Halloween Horror Stoppers: The Best Guns for Taking Out Hollywood’s Most Evil Villains

Halloween, that night of childish horror, is upon us like the whitetail rut and what better time to ponder the best defensive options against the season’s most terrifying villains than as the sun begins to set. Let’s be honest, if any of us were a character in the top horror movies, we wouldn’t hide in … Read more

4 Factors You Need to Consider When Buying a Concealed Carry Handgun

By Tim Carroll What gun should I carry for self-defense? That’s a question that’s been asked more times than I can count during my professional training career and more often in recent years. The answer is, well…complicated. 1. Stopping Power First we need to look at one of the most important aspects of carrying a … Read more

The Truth About Handgun Calibers and Defensive Use

A string of recent comments on some of TTAG’s articles have made it clear there is a lot of misunderstanding out there with regard to how handgun calibers stop threats. Admittedly, it’s a subject steeped in a lot of myths and bad information that was backed by a serious lack of science for many decades. … Read more

Combat Medic: Shoot the Heaviest Rifle Round You Can, Shoot What You Can Hit, Then Shoot it Again

[Ed: The subject of “stopping power” is a never-ending debate amongst gun guys and gals. JWT, a former combat medic, wrote this back in 2014 and it’s well worth sharing again.] RF, a few friends, and I were shooting out on my range at a dueling tree. After having to shoot one steel paddle no … Read more

Slugzilla!

So here’s the deal. One of the questions we ponder here at TTAG is stopping power. How to takedown a bad guy with one shot. You know – like the Marines. One bullet, one kill. I mean, there’s not much point in having a gun for self-defense if you have to keep pulling the trigger to stop your assailant. The question is, what kind of projectile is gonna work best, and in what weapon? Conventional wisdom holds that the weapon of choice is a shotgun. The reason? Most people believe you don’t have to aim precisely; it’s the original “point and shoot” concept writ large. Right weapon. Wrong logic. You see, there’s a huge difference – a life and death difference, as it turns out – between a 12 gauge loaded with birdshot, one loaded with double-ought buckshot, and one with a slug. You might, as your mom used to tell you “put someone’s eye out with that thing” if you load your shotgun with birdshot, but the likelihood of stopping them are alternately “slim” and “none.’ And as they say, “Slim left town”.

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Shotgun Rounds: Your Tax Dollars at Work.

I stumbled across this video. If you can get past the cheesy music and the “we’re from the government and we’re here to help” way of making even the most interesting topics seem pretty boring, this is a very informative presentation. It’s also pretty long; about 18 minutes, to be semi-precise. If you’ve been thinking … Read more