Personal Self Defense
Personal Protection and YOU!
Rifles | HandgunsHandguns
There is
so much dis-information, myths
and downright foolishness out there right now, and I hate to see
people being guided down the wrong path. My thoughts and opinions are
not the end all to be all, but I won’t feed you a line of BS. When
it comes to matters of life and death, you deserve better than that.
I carry a concealed gun every day of my life. I keep a long gun in my truck, as well. I’m prepared to use them to defend myself or my family. If you’re going to have a gun with you, you need to be prepared for the fact that you may actually have to use it one day! You need to understand your worth as a human being, and the worthiness of your loved ones. Once you have come to grips with this, and understand the legalities of lethal force in your neck of the woods, when and if the time comes for you to use deadly force, you’ll be much faster to react.
Training is absolutely vital! You are better off buying a $400 pistol, 1000 rounds of ammo and going to a two-day training class, than dropping $2000 on the latest ‘gotta have it!’ gun, then having nothing left for ammo OR training. Attend an NRA Basic Firearms training class. This will at least start you on the right path.
My opinions are based on shooting for the last 30 years, and training others for the last 12. Lets look at hardware for concealed carry, since everybody likes it most. In our training sessions, we recommend the modern, high capacity semi automatic pistol for your everyday use. This could be one of the various Glock pistols, the Springfield XD or XDM, the SIG-Sauer, or a Heckler & Koch, holding anywhere from 13-17 rounds. This may seem at odds to the various magazine articles you have read that proclaim you can get by with a 2” barreled, five shot revolver. You don’t want to just “get by” in a gunfight; you want to be ahead. Having more rounds on board is a definite advantage. More rounds does not mean you ‘spray and pray.’ They allow you to deal with not only one, but multiple opponents before having to reload.
We are seeing an increase in multiple opponent attacks. If I’m faced with three or more attackers, I want to have lots of ammo. Now, some will say that the chances of this type of scenario happening are rare, but to that I say, it only has to happen to you once, doesn’t it?
Also, ALL handgun rounds are poor fight stoppers. I don’t care if it’s a .32 ACP, 9mm, .40 S&W, 357 Magnum, or .45ACP. All of them have failed to stop bad guys at some point or another. We carry handguns because they are convenient, and easy to conceal. I’m not going to shoot my attacker just once, and see what he does. I’m going to shoot him to the ground, until he is a threat no more. More and more bad guys are wearing body armor; it may take me two or three rounds before I realize I have to switch my target area and go to the head shot. Don’t like the thought of shooting someone in the head? Get used to it, and train for it, because that may be the only part of the bad guy you can see. Your assailant may be hiding behind cover, such as a pillar, a car, or your spouse. Do you really trust yourself to make that difficult shot with a small revolver or semi auto that you don’t shoot that often? Carry the full size gun that you can shoot well, and have confidence in, plus extra ammo.
Do small revolvers have a place? Absolutely! My Smith & Wesson model 642 double action only .38 Special revolver has accompanied me many places. For those times when you absolutely can’t carry something bigger, this is the next logical choice. It is double action only, meaning there is no hammer on the outside to cock; I pull the trigger and it goes around. I have a Barami Hip Grip, which is a set of grips with a shelf or lip built into the right side of the grip, so I can tuck it inside my waistband and not have it fall down my pants.
The most important thing about personal
protection is to have a gun with you at all times, along with extra
ammo. We’ll look at rifles for personal defense next time. Until
then, stay safe!
Rifles
The rifle is the tool of choice when we know the fight is coming. It allows you to dominate your environment like nothing else. With it, you can fight anywhere from 0-5 feet, all the way to the maximum limits of the cartridge and your ability. It is my first choice, if possible, in most situations.
My preference is for a military style semi-automatic rifle. They will normally hold much more ammunition in them, which, as I’ve mentioned before, is not a bad thing. They are generally more durable than standard sporting rifles, which are not designed to take the same kind of abuse. This is not a flaw in them, but an indication that they should not be expected to perform dual roles.
At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, let me point out that we have seen several instances in the last 20 years where having a military style kind of fighting rifle is a great advantage. The LA Riots in 1992, Hurricanes Hugo, Andrew, Rita and Katrina, all saw instances of looting in their respective cities. We’ve also seen it in the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Haiti. Looters are a very real threat in a time of crisis like this, and you need to be able to protect yourself, your family, and what supplies you have in order to survive. The threat of multiple attackers during a home invasion is also a consideration. If I only have time to grab my rifle and nothing else, I want it to have a lot of rounds in it.
Having said that, I also realize that many people are not willing or able to purchase an expensive rifle like this, either due to available funds, or the laws of certain locales may prevent the owning of one. My other recommendation then, is the lever action. Generally, these will be found in caliber .30-30, which can be found in most stores around the country, but also in many handgun calibers, as well. I’ve yet to see too many rural homes that didn’t have a lever action somewhere in the household. They are generally seen as ‘cowboy’ guns, and therefore less offensive than the so-called ‘assault rifles,’ which is a wholly inaccurate term. A good lever action can also be purchased for under $200, if one looks hard enough.
Our defensive rifle must be able to deliver many accurate rounds on targets at a greater range than we would normally engage with a handgun. More rounds allow us to deal with our threat longer without having to reload. Such rifles are widely available now, and I have fired most of them in one form or another, and seen many more in action. Here, then, are my choices:
AK47 rifle: Call me a
heretic,
but I’ve used one enough to prefer it over the more common AR15
series of rifles. The AK is durable to the extreme, ammo and
magazines are widely available and inexpensive. The 7.62x39 round it
fires has similar ballistics as the .30-30. The folding stock allows
me to carry it in the ‘urban camouflage’ bag (otherwise known as
a tennis racket bag) next to it, along with the rifle fighting bag. The
rifle fighting bag holds four 30 round magazines, 2 pistol
magazines, and a personal first aid kit. With it, I’m ready for
99.9% of the situations I’m ever likely to run into. 
AR15:
This
is undoubtedly the
most popular defensive rifle in the US today, due in large part to
its use by the US military and many law enforcement agencies. A base
rifle can be purchased for as little as $650, with some of the high
end ones running well into the $2000s! There is a plethora of
accessories out there for it, but generally one will be better off
buying a stock rifle, magazines and ammo, and then getting training
on how to fight with it. The one shown is my stock Bushmaster full
size rifle. I’ve put almost 3000 rounds through it without a
hiccup. The rifle fighting bag for the AR15 holds three 30 round
magazines, 3 pistol magazines, first aid kit, and various survival
accouterments. 
Winchester
model
94 lever action:
While looking less offensive than the previous two rifles, it is
totally capable of reaching out to 150-200 yards with its preferred
loads. It holds 6 rounds, so learning to keep the gun topped off is
an important skill to develop. Marlin makes an equivalent rifle, the
model 336. You can get them with barrels as short as 16 inches, and
all the way to 26 inches, and the Marlin is available in stainless
steel. An individual, well trained in working it, is still a
competent adversary when using a lever gun.
Don’t waste a lot of money on non essential doodads to attach to the outside of your rifle. Get your rifle, lots of spare magazines and ammo, and get to training! Learning how to fight with your rifle is essential. The only two schools that I recommend are Defense Training, Int, run by John Farnam, and Suarez International, Inc, run by Gabe Suarez. Either one will teach you the proper way to fight with the rifle, not just how to shoot it. You can check them out at the links below.
Once you have learned to use the rifle properly, it’ll be your friend and constant companion, and the knowledge that you can protect those you care most about with it will fill you with a sense of pride and power like nothing else. Next time, we’re gonna talk about the shotgun, and you’ll read things you probably won’t read anywhere else. Until then, stay safe!
Steve Collins
www.suarezinternational.com
www.defense-training.com
Rifle Fighting Bags:
www.onesourcetactical.com
