Ok small rant about gun myths

[E4 No More]

Maybe I read it wrong...but it came across as "so you want to be a tough guy and shoot somebody"

Just responding to what was written. Personally, I don't give a crap because I wouldn't break into your house.

[E4 No More]

Don't have to worry about him assuming. He'll shoot somebody as fast as you will. Gotta worry about some prosecutor quoting that post in court.

Ding, ding, ding!!!

[DMark]

What myths have you heard about firearms and shooting that really grind you?

 

When folks (especially the media) refer to a close engagement or contact shot as "Point Blank Range."  :grouchy:

 

Of course we on this forum all understand Point Blank Range to be the near to far distance at which a given firearm can be directly aimed at the target without consideration of its trajectory and still achieve a center-mass hit.  

[K191145]

Before I start, Ive been rather stressed lately, and just need a place to vent after the idiocy I had to deal with last night at work. So I was showing my new shotgun to my brother in law whom I work with. Its an 18.5" cylinder bore Mossberg 500. Another guy we work with wandered up while were talking and starts giving unsolicited advice. First I said I still needed to drill and tap and add the front bead, which he informs me is stupid because you don't need to aim a shotgun, just point and shoot. I mention that a shot spread is gonna be very small at short distance, and that the myth of the street sweeper patterns isn't really true. He then mentions my pet peeve. He said a pump shotgun is his favorite for home defense because the sound of the pump racking will cause an attacker to run in fear. Why do people claim this? All you do when you rack the gun is slow yourself down and identify your location. He just wouldn't accept the fact that racking a shotgun wouldn't immediately cause any human on earth to faint or run in fear. Well, rant over. What myths have you heard about firearms and shooting that really grind you?

 

That's because most everyones education about firearms in general comes from Hollywood and TV shows and the media. If i'm talking to someone about firearms who has little knowledge about them and new to them the first thing I tell them is that what you have seen in movies or drama TV shows, or heard on the news, forget it, don't believe it, it's a bunch of over dramatized BS with alot of false information. Now I don't claim to be some big expert on all firearms but I think i've learned a few things in my old age, I used to believe some stupid stuff and there's still some hangups I have like I still have to have a .45 instead of a 9mm even though if I thought about it logically I would carry a 9mm. Anyway most of us here at TGO tend to read and study about firearms more than most gun owners, that's why we are members of a gun forum where we discuss alot about firearms. I have friends that I grew up with going hunting and target shooting that still believe some silly stuff, I want to correct them sometimes but being my friends I don't want to sound like a B-hole.

[gregintenn]

So your answer would be yes?

 

While I would shoot to stop any intruder in my house, I would still prefer that they ran away screaming like a little girl. There's less paperwork.

Wouldn't you be concerned about them coming back....perhaps with several buddies?

[nightrunner]

If you believe you can simply point a shotgun in the general direction of something and hit it, you have never been bird hunting, I can guarantee you that.

[tennesseetiger]

If you believe you can simply point a shotgun in the general direction of something and hit it, you have never been bird hunting, I can guarantee you that.

Yea...its not the kind of gun you want to use if people you care about are in the area. Would not end well at all.

[bersaguy]

It wouldn't be a deterrent then, would it?

 

It would surely be a deterrent to his one or two buddies waiting to come in behind him when the Boom happens..........jmho

[nightrunner]

Why? It's not a frag grenade

[E4 No More]

Wouldn't you be concerned about them coming back....perhaps with several buddies?

Not at all. In my years as a LEO the only ones that I've known to come back were estranged husbands. Although I haven't studied it I'd imagine that statistics would show that home invasions are conducted by two groups: one where the criminal knows you're home, and the other by one that doesn't know you're at home. The former are there to do you harm, and the latter are there to take your crap without too much hassle. Guess who's going to run off?

[E4 No More]

It would surely be a deterrent to his one or two buddies waiting to come in behind him when the Boom happens..........jmho

I think that's possible, but not probable. I concern myself with probabilities.

 

EDIT: No disrespect intended.

Edited January 7, 2015 by SWJewellTN

[tennesseetiger]

Why? It's not a frag grenade

I was referring to the spread in the event that you have to use it in a tight scenario.

Here's a scenario to kind of explain what I was referring to...say somebody broke into a house and was holding a gun to somebody's head "a loved one". You wouldnt use a shotgun in that situation because you obviously couldnt put a shot in a specific area without hitting somebody else.

With that said, if you are in an empty hall way and the only thing in front of the barrel is a bad guy then a shotgun is a no brainer.

[gregintenn]

Not at all. In my years as a LEO the only ones that I've known to come back were estranged husbands. Although I haven't studied it I'd imagine that statistics would show that home invasions are conducted by two groups: one where the criminal knows you're home, and the other by one that doesn't know you're at home. The former are there to do you harm, and the latter are there to take your crap without too much hassle. Guess who's going to run off?

If someone showed the poor judgement to enter my home uninvited, I would consider them a threat until I knew for sure they were no longer a threat. Perhaps I'm over cautious.

[tennesseetiger]

If someone showed the poor judgement to enter my home uninvited, I would consider them a threat until I knew for sure they were no longer a threat. Perhaps I'm over cautious.

I dont think you are over cautious...I'm sure they aren't breaking in to ask to borrow some milk and cookies. Now that doesnt necessarily mean that somebody who breaks into a house is going to be violent, but they dont break in just to hang out and play monopoly either...

[whitewolf001]

Anything less than .45 or .308 is a poodle shooter. Ugh... the caliber argument irks me. Also, the notion that women can ONLY use revolvers is Chauvinistic and childish. If it's her preference that's one thing but to claim that is all that she can use because of some sort of made up mental inferiority? Oh yeah, you're a douche.

[E4 No More]

If someone showed the poor judgement to enter my home uninvited, I would consider them a threat until I knew for sure they were no longer a threat. Perhaps I'm over cautious.

Not at all over cautious. I feel the same way.

[HvBikeWlTravel]

I went without a sight(front or back) on my bargain basement New Haven 12 ga. pump with sawed off 18" barrel for many years. And I've tested many reload combos to see if there was a way to increase spread. Even with that "open" choke, not significant improvement. I'm in the camp(probably by myself) that would pick a shotgun in a house only after using all the ammo in the 10-15 handguns available. IF I happen to go outside with a little more room to maneuver, then I'll grab the 12 ga. I much prefer one hand free in a house. And I'm much more competent with a handgun.

But to the OP point of contention, I do remember an assistant Chief of Police relating the story of how he purposely racked a round so as a troubled young man could hear inside. And when he went inside with a partner, the troublemaker had dropped his weapon and sat down at a kitchen table. Guess that has happened a few times. But I'm not gonna havta worry about rackin' since I keep one in the chamber of all my defensive firearms.

[btq96r]

I'm probably the odd one out in that I don't keep my firearms loaded in the strict sense.  I do keep a mag in the well, or shells in the tube, on all my weapons.  It takes me but a second to get a gun ready, so unless I wake up with the bad guy right on top of me, I'm still ready to go in sufficient time.  I do this so there is no confusion of "is it loaded" when I'm still waking up, even under adrenaline fueled conditions.  I'll make sure it's loaded by doing it myself then and there.  This works for me, but I'm not about to prescribe it as the method anybody else should use.

 

As to the racking of a shotgun being a deterrent...in my opinion, it can't hurt things.  Home invaders are mostly looking for things to steal and want to be in and out with whatever they can carry.  They are the types who thrive on easy targets, and hearing a shotgun racked will let them know there isn't an easy target to be had in this house.  I wouldn't rely on it being enough to make them fly away, but I also won't underestimate the advantage that changing an invaders mental condition brings.

[K191145]

If someone showed the poor judgement to enter my home uninvited, I would consider them a threat until I knew for sure they were no longer a threat. Perhaps I'm over cautious.

 

That's the smart thing to do. If someone breaks into my home uninvited, (home invasion), i'm not going to ask them why they are here, or wait to see what race they are or ask them to see their I.D. to see what age they are, i'm just going to assume this person is trying to kill me. Peroid. I am of the opinion that if bad guy commits a home invasion and the home owner shoots the bad guy center chest with a 12guage 00buck load at 10 feet, it is all, 100% bad guys fault,tough crap for him, he's dead because he threatened the home owners life.

Edited January 7, 2015 by K191145

[Omega]

I don't know, while not universal it is a deterrent.  When stationed at Ft Bragg, I lived in a mobile home park.  My fenced in yard happened to be a perfect shortcut from a back street to Bragg Blvd.  I put up a sign, got a dog (got stolen once) and locked the gate to no avail.  One day I was watering my grass when some guy just walks right behind me to the other side, last straw.  I took to "cleaning" my shotgun on my front porch; the next time one of them had his leg over my fence I racked it...the very last time I had anyone do that again.  No violence, no words were exchanged but the message was clear.  I do know one thing, even if you have never heard that sound, there is no mistaking what it is.

[zgunbear]

Back on topic gun myths...

"A .45 will kill you and flip you across the room if it just hits you in the thumb."

"An AK won't jam"

"A .22 is not gonna kill you"

"A woman should only shoot a small gun"

[K191145]

Back on topic gun myths...

"A .45 will kill you and flip you across the room if it just hits you in the thumb."

"An AK won't jam"

"A .22 is not gonna kill you"

"A woman should only shoot a small gun"

 

Sure an AK will jam if it has a marble size rock in the reciever or if you try to feed 7.62x54 ammo through it or somehow loaded the mag backwards. Now it's a Glock that wont jam.  :)

[DWARREN123]

A shotgun should be racked before checking out a uninvited entry!

Just saying.

[jwinter]

Gun myth #37...... "You actaully have time to get to your favorite gun of choice for home defense in the 3 seconds it takes for the bad guys to rush through your door and into your living room."

[R_Bert]

meh.  Racking Smacking.  Much better is the "scritch scritch" of the ol Bic Butane & the hissing of a lit fuse.  House clears out real fast.

Edited January 8, 2015 by R_Bert