Home Defense Weapons:
I will refer to them in this posting HDW.
When you settle on a weapon for home defense you should make it a habit to practice with it as much as possible, at least as much as you practice with your CCW (concealed carry weapon), as you will be relying on this weapon and your skill with it when you wake up suddenly to that strange bump in the night.Always remember that PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT and the more you practice the right things to do the easier it will be to accomplish them when you're bleary eyed and half asleep reaching for that weapon beside your bed to defend yourself and your family from whatever evil is threatening. There is no such thing as muscle memory, but instead, HABIT OF ACTION that comes from constant repetitive practice.
Some common HDW's and their pros and cons
First and foremost we have the 12 Gauge shotgun. It comes in several varieties the most common of which are the pump action, double barrel side by side, and semi-auto. Some other types that are not as common are the double barrel over/under, single shot break open, and the bolt or lever action. The shotgun is a very intimidating weapon to be on the wrong end of, but can also be intimidating for the other users in your household, especially if they are small framed or not very strong. 12 gauge shotguns are very versatile in the fact that with the simple change of a barrel (on a pump action) you can go from a HDW to a hunting weapon and go hunting then come back home and switch the barrel back to the shorter HDW profile.
Pump actions tend to be the more favored of all shotguns for a HDW due to simplicity of design, number of rounds held, lightweight, and ease of use, and they tend to be cheaper in price as well. With a semi auto you are not manually cycling the action so the chances of a weapons stoppage arise, and they are typically more expensive.
When using any weapon indoors the over penetration and complete miss factor come into play, you need to be aware of your target and what lies beyond it at all times inside a house, especially in an apartment building. One way to help mitigate this is to load up your shotgun with bird shot and a relatively tight choke as the bird shot loses velocity rapidly but at across-the-room distances is actually VERY deadly due to the tighter choke pattern, and will put a very big hole in someone. Most common mistakes in choosing loads are slugs and heavy buckshot due to over penetration, and in the case of slugs you are limiting yourself to one projectile to each pull of the trigger and you therefore limit your chances of getting a hit each time you pull the trigger.
The Pistol/ Revolver:
This type of weapon is probably the second most common type of home defense weapon as people are working on limited budgets and cannot readily afford two seperate weapons so their CCW assumes both roles.
The Pro's to this are, weapons familiarity due to the fact that is carried every day, relatively high magazine capacity, quick reloads if they become necessary, usually very reliable, and they can pack a pretty hard punch.
The Con's to using a pistol. It is inherently harder to hit a target with a pistol as it is a long gun due to many factors, some of which are, short sight radius, only one grip that is held by both hands (as opposed to a long gun where your foward hand provides more muzzle stabilization), and a shorter barrel. Pistol rounds are relatively low powered and semi-auto pistols have more of a chance for a malfunction, although recently semi-auto pistols have become much better. Revolvers are much more reliable but slower to reload and only hold 5-6 rounds at any given time.
The final type of home defense weapon that we will discuss here is the rifle.
The most common rifle's for home defense are typically AR15 or AK47 variants. The AR15 is a good idea for those that have spent extensive time in the military with the M16 variants due to the commonality in the operating systems and all IA/RA (Immediate Action/Remedial Action) drills. The AK47 variants are very reliable and shoot pretty much all the time and require very little maintenance or upkeep. They also fire a larger round and this has several obvious pros/cons one major con is over-penetration. An AK47 will punch a 7.62 round through a railroad tie and keep going, so imagine how many interior/exterior walls that will penetrate.
In summary you, no matter your choice for a HDW it should be:
I will refer to them in this posting HDW.
When you settle on a weapon for home defense you should make it a habit to practice with it as much as possible, at least as much as you practice with your CCW (concealed carry weapon), as you will be relying on this weapon and your skill with it when you wake up suddenly to that strange bump in the night.Always remember that PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT and the more you practice the right things to do the easier it will be to accomplish them when you're bleary eyed and half asleep reaching for that weapon beside your bed to defend yourself and your family from whatever evil is threatening. There is no such thing as muscle memory, but instead, HABIT OF ACTION that comes from constant repetitive practice.
Some common HDW's and their pros and cons
First and foremost we have the 12 Gauge shotgun. It comes in several varieties the most common of which are the pump action, double barrel side by side, and semi-auto. Some other types that are not as common are the double barrel over/under, single shot break open, and the bolt or lever action. The shotgun is a very intimidating weapon to be on the wrong end of, but can also be intimidating for the other users in your household, especially if they are small framed or not very strong. 12 gauge shotguns are very versatile in the fact that with the simple change of a barrel (on a pump action) you can go from a HDW to a hunting weapon and go hunting then come back home and switch the barrel back to the shorter HDW profile.
Pump actions tend to be the more favored of all shotguns for a HDW due to simplicity of design, number of rounds held, lightweight, and ease of use, and they tend to be cheaper in price as well. With a semi auto you are not manually cycling the action so the chances of a weapons stoppage arise, and they are typically more expensive.
When using any weapon indoors the over penetration and complete miss factor come into play, you need to be aware of your target and what lies beyond it at all times inside a house, especially in an apartment building. One way to help mitigate this is to load up your shotgun with bird shot and a relatively tight choke as the bird shot loses velocity rapidly but at across-the-room distances is actually VERY deadly due to the tighter choke pattern, and will put a very big hole in someone. Most common mistakes in choosing loads are slugs and heavy buckshot due to over penetration, and in the case of slugs you are limiting yourself to one projectile to each pull of the trigger and you therefore limit your chances of getting a hit each time you pull the trigger.
The Pistol/ Revolver:
This type of weapon is probably the second most common type of home defense weapon as people are working on limited budgets and cannot readily afford two seperate weapons so their CCW assumes both roles.
The Pro's to this are, weapons familiarity due to the fact that is carried every day, relatively high magazine capacity, quick reloads if they become necessary, usually very reliable, and they can pack a pretty hard punch.
The Con's to using a pistol. It is inherently harder to hit a target with a pistol as it is a long gun due to many factors, some of which are, short sight radius, only one grip that is held by both hands (as opposed to a long gun where your foward hand provides more muzzle stabilization), and a shorter barrel. Pistol rounds are relatively low powered and semi-auto pistols have more of a chance for a malfunction, although recently semi-auto pistols have become much better. Revolvers are much more reliable but slower to reload and only hold 5-6 rounds at any given time.
The final type of home defense weapon that we will discuss here is the rifle.
The most common rifle's for home defense are typically AR15 or AK47 variants. The AR15 is a good idea for those that have spent extensive time in the military with the M16 variants due to the commonality in the operating systems and all IA/RA (Immediate Action/Remedial Action) drills. The AK47 variants are very reliable and shoot pretty much all the time and require very little maintenance or upkeep. They also fire a larger round and this has several obvious pros/cons one major con is over-penetration. An AK47 will punch a 7.62 round through a railroad tie and keep going, so imagine how many interior/exterior walls that will penetrate.
In summary you, no matter your choice for a HDW it should be:
- Utterly Reliable
- As powerful as can be managed by everyone who may have to use it
- Relatively inexpensive as opposed to a match weapon or some specialty weapon.
- Easy to Maintain
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