Brought a 12GA to the fight.

[hamourkiller]

The year was 1976, in Houston TX. I was 18. Was driving a Green briar Chevy sation wagon, 350 V-8.

Weapon sawed off to 18.5 inch Mossberg 3" 12 ga pump. Loads 3" Winchester #1 buck, 24 pellets per load.

Situation:
I was leaving a friends house @ 2 AM, we had just finished putting his motor back together and got his car running.
The road is in the middle of old farm land and is atleast 6 feet taller than the fields. No road lights and dark. The road goes from 4 lanes to 2 which are barely wide enough for two cars. Vehicle aproaches from rear rapidly overtacking me, then goes to the right lane just as the road narrows and tries to force me into the ditch. I was watching but was expecting him to pass on the left as speeders liked to do at this bottleneck but he tried the right and made a good effort to run me off the road. Any way I made it to the left and slowed down by breaking hard which took him past me. I quickly see two men in the 4 door sedan as it zooms past, I see all 4 eye balls as they go by. At this point I get an extreme feeling that this is not a normal misshap. Cant explain why just a sudden cold feeling in the chest.
I knew that about a quarter mile ahead this road turns sharply to the right where it dead ended into a 6 lane blvd with a red light. I knew it could be a great ambush point. Sharp turn to prevent backing out, steep and deep ditches to stop side ways movement and angle car to prevent you from going forward.
So I pulled my sawed off 18.5" mossberg out and pumped a round into the chamber and placed it beside me on the seat. Sure enough when I turn that corner they are waiting with the car angle across the road. As I stop, the passenger leaps from the car and starts towards me.
At that point every thing slowed down and my vision narrowed to include just the advancing man and the driver side door. I bring the pump gun up under my arm pit as it is to long to shoulder, line up the man in the open and take the travel out of the trigger just short of firing the gun. My mind has race ahead and decided to shoot when either of 4 things happened.
1- He produced a weapon
2- He reaches my right front bumper
3- If He crosses between cars to fire when he lines up with the driver side of his car.
4- If the driver appeared.

As the trigger slack is coming out of the shot gun the advancing man sees me bring the shot gun up, dives in the right rear window and as far as I know they are still swerving down that road.

This altercation brought home some important lessons to me.
Bad things happen quickly be prepared and listen to your gut feelings.
A large visible weapon can change the Bad Guys minds.

Every one stay safe and hope my story helps people.

 

[Geno]

In what state do you live? In Michigan this would have gotten you arrested. We are not able (unfortunately) to ride around with any firearm loaded save for a pistol with a MCPL.

 

[Devonai]

What did the cops say when you reported this incident?

 

[igpoobah]

Attack averted w/o firing a shot, good stuff.

 

[hamourkiller]

A friend of the family was an officer of the local PD and told me and my Dad to just let it lay as no one was hurt and to change travel route through the area. He was not suprised as they had lots of calls from that part of town. He figured they followed me from my friends apartment.

I am glad it worked out without a shot being fired, I wonder how many times each year crime is avoided in this manner? Even this many years latter, just reviewing this in detail is disturbing.
The gut feeling was the biggest surprise to me, I just knew trouble was coming from around that corner. It is hard to describe how intense that feeling was.
The next biggest surprise to me was the way time slowed down at the very moment I decided to shoot and when they left it seemed like my finger just came off the trigger. The threat was gone and it was time to go on home as nothing happened.
Latter is another story and I was very shaky and upset.

 

[CraigJS]

It was 31 years ago, there were a LOT of things you could do then, that now would get you arrested! Texas, late night, out in the country, no cell phones, 4 on 1 with a road block.. I would have been more worried about sawing off the shot gun barrel to 18.5", then what the police would have said.
Be safe.

 

[joab]

The year was 1976, in Houston TX.

At that time and pl;ace and at that age I think the cops would have had more questions if you didn't have a shotgun.

!8.5 inches is .5 inches over the legal limit, why would that be a problem?


That time compression thing is so neat
It happened to me in a motorcycle wreck that witnesses say happen in an instant and I still maintain that it took ten to fifteen minutes to stop sliding

I have never thought more clearly and calmly in my life and have never been able to duplicate the feeling, only the broken bones

 

[Duncan223]

That "little voice inside your head" is what saved you.

Only two times has my voice ever gone off, the first time was while in college in Madison, WI., and I had been taking TKD for about a year. Two friends and I were enjoying a night of beer, pool and chasing girls. Short cut between two buildings looked inviting and as we approached there were a couple of guys that sent my radar off the map. As we got closer I was really starting to freak, and said to my friends something like "crap, I left my wallet at the bar, we gotta go back." So we turned around, and went towards the bar. Later that week there was a story of some rape in the campus area, and I've often thought those guys probably did it. Not sure.

The other time was some time around o-dark thirty when I woke up for no reason at all but felt some kind of freak/panic sensation. I look around the apartment and don't see anything wrong, I listened to the door to see if somebody was in the hallway, nothing there. So I look out the curtains of the bedroom facing the parking lot and see somebody outside the building. It seems a couple of thugs were going from car to car to see if any of them were unlocked. My first instinct was to grab the gun, but for whatever reason I grabbed my car remote and hit the alarm. Those two guys hauled out of there so fast it would have been funny if it weren't for the situation.

I believe in listening to that "gut instinct" or "voice" or whatever you call it. There's a reason you're being warned!!

 

[748]

That "gut instinct" or "voice" cost the human race millions of years and at least 100x as many lives to develope.
Use it.

 

[CraigJS]

It was more of a comment on the situation then on the actual shortening of the barrel, sorry for being too vague.. BUT do be sure that your measurements are correct. Some people I've seen just measured from the chamber rim (after dissassembly), not from where the chamber and barrel starts. Giving them a barrel that wasn't legal.
Be safe.

 

[Deanimator]

I had a somewhat similar experience in Missouri in 1983(?)

A friend and I drove from Fort Knox to Jefferson Barracks ARNG base in St. Louis to help a friend run an FTX for his military explorer post. We were to act as the OPFOR and brought our own fake uniforms, firearms and blanks, as well as live ammunition for security purposes.

For reasons that aren't relevant to the story, we had to cancel our commitment once we got there. Stopping for dinner, we then headed back to Kentucky on the Interstate.

To make a long story short, a guy tried to run us off the road, weaving back and forth and slowing down. We had previously seen him apparently chasing a pickup truck full of people, whom we later passed. We eventually passed them, stopped on the side of the road and standing around, a REALLY bad decision.

I got my friend's HK93A3 out of the case in the back, put in a magazine loaded with ball, and chambered a round. I told my friend to wait until the guy trying to force us off the road got right on our front bumper, then hit the dome light in our passenger compartment.

As soon as the light came on, the guy in front of us was able to see a guy in a khaki uniform with shoulder boards and a beret, pointing a semi-automatic rifle at him through the windshield.

The guy trying to run us off the road took off going easily 90mph, turning off his lights and weaving madly. We just kept on down the highway on the way home. He apparently chose not to get off the road for a while, since we caught up to him at least a couple of times. Each time, he sped up to 90-100mph. He finally disappeared for good.

We didn't notify the authorities because we were dead in the middle of nowhere, and hadn't the faintest idea where we OR the authorities were. There was absolutely no way to contact the Missouri Highway Patrol, or any other police agency without getting off the highway and venturing onto rural roads in totally unknown territory, a VERY bad idea.

I didn't have to shoot the guy, but I was perfectly willing to do so. We later found out that another friend who had also bailed on the FTX had had a similar encounter with the guy. He too almost shot the guy, with his M1911, but the guy left at the last second.

This was at approximately the time that subsequently executed serial child molestor and killer, and carjacker, Alton Coleman was traveling back and forth between Chicago and Ohio. There's a non-zero chance that the guy we scared off was Coleman.

 

[joab]

BUT do be sure that your measurements are correct. Some people I've seen just measured from the chamber rim (after dissassembly), not from where the chamber and barrel starts. Giving them a barrel that wasn't legal.

So where were yo when I did my first one?
I ended up having to throw the barrel section in a lake

I have since learned the dowel down the pipe method

 

[buck00]

I quickly see two men in the 4 door sedan as it zooms past, I see all 4 eye balls as they go by.

Just to give some context, what did these guys look like? Scary looking red necks? Business suit types? Young/old?

In your opinion, were they trying to rob you? Was there some reason people were after you? Pissed off ex-girlfriend, etc? Did you owe money and someone hired some thugs to go after you? Just curious, because it is an unusual story.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

saw on a forum maybe here, unsure the quote 'that the best weapon is in your skull'. well maybe but a good firearm of any sort helps the odds quite a bit. seems that maybe the bigger the better too.

 

[kaizer]

I have had a similar situation. About two weeks ago a guy rolled up behind me on a country highway. He was quickly accelerating and decelerating and flashing lights and honking continuously. This was at 2 a.m. in the morning on a state route in south GA. I was in the right hand lane and slowed to let the lunatic pass me, when he did he tried to run me off the road. I slowed and he slowed. He got back beside me, and I showed him the business end of my .45. That was all it took, he got the hell out of dodge. I don't blame him either. At that point I was very much considering engaging him. I have no idea what his deal was and I don't care. There are too many crazy *******s out there anymore.

 

[brerrabbit]

Since we are posting 12 gauge stories used in self defense. I will post mine. Well, technically it is my mother's story. I was but a gleam in her eye at that point. Not sure if this counts as thread drift or need for a new thread, but I will toss it in anyways.

My dad was in the Navy and stationed at Nellis Air force base in the mid sixties, coincidentally where I was born a few months later. My mother had two young children and was pregnant with me. My father hunted when he could and had an old 870 for that purpose.

My Dad had to go on a deployment, leaving my mother to take care of the family. In the middle of the night, my mother heard noises at the back door of our home. She got up to find out what it was. She could hear a man at the back door of our home trying to force his way in, and immediately reacted by grabbing my fathers shottie, and loading it.

She then stood in front of the door and yelled at the guy to go away. The man continued to try breaking into the house until he heard her rack the slide. At that point he immediately quit an left.

My mother is not a little wilting violet when it comes to decisive decisions and has not changed much in the ensuing 40 years. Still proud of my mother.

 

[AndyC]

I had a minibus-taxi try to force me off the freeway at around 4am one morning in Cape Town; I was carrying a CZ75 at the time, but had no chance to even draw it as the whole event changed from a simple overtaking-manuever to aggression (both on his part) in an instant.

Less than 6 months before I'd gone through the offensive-driving phase of my CP course and could perform a "surgical" in my sleep. I gave enough ground to allow his rear wing to make contact with my front wing (instead of the entire side of his vehicle), turned gently into him and accelerated smoothly, spinning him off the road into the guardrail - spectacular stuff.

I reported it to the police, but never heard anything further about it.

 

[frank23185]

Usually, when I think there is an ambush set up ahead, I turn and go the other way.

 

[The Viking]

A year ago I had two of my friends over at my apartment for some social drinking and such things. Two girls, eh, young women I mean...anyway, we finished quite late, and I needed some fresh air and had promised one of them that I would follow her home. I'm 100% sure that was one of the wisest decisions I've made. We dropped off one friend at her apartment, after that it was maybe a 15 minute walk to where my other friend lives. When we walk by our old high school, we see a bunch of youngish people standing maybe 20-30 meters ahead of us. It's not a very well-lit area. I turn to whisper to my friend that it seems to be a perfect place for an ambush. When I look ahead of me again, they've gone...perhaps into hiding...and I suddenly wish I had my Walther P99 knife* on me. Fortunatly nothing happens, but it still scares me to think about what could've happened to my friend if she had walked home alone along that path. If I remember correctly, she was wearing a skirt and flip-flops. Not in a position to run, and quite probably easier for goblins to get of if they wish to.

*I had lost that knife about a week earlier, along with a SAK. I couldn't carry it clipped onto my pocket, so it was l let it lay loose in my pocket, from which it fell out when I sat on the ground drinking beer.

 

[striker3]

One thing the OP did that is often overlooked is that he set up specific trigger criteria. By mentally telling yourself that if the goon does X, you will respond with Y actions, you make it less likely that you will hesitate when and if the time to take action comes about.

 

[davhina]

sounds like chapter 1 of a really good zombie story

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Greenbrier?

Green briar Chevy sation wagon, 350 V-8.

We had a Greenbrier, but it would never have had a V8 in it.

This was a flat (pancake style) engine available in either (if I remember) four and six cylinders.

They must have re-used the Greenbrier name on a very different model.

 

[testar77]

V8

We had a Greenbrier, but it would never have had a V8 in it.

I have seen lots of things that people said "would never have a V8 in it"

 

[Fast Frank]

Nope. There were never any four cylinder Corvair motors.

All were six cyl.

They came with two carbs (In the Greenbriar, the Pickup, and the base model sedan), The Corsa had four carbs, and the Spyder had one carb and a turbocharger.

Ralph Nader hated them, but some of us loved our Corvairs!

 

[CZ223]

I've got 3 similar stories

All 3 happened to me.

1) Around 1992 I was driving my f-150 with my S&W 686 loaded on the seat, perfectly legal in my state. I was coming off a bridge and turned right onto a road that bottle necked up ahead. I ended up in the wrong lane, accidentaly cutting off a couple of 20 somethings in a beater car. It was hot and we both had our windows down. I yelled I'm sorry or my fault at them and made that hand gesture that let's them know that it was my mistake. My appology was not accepted and they started chasing me and pulling up beside me and yelling "pull over so we can beat your a$$". I've had better offers so decided to keep driving. When I tried to get away from them, by taking a left onto what was usually a busy street, with no blinker and close oncoming traffic, they still followed me despite almost getting hit by an on-coming car, I knew they were serious. Unfortunately, that usually busy street, was deserted. I had forgotten that college was out and all the houses on that street were college housing. The 2 guys again pull up beside me and threaten me. I slammed on the brake, with one hand on the gun so it would slide off the seat, and they went right on by. They stopped about 40 yards ahead of me and, instantly, I had my plan in case of any further aggression. If their backup lights came on I would move to their left and force them off the road to the right, hopefully blocking the driver door. I would then immediately exit my truck and approach their driver side door from the rear, gun in hand. I forgot to mention that the passenger had a bat. I figure I would have probably been justified but, I am glad that I never had to find out. I guess they figured that I was being just a little too patient and I might be planning something.

2) I was driving down a fairly well travelled road when I see an orange van backing up the road, for a couple hundred yards, in my lane. As I pull to the left to pass I honk my horn just to let him know that I am coming around him. Then, the chase is on! He puts his van in forward and comes up on me fast, probably hitting 80 to catch me. I was doing about 55. I take a quick left, again, no blinker and he follows. We are now on a pretty quiet road and the guy is on my bumper, honking and pointing for me to pull over! I calmly begin loading my 45 Vaquero that is hanging from my Cowboy rig on my passenger seat. Then it dawns on me that my 16 guage 97 Winchester is in the rear window rack. I reach into the back, this time I am driving an extended cab f-150 4x4 with a cap, which is probably why the guy never saw the shotgun, untill I grabbed it. Honestly, I went back and looked later and the skid marks were about 40 ft long. This happened about 2001.

3) Two weeks later on the same road going the opposite direction I approach an intersection and stop at the light. This a pretty bad intersection and there is a yield sign there that a lot of people miss. When the light turns green I begin to go through the intersection when I see red pickup truck approaching the yield sign with no sign that he is slowing down. I have the right of way and he is supposed to yield to me so I honk and point at the sign. He keeps on going and now I am behind him. He stops in the middle of the road and jumps out of his truck and starts approaching me. There is a vehicle behind me, so there is no getting out of there. I also notice the 2 other guys in the truck. This guy is mad and this time I had no pistol with me but, that 16 was still in the rack and I grabbed it even though I had no shells for it. He did a PERFECT ABOUT FACE, spinning 180 on one heel. He jumped back in the truck and sped away.

The scary part is that all 3 times it was right in broad daylight and the other drivers seemed to care less if there were witnesses or not. Also, I do not live in a big city and all 3 events occured in decent rural areas. Two of the guys were in their 40s and the other 2 were young punk kids. All of them were white and I didn't see any of them wearing gang colors. All of which goes to prove that you never know when, or where trouble will come or who is bringing it.