Realistic AR home defense scenarios--things to think about

[Doc Safari]

I can't find much that I would disagree with.

The section where he talks of retention makes me question his breadth of knowledge, though.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the single point sling. They don't call it the "nut slapper" for nothing.

[just a scout]

Heh. I used a single point on an old M4 a long time ago. Tried to jump a wall and took myself out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[SBRSarge]

I just read Doc Safari’s Ar v Shotgun link, and I agree with others. The author makes good points but I disagree with the single point sling statement. The damn things flop about too much.

As for the article in general, nothing much if anything that is new here; I was writing much of this in the early to mid 1990s in papers arguing for AR-style rifles in our patrol cars.

[Doc Safari]

As for the article in general, nothing much if anything that is new here; I was writing much of this in the early to mid 1990s in papers arguing for AR-style rifles in our patrol cars.

I read it as important ammunition in showing the gun grabbers that an AR is a legitimate HD weapon and not a "weapon of war".

[flenna]

I read it as important ammunition in showing the gun grabbers that an AR is a legitimate HD weapon and not a "weapon of war".

There is no evidence you can show the gun grabbers that will change their minds. It isn’t about safety to them it is about disarming the populace.

[Doc Safari]

There is no evidence you can show the gun grabbers that will change their minds. It isn’t about safety to them it is about disarming the populace.

Agree. Let me rephrase it: It's about the people on the fence that end up voting for stupid laws on behalf of the gun grabbers.

[26 Inf]

Agree. Let me rephrase it: It's about the people on the fence that end up voting for stupid laws on behalf of the gun grabbers.

This stuff on bill boards would probably do more good: https://www.nssf.org/media/infographics/

Attachment 56888
Attachment 56889
Attachment 56890
Attachment 56891

Download it, print copies, have a meeting at the public library of community center to have an open conversation about firearms in your community. Pick someone level headed to give the presentation, when the anti-gun foamers start going off, they will be seen as out of control.

[Doc Safari]

SOME THOUGHTS ON OPTICS.

This is first-hand experience with my "practice runs" so I'm not speculating. I started with a carbine mounting an old Surefire G2 which frankly does not have as many lumens as more modern offerings, but is okay for "inside the house."

I tried each of the sight systems listed with a borrowed store mannequin (really!) as my "perp". We even named him "Manny" (short for Mannequin). We dressed Manny in dark clothing to simulate what a person creeping around in the dark might wear.

Further, what I've typed below applies only to a carbine with a bright LED weaponlight activated in a dwelling with light-colored walls. This house is as pitch black as a tomb after dark. I am also assuming that if you are seeking someone who's broken into your house, you are scanning the rooms through the optic and not keeping it at low ready or some other position. YMMV if your setup doesn't meet these criteria.

Although each and every sight system I've listed is a favorite of mine, there are definite advantages and disadvantages to each.

1. Reflex sights with amber reticles SUCK in a house with light colored walls. This includes the Meprolight (a favorite battle optic of mine), and similar Trijicon reflex sights. With the bright flashlight on the lightly colored walls the reticle is invisible or close to it. The optic becomes a giant ghost ring for your FSB. While scanning around the reticle finally became visible on the perp's dark clothing, but I felt that caused too much time to elapse between finding the reticle again and centering it on target. A few seconds of not knowing where the reticle was, and having it suddenly appear on the perp's dark colored clothing seemed to just take too long for my comfort. Maybe with practice this would be okay, but I'd prefer to see the reticle ALL THE TIME.

2. Three and four power ACOG is close to useless in close quarters (Duh!). The magnification confuses and disorients you when scanning around the room. You lose your point of reference while looking through the glass and have to raise your head to "find" where you're at in the room again. (I say this is important so you're not shooting through the walls into your kids' rooms). When you finally find the perp you have enough of a view to use the reticle as a glorified red dot, but I found it took too long to know "where I was at" in the room just looking through the optic. MAYBE this could be mitigated with practice, buy "why" with other sight options available unless you are just so wedded to a magnified optic that you cannot let go.

3. LPVO worked okay. The crosshairs disappeared against dark objects, but my Leupold FireDot was okay on the lowest setting using it as a glorified RDS. The greenish dot didn't seem to be as bright as the dot in a red dot, but that might not bother everybody. Your eyes may prefer the green dot.

4. Iron sights were okay, IF you flipped it to the larger aperture and the flashlight illuminated the room enough to "fake it" as far as a perfect sight picture. When I did it there was enough ambient light around the ghost ring to make this not too bad for sighting on a perp with dark clothing caught in the flashlight beam. If you plan to stick to irons I'd suggest training yourself to always switch to the large aperture at sunset.

5. RDS: This worked the best. I tried an Aimpoint Pro, Trijicon MRO, Vortex Crossfire, and some cheapo Chinese red dot that I don't even know the brand. The dot was good and visible both on the dark-clothed perp and the light colored walls. I was able to keep the dot centered and ready for trigger time no matter where it pointed. This is the winner as far as I'm concerned. The RDS is the perfect CQB optic for things that go bump in the night.

So those are my strictly experiential non-scientific results in a big dark house with light grey walls and a mannequin wearing dark-colored clothes. A lot of this may come down to being my preference and you many not experience exactly the same issues I did.

Special thanks to "Manny" for holding perfectly still during the practice runs.

[daddyusmaximus]

I swear by the RDS for everything not far away. My "things that go bump in the night" gun is an SBR with an Aimpoint Comp M4s. I've not found anything as fast on target as a RDS. Being right handed, and left eye dominant, I've been a RDS convert since my first EoTech back in 04.

On my last deployment to Iraq, I credit my RDS (EoTech 512) with saving my life twice, because prior to having one, I was much slower, always having to close my left eye to engage.

Once I discovered them... there is no going back unless I absolutely need the magnification. I will be putting a LPVO on my 14" .308 build, but one with a powered dot, and a 1x setting.

I even have a RDS (Sig Romeo 5) on a .44 mag lever gun that is very quick and accurate.

[Defaultmp3]

2. Three and four power ACOG is close to useless in close quarters (Duh!). The magnification confuses and disorients you when scanning around the room. You lose your point of reference while looking through the glass and have to raise your head to "find" where you're at in the room again. (I say this is important so you're not shooting through the walls into your kids' rooms). When you finally find the perp you have enough of a view to use the reticle as a glorified red dot, but I found it took too long to know "where I was at" in the room just looking through the optic. MAYBE this could be mitigated with practice, buy "why" with other sight options available unless you are just so wedded to a magnified optic that you cannot let go.

Are you using BAC at all? Seems like you're not, that might be a way to get better performance with magnified optics. Not that BAC is going to be anywhere as consistently precise as an RDS or holographic sight, due to phoria, but it can make magnified optics a bit more versatile, especially if you have an illuminated reticle, like the LED ACOGs (the FO/tritium ones tend to not have a bright enough reticle in low light for BAC to work well, is my understanding).