Rifle as Home Defense?

[blackhawk2000]

Where do you live? If you can get enough people together I know a guy who might travel to you. He did a class for Oleg and some of his friends. www.michigantrainer.com Well worth the money.

 

[P95loser]

I never have taken a rifle class, but I can see the advantages of a carbine style ar... and would like to have one, but it wont be at my bedside, but in the safe. That to me is the main advantage of a pistol.

 

[blackhawk2000]

You can put a rifle next to your bed at night, and then back in the safe in the morning. I carry a G23, and 2 spare mags every day. At work I wear a tool belt over the gun and mags. At times it is very uncomfortable, but I do it not because it is convienent.

 

[Rifleman 173]

When you FIRST get to grabbing guns, what do you reach for? A handgun to strap on and to cover the immediate area you're in. Next on the list is your primary firearm be it rifle or shotgun. Once you are ready, then you go looking for the bad guy or the bump in the night. That's normally how I do it. However, my options for use are the long barrel, shoulder-mounted firearm first backed up by my pistol.

 

[huntershooter]

I've got a ranch that's a "weekend" place. It's in the Flinthills region of SE Kansas and is quite isolated. Nearest neighbor is 4 miles away. Response time of Deputy Sheriff is 20 min.+. IF there is a disturbance at night that requires investigation, I take an AR10 with a Trijicon Reflex sight. My wife stays put in the bedroom with phone and a .45 acp 1911. There are a LOT of meth producing/using spooks in our area (the Sheriff, Matt Samuals was killed a few miles away a year ago, serving a warrant to one of these cretins). I suppose the scenario I envision is the necessity to shoot through cover (vehicle bodies). The .308 is up to it in my experience.

 

[stubbicatt]

I choose a 223 rifle with Hornady TAP or Vmax rounds, as I have done penetration tests on various media, and determined that the risk from overpenetration outweighs the desireability of a handgun.

As far as being unwieldy (sic?) just choke up on it really tight when going through the house, and aim roughly. This takes practice, but if you don't practice you are handicapping yourself in any event, IMO.

 

[lev83]

I think a good pump shotgun just can not be replaced as a home defense weapon. Just working the action would provide a serious deterent to most anyone. Does not require precision accuracy to be effective in eliminating a threat. And no real concerns re: overpentration. I believe my mind is made up on this one.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Just working the action would provide a serious deterent to most anyone.

Too many movies....

Your average meth head probably doesn't even know or remember what a pump shotgun being loaded sounds like....

 

[Zach S]

Just working the action would provide a serious deterent to most anyone. Does not require precision accuracy to be effective in eliminating a threat.

That deterent also gives away your position to the BG that you let get too close to you while holding a club. Also, my HD rounds dont pattern any bigger than my lady's fist at room distances, and my AR points more naturally for me (I shoot it more), so I'd actually be less likely to hit with the scattergun.

 

[Gunsnrovers]

When I was single, I had either an 870 or a lever gun as the house gun. Now that I'm married, I use revolvers.

I'd prefer the long gun, but my wife has trouble with them. She has no issues with the revolvers.

Go with the best you can use effectively.

 

[supertac]

AR15 with M193 ammo is my go to...I also have a G23 ready by the bedside.

 

[Twud]

I'll give a several reasons to use a small frame revolver.

It's real easy to tell if it's loaded
Very fast target aquisition
Very low probability of a jam
Lower probability of having it wrestled away for you
No safety to worry about

I asked my attorney about this once. His advice was that in the event you should be charged with some kind of BS felony, a handgun looks less imposing, less menacing to a jury. A tricked out black gun apparently dosen't play well with the uneducated masses. He says your better off with a serious wound than actually killing the bad guy. As a criminal defense attorney I gotta' believe him.

The guy I work for has a cabin in the West Virginia mountains. Every year he closes shop for a few days takes the mechanics hunting. One brain child was in the living room showing off his 30-30 when of course it went off. Bullet went through a bathroom, through a kitchen wall passing within a foot or so of the boss's head and lodged in a cast iron sewer pipe.

You don't need that much power to give a man something more important to think about.
Would you want a FMJ round taking a trip through you kids bedroom?

I keep a small frame Smith stoked with +P's for in home defense. If they want to get more serious a Mini-14 is in the front of my guncabinet along with
4 -30 round mags stoked with FMJ's.
You also have to ask your self Do you really want to kill the guy? It's a burden you will carry the rest of your life.

Finally, I seem to recall Jeff Cooper stating that the average gun fight takes place in under 15 feet and lasts 5 seconds.

 

[SteyrAUG]

If your first instinct is to grab for that long gun, chime in as to why!

More stable, accurate (longer sight radius) platform with a higher magazine capacity. Doesn't extend from the body any further than a aimed handgun. Weapon lights, suppressors, etc. are easier to handle on a carbine.

 

[Gator]

Next on the list is your primary firearm be it rifle or shotgun.

Yep. A handgun is what you use when you don't have a better weapon.