Black Powder for Home Defense

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mh2000

mh2000

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Crossing paths with someone who turns out to be unstable can lead to making you feel the need for some form of personal home protection. Recently, a personal interaction turned ugly and for the safety of myself and my kids, I realized I needed some form of personal protection. A frend of mine wanted to loan me his Ruger 9mm until things blow over, but after thinking about it, I decided just to rely on my Peitta 1858 New Army. I'm not real familiar with his gun (other than it's known for stove-piping when not held correctly--and who knows how they will react in a potentially surprise breakin and while panicking!) so without more training with it, I feel more comfortable with what I already have. Also, the 1858 has proven more than 99% reliable (until 30+ rounds when it starts fouling). No way would I trust my safety to one of my Colts! (1851 Pietta Navy and 1862 Uberti Pocket) While I love the Colts more while shooting paper targets, I think I have to expect a 1:10 chance of the Colt having a minor cap jam and maybe 1:25 chance of more serious cap jam... so even though I love the Colts more, for the actual purpose of the gun, going straight to the Remmington! Workhorse weapon!
 
Because you don't think the gun is reliable enough or that it doesn't have enough "stopping power." Unless I get some indication that I'm over-reacting, I will look at shotguns this weekend... but it's not like I'm going to pick up a new rifle and be able to use it without any training! :O
 
and again, I'm really hoping I'm reading too much into the threat and that there is nothing that will come of this!
 
First of all, filling your bedroom with black smoke while trying to engage a perp is counter-productive. Second, you are putting your life in the care of an obsolete technology. Third testing and qualification of bullet effectiveness according to FBI protocols is an important factor in firearm choice. I don’t think we have much of that for black powder weapons. Get a 9 mm Glock and sleep in peace.
 
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Hi manparker - Would you develop that thought a little further, please? I’m interested in the basis of your opinion and what specifically you disagree with. If mh2000 intends to use only what he has on hand then it seems a .44 Remington would blow down an intruder quite effectively.

A C&B would not be my first home defense choice but it were all I had I’d use it with confidence.
 
I see all this. Thanks! But again, I don't feel like I'm going to pick up a new gun tonight and be able to use it effectively... well, I guess I could buy a Ruger .357 cop revolver like I used to have and be good to go, but the decent ones have all gotten really expensive. I'm comfortable with the Remmington 1858 though and I already have it. I'm guessing the smoke would help as much as it would hurt. As I said, if I don't have an indication that I'm over-reacting, I will probably just go out and buy a Remington 870 over the weekend and go straight out and shoot the crap out of it so I feel comfortable with it.
 
A shotgun is an excellent choice with little familiarity.

Most intruders will leave post haste once a shot is fired. One would need to be extremely set on getting you or way out of their mind to continue. Most people would leave with just the threat of being shot.

Smoke in your room where you are can’t be a good thing.

A .45 cal ball is actually pretty capable. Not quite as good as a HP or WFN bullet, but still pretty capable. Even a .38 cal ball is pretty effective.

Were it me I’d opt for an energetic powder though. All the rest give dismal velocities. The faster the ball goes the larger the wound cavity will be, though not by a large margin. I’d want all I could get though.
 
IMO you could do a lot worse than a Pietta 1858 Remington replica.If that is all you have right now for home defense.

 
mh2000 said:
I see all this. Thanks! But again, I don't feel like I'm going to pick up a new gun tonight and be able to use it effectively... well, I guess I could buy a Ruger .357 cop revolver like I used to have and be good to go, but the decent ones have all gotten really expensive. I'm comfortable with the Remmington 1858 though and I already have it. I'm guessing the smoke would help as much as it would hurt. As I said, if I don't have an indication that I'm over-reacting, I will probably just go out and buy a Remington 870 over the weekend and go straight out and shoot the crap out of it so I feel comfortable with it.
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I think a field shotgun is another bad choice. You don’t want to be trying to manipulate a 47 inch long gun with a 28 inch barrel in a confined space. For self defense a short pistol-grip riot shotgun is much more suitable.
 
Eyrie G. Dogg said:
Hi manparker - Would you develop that thought a little further, please? I’m interested in the basis of your opinion and what specifically you disagree with. If mh2000 intends to use only what he has on hand then it seems a .44 Remington would blow down an intruder quite effectively.

A C&B would not be my first home defense choice but it were all I had I’d use it with confidence.
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Ya gotta do whatcha gotta do. Use what you have. But that doesn’t make it ideal. If black powder was best, it would still be king. It’s not and it’s not.
 
Wow! For home defense, no. For coolness and the love of history, hell yes! Nice video.
 
rpenmanparker said:
Ya gotta do whatcha gotta do. Use what you have. But that doesn’t make it ideal. If black powder was best, it would still be king. It’s not and it’s not.
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Nothing wrong with BP it worked pretty darn well 200 years ago and still works now maybe its not best but it WORKS.
 
mh2000 said:
Because you don't think the gun is reliable enough or that it doesn't have enough "stopping power." Unless I get some indication that I'm over-reacting, I will look at shotguns this weekend... but it's not like I'm going to pick up a new rifle and be able to use it without any training! :O
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As an experienced black powder shooter, I'm sure you know how much smoke a black powder charge can generate on an outdoor range. Now, Imagine that happening in the enclosed hallway of your house. You'd be blinding yourself with every shot.
 
I would rather have an 1858 than a baseball bat. I would rather have a reliable .45acp than an 1858. My family is worth a better option if that option is available.
I sure as hell wouldn’t want to have a run-in with a guy holding an 1858 Remington! Bad medicine for sure.
 
Of couse it does but steel and iron is much easier and cheaper to find.
 
With a .44 Remington available for now I think mh2000 has bought himself some time to pick out a nice .45 ACP and learn to use it with quality hollow points (maybe he already knows). Anyway, all honest households should have a modern firearm at hand just in case trouble hits home. In the meantime that .44 Rem should do the trick.
 
UH No not like a Glock that requires in most places background checks and waiting periods and will soon fail if you start reloading with BP and not to mention that the power from a .45 acp glock loaded with BP will be a disapointment.This is important for many reasons. I will never own a semi auto for personal and home defense if it can not function reliably with BP.

rpenmanparker said:
Perhaps a bronze sword would be in order. It worked 2,000 years ago. I’m sure it would still work today.
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rpenmanparker said:
Kind of like a Glock.
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