Reader jg00dle writes:
I saw this today at Walmart and had to look it up. The Primeguard website invites you to “Defend yourself, your loved ones and your home from intruders with full peace of mind. PrimeGuard’s™ Less Than Lethal Home Defense Pistol will help you protect the things that matter most, with three different types of ammunition for any situation.” That’s a lot of choices! (Not to mention the Primeguard shotgun.) Product features . . .
High powered less than lethal home defense pistol.
Shoots less than lethal self defense rounds.
Full metal slide with blowback.
CO2 powered semi-automatic pistol.
7 round capacity magazine.
Includes 2 types of .43 caliber home defense ammo and 1 type of practice ammo.
Bottom tactical mount.
Comes with cleaning kit and barrel plug.
Box Contains:
Less than Lethal .43 caliber Home Defense Pistol
10 rounds of less than lethal inflammatory pepper rounds
10 rounds rubber less than lethal offensive rounds
10 powder rounds to use for practice
Barrel plug for storage
Maintenance kit:
cleaning rod, cloth and lubricating oil
User manual and warning card
I wonder what the “warning card” says. (Stop or I’m going to clear your sinuses and give you little bruises.)
This thing is marketed for people who are afraid of and know nothing about firearms. “Bottom tactical mount.” A “Home Defense Pistol” that shoots “rubber less than lethal offensive rounds”? Sounds like if you use the pepper balls you’re defending yourself, but if you use the rubber bullets, you’re out looking for trouble.
The website is really basic; it has less information than what you see on the side of the box. I’m sure that only after you spend the 200 bucks and get it home the User Manual will tell you that its a bad idea to keep a CO2 gun pressurized when you’re not actually shooting it, or that the pepper ammo’s shell deforms if stored for long periods or at high temp.
Can you imagine having to squeegee “less than lethal inflammatory pepper” out the barrel as part of a malfunction drill. Talk to anyone that uses paintball. If you break a ball in your barrel you’re screwed. The little pieces stuck in the barrel cause the rest of your rounds to break. Maybe less so with this because it’s not wet to cause stuff to stick inside the barrel.
Best case: the ball breaks in the barrel. Then you have just spread a cloud of pepper dust into the room.
Follow up shots are going to be difficult. No lethal option for determined attackers, no bright muzzle flash no loud bag, no deterrent. Other than that, perfect. Or did I miss something?