Monday Gunday: Meet Leo

I still haven't had a chance to go shooting recently. Today marks exactly one month of not having gone to the range. This bothers me greatly, because I have found the practice of putting small precise holes in distant pieces of paper to be both addictive and relaxing.

No word back from the Store Owner regarding the status of Rev (as described here), so I will have to call him this week. I did however receive the new scope mount for Izzy in the mail today and installed it with a minimum of fuss. I will describe it in greater detail once I've had a chance to test it, but initial impressions are promising as it feels very solid. 

But enough about rifles. It's time to introduce you to another one of my boys, and he's optimized for home defense. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Leo, my 12 gauge Mossberg 500:

Actually... wait. That's not quite right. That's what Leo used to look like, back when I got him as a Christmas present. You will note that one of the first things I did was replace the 28" barrel with a much shorter 18.5", because Leo's main purpose is home defense. Trust me when I tell you that it's much easier to walk around corners with a foot-and-a-half barrel than it is with one in excess of two feet.

Why is he named Leo? Because he has a mighty roar.

This is Leo in his current configuration. You'll note that I have made him "tacti-cool" by replacing the handsome blond wood (which I still have) with a tactical foregrip and six-position pistol grip stock. Now, while I will plead guilty to the charge of over-accessorization, I made all of these changes for very good reasons and not just because "It looks cool."

The six-position stock should be obvious: I am a short person with short arms and regular fixed stocks are too long for me. The addition of a pistol grip gives me increased control over the weapon in tight spaces, and between that and the sling mount, it will be very hard to disarm me. The TacStar SideSaddle gives me increased ammunition selection, so that (for example) I could carry whatever mixture of birdshot, buckshot, solid slug, or less-lethal defense rounds I felt necessary.

The front pistol grip, in addition to giving more aim control, also gives me a surer grip when racking the slide to reload. The tactical foregrip has Weaver rails on three sides and the flashlight mount puts the power switch less than inch away from my thumb. I don't recall the type of the flashlight, but it is LED and very very bright -- over several hundred lumens, if I recall. It has two settings: "Ohmygod I'm blind" constant beam and "Induce epileptic seizure" strobe. Having caught a reflection of the beam in my bathroom mirror, I'm half-convinced that the blinding light alone could neutralize an intruder.

So we've covered the basics here: postive, two-handed control over the weapon at all times; a sling to prevent the weapon being taken from me; added ammunition should the need arise; a light so I can tell the difference between family and intruder; and an overall low-profile for maneuvering through halls and doorways. The only question remains: why a shotgun for home defense?

There are two excellent reasons for choosing a shotgun as a home defense weapon. The first is that it has an unparalleled combination of not needing much in the way of aiming (due to the spread of the shot) and that it's guaranteed to knock an intruder on his ass and leave him with large gaping holes where his guts used to be. This is critical because, in a self-defense situation, your aim will probably be terrible due to adrenaline, and you may only get one shot, so that shot had better count.

Note: This is not a recommendation that you blindly fire or shoot from the hip. Put the stock to your shoulder and aim like a sensible person. The spread of the shot will correct errors in technique, not miraculously save you.

The second reason is that, unlike a pistol, you don't need a 3-day waiting period. If you ever feel that your life is danger and you need a weapon for self-defense, I urge you to head to your closest gun store, sporting-goods store, or even certain Wal-Marts, and get yourself a pump-action shotgun. I got mine and most of these accessories as Christmas presents, but even a casual Googling tells me you can get a good one for $200-300 -- which, I would like to point out, is still less expensive than any handgun in .32 caliber or above. If you think you can use a .22 pistol for self-defense then you'd better have incredibly good aim.

Get a box of 00 buckshot (if you live in an apartment building or are otherwise worried about shooting through drywall, consult with the person behind the counter about what ammunition you should get -- I suggest #8 birdshot but I am no authority on these matters) and take your weapon to a local trap & skeet club where someone will show you how to operate it if you ask for help.

After that, it's quite simple: aim barrel, make hole, problem goes away.