Centerfire Rifles For HD?

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mavracer

New member
I haven't used anything for HD and hope to keep it thatway. That being said here are a couple key points.
Not every body lives in an apaartment in the city.
You won't get to choose the distance or the precision of the shot you need to make. You also won't get to chose how many and if the BG is going to lose his dessire to continue the attack until you stop his physical ability to continue.
Also just because you have a rifle avaliable for HD does not necessarily make it your first and only option.
That said I usuaally have a 16" AR next to the shotgun in the closet. Others that occasionally share this duty would be a M1 carbine or one of my levers. 357,44,45Colt or 30/30
 
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jaysouth

New member
Unless you live in a castle with interior stone walls with no neighbors for a mile or two, I would not keep a rifle handy as my first choice.

A shotgun loaded with BBs will do the job up to the limits of threat that an intruder can impose. Inside your house it will cut the bad guy in half. If he is too far away for BBs to be lethal, you don't have any business shooting at him.

A poor aim with BBs wont kill any neighbors next door or across the street. Won't make you any friends but.......
 
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Art Eatman

Staff in Memoriam
Trying to stay with the OP's questions: Almost anything will "over penetrate" in modern interior walls. That's one of the reasons for frangible bullets, so ammo choice comes into play. Inside a house? For a shotgun, #9 Skeet at ten to twenty feet will ruin a bad guy's night.

Muzzle blast? What the heck ISN'T loud, indoors? Snubby .38, 4" or 6" .357, any shotgun, any centerfire rifle: Ouch!
 
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Jim243

New member
The M-1 Carbine was designed spacifically for this task, short range, pistol cartriage, short barrel, lightweight, tactical weapon with 15 rounds of ammo. Questionable effectveness, but at short range very effective with low recoil.

Yep that would be my choice, short of a SBR shotgun.

Jim
 
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arizona98tj

New member
Consider the fact that most HD situations happen at 2ft or less an center fire rifle is a bad choice.
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Do you have a reference for this statement? I would like to read about these HD distances, etc.
 
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HunterGuy

New member
Do you have a reference for this statement? I would like to read about these HD distances, etc.
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Just a very quick glance at google and you will find plenty of information.

Although this article is encounters that Police have had, it is extremely similar to any home encounter you may have.

http://www.virginiacops.org/Articles/Shooting/Combat.htm

Then there is this quote from an article:

In the course of investigating this article, I’ve been told time and time again that most gunfights follow the three-three-three rule. Three shots, three seconds, three yards.
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Regardless of what people may think/say. A pistol or some other short barreled, easily maneuvered in tight quarters, weapon is much better suited for home defense then an AR.
 
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arizona98tj

New member
I did a quick Google check....and a quick review of most of the returns were links to comments in forums, like this one, with people making those kind of statements. That didn't provide much.

Regarding the report you linked to, I am not quite so sure that a home defense encounter in my house is going to be typical of a LEO encounter with a BG during the course of performing their normal duties. I also noticed that the data in that report is 30+ years old. I must have missed the part where 2 feet or less was indicated as the most typical distance. No matter....

On the other hand, I attend professional firearms training classes, usually twice a year, that include instruction on handgun, shotgun, and rifle. The instructors are certified professionals with most having a strong background of military and LEO service. In my last 4 day rifle course (this past Memorial Day weekend), one of our 4 instructor also did a lot of training for a number of large federal agencies which included field time in Irag. These guys do it for a living and their life often depends (or has depended) on doing it right.

While we train to handle situations where you might be at bad breath distance with the BG, something has gone really wrong in your plan if you do. Before I spent a few years in class, I use to think that a handgun was the best defense for HD. Having completed numerous courses for handgun, shotgun, and rifle, I'll take a long gun anytime. However, I am comfortable using any of the three, when the need arises. Perhaps others are not and that causes them to state a rifle, for instance, is not proper for HD. And of course, a lot has to do with the location, situations, and a few hundred other variables that must be factored into the equation.

As they say, YMMV. :)
 
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Eagle0711

New member
A rifle for HD may not be a bad idea. Crininals and punks are wearing bullet proof vests when they do their thing. Most rifle rounds will penetrate the vests that are common at gunshows.

The down side would be your ears.
 
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Old Grump

Member in memoriam
I'm a handgun/shotgun man for HD but Grandma was a 30-30 gal and if I had to use a rifle I would go past all of my rifles and grab my old 32 Win spcl. Just something about the ease of handling of that old lever action and the comfort of knowing that I wouldn't have to shoot very many rounds of those lead round nose bullets to put an end to the party. All my other centerfire rifles are a bit much for inside shooting and I think I would like to keep the fired round inside the house if at all possible.
 
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SteelChickenShooter

New member
Keeping inline with the original post, I would answer the question this way:
I'd use a Colt M-4 LE6920 in 5.56mm with a light mounted under the barrel.
How would I deal with over penetration and blast?
In my particular case, I'd would ignore both and give those aspects no consideration at all.
For others in different surroundings, that might not be the correct attitude.
 
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