17 or 19 ($500)
3) Any full-size Beretta 9mm ($600-800)
4) Any full-size Sig Sauer 9mm ($800-900)
5) Walther PPX, PPQ, P99 ($279-600)
6) Ruger SR9 ($400)
7) Canik TP9v2 ($330. Excellent budget handgun. Amazing value.)
8) CZ-75 and clone pistols ($250-750)
9) HK VP9 ($550. Made in Germany, and you know the Germans make good stuff )
10) Springfield XD ($450)
11) Smith & Wesson SD9 VE ($300. Glock copy. Amazing value)
12) Smith & Wesson M&P9 ($425)
13) Steyr M9 ($450. Supposedly designed by Glock/HK engineers. An improved Glock)
Load your 9MM up with police style duty hollow point ammo. Maybe even talk to local police officers and see what they are carrying. The most common duty ammunition used in the country today is Speer Gold Dot, Federal HST, and Winchester Ranger. These are premium loads and offer better performance than typical JHP loads. And you can get them in 50 rd boxes from online ammo dealers which will save you money over buying 20 rd boxes at your local dealers.
So in conclusion, get a long gun. Than get a full size service style pistol for the night stand. Mount a flashlight on your long gun and on your pistol. Get some training. Do these things and you will be well prepared to handle a tough situation.
Any questions, just ask.
