HD choice gone wrong

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

I had to think this through because it posed an interesting question: what is the provably WORST gun for home defense? A .22 single shot rifle is at least small and quick to point. A Barrett M82 is at least going to instantly stop whatever it hits. Even a good old fashioned musket is going to do good damage and won't hurt your ears. No, I wanted to know what the undisputable worst home defense gun in the world is; and I have found it.



The .950 JDJ Fat Mac is a 100 pound, 5 foot long rifle that shoots a one pound solid brass bullet at 2200 FPS. It is a non-NFA item only because the ATF gave it a sporting exemption as a joke as if anybody is going to hunt with this. This round would be overkill for hunting blue whales.
I would like to paint a picture for you. It's 2AM and you hear a window break in your living room. This is the worst day this could happen, as every single one of your guns was lost in a tragic boating accident this morning. All were lost except for one. You look across your room in dread at your anti-kaiju rifle. You know what you have to do, but you don't know if you have the strength to do it, both literally and figuratively.
Heaving the rifle into your arms, you load a .950 cartridge and begin to waddle towards the door. Your feet make a loud “thud” as you take each 6″ step. You know the intruders hear you. You hope they do, for perhaps they will run and spare the world the suffering that is about to befall it.
You try to set the rifle down, but end up clipping your bedroom door and it is immediately knocked off its hinges by this battering ram in your hands. You attempt to round the corner, bonking the muzzle against the doorframe and adjacent wall across the hall at least 4 times. To your horror, two invaders stand there at the end of the hall.
With a heavy heart, you raise the rifle to your shoulder while making inhuman grunting noises from the strain of attempting some semblance of a shooting position. The burglars simply stare in disbelief, unable to process the situation they are witnessing, as if in a dream. You cannot aim the rifle, as the last time you fired the gun, it turned your $3000 Leupold into a kaleidoscope. You simply hold it at an angle that appears correct and fire.
You are immediately knocked to the floor as if hit by a semi truck going 20 MPH. The shot connected with one of the criminals and it erased him from existence. Even the memories of him have been destroyed and you're wondering why you just shot into an empty hallway. The shot continues to travel through at least 4 houses, a car, and a 10 ton boulder before lodging itself 20 feet into a nearby hill, never to be seen again.
It is at this point, you realize you cannot hear. The surviving burglar can't hear either but he's also on fire from the muzzle blast and is currently vacating your home. You don't care. Your shoulder is dislocated and there is a hole in your brand new AR500 refrigerator. You're crying now. The police arrive and, upon seeing the scene, start laughing. You start crying harder.

 

 

[Rip Snorter]

Ma Deuce? Unless you live in the country!

[Pat Riot]

The worst home defense gun? The one locked in a safe in the other room. 
 

[Eyesa Horg]

21 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

The worst home defense gun? The one locked in a safe in the other room. 
 

With the ammo locked in another room.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

45 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

The worst home defense gun? The one locked in a safe in the other room. 
 

 

23 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said:

With the ammo locked in another room.

 

Yup.  And that's 'zackley what the wethers in the capitol want us to do.  IF we have 'em at all.  

[Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663]

I have a cannon I could use in home defense.   Might be a little small though.

[Three Foot Johnson]

My nominee for the worst gun for home defense...

Muzzle velocity is very low, and its max velocity isn't reached until the projectile is about 65 feet downrange. If you're just shooting across your bedroom, the bullet is likely to hit the BG, fall on the floor, and just piss him off. 

 

 

[Pat Riot]

6 hours ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

My nominee for the worst gun for home defense...

Muzzle velocity is very low, and its max velocity isn't reached until the projectile is about 65 feet downrange. If you're just shooting across your bedroom, the bullet is likely to hit the BG, fall on the floor, and just piss him off. 

 

 

What the heck is that?

[Texas Joker]

It's a gyrojet pistol!

 

It fires rocket bullets. They are launched from either a pistol or rifle platform ignite an internal rocket motor and self stabalize via rotation.

 

The bullet is like a tube with the fuel on the inside 

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

18 hours ago, Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663 said:

I have a cannon I could use in home defense.   Might be a little small though.

 

'Tis a vicious, barking, ankle biter for sure~!  

 

You could name it "Chee-Wa-Wa."   

 

           

[Doc Moses]

On 6/8/2022 at 11:56 AM, Father Kit Cool Gun Garth said:

I had to think this through because it posed an interesting question: what is the provably WORST gun for home defense? A .22 single shot rifle is at least small and quick to point. A Barrett M82 is at least going to instantly stop whatever it hits. Even a good old fashioned musket is going to do good damage and won't hurt your ears. No, I wanted to know what the undisputable worst home defense gun in the world is; and I have found it.



The .950 JDJ Fat Mac is a 100 pound, 5 foot long rifle that shoots a one pound solid brass bullet at 2200 FPS. It is a non-NFA item only because the ATF gave it a sporting exemption as a joke as if anybody is going to hunt with this. This round would be overkill for hunting blue whales.
I would like to paint a picture for you. It's 2AM and you hear a window break in your living room. This is the worst day this could happen, as every single one of your guns was lost in a tragic boating accident this morning. All were lost except for one. You look across your room in dread at your anti-kaiju rifle. You know what you have to do, but you don't know if you have the strength to do it, both literally and figuratively.
Heaving the rifle into your arms, you load a .950 cartridge and begin to waddle towards the door. Your feet make a loud “thud” as you take each 6″ step. You know the intruders hear you. You hope they do, for perhaps they will run and spare the world the suffering that is about to befall it.
You try to set the rifle down, but end up clipping your bedroom door and it is immediately knocked off its hinges by this battering ram in your hands. You attempt to round the corner, bonking the muzzle against the doorframe and adjacent wall across the hall at least 4 times. To your horror, two invaders stand there at the end of the hall.
With a heavy heart, you raise the rifle to your shoulder while making inhuman grunting noises from the strain of attempting some semblance of a shooting position. The burglars simply stare in disbelief, unable to process the situation they are witnessing, as if in a dream. You cannot aim the rifle, as the last time you fired the gun, it turned your $3000 Leupold into a kaleidoscope. You simply hold it at an angle that appears correct and fire.
You are immediately knocked to the floor as if hit by a semi truck going 20 MPH. The shot connected with one of the criminals and it erased him from existence. Even the memories of him have been destroyed and you're wondering why you just shot into an empty hallway. The shot continues to travel through at least 4 houses, a car, and a 10 ton boulder before lodging itself 20 feet into a nearby hill, never to be seen again.
It is at this point, you realize you cannot hear. The surviving burglar can't hear either but he's also on fire from the muzzle blast and is currently vacating your home. You don't care. Your shoulder is dislocated and there is a hole in your brand new AR500 refrigerator. You're crying now. The police arrive and, upon seeing the scene, start laughing. You start crying harder.

 

 

Thank you!  That scenario made my day!

[Sixgun Sheridan]

Watch the video on Volcanic pistols from Forgotten Weapons. Ian told a story of a guy who bought one to kill himself with. He actually shot himself in the head with it several times, and his family found him later bleeding badly but still alive. Now THAT's an anemic round!

[Three Foot Johnson]

9 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

What the heck is that?

A 12mm semi-automatic MBA Gyrojet pistol. They were made from '65-'69 in 12 and 13mm calibers, and fired a self-contained rocket/bullet. After GCA '68, the 13mm was dropped after being classified a destructive device due to being over 50 caliber. The 13mm versions are exempted today and can be legally owned. Up to six rounds could be loaded into a fixed internal magazine from the top. The hammer cocked forward with the "hammer spur" sticking out the left side of the action, and when the trigger was pulled, the hammer fell backwards onto the nose of the rocket, driving it back onto a fixed firing pin, popping the primer and setting the rocket off. It sped forward, recocking the hammer as it went over it, down the barrel, accelerating for about 70 feet before its propellant was exhausted, and on to the target. The rocket exhausts are slanted to provide spin, although the barrel has the barest hint of rifling so as to not be an illegal smooth bore, but it doesn't really do anything. These pistols came packaged with six rounds, and many, if not most, were purchased by collectors and never fired. Ammo, even back in the 60's, was $3+ per round, while a box of 50 .38 specials could be had for under $5. No more ammo was produced after the company went out of business, so the stuff that comes up for sale today is normally $100 ea at the very low end, and up to as high as $300 ea or more. They were alleged to be rather unreliable and horribly inaccurate. I bought this one from a local estate sale seven years back, and it appears to be unfired - these are undoubtedly the same six rounds it came with some 55 years ago.

 

[Rip Snorter]

29 minutes ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

A 12mm semi-automatic MBA Gyrojet pistol. They were made from '65-'69 in 12 and 13mm calibers, and fired a self-contained rocket/bullet. After GCA '68, the 13mm was dropped after being classified a destructive device due to being over 50 caliber. The 13mm versions are exempted today and can be legally owned. Up to six rounds could be loaded into a fixed internal magazine from the top. The hammer cocked forward with the "hammer spur" sticking out the left side of the action, and when the trigger was pulled, the hammer fell backwards onto the nose of the rocket, driving it back onto a fixed firing pin, popping the primer and setting the rocket off. It sped forward, recocking the hammer as it went over it, down the barrel, accelerating for about 70 feet before its propellant was exhausted, and on to the target. The rocket exhausts are slanted to provide spin, although the barrel has the barest hint of rifling so as to not be an illegal smooth bore, but it doesn't really do anything. These pistols came packaged with six rounds, and many, if not most, were purchased by collectors and never fired. Ammo, even back in the 60's, was $3+ per round, while a box of 50 .38 specials could be had for under $5. No more ammo was produced after the company went out of business, so the stuff that comes up for sale today is normally $100 ea at the very low end, and up to as high as $300 ea or more. They were alleged to be rather unreliable and horribly inaccurate. I bought this one from a local estate sale seven years back, and it appears to be unfired - these are undoubtedly the same six rounds it came with some 55 years ago.

 

The other feature of the hammer design was to allow the rocket to leave the muzzle with at least marginally useful velocity. Always wanted one back in the day!