Review my "bump in the night" drill.

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A

Ari

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I've been seeing alot of forced entry cases in the news lately and it's lead me to think and devise a plan should someone do the blantant, kick in the door and tie up the home owner while ransacking the house thing. I've already discussed this with my wife and the protocol would go something like this.

(Bump bump bump)

Wake up the wife, have her grab my Chihuahua that's bound to go barking up a storm after hearing an intruder. She goes into the master bath were I have a charged cellphone, and loaded shotgun. She is to put our barking Chihuahua in our glass shower stall to keep him out of the way. At that point she'll call 911 and pump a shell into the chamber. All the while I place my camping light on top of my dresser 10 feet away from me pointed at the door. And me on the floor in prone postion with my AR15, hiding behind the foot of my bed which is a sleigh bed, on the floor in the dark waiting for the cavalry to arrive.

Looking for anything I should keep in mind. Maybe an escape ladder for my wife should it get ugly? Use a hand gun and clear the house myself? Anything else I should keep handy for this sort of thing?
 
Unless you're in the boonies, I'd say switch guns.

1.) You're more likely to be doing the shooting. Your neighbors will appreciate it.

2.) Your wife can probably handle the AR better than the 12 gauge, especially in addition to cell phone and wild chihuahua. You can jack the "intimidation" round.

I understand, though...I'd rather have the AR, too. :)
 
Maybe an escape ladder for my wife should it get ugly?
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I say either you both stay, or you both go. If its gotten ugly enough that you feel she needs to leave, you should get the heck out of there too (and by then, its probably too late for her to leave). Getting seperated only leads to problems, what if the robbers have someone outside watching the perimeter of the house? She'd be delivered into their arms on a gold platter, and you're stuck between a rock and a hard place (trying to help her out, while also trying to watch the bedroom door to make sure you dont get shot in the back).

Deciding to have her leave in the middle of a firefight doesnt seem to be a very good idea. Dont change boats mid-stream.

Kharn
 
hmmm

Regarding the change weapon issue. I do not have any neighbors anywhere in front of my house. It faces an open field and that would be the direction behind the door. Also, my wife would probably fair better with the shotgun because I would think it would be easier to manipulate during a high stress situation like that, besides the "intimidation" charge. Not that I'm really set on using the AR, just because if taken to court I could be viewed as a Rambo wannabe and wouldn't do any help for my case. It's either that or my S&W 9mm wondernine. Maybe leave the AR and Shotty in the bathroom/walk in closet for wifey? I've got an extra mag, so I've got enough firepower in my Smith(15 rounds in each clip). Thoughts?
 
Kids? Anything to occupy an off-hand besides a flashlight?

How're your long gun retention skills?

The handgun vs. long gun is a helluva big issue.

Personally, if something compels me to go have a look-see, I bow to the wisdom of the long gun.

If something in my house is worth shooting, it's worth putting on the ground as fast as possible.
 
I would prefer a longarm for moving about the house. It's a likelyhood that you're going to be in close with whomever is out there, and a long arm, beyond the intimidation factor, has more versatility as a buttstroke or muzzle-jab both work pretty well for making distance. Get gung-ho enough about it and you can pick-up a Mossberg 590 with a bayonet stud ;)

Having said that, aside form collecting children, I don't see why one would ever clear their house. Items can be replaced, and most poeple live in states where you can't shoot to protect property anyway. You've the best tactical advantage setting up in a spot that gives a good field of fire to the entryway to your saferoom.

-Teuf
 
Ari,
Have you timed how long it takes to get your weapon, set up your light, go prone behind the bed, yadda, yadda, then timed how long it takes to run from your front door to your bedroom, and compared the times? Is reinforcing the bedroom door and installing a lock an option? What about 'kick proofing' your exterior doors to buy some time?
 
That is exactly what I was about to post about next.

I don't have any children, so that is not something I need to worry about. And my line of thinking is that I wouldn't want to clear my own house. We have a lot of antiques and heirlooms, but nothing to die over definately. What I'm most afraid of is that lately their have been alot of home invasions lately by some local asian gang we're they're known to tie down victims and god knows what else.

Anyhow, my friend recently bought a fancy glass front door and I asked him for his fire rated solid wood front door. I received that along with the frame. I want to install it on my master bedroom/safe room door. How would I go about reinforcing the frame to withstand a kick? I already bought an addtional dead bolt along with a 200* peep sight. So it will have 2 dead bolts along with a locking door handle. I was thinking maybe rig up a cross bar to go across door?

My AR15 carbine sleeps right under my bed and my S&W is on my refigerator (I know, I'm lazy, but it's a little walk to my kitchen at night) that's up against my bed. I'm a relatively light sleeper. So anything I'm not use to will wake me up. I think it would probably take me maybe 15 seconds to ready the rifle that's already got one in the chamber and set up the light along with getting in prone position. My AR has a firsh HG and VG along with a weapon light. But again, don't know if I'd go poking around in my own house. I love my life too much right now.
 
Some input - worth what you paid for it:
1. Overpenetration is more an issue withh 9mm JHP than with 5.56/223
2. Prone is slow, limits options. How about kneeling?
3. You will not die for your property, but you will have your wife take the time to grab the dog? Sacrifice the dog, save the wife.
4. Ever consider an alarm system with perimeter arming? Ours armed all the 1st floor doors & windows, we slept upstairs. Our you can set it to go off with the doors, and with windows that are open to veltilate, but not open wider. Add a LOUD siren on the house.

Congrats, at least you are thinking.
 
Plan sounds like it might be a little overly-complicated, especially in the dark, with you both having been awakened by sound of goblins kicking in your door.

Why do you need to round up the chihuahua? I know that family pets are sometimes more family than pet, but especially if he barks a lot, why not let him roam free to do his barking thing? It might slow the attackers a bit and at least make the chihuahua sort of a like an audible tracking device.

Also, why split up you and your wife?

What happens if you have to shoot a bad guy or two and then go into the bathroom? You wife will have heard shots in the house, will have a phone and a barking chihuahua to contend with, and then she hears someone yell at her through the door and door opens............boom?

Why not both of you stay in the bedroom with the two guns and the phone?

Both in one place. Both within sight and spoken communication with each other. Both near the same phone talking to the same police dispatcher. Two guns always better than one gun. No moving around in a darkened house seconds after you've been awakened by scary noises.

Just my thoughts. No offense meant.
 
I conducted some of the earliest tests at GUNSITE.
They constructed several wallboard walls to my specs, which we then shot with 9mm JHP (115 & 147g), .45 ACP JHP, 5.56 55g Ball, and .55g JHP. In every case, the handgun rounds went through both sides of 2 wall board walls, and a wallboard T-10 exterior wall.
The 5.56 ammo would go through the 1st wall (both sides), but not make it through the 2nd interior wall.
Walls were spaced 10 feet apart.

We did not place electrical or water pipes in the walls, nor was there insulation in the outer wall.

My reasoning is that handgun rounds penetrate based on mass, 5.56 on velocity. With a wallboard "plug" in the nose, all the pistol rounds lost little velocity, and may have gained mass. The rifle rounds lost velocity and stability - they would often exit the 1st side of the 1st wall sideways, thus loosing even more velocity on the next impact.

Build some walls & try it!
 
My dog...

My dog is up there with wife and family. He sleeps with us in our bed so it's not like it's a stretch or anything. The only thing in the world that would force me to clear my house is if I knew my dog or family was out there. That, I would not have a problem knowing I'd risk my life for. Just that way. It would be like telling me to let my 5 year old wander around the house during the invasion. As for having an escape ladder. I figure with me in the main bedroom covering. I'll know when I'm being overwhelmed. At which point I'll yell for her to exit. I know it really sounds far drawn like that. But I'm the type that expects the very worst. More than likely if my door gets kicked in I'll probably fire all of 5-10 shots. Otherwise I have 45 more. The theory of giving my wife the shot gun is because I know in a stressful situation you have enough to think about. Pumping and firing from the hip with 7 00 bucks should do the trick if they make it past me. I'm even considering getting a .357 revolver as a back up sidearm for her, again, an easy to manipulate piece with an effective round. I think the idea of kneeling as apposed to prone would make a better choice should I have to get mobile and relocate cover. I just figure if you can't see the target, you can't shoot the target, but I suppose I can get as good cover from a kneeling position.

Thank you so far for all of the constructive criticism. No offense taken from anyone. I'm interested in looking at this at all angles. Please feel free if there's anything else you'd like to add. Thanks again.

Aristotle-
 
What will the dog do, when someone kicks in the door? If the dog doesn't follow the plan, would you or your wife change plans and try to catch the dog?

I don’t know the layout, but could the wife take cover in the doorway of the bathroom? If so, she could fire from a 90-degree angle, on any target that made it past the threshold of the BR door. Would you be able to move, freely, the bathroom, if you needed to fall back and make another stand in the bathroom? If you had to fall back, do you have another light in the Bathroom?

Keeping an open lane for you to retreat to the bathroom is a must, should you gun jam etc. just be sure the wife knows it's you coming in.

How about throwing blankets etc. in front of the door (after your set up) as a way of impeding the progress of the BG, if you are rushed?
 
Hi. Some ideas to consider:

1. Buy a pet carrier. ;-)
2. Do you have a gun safe? They make great cover for couples. Your wife can peek around the other side. If possible, square it to incoming fire.
3. Use the .223. Door-kicking invaders may be wearing body armor.
 
The only thing in the world that would force me to clear my house is if I knew my dog or family was out there. That, I would not have a problem knowing I'd risk my life for. Just that way. It would be like telling me to let my 5 year old wander around the house during the invasion
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As an dog lover, I would say forget the dog. If the home invasion happens in the daytime when you are not all in the bedroom, or if the dog gets away from you and runs downstairs - well, too bad. Let it go. What happens if there are 5 or 6 invaders and you successfully take out maybe one of them when you try to clear the house, and then you get whacked? How good are your wife's odds now? I would say to stay with her and wait until assistance arrives. Too many unknowns to go after a dog no matter how much it is loved.
 
1. The Alarm system will cost less than the .357 mag.

2. Love my dogs, but.... they serve me, not vice versa.

3. 5.56 ball will defeat level III soft body armor.

3. Just how deicated do you think these home invaders are? Once the 1st shots are fired, they generally run for the hills. Unless you think a police, SAS, Delta force, or other organized, trained raiding party is coming in, it's time to sit down, pop a cold one, and worry about something else. Only in the movies do the bad guys crawl over the bodies of their dead buddies to "get" the homeowner. So unless you are prepaired to resist a really organized raiding force, give this a rest. Drop one, and the rest will run - since they now all face a murder rap (any death during the commission of a crime, all of those involved in the crime get charged with 1st degree murder - at least here in the Free State of Arizona.)
Remember, their motivation is $$ and drugs. Unless you are high enough profile to justify a protection detail, you can plan this to death, with so many layers that IF you need to do something, you'll have too many choices and may lock up in overload. KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid).

One other benifit of an alarm system is, they now must watch their own backs, for the law is on the way.
 
Definitely ditch the AR. In this sort of situation a shotgun may be a better choice. The right round is arguable, but consider #2 or #4 buckshot over OO buck. There is no reason you and your wife can't have backup handguns of your choice. A .357 works for me. I'd let the dog run. It's going to introduce a whole confusion factor to the bad guys that they hadn't planned on. A confused enemy is a weak enemy. A barking dog will often cause the bad guys to run. They aren't that dedicated. Even a chihuahua's barking brings unwanted attention. I don't know about that light. So the bad guy shoots it out. Then where are you? You're better off being real quiet and still in the dark with some night vision, hoping the cops will arrive before you have to use it. Whatever you do, don't clear the house yourself. Maintain position until the cavalry comes, and maintain communication with them via 911 so the cops know what to expect.
 
A barking dog will often cause the bad guys to run. They aren't that dedicated.
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Or it will cause said BGs to stomp the life out of little Fluffy if they are dedicated. Don't think that some BGs wont just feed it some lead. If someone forced their way into my house, I am not about to assume they are there for tea and biscuts.

Just how deicated do you think these home invaders are?
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I don't know. That's the point. They could just be kids, or amateurs. OTOH, they could be high on PCP and even though they aren't from a SAS team they will not be detered by the same things rational people are detered by. Don't assume that if you take one out all of the rest will run away crying like babies. They might not. Random violence DOES happen.

Keeping it simple does help.
 
Well, I have a dog that sleeps with me too. I love the little leg hugging bastard, but in a life or death situation let the dog go.

Ok the BGs are coming through the house, the dog goes out there, they are either going to deal with the dog (kick it, shoot it, etc) or they are going to leave. If they deal with the dog, thats something money cant buy... Time It can only work to your advantage to let the dog go IMHO. I am not going to trade my life or the lives of my wife and I for the dog. I love him, but he is a DOG.
 
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