Posted on 03/24/2018 12:54:25 PM PDT by MtnClimber
The AR-15 may well be the most vilified rifle in existence at the moment, possibly even more so than the Soviet-designed AK-47. This is especially true following several incidents where bad people did bad things with the rifle in question.
As per usual following such incidents, politicians begin clamoring for the rifle to be banned. They use all kinds of rhetoric to paint the firearm as some kind of evil murder-death-kill machine that serves no other purpose except to end lives. This usually comes from the same people who claim that the most recent gunman, armed with a Glock, didn’t have a semiautomatic weapon.
Yeah.
Anyway, many of these folks–including at least one former vice president of the United States–have said that all you need for self-defense in your home is a shotgun.
Unfortunately, this just isn’t the case. The AR-15 is a great weapon for self-defense, and there are a number of reasons why. What follows is one man’s thinking on why the AR-15 is great for home defense and, in a few cases, why it’s far superior to the shotgun.
1. It’s Lightweight.... 2. It’s Compact...
(Excerpt) Read more at bearingarms.com ...
I have more risk of bear problems than people so an AR is not my choice. For most people it is fine.
Rough neighborhood, haha
Had a large bull moose at the end of the driveway last summer.
While I have a handgun and a shotgun, my AR-15 is my serious weapon of choice if the SHTF. Accurate, light, low-recoil, reliable, and deadly at typical engagement ranges in the Southeast woodlands and in urban areas.
I have an old Remington 7400 in ‘06 for all-around outdoors gun. I take everything up to elk with it. Moose, btw, can be real dangerous. I’ve encountered moose and bears in AK.
Get an AR10.
Best of both worlds.
One of the most important requirements for in the home invasion is firepower with a SHORT barrel. If you must search the house, you will be passing a lot of doors, sometimes one on each side of a hall, turning corners and behind each of those blind spots can be a bad guy ready and able to grab the barrel of a long gun.
Walking down a hall with a long gun to flush out bad guys is an invitation for a fight to the death.
Lotsa big furries up here. I’m never without a large Cal. handgun strapped on, and a large Cal. rifle nearby, when I’m outside for chores and mait. etc. The darn things can sneak up/surprise you if they want. It is amazing how quiet they can move their big bods around the mountains if they want to.
Why an assault weapon?
First it is not an assault weapon. It is a modern firearm.
Why do I want one?
For half the price of a conventional or old fashioned hunting rifle, I get a rifle that is more accurate.
It is much lighter, shorter and easier to carry. It is especially appreciated when climbing a ladder to a deer blind or walking through dense brush.
The older style rifle is very awkward to handle in a tight area, such as climbing a ladder or removing it from a car.
It I much easier to prevent dropping or scratching due to the pistol grip that gives the gun grabber cills.
Many a conventional rifle has misfired when dropped from a tree stand, some with fatal results.
Many have injured themselves when crawling through or under a fence.
All of the above much more easily and safely done with the AR series rifles.
No one needs a 30 round magazine? No, usually we don’t. But it is a clean safe way to carry ammunition. A pocket full of loose ammo gets the ammo dirty, plus it is very uncomfortable.
And for those who hunt wild hogs or any other dangerous game such as bears, lots of ammo is a must. When such game is shot from a blind at a distance and the hunter has the opportunity to rest the rifle so as to get a very careful shot, one shot kills are relatively easy and frequent. It is another story when on foot out in the open and dangerous game is charging. Very few one shot kills take place when dangerous game is charging.
A wounded bear or wild hog presents an extreme danger and hunting ethics require the hunter to track down any game he has shot and that has run away wounded. And that is extremely dangerous if it is a hog or a bear.
The AR series are very easy to clean. Spare parts are low cost, easy to find and very easy to install.
If the hunter or home defender needs lights, bi-pods, special scopes or specially designed sights, the AR series will accommodate them with no special gunsmithing and can be installed in minutes. And there are countless variations of both available over the counter.
In short, the AR is the best general purpose rifle.
As for me, I teased my neighbor when he first showed up with an AR 15 to hunt deer. “Why do you want to hunt with that ugly thing when you have all of those beautiful rifles with walnut stocks….beautiful guns?”
And one day my daughter got me to buy one. A long story as to why, but she got me to buy one.
Now I have three simply because that first one was the best gun I ever owned.
Now my older conventional rifles with the walnut stocks are retired. Just like my neighbor’s.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-man-uses-ar-15-kill-three-teen-home-intruders-n739541
Looks like you live in Colorado. Here in E TN just outside of Knoxville, no meece, but lots of whitetails, indeed so many that they’re as common as rabbits and a lot larger.
He said he’s worried about bears.
If you had to face a bear, which would you prefer?
Granted, they can both do the job.
For indoor defense a handgun is just more, well, handy. A full size rifle is clumsy in hallways and more likely to be taken away. Shots in your home will be at very short range, you don’t need a rifle.
For a house gun I’ll take a Circuit Judge. For bear I’ll use my .444 Marlin lever action. It don’t ever jam and if I can’t stop a bear with 5 rounds of .444 well?
The AK is much better for close work. Much less prone to jam, easier and faster to fieldstrip and clean, 7.62 a much better round.
Home Defense: Double Barrel Shotgun vs AR15
Winning comment: "My greatest fear is that one day someone will break into my house and I won't know which one of my guns to kill them with."
I also have a 444 Marlin and I have thought of using it as a house gun. Right now it is a M1A.
Well, don't we all live with that fear?
I've often had a mental vision of myself tearing around through the house, picking up first one gun, then another and saying to myself: "This one, or this one...maybe this one...no, this one needs to be shot, but this one has the new loads in it that I wanted to try out...".
I mean, it's a real delicate situation...don't want to favor one over the other and how many chances does one get to see how well one particular gun will blow some scum bag away?
I can understand.
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