Based on the small amount of training I’ve had and my own attempts at getting better at it.
I’m not talking about being in a squad and I’m not talking about clearing rooms when you KNOW very strongly suspect somebody uninvited is there and a threat.
I’m talking about those times when you don’t expect anyone to be there but want to be sure. Alarm system issues, clearing a friends or relatives house after a period of inoccupancy, or you may have heard a suspicious noise in your own house but it’s “probably” nothing.
Anyway, I was working on this (Haven’t really put effort into training on this lately) with a carbine and comparing it my 14 inch 590 and a pistol.
I was never really satisfied with how it went with any kind of non-pistol and I’ve decided it’s simply not a good idea and a pistol is the tool for the job. Or perhaps a very short shoulder weapon. Like 4 or 5 inch barrel shoulder weapon with a short stock. (Mp5K, etc. at the longest)
Super short barrels are overrated. You should be able to do this pretty reasonably with a M4. MP5Ks are just more forgiving of poor technique and laziness.
If you’re just looking through a house why is your gun out? If it’s a threat area, known or unknown, call the cops.
Seriously nothing wrong with getting training and advancing your own skills but if you strongly suspect someone just committed a home invasion dial 911 and barricade yourself or stand off and be a good witness.
As to handgun vs rifle, go with a rifle. If you have to address a threat 30 rounds of more accurate, more potent, less likely to over penetrate ammo is better than any double stack 9 to include PCCs. You should be able to maneuver a rifle one handed, especially an SBR.
I have had to clear buildings by myself before. I would rather sandpaper a lion’s ass than do it ever again.
If I HAVE to clear a building for some reason, I don’t want to do it with a pistol. I want to do it wearing as much armor as possible and with a rifle with ammunition that is likely to stop a threat’s actions as close to instantaneously as possible with one shot and the ability to fire more shots quickly to that threat and other threats.
This! Hand guns are for going out in public where you can’t fight with the correct weapon. And if anyone chimes in with the damned Bird gun option, I’ll kick them in the vag.
Staying in your room (weapon ready) and calling 911 is the best option. But, if you have to clear/check your house (to make sure your kids are safe, etc) in any of the “probable” reasons/scenarios you posted in your original post, for “just in case”, it is better to do it with gun in hand.
Between rifle and handgun, go with a rifle always (train accordingly).
A 34 inch wide short hallway going into a 4-way of open doors each door way 24 inches wide.
Even with doing things like raising the stock over your shoulder, I don’t see how a shortish, 28-inch long carbine isnt going to make things much harder and make you more susceptible to a gun grab / parry. It also seems easier to get a pistol and your eye pointed towards corners without telegraphing your muzzle.
And if you go, say, right, and an attack comes from the left (now the rear) it’s a hell of alot quicker to respond with a pistol then it is a rifle in such a tight confine.
If I was a bad guy with a kitchen knife hiding in a tight area like this I’d hope the person doing the clearing used a rifle or shotgun because I think my chances of getting that gun / killing the user before they could line up the muzzle on me are higher than if they had a pistol.
Ok it’s kinda retarded if you call the fuzz every time you hear something downstairs at night. There can and should be an escalation to things like this. That said, if I felt like I needed a rifle to clear, than yeah, that’s probably crossing a line into other areas of consideration.
Bottom line, if I hear something that bumps in the night but isn’t likely to be a B&E, I’ll take my Glock. Same with the few times I’ve gone into vacant properties that I had no reason to believe were anything other then vacant. If I felt like a rifle was justified, than it’s probably time to call for some help. But, having a MK18 for that situation isn’t the worst thing. For me, I’m going Glock w/ 17-19 rounds of Gold Dots to MK18 and have no desire to insert anything between those. For my wife, I’ve been considering adding an APC9 for sometime.
If I absolutely had to put myself into a potential armed conflict in an enclosed space such as my home, I want to do it with a weapon that has a sling. I’m not overly concerned with pros and cons of my SBR or subgun, the fact that a sling secures them to my body is a pro that my handguns do not have. I would rather endure any potential hands on encounter with the two over the one.
Should or shouldn’t aside, I like handguns inside typical homes and similar structures. Short distances, tighter angles, furniture, and a need to handle doors/lights/stuff/people. You can also reholster or ditch a handgun faster in the event innocents or popo arrive to interact.
Not my lane but there’s a list of potential pros and cons to either to choice. Best advice I see is use what you have the most training with and comfort level for in the scenario given in the OP. Different scenario and context, would change that no doubt.
My own level and experience in training and comfort level has me agreeing with ST911.
Agreed. A lot of the reason I am comfortable with my Glock is because I can shoot it pretty well and it never has less than 16 rounds on board. Even though I agree with the reasons that ST1911 stated, my considerations may change if I was inexperienced with handguns or only had something like a six shot revolver.
Gather family (all upstairs) while covering stairs with long gun and call 911. Arm family with their favorite night shoot head shot gun and wait for intruder or police whoever comes first. No badge = dead right there.
I have a MK18 by my bed but HK handgun in the family room, for a quick grab. Check that light every couple months on your HF guns. Last time I picked it up the light was faint. I keep hand lights handy too. If its before night night time and I’m not by my bed, my HK will go on duty.
Not my lane either as I’ve only taken a couple of classes a year, referring to the underlined you need more training because in That senario you knowingly went past a room without “Clearing it”.
With Regard to the second part , If you know it’s a bad guy, and not some family member or friend you gave a key to. And he/she/it has the muzzle end
Pull the “Damn Trigger”. Some intruder at 0 dark thirty ain’t grabbing your gun to ask what make and model it is.
Very few people can handle the sound of any firearm going off next to their body parts without flinching or trying to be elsewhere.