M1 cabine vs ARs

[Sunray]

"...Body armor you say?..." Any armour suitable to stop either cartridge weighs over 20 pounds.
"...Katrina or LA riots type of emergencies..." Are extremely rare and are dealt with differently than a horde of criminals entering your house or a bump in the night. The over penetration issue is something you need to consider too. You are responsible for where any shot you fire ends up. So the type of bullet, construction of your house and where you are matters. A varmint bullet will likely disintegrate out of a .223 if it hits dry wall. An FMJ will just keep going. 4 or 5 sheets according to the guys at Truth About Guns, as I recall. Glass won't stop a .22 lr. Shotgun with #2's or BB's is best.
"...carbine with soft point ammo is very bad Ju Ju..." Yep. Grapefruit size holes in ground hogs.
"...65 feet from the front door to the patio door..." Mansion. snicker. Lotta glass too?

[browningautorifle]

.Body armor you say?..." Any armour suitable to stop either cartridge weighs over 20 pounds.

Um...no, that was referring to buckshot. Body armor will stop buckshot.

[DOD 7.62]

Personally I'd have no problem with relying on a M1 carbine for home defence, not all houses are made out of timber and drywall, myself living in an area where most home construction is double brick I don't feel over penetration would be an issue. Unfortunately it's a moot point for me because here in Australia it is actually illegal to own a firearm for 'self defence'. As a licensed dealer however I have much experience with the little carbine which was very popular in OZ pre buy back days, still have a few on the books. Back in the day when legal on a private licence I shot many large pigs with one and most dropped stone dead on the spot. I still know of a few in use in the Northern territory for the same purpose on licence. I've always call BS on the old myth about them being under powered etc, sure they are no 30/06 but are deadly under 100 metres let alone hallway distance. Likewise I've found reliability excellent provided the mags are good, always had better success with 15 rounders as we had a lot of WW11 spec guns out here with the old mag catch that didn't support the 30's as well. No doubt an AR is a better thing but I wouldn't lack any confidence in your situation if I was left with the M1 Carbine. In fact one very small advantage against the SP1 (with carry handle upper) at very close range you wouldn't have to consider 'sight over bore' with the M1 carbine.

[DaveHH]

I know a cop who recommends the 55gr AR as an ideal home defense weapon. I would not agree since if it was accidentally loaded with 62s it would go through two houses.
All of this stuff is conjecture since most of us have never dealt with a home invasion. I would say that a Ruger 10/22 in the right hands would stop any threat if used aggressively. I can't imagine what it would be like to get shot with a load of #8 birdshot from 20 feet away, It would be awful I know that. It would take a lot of sand out of any intruder. If you wanted to make sure, the guy isn't going to be doing much after that, so shot#2 would do the trick. I have been using a Model 39 as a home gun, it is accurate and works. I would use a 1911 except that I don't want to risk losing one to some homeless tweeker who stops by when I'm gone. With a 45 I WILL kill you everytime, hit you and kill you. Around here, the marijuana growers and the trash that follows them has made a once safe place into a risky place. I would be more concerned that a home invasion would involve several people. Having another weapon or magazines handy would be the most important thing. People who have been shot hard, in the torso are in deep trouble within seconds regardless of the gun used. In the war people who were shot but not fatally, would go into shock and die anyway. So I'd say, have a weapon that you can use instinctively and effectively and pay attention to what's behind your puke. Ever round has your name on it. If your rounds didn't have the desire effect, shoot the guy again. Most asshats that break into houses are gun stupid.

[painter777]

a weapon that you can use instinctively and effectively and pay attention to what's behind your puke.

Well stated Dave,
My fear would be getting caught off guard. More than 1 intruder multiplies that fear.

Best said... A defensive weapon, You can use instinctively, effectively and safely.

CH-P777

More I think about this.... When intruded upon, that defensive weapon will be on the Offensive.

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

Here is an episode that I didn't fully think through at the time. When I lived in California I was burglarized during the day in 2007 when at work. The police said they couldn't get into your safe and most likely would be back. They were correct, eight days later, again at work I was burglarized. The policeman who came was the same guy as the first time and told me to carry a weapon when home, but make sure I didn't take it off my property. I didn't tell him I already did. I asked the wife to go see her cousin for a week. I keep only one light on and no TV or noise. On the third night I heard someone trying the front door knob. I quickly opened the door to the face of a young 16/17 year old black kid. If he had advanced on me through the door way, I would have fired. He saw my 45 acp and his eyes widened, turned yelled to his friends who were going around the side, and they took off. I didn't fire, I didn't chase them, there was no need. Called the policeman who had come before and they were caught a few blocks away. He heard them talking about a crazy guy with a gun.
Hindsight, that was stupid of me. If it were an adult breakin with multiple intruders I might not have been able to take them all on. I should have been the fifteen feet back at the stairway with my shotgun and pistol at my side. But for our last seven years there, we had no more issues.

[painter777]

the face of a young 16/17 year old

Just read a story of a lady in Chicago that had a knock on the door, mid afternoon. Looked out at a 'young smiling face', opened the door and received a shot of pepper spray in the face. A number of them ran in and robbed her of her valuables. She was kept facing the floor with a throw blanket thrown over her. She couldn't ID anyone.

We live in a small town, seldom seeing someone of color. But crime is everywhere and skin color doesn't matter. I've told my wife to never unlock the storm door, unless she knows who it is. And to beware no matter the age. I'm just not the trusting type.
Any major highway per the Feds is now a Drug alley. I often see State troopers with cars pulled over on the Detroit to Lansing to Flint to Saginaw to Grand Rapids to Chicago highways with K9 searches.
These often young gang members don't fear jail. If caught they aren't worried about 5-7 years in jail, if using a gun while committing. These are the Valuable street level earners. The very first to make bail, and back on the street earning. While a petty theft guy can't make bail.

Excerpts from Chicago Tribune:
Bond amounts for felony gun crimes doubled
In 2012 the median bond amount for felony gun charges was $25,000. In 2016 it rose by $25,000 to $50,000 while bonds for other felonies stayed even or fell.
But over the same time period, the average number of days a defendant spends in jail before posting bond for a gun charge has fallen by more than half, from 42 to 18 days.
Nonviolent, poor inmates languish in jail while those accused of violent crimes with access to money — like gang members — are released onto the streets to commit new crimes.
A lot of the shootings occur by repeat gun offenders, which are with the gangs. So when those guys get picked up, for whatever reason, who do you think the gangs are going to bail out first? They bail out the shooters because they are the most valuable pieces to that gang organization. Because they aren't afraid to use violence to get their message across. So what we see is just an unbelievable cycle of arresting these guys, and then for whatever reason, the judicial system spits them right back out, only to be dealt with … again and again.
Shootings are up but arrests are down
Shooting incidents in 2016 jumped more than 42 percent compared to 2012. Arrests for gun charges, meanwhile, dropped 9 percent since then. In the same time period the number of firearm recoveries, as well as firearm-recovery arrests, have plunged. Firearm recovery arrests dropped by 9 percent, and gun recoveries fell by about 33 percent, from 12,650 in 2012 to 8,416 last year, according to police data.

If Police are involved in a shooting, beside their own safety, they've put their careers in limbo and possible legal charges. All to see repeat shooters back on the streets in as little as 48hrs or less.
And they wonder why the police are stepping back?
I don't believe there will be any improvement until using a gun sentences become much stricter........ and no bond.

In Detroit some say a High Priority 911 call may be a 58-minute average response time.

Bottom Line: Be prepared to protect your family and property.

FWIW
CH-P777

[Hooks]

In my humble opinion a pair of properly trained pit bulldogs would be the best home defense one could have. However, they do require much more maintenance and upkeep than the above mentioned options.

[imarangemaster]

I use a number of guns for Home Defense, but I live on acreage in the Sierra. A Glock 21 .45 ACP loaded with 14 of the lovely "T series" 230 grain Ranger +P rounds is in my night stand. An Inland M1 Carbine with 110 Hornady Critical Defense is also handy for close in, as in my Sp1 AR15 Carbine clone (all Colt except stripped lower) loaded with 77 grain OTM MK262 MOD1 with a 4X scope for range.

My daily carry is a S&W Shield 9mm for around town to the store, and a Glock 19 9mm (I have had since it was my duty weapon around 1994) that I wear when I drop down out of the foothills to Auburn, Sacramento, and beyond. Up hiking in the mountains it is my Glock 21 .45 ACP.

In the last five years our lovely county/community has flooded with dope growers, trimigrants (those who trim for cash and suck up the local food banks and social services), meth cookers, and the flood of trash that surround that crowd. Homicides, robberies, and violent assaults are through the roof (though largely kept within the drug community).

I first moved here in 1977 when I got out of the Army, and was hired on as a deputy. After a couple years, I followed my career, elsewhere, but always managed to return (1988 to 1992, 2000 to 2007, then the last time in 2011). I could cry when I see what has happened here.

A number of years ago, I used my M1 carbine with a 30 rounder to run off a car load of hairy scary scum pulling into my property to burglarize it in the middle of the night. The rest of the family was gone, but I was home and surprised them.

[TDH]

Sorry Hooks I can introduce you to several Pitts that might lick you to death or hurt you with their wagging tails. If a Pitt is that dangerous it wasn't raised properly. Oh and if ours hears a shot they are trying to crawl under the bed which is on the floor. But they are loveable. Better off with a Shepard or a Dobie.