Author Topic: How to Prepare Your Rifle for Home Defense  (Read 887 times)

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Offline Elderberry

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How to Prepare Your Rifle for Home Defense
« on: December 07, 2020, 11:53:06 am »
Shooting Illustrated by Steve Adelmann - Sunday, December 6, 2020

To ensure success in a home-defense situation, have your rifle sighted in, magazines loaded, gear together and ready to go in an accessible (but safe) location.

“Have your musket clean as a whistle, hatchet scoured, 60 rounds powder and ball and be ready to march at a minute’s warning.” That sage advice from MAJ Robert Rogers is found on page one of the “U.S. Army Ranger Handbook” I was issued in 1988. Because I had already learned Rogers’ “Rules for Ranging” from an older copy of the manual as a youngster, my perceptions of readiness were set long before I began my own Ranger journey.

MAJ Rogers wrote his 28 rules for the Ranger companies he raised and led during the French and Indian War. Although his later Revolutionary War service against the United States, as well as ongoing personal problems, eventually tainted his status both here and abroad, the tactics and guidelines Rogers set to parchment during the 1750s are still studied by Special Operations troops today. While I routinely fail rule number one, “Don’t forget nothing [sic],” the aforementioned second rule has proven attainable in both my professional and personal lives.

With the exception of an 18-month “schoolhouse” stint teaching mountain warfare, my entire Army career was spent in rapid-deployment units. The majority of that time had me on a 1-hour string. By the time a middle-of-the-night notification reached me, I had about 40 minutes left to jump into my clothes like a cartoon character, race 35 miles to my base, load my guns and gear on vehicles and be seated in a briefing room. Obviously, such time constraints do not allow for last-minute preparations. Magazine loading, zero checks and verification that lights, lasers and optics are all functioning correctly must be completed ahead of time so that all equipment is constantly ready. Today’s challenges present ready-minded citizens with a corollary need for their own firearms and equipment.

More: https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2020/12/6/how-to-prepare-your-rifle-for-home-defense

Offline rustynail

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Re: How to Prepare Your Rifle for Home Defense
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2020, 12:44:27 pm »
Have one within reach. Always.

Offline Elderberry

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Re: How to Prepare Your Rifle for Home Defense
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2020, 08:20:59 pm »
Have one within reach. Always.

I had a shipmate and he had spent some time in South America. His dad back then was an ambassador. His dad had the fear put into him and, where they lived, they were always within reach of a weapon. Even in the shower.

On my son's HS baseball team, one of the dads was a retired Special Forces Colonel. I visited his house and saw he had weapons at the ready everywhere.

Online roamer_1

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Re: How to Prepare Your Rifle for Home Defense
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2020, 08:42:04 pm »
I had a shipmate and he had spent some time in South America. His dad back then was an ambassador. His dad had the fear put into him and, where they lived, they were always within reach of a weapon. Even in the shower.

On my son's HS baseball team, one of the dads was a retired Special Forces Colonel. I visited his house and saw he had weapons at the ready everywhere.

Griz country will do that to you. I don't sleep at all without a pistol and a knife in the same spatial place wherever I am... That is, just above my head and to the right. 

Offline Elderberry

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Re: How to Prepare Your Rifle for Home Defense
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2020, 09:27:28 pm »
Griz country will do that to you. I don't sleep at all without a pistol and a knife in the same spatial place wherever I am... That is, just above my head and to the right.

I used to live in a little trailer park sandwiched between 2 motels on Telephone Rd. I always slept with my Chief's Special under my pillow. On nights when the gunfire was too close, I'd sleep with my pistol in my hand. I know that's not a good idea. My grandfather, in a dream, got his P38 from under the mattress, sat up and fired it. My grandma forbid him from having his pistol in bed after that.

Online roamer_1

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Re: How to Prepare Your Rifle for Home Defense
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2020, 11:52:53 pm »
I used to live in a little trailer park sandwiched between 2 motels on Telephone Rd. I always slept with my Chief's Special under my pillow. On nights when the gunfire was too close, I'd sleep with my pistol in my hand. I know that's not a good idea. My grandfather, in a dream, got his P38 from under the mattress, sat up and fired it. My grandma forbid him from having his pistol in bed after that.

Never been much for the 'under the pillow' thing... My guns are too touchy... But yeah... Almost to a T, every woman has bitched a bit about that middle-left cubby in the bookcase headboard being ONLY for that gun and knife... One of them few things I lay down law on. There's a piece of sheepskin laid up in there, and every night it's full of iron. Only a couple understood, and only one appreciated it... A hilljilly from griz country. Which illustrates why I like hill folk so much. Shoulda married that one...  happy77