Having the best tools available within your budget, to allow you to do the job of getting home, is paramount.... of course it is not just budget dependent but also experience. You have to work your firearms.... make it an extension of yourself. You can have a top shelf firearm in your GHB, but if you do not know how to properly employ that tool.... you could be just as dead as with a low grade firearm.
Each of my guns has a bit of a different in character , and I know them. So far as a get home defensive tool ,we are not talking primarily hunting here, we are talking defensive situations where in one is under attack. My draw and fire time is about down to an average of 1.5 - 2 seconds , I know bit slow . I'm old. If some one has ambushed you there is no time to play with a trigger. being too lite is likely to cause more problems than being too heavy. I have relatively muscular frame work , a few years ago my grip in either hand was about 200 Lbs. Personally I prefer a double action revolver 357 mag, over a semiauto. the .357 mag has more versatility. It also means that I'm puling it through every time, the exception being that, if I've ducted behind cover ,I might be using the single action function to better place shots IF my nerves settle down. good luck with that. Being tired and being terrified are two very different things . Paper targets are not firing live ammo back at you . All the more important to be able and ready to shoot from the hip. IMO I was taught to pull the gun and shoot , not pull the gun and wave it around. an aggressor is banking on your hesitation. Air soft battle is a good wake up call for the casual CCW Air guns are a good tool for developing reliable shoot from the hip skills, actually necessary for survival in real world situations . Face it , in a pitch dark environment you can't see sights, what you can see is aggressors muzzle flash and possible lights of the aggressors. shining a light from your self, makes you a target.
The GSSF does not allow you to draw from a holster. Their rules. I shot this for a chance to win a new Glock. I got a hat and a plack And when it 115 deg F outside give me AC anytime. I also do this on Tuesday Nights at my local range. Pull the gun shoot and run. No one is shooting back, but its not paper at the range. It time, most from the "surrender position", shooting from behind/around/through cover. Toss in magazine changes and its about as good as it gets without the chance of dying. I am lucky enough to have Rob Leatham in my club. His is one of the top pistol shooters in the world. Rob Leatham | Let's Go Shoot! And Rio even has a 3 gun match
Speaking of Rob Leatham, it get a weekly video from Springfield Armory Todays video is about trigger pull and NOT moving the gun
There are several new videos in the Worlds Collide series from them that are worth watching with more to come Springfield Armory Blog | Firearm Handling Tips & Concealed Carry Information Blog
Oh man, I made a couple trade offers on that exact same AR, just couldn't offer what he was looking for...looks like you got it though. Nice. I'll give you $100 for it...
I traded him this - beautiful rifle, but not very accurate, and LOUD: And this is where I'm going with the Ruger: I love the detail in gunstruction - here is the correct reticle for the Vortex Spitfire scope:
From toy to tool Before: Current: Changes so far: Got the red out - borrowed a FDE charging handle from one of my other rifles and replaced the goofy mag release with a proper one. I'm saving up for some airbrush equipment to do some Cerakote C and the red handle is going to have a come to Jesus moment with MagPul FDE. Loved the minimalist stock so much I got one in FDE during a killer DVOR sale Replaced the MagPul K+ grip with a MagPul MIAD. I didn't like the tacky feel of the "+" grip, and I prefer a standard grip angle. The "K" style grip is more vertical and designed for a square shouldered stance, which is done to keep body armor in a more effective position to stop a bullet. The MIAD is fully adjustable for hand size, and it includes a stowaway oil bottle. I really liked the Strike Industries Viper hand guard for its narrow size - I have wide hands, but they are fairly short. Unfortunately, the way the ribs are way too aggressive for me and without gloves get uncomfortable quickly. Too bad, I really liked the built in barrier stop. Replaced by a MagPul MOE grip. The Strike Industries Fang trigger guard was all about second kind of cool and not about functionality. I replaced it with the MagPul metal trigger guard.I used in my builds. I actually had to drill out the Fang to remove it - it appeared to use a partial pin that could be hammered in, but no way to hammer it back out. That was reason enough to make it go away. Goofy fixed rear sight replaced by a Troy folding sight borrowed from another rifle until I source a replacement. I replaced the BAD-ASS safety selector with a standard selector. The BAD-ASS comes with several handles and unfortunately the previous owner installed the smallest least useful ones. The Bushnell red dot was replaced by a Vortex Spitfire prismatic scope. The Bushnell is really a very good red dot, but my eyes just see a blur through any of the them. The bird cage flash suppressor was replaced with a Smith Vortex. The Vortex has a virtually non-existent flash even at night. The lower receiver end plate was replaced with one that has a quck disconnect socket. This allows me to use a two point sling between the stock and the A frame sight or a single point sling at the end plate. I bought an olive drab MagPul MS4 sling that converts from two point to single point configuration to travel with this rifle. I did use some M-LOK covers liberated from the Viper hand guard to cover the holes in the bottom of the MagPul MOE hand guard. Those made it a but more comfortable to me and since I'm not bolting any crap to it have no disadvantage. Interestingly, the previous owner used them to plug the heat vents on the top of the Viper hand guard The next step is to proof the rifle - I fire 210 rounds of mixed ammo at mixed speeds to ensure functionality.
