Assault rifles offer a bit too much for home defense

Indy Star ^

[conservativefromGa]

John Strauss

Assault rifles offer a bit too much for home defense

February 14, 2003

As store shelves throughout the city are emptied of duct tape and plastic sheeting by people concerned about terrorist attacks, other folks think the best defense is a good offense.

Don Davis said gun sales at his Westside store have doubled since the latest terrorism alert. He said the $599 AK-47 is a top seller.

Davis became locally famous a few years ago with endlessly repeated TV commercials in which he cocked a finger at the camera and cackled, "Folks, I don't want to make money -- I just love to sell guns."

It turns out that terrorism sells.

"For me, when times are bad, business is good," Davis said Thursday.

He was at a trade show in Florida this week, shopping for gas masks for customers suddenly nervous about chemical or biological attacks.

At his Don's Guns, manager Ben Chance let me test-fire the AK-47 and a $999 Bushmaster, similar to the military M-16, in the store's indoor range.

The Bushmaster delivers a high-velocity round very accurately with little kick. The AK-47 will give you a jolt, but with that kick you get a larger round capable, they say, of going through a car's engine block.

Just what you need to stop terrorists invading your subdivision.

Of course, some people might end up with guns simply for home protection. And if that's the case, Chance says, an old-fashioned shotgun might do the trick.

"A 12-gauge is a nice gun to have in the house. You don't have to aim the gun. You just point it in the general vicinity, and you're actually going to hit what you're pointing toward, because (the shot) scatters."

Business also was up at 500 Guns on the Westside and at Pop Guns Trading Post on the Eastside. But managers at those stores said that had more to do with the arrival of income tax refund checks than Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein.

"There have been a few people come in and express concern," said Mike Hilton, the manager at Pop Guns. "But overall, people tend to be pretty complacent about it, to be honest."

Hilton said he recommends that someone who wants a gun take a training course. Then, once he has an idea of their skill level, he'll suggest a firearm -- often a small revolver.

He's not big on the AK-47 in this case. If used for self-defense, it's likely to "overpenetrate" -- go right through the attacker, through the wall of your home, through the wall of the next house and into somebody there.

Guy Montgomery, manager of 500 Guns, also recommends a revolver -- not a battlefield rifle -- for home defense.

Still, there's a magnetism about the assault weapons. Firing one of these guns is the shooting equivalent of twisting the throttle on a squat Harley -- lots of noise and simple, raw power.

They're fun, but they may not be real practical.

So if you're convinced al-Qaida is down the street and you want to establish a defensive perimeter in the front hallway, do the neighbors a favor.

Just borrow dad's old shotgun.

[Squantos]

I had the same phobia regarding semi-auto shotguns. Then I picked up an M1 Benelli and attended a few schools with it. After a few thousand rounds and a numb right sholder I have the same confidence as I did with my Model 12 Winchester riot and my 870 Marine Magnum.

One does have to shoot em quite a bit more than the pump guns to develop memory muscle-matic skills.

Stay Safe !

[Blood of Tyrants]

If you are looking at the sub $500 FAL's, be advised that they are assembled with CIA receivers, gas pistons, and hammer/trigger/sear groups whose quality is questionable/hit or miss at best and crap at worst. You may get one that performs perfectly nes, but the odds are against you.

My suggestion is to get yourself over to the FALFiles and learn about L1A1's and Imbels and FAC receivers and FSE HTS groups and Tapco.

[CFC__VRWC]

You picked up on that too. I got a real hoot out of the guy's comment to the effect that you don't have to aim a shotgun, just sort of point it in the general direction. First, at typical indoor ranges (less than 20 ft) you're only going a very small spread. Second, the load of shot that misses the target is going to hit something.

If I were the owner of Don's Guns and I could verify that my store manager actually said this nonsense (as opposed to having these words put in his mouth by a biased reporter), he would no longer be my store manager.

[cinFLA]

The comparison with the .38 and the 30-30 is quite accurate. For ANYONE to claim that it can "penetrate an engine block", now THAT's misleading.

I agree that "assault rifles" are given too much "status" as to their power. However, there is a big difference between the 7.62 and the .38.

[Bogey78O]

Did the red tip give it away?

[way-right-of-center]

I cant speak for the M1 or the m3, but i have used the Benelli SBE to Duck/Turkey hunt for about 10 years now in some of the coldest/wettest most deplorable sporting conditions out there and it has yet to malfunction ( pauses as he knocks on wood). Benelli makes a fine weapon. With regular cleaning, it is as dependable as they come. Few moving parts to malfunction.

[cinFLA]

This is not to say that a shotgun is not an execellent home defense pice just that like everything it has its limitations.

Reading this thread reminds me of the old tales of the blunderbuss. Actually, the belled muzzle was used to aid in rapid loading of the pellets.

[cinFLA]

Well, the 6's pattern better in my Benelli, which is my (flying) turkey gun. More pellets in neckbone area at comperable distances. Read: Thats what I had on hand. LOL

Each shotgun has it's favorite "load". But then again, we have some BIG turkeys down here.

[noutopia]

Sawed off with a pistol grip? Thats mine!;}

[way-right-of-center]

Ain't it the truth.

I know this is off topic, but did I just hear the Fox news anchor call Steven Segal an action move "superstar"?

[Squantos]

Agree....I only have the M1 (as benellis go) but it has almost 5000 rounds of #4 buckshot and slugs through it since I purchased it. Dependable rig.

Stay Safe !!

[harpseal]

Re your comments on the pistol grip and the kick like a mule. The kick will not be all that noticeable when the adrenilinew is pumping full bore and you are relying on your shotgun for your life. However, personally I find the full syntetic stock is acceptable for hip shots and far superior for well sighted shots. Personal preference.

Due to the differences in patterning due to different chokes etc. I did not include any specific distances and spreads.

[Gman]

I thought you couldn't buy an AK-47 in America...MAK-90 yes, but AK-47?

[Husker24]

I wondered about that myself, I have a MAK 90, which is just a Chinese AK 47 with a thumbhole stock. It aint gonna go through any engine block, unless MAYBE you have steele core ammo and then its iffy.

[cinFLA]

The M-16 fires a .223 round, which is illegal for deer in Minnesota because it is UNDERPOWERED, and likely to leave the wounded deer wandering for days.

I just checked. MN will allow me to use my .50 Browing ......

[Billy_bob_bob]

"but with that kick you get a larger round capable, they say, of going through a car's engine block. \"

With that statement they prove that they know NOTHING about this subject. A full fledged .50 Barrett firing armor piercing rounds won't go through a cast iron engine block. This is just a bunch of twaddle to frighten and confuse the sheeple.

[way-right-of-center]

AK-47 might penetrate the engine block of a French car....

[PUGACHEV]

I had an interesting experience with an AK-47 the first time I fired one. I had cut some 4x4 blocks from a cedar post to use as targets, put them on the ground about 75' away, and emptied a full magazine one shot at a time. It didn't seem as if I had hit anything until I looked at the blocks and saw that they were riddled with holes. Apparently the slugs went so cleanly through the blocks they hardly moved them at all.

[Long Cut]

Thanks for the tips on the FALs. I was looking at the IMBELs anyway, and my preference is for the CETMEs offered by Century Arms. I like .308s because they're more versatile (I can use them to collect dinner OR repel boarders in a pinch situation). I just DO NOT feel that I should pay upwards of $1600.00 for one, especially a military-design. I need nothing fancy; no scopes or lasers for me and no exotic accuracy jobs. Just a simple, reliable workhorse.

SOME "cheap" guns are pretty good deals...my shotgun, for example. Hell, I've been looking REAL hard at those Swiss K-31 straight-pull bolt guns, too, which clock in at about $100.00.

[cinFLA]

I know this is off topic, but did I just hear the Fox news anchor call Steven Segal an action move "superstar"?

An interesting aside. Did you know that SS is testifying against the mob? Seems his religious guru told him not to make anymore action movies and his long-time friend and producer got miffed at his contract reneging and set the mafia out to strong arm him for some $$. He said he carried a pistol to the "meeting" but was not about to tangle with "those guys".