In the middle of the night!

.357 Mag revolver. Why? It's what I've used the longest and the mostest.
Plan B (someday)... Japanese Tosa

My shotgun, it's always loaded by the nightstand and has a TLR2 (light/laser combo).

Dope

I voted not to bother only because the dog generally deals with bumps in the night. If she needs me she can come find me as I gather the family members... while armed with a pistol.

My AR is a fully converted Saiga .308 (7.62X51 NATO) with three 20 round magazines taped to switch hit. 16" barrel, folded stock, pistol grip. I'd sit upstairs and wait while wife dials 911 and chats up the sheriffs office dispatcher. If the fool(s) manage to subdue the dogs and start up the stairs I'm shooting high so I don't hit one of my dogs by accident. Yeah a 308 is a bit much for home defense, but I'm really good with it, can get off aimed fire very rapidly and don't give a damn about overpenetration when shooting downward from the second story.

I'd grab my 1911 the dogs would let me know where/what it is

The problem is that "bump" doesn't mean "intruder" but it can mean trouble.

I've had quite a few odd bumps... the time a pipe blew under the floor on the 2nd story, dumping many gallons per minute down on everything below... the time a drunk smashed a neighbor's parked car as they tried to thread the needle that is a residential street in the dark... the times that dogs have knocked things over inside the house or animals outside... lots of bumps. Many of them required an immediate response to reduce damage (it took me 2 minutes to respond to the water pipe and it still did a LOT of damage) and none of them were caused by an intruder or required a firearm.

Still, doesn't hurt to have a pistol in your pocket. Just don't get carried away or shoot your kid while she's trying to sneak cookies for a late night snack. Bump doesn't automatically mean "shoot something."

Revolver only.

Rifles can go through walls, shotguns are awkward. Pistols are more susceptible to bad ammo (tap-rack-bang vs. pull again)

I have neighbors close enough that I have to think about missed shots, so the shotgun is my prefered tool. I don't remember where I read it, but the barrel of a shotgun is not any farther out the a pistol barrel that is pointed in the BG's direction. I didn't believe it at 1st but I did after I read the article & thougfht about it.
I keep an 870 with a 20" barrel & a 3 shot mag extension by the door.

It's not an "assault rifle," but my personal preference would be a 16" barreled .223 carbine (AR-15, mini-14, SAR-3) over a handgun or shotgun, if an intruder were in the house.

A .223 pistol or legal SBR would be nice to have.

With all due respect, I would suggest another alternative.

It is dangerous beyond belief to clear a dwelling - I don't care if you know every square inch of your home.

My plan: Call 911. Take the shotgun, train it on the locked door to the bedroom and take cover with my wife (she would have her Springfield 9mm EMP).

Let the cops earn their money doing what they are trained to do while you are alert and on the phone with 911.

In the meantime, may G-d keep us far,far away from such scenarios - but if lightning stikes, this would be my plan.

As always, there can always be surprises, and YMMV.

Peace and blessings,
Laib Yechiel

I'm with "Laib Yechiel" and "Shawnee" on this scenario.

Assuming this is more than a "bump in the night"...If we hear the breaking of wood or glass we will do the following:

The wife will grab the cell phone, lock herself in the bathroom attached to our bedroom, crouch down in the tub, and dial 911. She will give our address and inform the operator we have been invaded and have taken cover in the back bedroom with a firearm.

I will grab the .38 snub and a speed loader with JHP +P and take cover behind the bed facing the locked bedroom door. The mattress offers at least some cover and provides a good arm rest for a steady aim. If a BG crashes that door open, they will be framed in the back light from the hall window and be at a distinct disadvantage. I will not hesitate to fire at that point.

God forbid it ever happens, and God forbid I'm unarmed if it does.

1911 with a spare mag...oh & the wife is holed up in the BR with the rem 870.

Rem 870 with 1 shell of 00 buck followed by 5 rounds of Centurion multi-defense. Also have 5 slugs in a side saddle... in case our home gets invaded by deer.

I take the XD .45 cause thats what I practice with, and I let my old lady take the shotgun with the buckshot.

There are a lot of ways this can play out and every home is different. I prefer a hand gun, specifically a 1911. It gives you a free hand for a flashlight, or to take my daughter by the hand and direct her back to a safe place. I don't think clearing the house is a good idea unless you have to get your kids I personally would get my wife and kids into my bedroom and if the disturbance is downstairs I would cover the stairs while my wife dials 911 then I would wait until help arrives. Say you have a gun locker in your bedroom. with said weapons in them, I would get the 1911, retrieve the kids while my wife dials 911. After they were secure I would give my wife the pistol and let her know I will announce when I am coming back, if the door opens without me saying it will to be ready to shoot. I would then retrieve the 12 gauge and head back to the stairs find some concealment or cover and guard those stairs. The most important part is to have a plan that everyone in the home knows ahead of time. Including a safe place to meet up if you should have to flee the home.

Revolver, because it's what I'd have handy of those options. Really, though, I'd pick my M1 Carbine--for an "underpowered rifle round with no penetration, etc"--it should be perfect for HD

12ga if the dogs don't get them 1st, I'd wait at the top of the stairs for them to come to me.

i would take my ar!

I voted not to bother only because the dog generally deals with bumps in the night.

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At my house the dog ussually is the bump in the night.

Shotgun with slugs. I keep a couple of rounds of shot on board in case it is an animal in the trash though. Unlike most houses slugs will not go through my walls, even multiple hits. Slugs stop at close range like nothing else I know of.

AR at the top of the stairs.

I'm not into clearing houses. It's been a long time since I've done it for real and it's a perishable skill. I'd grab the AR by the bed and post myself at the top of the stairs.

id have to grab my bow cause my dad won't let me keep guns in my room unless they have a trigger lock on them and he has the key and ammo... too many people walking in and out of my room all day

tepin
A .223 pistol or legal SBR would be nice to have.

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I do have a couple laser/light equipped and loaded .223 Kel Tec PLR's and a AR pistol handy.
They would be excellent HD guns but because of the tremendous noise from these things I also have ear muffs beside the guns.

These pistols aren't my first choice because, of course, restricting your hearing at a time like this isn't the best idea.

If there's only one flight of stairs to the second floor both inside and outside, the logical thing IMHO is to prone out or otherwise take cover back from the top of the stairs, and wait for something to peek up over the top of the top step. Ideally there will be enough lights on downstairs, or good night lights, such that anyone ascending said stairs is backlit while you wait in the dark (remember the TF160/Nightstalkers motto?).

You can secure the entire family upstairs by covering the stairs themselves- make sure everyone else is assembled and on the floor behind cover too if possible, maybe the spouse can do that while on the phone to 911. If you have a natural choke point in your house, USE IT to your best advantage- no sense throwing it away by abandoning it to go prowling about the house if you really think someone's in there who shouldn't be. Actually you couldn't design a more easily defensible situation than to have all bedrooms on the upper floor with only one stairway for access. You'd want chain ladders installed under the windows in occupied bedrooms upstairs to allow for escape in the event of a fire, if that was how your house was built. As to other stuff...

My first vote is always in the "use enough dog" camp. Let the canine member of the family investigate strange noises, that's why you should have one- superior noses, superior ears... and teeth if necessary. My job in the event of alarums at home is to back up the dog (a 90-pound Brazilian mastiff) after she identifies the threat.

As to hardware, it makes relatively little difference which firearm you have IMHO. 'Use what you are best with' is what it all boils down to eventually. I prefer a 12 gauge pump shotgun (870s rule at Casa Lapin) with 00 in the magazine backed by slugs in the sidesaddle. An onboard white light is a help sometimes, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a separate handheld light also. It's bad manners to cover anything you just want to look at with your muzzle, after all. But it's good to know who you're about to drop the hammer on too. Shooting a family member by mistake is even worse manners. That's one of the other good things about having a dog in the house- they help with the IFF (identification friend or foe, aka target discrimination).

So what if the whoevers downstairs make off with your new teevee?

Well, so what? Secure your family upstairs, and secure YOURSELF up there too (aren't you more important to your family than a teevee?), behind whatever muzzle you choose to use. Let trouble come to you in a place of YOUR choosing- don't go looking for trouble where it can ambush YOU. Let the blue light cavalry worry about the downstairs. It might be a help to them if you affix a spare set of keys to a Cyalume lightstick and keep it available so someone can toss it down to them once the local LEOs show up (crack the lightstick before you throw it down so it illuminates)- that'll make it easier for them to get into the house without breaking anything.

Now think about this for a minute:

*A sure commo link upstairs- that is, a cell phone (landlines can be cut, or a thief downstairs can disable your upstairs extensions on the same line by taking the downstairs phone off the hook)- a working cell phone that can reach a tower, even one with no subscription, can still dial 911-

*Lights downstairs, dark upstairs (remote control lights, like the X-10 system, are nice, and so are 'power failure' lights in case the thieves pull your power too- but DOWNSTAIRS, not where you are)-

*All family members present, accounted for and secure behind good cover upstairs, with the 911 operator on the line, a good description of the house, the floor plan, and of the only armed family member's definite fixed location (can't very well give that if you are Ramboing around downstairs, right?) and reinforcements on the way-

*And you on point behind cover or at least concealment, at the natural choke point atop the stairs, with the firearm of your choice, a dedicated canine companion to nose out trouble- that pretty much IMHO adds up to a stacked deck in your favor.

Now tell me- would you want to give a crook an even break?

lpl/nc

I remember an Article that I read a while back in Guns. I think it was by Clint Smith(not sure. It's been a while.). The Way it was put was that a handgun is to perform the Infantry function(Gathering up young'uns) and the Shotgun was in the Artillery role. Emplaced behind something solid and covering everybody.