Protection - Firearms

(plus ammo and practiced skill)

Our dad gave my brother and me each a tube feed .22 bolt action rifle and a single shot 16-gauge shotgun when we were 11 and 12. First came all the gun safety lessons of course, then he showed us how they worked in detail (he was an engineer). Dad was a good teacher, with high expectations. We both became pretty good shots and learned not to waste ammo.

In the military I was introduced to the 1911 45ACP. I did okay, but I was not near as good as I was with a rifle. After Vietnam, I went plinking twice, then didn't shoot again for 35 years. Do not misunderstand, I have believed in, and wholeheartedly supported the second amendment since the first day I understood it.

When I became preparedness aware I realized it was time to get back into firearms. I decided my bride and I should, as much as possible, have the same brand and model in all our weapons.

So, whats "the word" on weapons choice in the self defense-preparedness-survival world? The answer is easy: every caliber ever invented is the only smart choice - according to someone or another - ditto for weapon type, brand, model and ammunition too. The only consensus I found is that we should be armed. There are a number of very bright gun guys out there, and sometimes they even agree! I gotta say, I really enjoyed this research. Nearly everyone is quite passionate about their choice of caliber and weapon. In the end, it really is very personal.

I had the advantage of knowing guns rather well (decades ago) and I was starting from scratch at the same time. There is a ton of cool stuff available today. After a few weeks (the wife says months) of reading everything I could find on the subject, going to gun shows, and bugging my friends about what they think, I realized I was having a wonderful time. Guns are fun!

During this time of research, one of the things that surprised me is the recommendation that we should have a minimum of 5,000 rounds per weapon stored for preparedness. I thought that was nuts myself, so I did a little investigating. I read the accounts of the LA Riots (1992) in which one Korean family fired 2,000 rounds in six days protecting their business and family. I thought about this for awhile. Theirs was one of the few businesses not destroyed in the area. They could not call a "time out" and go shopping for more ammo. They had food, weapons and ammo on hand when they needed it. Good plan, and it worked. So I factored the cost of "minimal" ammo into my planning.

That thoroughly screwed up my great plan for weapons. The cost of 5,000 rounds of 45ACP starts at about $1,500 (as of this writing), plus the pistol and gear (cleaning stuff, magazines, holsters, etc) is at least $600 - call it $500 used. Thats $2,000 each - $4,000 for the wife and I together! My vow not to cuss was seriously taxed.

There is always a bright side. This got me to thinking about what we are preparing for. We needed a bunch of other stuff, like stored food and a zillion other things. This is when the concept of Levels of Preparedness was born. Everyone needs to start somewhere and get the ball rolling. A preparedness plan of some sort seemed in order. First we needed to get the basics in every Category of Preparedness for a 7 day long problem (Level 1), then add more stuff to be prepped for 2 weeks (Level 2), then a month (Level 3), and so on.

As the length of the emergency increases, so does the threat level. A week long emergency is bad of course, but it is not likely to unhinge my little world resulting in rampant crime. A month long emergency is a horse of a different color.

Relating this to firearms turned out pretty good. We needed to start with small bore weapons for training anyway, to build up the wife's confidence and our skills before we went to the larger bore weapons. At the same time, a 22 will likely be enough of a deterrent to keep honest folks honest in a small emergency (Level 1, maybe Level 2), before the unprepared folk's desperation becomes a big factor. Plus we would have some money left to work on the rest of our categories.

The 22 pistols, with 10,000 rounds, plus all the gear, spare parts, magazines, and supplies cost less than $800 for both of us. We now shoot a lot, the wife is having a ball (whew) and we are getting pretty good. Personally, I am way better with the little 22 pistol than I ever was with a 45.

After we got the 22 pistols we bought 22 rifles (and all the stuff: ammo, mags, parts, etc). Then larger bore pistols. Next is larger bore rifles, then matching M1 Abrams (hers will have pink tones)...

I have avoided mentioning any specific weapons. I will write about what and why we got the particular guns we did. I will also detail what, why, and how (with pictures) I set them up as I did. Right now I am writing as often as I can to explain the concepts of the Categories and Levels of Preparedness.

I just reread this so I could post. Being an airhead, I left out a significant part of Protection prep: shooting skill. Opps.

Just about the time humans are comfortable enough with guns to think we won't shoot ourselves, we also start thinking we are more powerful, even formidable. This is a natural feeling of course, but it will get you killed. A gun is formidable, not you. Well... maybe you, but not most of us until we have deeply ingrained multiple skills with our little fire-sticks. Accuracy under many varying conditions is the bigger goal, but so is judgement, various reactions, mind set, predisposed decisions, and a host of other things.

There will always be the yahoos that think holding a gun will change them. Our job is to develop the responsibility and talents that go with guns. This takes training and a lot of practice. Here is a dumb little true story of yours truly.

A long time friend of mine was an armed professional for decades. He explained to me that in his experience, the weaver stance is not always practical, like when hiding behind a vehicle's fender in a gun battle. He suggested I learn point shooting. He explained that when being shot at and shooting back, one does not always have the inclination to stick their head up and take a proper aim, thus point shooting. This requires really good hand-eye coordination... and tons of practice to develop this skill.

So off I go to my favorite shooting spot with a brick of 22s, plus my fully tweaked itty bitty 22 pistol, and a hand full of magazines. By the end of the day's shooting, I was doing pretty good with this point shooting. For the last magazine of the day I tossed an empty shotgun shell out about 10 feet or so and started point shooting, not aiming. I was astonished that I hit it 6 out of 10 times. Every time I hit it, it flew off and I had to reacquire the point. Wow! I was pumped! Woo Hoo! I'm da man!

Just three days later I took my wife out to show off my amazing new skill. It didn't happen, not even close. After some 400 rounds I began to do a little better, but not so hot as the last time. I'm guessing I may become consistently good at point shooting after, oh, say a million rounds or so. The wife was probably thinking the safest spot out there was wherever that shot shell was.

The point here is that we should get some training. Learn what you need to know, then practice practice practice. I know this is a cheap shot, but a brick of 525 .22 rounds is still only $15. I can afford to shoot quite a bit of that stuff. 45ACP would cost over $150 to do the same amount of shooting, and my hand and arm would be sore at the end of the day. The little old 22 has it's place. (I still want a 45!)

After my humbling experience with Point Shooting II, I read about Flash Sighting. I suspect this is a good thing to master as well. I will give it a go. From the website "Both flash sighting and point-shooting take a lot of practice to master, but they are some of the most critical pistol skills to perfect."

I would love to attend the likes of Front Sight, but the cost is prohibitive for us. On the other hand, I have the good fortune to have one friend in particular that was a professional gun guy. He is willing to teach my bride and me some things. He has carefully stressed that gun safety is number one, and that if I accidentally shoot him, he will accidentally hand my severed head back to me, with apologies, of course.

Obviously we have far to go in this department. We are armed with a wholesome respect for firearms, good attitudes, and the willingness to learn even from the ground up. Our target accuracy is getting pretty good, I am getting 2 1/2 to 3" groups at 100 yards with my 22 rifle. That will help, but it is not even close to being all the skill needed in combat.
Sam

The first layer of protection is Anonymity, second is Stealth, third Evasion, fourth Formidability, fifth is Guns, ammo and practiced skill.