I Tested And Ranked The Best Pepper Guns
Looking for the best pepper guns for personal defense? I’ve tested and ranked the most popular options available, focusing on effectiveness and ease of use. Here are hands-on reviews to help you find the perfect pepper gun for your safety needs.
1. mace — Brand Self Defense Pepper Spray Gun 2.0
Highlight: Accurate, 20' Powerful Mace Spray Delivery with UV Marking, Integrated LED Light Enhances Aim, Refillable Cartridge (80406)
Helpful review: “>>Update 7/11/2017:
Still loving my pepper spray gun and I stand behind everything I originally said in my review. I’m just updating to add some pictures and give a shout-out for a kydex inside-the-waist-band (IWB) holster I found for the pepper gun 2.0. I found the holster on eBay, made by Joe at “GUNNER’s CUSTOM HOLSTERS”. Made in the USA, lifetime warranty, $36 shipped to my door. I have no affiliation but just wanted to call attention to a great holster option for anyone trying to find a way to carry their pepper gun.<<I’ve carried Sabre pepper spray in the traditional 22 gram bottle routinely for the past 2.5 years. I was drawn to the Mace Pepper Gun 2.0 for the increased range, incorporated LED light, and intuitive operation/form factor. Let me be clear that I did not own the original Pepper Gun, so I cannot compare between the old and new design. According to Mace, this new “2.0” version was just released in February of 2017. My assessment of the product is as follows:
Fit & Finish:
Simply excellent. From the moment I opened the gun I was impressed with the materials and craftsmanship. The polymer that it’s constructed out of feels durable (not brittle) and has an ever-so-slightly roughened texture that helps with grip. All of the seams line up perfectly, and the ergonomics and texturing on the pistol grip make the gun feel very solid in hand. The size of the gun is also very reasonable — I’ve uploaded a number of pictures to illustrate the relative size. I’m a man with medium-sized hands (I wear medium latex/nitrile gloves), and I would say that the gun feels “compact”, but definitely not small. The barrel width feels a little chunky (~1.5 inches), but this is limited by the size of the spray canisters, which are the same ones used for the original pepper gun.Functionality/Performance:
The ambidextrous safety and barrel release are nice and crisp. The trigger pull is quite heavy, especially for the first spray from a new canister, but I don’t see this as a problem. The LED light looks like it’s unchanged from the previous version. It comes on automatically when the trigger is partially depressed (and will work with the safety on). The first pull causes it to come on and remain illuminated until you release the trigger, whereas holding the trigger a second time results in a rapid strobe light. I consider the brightness of the light to be completely satisfactory and on par with a cell phone LED. It would be sufficient to illuminate and mildly disorient someone in a dark setting.This next point is important: The original unit that I received operated properly in all respects except that the spray stream shot significantly off to the left of where the gun was pointed. I would estimate that the spray hit about a foot to the left of the target at ~10–12 feet away. I’ve uploaded a picture looking down the sights of the gun while firing, which clearly shows the spray deviating to the left as it exits the nozzle tip. For the price of the gun, I did not feel that this was acceptable, so I reached out to Mace via their online contact form and explained the problem. Mace customer service responded promptly, and after a few unsuccessful suggestions for fixing the problem, they proudly stood behind their 100% satisfaction guarantee by sending a replacement unit with two spare water canisters to compensate for what I used while testing the suggested solutions. Their communication throughout the process was clear, professional, prompt, and sincere. My replacement unit functioned flawlessly and was in hand within the same week that I originally contacted them — outstanding.
All in all, I highly recommend the pepper gun 2.0 for anyone looking for pepper spray in the form of a compact handgun. The product is well designed, and although I had an issue with my original unit, I feel even better knowing that Mace stands behind their products so confidently.” — Mike
Trending review: “Important! When I first opened the he clear plastic package the water test practice canister was preloaded. To simulate an urgent need I put the safety switch to the down position and pulled the trigger, NOTHING! I was concerned and contemplated returning the item. I read a few reviews where the same issue has occured. Then I gave it further thought and tried again. Safety switch down ARMED, trigger pull. Then somewhat hard trigger pull and BINGO! I nailed my target with a very strong blast of water at 15 feet or so, square and accurately. My impression was WOW! If this were pepper spray in the face of assailant or attacking animal it would be a very effective delivery. That is what this product promises and that is what it delivers. Moreover. YOU MUST PULL THE TRIGGER RELATIVELY HARD! I’m thinking someone with advanced arthritis or someone that is simple weak and frail may NOT be able to use this device. It is anything but a hair trigger! Nor is it a toy! My target was blasted with water, more than sprayer! Blasted! If the red can is half as effective as reasonably understood to be, then this is exactly what I need for basic bedside defense. Yes. Not as effective as a firearm, however I do not want to kill or personally injure some kid breaking into my place. I understand it may not be effective against intoxicated, drugged, or enraged assailants, which most assailants will most likely be, however, it is so much more than an empty fist. The low power light may not be as good as a super bright tactical light, however it is good to have so I can see and maybe startle the person or animal I am about to blast with pepper spray. The light works fine and would be ok especially in very dark conditions. So, that all said, you have yourself a good affordable tool you can use that is much better than nothing and will not blow the head off your neighbors pitbull if it should attack because your bitch is in heat. Please use caution Please be well! MarkMannM2” — MarkMannM2
Reassuring review: “Disclaimer: This review describes a defensive use of the product. This use was far from perfectly executed. I made mistakes and so did other around me. I don’t really want, nor need feedback on all the errors made. I’m telling it as it happened not as it should have happened. There is no advice in this review except that you should buy this right now.
Last night at a restaurant a large drunk man was looking for a fight. He was not a customer. He was only inside to start trouble. He was threatening and attempting to provoke a server that asked him to leave. Things escalated and he grabbed the server around his legs. He released quickly, and a female server stepped in thinking it would deescalate things to have a woman between them. It did not and the drunk man “stepped up” and went nose to nose with her. I stepped in and lightly pushed him back to generate enough distance to get between them. I again attempted to convince him to leave trying to keep things as calm as possible. He escalated further and wrapped arms around my legs and lifted me into the air. I’m not sure on the rule on description of violence are here. I will just say that I responded quickly and he had to take a few steps back. I have the kydex holster for this product. It was at this point I drew, and began to get loud and using my non dominant hand to actively push him backwards. He again lifted me in the same fashion. He put me right in his face while I was brandishing a pepper gun lol. I put it about an inch from his face and used the product. I know this wasn’t proper use, and I’m not recommending anything whatso ever with anything I am recounting. D*** it work well though! He hit the floor immediately and began vomiting. he went face down on the floor and went unresponsive. Meaning he wouldn’t respond, not the medical definition. He lay there fully stretched out with his face in floor for over 10 minutes until the first cop got there, It took 6 of them to get him off the floor. I took a minute to accomplish. At the point the took him to the car his eyes were still fiercely closed. The only downsides were what you would expect using a high power stream at point blank range indoors. When the stream made contact with his eye it had enough power to stay a stream as it ricocheted off his face. Luckily no one else was hit. Everyone had the good sense to give us space when I drew. The air was a little stingy afterwards but not to bad. I got some on my hand due to splash-back, but again that was my misuse of the product. Not only do I endorse this product, I actively thank God that I had it.” — James
2. Byrna — SD [Self Defense] Kinetic Launcher Ultimate Bundle
Highlight: WE MADE THE POPULAR BYRNA HD SERIES BETTER: Introducing the new Byrna SD. Reengineered with a performance straight trigger, sticky ergonomic honeycomb grip, and improved sights for faster target acquisition. It is time to level up.
Helpful review: “I was excited to go mark some stuff up in practice but it came with a 50 count pouch of the regular kinetic balls instead of the eco. I saw this in the pictures, but I trusted the description was accurate and maybe the same pics were just used for all the kits. So if you want to target practice with markers, buy some extras because this kit only comes with 5x.
The launcher has more weight to it than I expected based on reviews. It has even more weight with the co2 loaded, and if you use rubber steel balls I could imagine it would almost compare in feel to the real thing.
I’m considering applying some dots of white paint to the sight posts, because the black on black isn’t really that great and byrna for whatever reason only added dots on the LE versions smh.
The eco-kinetic rounds in the pic stuck to the shooting surface in a little lump with a nipple on it, i pushed them off to test how well they stuck to the surface. They were on there pretty good.
The launcher shoots really well, feels strong, is very accurate and overall just feels good. I got consistent shots without a power drop off, until the very last shot and then it just didn’t shoot. 10/10 would buy again and will be recommending. I want a mission 4 next” — Pauly.FB6
Trending review: “Wish I bought the LE on Byrna’s website. I ended up ordering the parts to upgrade this SD to LE, but I’ve read it’s still not as powerful even then. It’s not returnable, so that is a regret. I could’ve bought this SD gun for less on Byrna’s site, or at least the LE for less than this plus the upgrades. I have to use up all my 8oz CO2 now before upgrading, because they won’t work with the extender once installed (unless there is a spacer available?) Partly my fault for not investigating my options. It is easy to operate. I’ve only shot ECO rounds through it so far. Gun operation is smooth and simple. Trigger pull is harder than I imagined, though, so I wouldn’t recommend for anyone with a weak grip. ECO balls blasted through both layers of a sturdy cardboard box from 25 feet away. Not sure what I think about this as a self defense tool. I have MAX rounds ready for that purpose, though.” — Jeremy Gilbey
Reassuring review: “Does it work? Haven’t had the balls to test it out on myself yet but the videos look mostly convincing. Pretty solid construction so I figure if I needed to use this and shot an attacker and it didn’t incapacitate them it would at least stun them for a second so I could get closer and hit them over the head with this heavy thing. Although… if I took the hundreds this cost and get that in quarters which I fill in a sock…,” — PetDetective
3. Umarex T4E by P2P HDP .50 Caliber Pepper Ball Pistol
Highlight: Shoots .50 caliber pepper rounds, rubber balls, or powder balls; Provides a practical solution for personal and family protection
Helpful review: “Shooters of real guns will find their lethal firearms simpler to operate, and more reliable with feeding, but a pepper/rubber ball launcher is a valuable deterrent when less-than-lethal measures are warranted.
First off: when it hits, it hurts like a mother.
I tried inert powder rounds, and rubber rounds. They all left painful welts through a shirt, a flannel, and a coat. I did not feel the need to escalate to feeling its bite with the steel-core rubber rounds; I’d been hurt enough.I had one failure to feed, in about 5–6 firing tables. In the failing instance, one of the rubber rounds failed to chamber. It was dislodged by slapping the weapon and reattempting to fire, which it then did normally.
I also had difficulty unloading a nonfired inert powder round, which got stuck in the back of the magazine and failed to fall out, even with copious jiggling. I successfully unloaded it by firing that stuck round.
Shooting all 6 rounds very quickly worked rather well, despite the warning in the instructions against doing so, because rapid follow-up shots quickly cool the gas chamber, thereby reducing air pressure and projectile velocity. The welt from the 6th rapid shot (its previous 5 went into the ground) is a tad smaller than the other full-power ones, but it still hurt a great deal.
The weapon is well weighted, and the handle has finger contours which make it very comfortable to grip. I am also quite happy with the fiber-optic sights, even though this is obviously a close range weapon.
The whole system is completely ambidextrous!
In summary: this product delivers, for a self defense deterrent under $100. It is not supposed to maim or wound, however, anyone who can feel pain but doesn’t prefer to, will have to think twice about facing this launcher head-on. It is not an action-hero’s primary weapon system, that would be a real firearm. This is what you use right before you turn your unarmed derriere around, and sprint for all you’re worth, as far as you can while saving enough breath for the 911 call.
4 stars for functionality and value-for-price, 1 taken off for the ugly orange slide, and small reliability concern.
P.S. Be very careful while removing a mostly full gas canister. If you only fire a handful of shots and then depressurize it, the spent canister will be dangerously cold.” — Samuel Wicker
Trending review: “Yes, it’s plastic, but it feels quite nice in your hand. The balance is good. It’s also fairly accurate at close (10–15 yds) and does pack a good punch on a full CO2 bottle.
It only holds 4 balls, but fires smoothly. The trigger requires a good squeeze, but that’s a good thing. You can get 16 to 20 shots per bottle.
There’s a simple mod you can do to increase velocity (on YouTube) but it severely reduces air capacity.
I enjoy target practicing with this in my back yard.” — SheltonReassuring review: “Bought this pistol for additional home defense from stray dogs out here in the country and very pleased with it overall.
Our 10 year old grandson who has handgun experience with his dad has also tested it out and loved it as a practice weapon.
It is very easy to load, easy to instal the air cartridge and easy and accurate to shoot. We set up a cardboard box at about 25 feet away and found it to be very accurate with plenty of power even when the air was running low. We were able to get approx 100 shots from 3 air cartridges.
The only thing that I feel would be an improvement would be to have a magazine to make re-loading quicker but I realize at this price what the gun offers is pretty darned good.
You can load 6 rubber balls or pepper balls into the chamber very easily and it’s easy to see the amount of balls remaining in the gun.
We didn’t notice mis-fires as has been mentioned in other reviews……and even with re- using some of the rubber balls that ended up in our cardboard box target, we didn’t have any mis-fires. (We wiped off the balls prior to placing them back in the chamber if they fell on the ground) .
Over-all, this is a very nice self defense weapon and one that’s well worth the small investment. I bought additional ammo balls and air so the total came to around $110 including the gun.
Very good deal.” — SueB
4. SALT — Supply Pepper Spray Gun Self
Highlight: Each SALT self defense kit includes 1 pepper spray gun, 10 pepper spray rounds, 10 practice rounds, 1 magazine (7-round), 1 lockable case (lock not included), 1 easy to follow user manual. (12 gram, non-threaded CO2 not included)
Helpful review: “Pros:
The gun is lightweight
Like a paintball gun, there is a lack of recoil making it easier to shoot
Is incredibly accurate up to 150 feet
Case is modern and gives ability to lock gun up
Provides security and peace of mind for safety.Cons
Limited number of practice/live rounds with initial purchase.
Both practice and live rounds seem expensive.
Not ideal to carry considering sizeThe package came earlier than expected and everything came in great shape. I wanted to find protection for when I move out but wasn’t entirely comfortable/willing to go through the process of buying a firearm. Considering this can disable an intruder and doesn’t have as many strings attached as a conventional firearm, I would highly recommend this product for those who want security and peace of mind.” — Steven Anderson
Trending review: “I haven’t actually had to use it for home defense, and hope I never do. However, I did shoot the practice rounds to get a feel for it. The accuracy was good, not pinpoint, but certainly good enough to hit an intruder if you are even a halfway decent shot.
The rounds pack a punch. I can tell they were hitting hard. Even without the pepper powder, I think most intruders would turn and run just from being hit by the balls themselves.
I used to play paintball quite a bit so I know those things are not fun to get hit by, and that’s when you are expecting it. Coming into a house and getting hit by them without knowing it’s coming would certainly make most people want to get the heck out of there as fast as they can.
Add in the pepper spray / tear gas powder on top of it and I would say this is an effective home defense tool.” — ibdmack
Reassuring review: “I am not a gun owner. I do not have anything against owning a gun its just not my choice. This is kind of a middle ground defensive weapon. It is not lethal, but it packs enough punch to really discourage an intruder. You do not need to be standing a few feet away like you would with a pepper spray. Good quality manufacture, but not weapon grade. I bought hard rubber balls as ammunition at a very reduced price compared to the offered ammunition.” — Hans
