I have tried to read through some of the home defense threads and do some searches(damn search is still broke) and couldnt really find an answer or consensus. If there is a thread on this, then point me there and this one can be closed up.
I keep an AR next to my bed in “cruiser ready”(hammer back, bolt forward, chamber empty, safety on, mag inserted). I usually have my M&P9 on my other side, but it was in my safe in my truck.
I got woken up last night at 230 in the morning by my room mates GF(room mate is out of town) thinking somebody was trying to break into the house. Grabbed the AR and proceeded to carefully clear the house. I did not go outside since I think thats foolish, but I did not see any evidence of anybody trying to break in and I turned on most lights outside the house and didnt see anybody so I didnt call the cops to have them come clear the outside (thinking back I should have but I didnt have the non-emergency number and didnt feel a 911 call was appropriate. I looked up the non-emergency number this morning and posted it in a few places around the house and saved it on my cell phone).
After I went back to bed I was thinking. I was clearing my house with a firearm, that while it had a full mag of 5.56 TAP in it, I did not ever chamber a round. I am not sure on the consensus of this in the scenario that I was in.
My thinking was that I could charge it in about a half second if I had to and be ready to go. I know in the AR you are not supposed to load and unload a round multiple times(at least a defense round) due to the floating firing pin causing potential issues with the primers.
Anybody have other thoughts? comments? Calling me an idiot(which i may be)? I am open to everything.
You are going to get a million Monday Morning Quarterbacks chime in on this one.
So instead of giving you the same lecture that you are going to get from the next million QB’s, I’m just going to say that you should have charged your carbine before you proceeded.
Yep, I’d hate to meet my opponent in a hallway and not have my weapon ready to fire. I’m sure they would have a round in the chamber if they had a weapon.
Thanks, that is exactly what I was thinking, but I was thinking it after the fact, which was to late(or potentially to late).
This was just something, that while I had thought about clearing my house, I had not thought about until it actually happened. I keep my pistol loaded and round chambered all the time, but just dont store the AR that way.
My intention isn’t to beat a dead horse and would echo the above statements based on what you’ve told us. I would recommend taking a cleared & unloaded weapon, check three times, or a replica/airsoft and practice a similar scenario with a friend.
Have them stand at one end of the largest room in your house and see who wins the race of you charging your weapon and bringing it to bear or if they’re on top of you in that same amount of time. Not busting your balls or anything like that but read up on the 21 ft. rule, Google: Tueller Drill.
Well I probably deserve a little(or a lot of) ball busting. I am not a know it all, I am sure I am one of the guys who’s “doesnt know what I dont know” bucket is quite large.
I know that this is one of those things that I shouldn’t have to ask, but it just kinda struck me last night after I got back into bed and I was like WTF I just cleared a house with no round in the chamber. 230 in the morning was not the time to be contemplating “do I load a round or not” it should have been automatic and from now on it will be.
Rifle should have been Loaded and on safe from the Beginning, just like you just learned you will not think about loading the gun when you have to respond in a hurry.
I’m betting your ammo costs less than a dollar a round. If it’s worth picking up your gun to clear your home, it’s worth a dollar. Even if you throw out that round after you’re sure your home’s secure (and you can just save it for training later), your safety (and your roommate’s GF’s safety) is worth that (tiny) amount of money.
Same goes for picking up magazines or live rounds off the deck during classes before everyone on the line holsters their pistol. Is your intact head worth less than the 20 cents that round cost (or even the $40 you might have paid for that mag)?
Did you begin clearing in condition 3 intentionally? Or realize half-way through? Yours was a good question, definitely room for constructive debate: Do I go for my condition 3 AR or my loaded carry Glock (a non-issue in your scenario)? If I went for the AR, would I remember to charge it at 230 AM?
I’m in a small apartment so I can’t imagine any home invasion scenario where I’d grab my AR first, it’s length is too much of a liability with all my small rooms, many corners, and narrow hallways. The few times I’ve heard a bump in the night, I’ve had to clear with my Glock in retention (and my dog in lead).
UNless you live in downtown Mosul and are constantly having to clear your home; the dented primer issue shouldn’t be much of a concern. If it bothers you; cycle the ejected round to the bottom of a loaded mag.
Well when I grabbed it and got up I knew there was no round in the chamber and I went out anyway, dumb on my part I guess. But in reading all the “home defense” and “how do you store your AR” threads, nobody mentions what you do with your condition 3 AR before going out and looking for the bad guy. Maybe it didnt need to be said and I am just not so smart(thats a given though:D).
Lesson learned here is if you are going to grab your condition 3 carbine, charge it before leaving the bedroom(or whatever room you are in). I sleep with my door shut and locked(if somebody where to break into the house and I didnt hear them break in, I would hear them trying to break into the locked door into my room, hopefully giving me enough time to grab a gun) so I would have time to charge the weapon before leaving the room.
Thanks for all the constructive comments and not letting this turn into a shit on me fest.
Not to hijack, but where do you guys stand on house clearing without formal training?
I feel like if I know for a fact there is someone in my home, and I’m in my bedroom with the door locked, my best bet is to call 911 and just be prepared to defend myself if need be since I have no room clearing experience. Nothing in my place is worth getting shot over.
Now if you have kids in the other rooms, of course, you would be going out there training or not.
I’m just bringing this up because if I was the OP, had no training, and was alone, I might have thought twice before clearing the place.
I have zero training on close quarters AR use(there is zero carbine training in St. Louis), I will admit that, however I have taken many pistol classes and most of them had at least some training on proper room clearing techniques. Not saying that all those pistol techniques translate into AR usage, but I think the basic concepts still hold true.
If I had had my pistol I would have used it, but I had the AR so that was what I grabbed.
I will agree that clearing a house by yourself is dangerous, but if that is what the situation dictates I am going to do it to protect the people that are supposed to be in that house.
I’m quoting myself here in an attempt again to try and dissuade members from taking this thread in a certain direction - which I’m starting to see in the last several posts.