Major Pandemic’s Picks for Defense — What are Yours?
Major Pandemic 11.05.14
If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably aware that I have a few firearms. My official statement is that “I have a reasonable and appropriate amount of firearms and ammunition.” But if push comes to shove and I had to suddenly flush every gun but two defensive guns, what would they be? I recently got a chance to answer that question for myself yet again when at night I heard the sounds of people trying doors as the doberman wonder twins came totally freaking unglued.
As I chambered a round in my favorite CCW pistol and hurridly started spinning the lock on my Liberty safe, the thought “What rifle am I grabbing?” throbbed in my head. The bedroom safe holds his and hers Barnes Precision Machine AR-15s, but I was standing downstairs in front of the big safe. The lock stopped and I spun the wheel and flung open the safe.
Handgun
As is often said, you carry a handgun to fight your way to a rifle, but what does a totally jaded writer who considers the “world is his oyster” carry as a defensive pistol?
Well, historically I have been a huge Glock guy (specifically Salient Glock 17), but lately Walther’s PPQ and H&K’s P30 and VP90 have stolen my heart.
If it came down to “the” hard decision of just one handgun, I would choose the H&K VP90; I am in love with that pistol. For me and my style of empty chamber (Mossad) carry, I consider it the ultimate in accuracy, reliability, and ergonomics, and it’s one of the best striker fired pistol triggers on the market. There I said it: the H&K VP90 is my favorite handgun.
Do I still carry other handguns? Well sure. Convenience, concealability, and size all dictate a variety of other CCW handguns, But if I could only carry one, the Glock 19 sized VP9 9mm would be it and it would be fed with Liberty Ammo’s very high speed 9mm Civil Defense 450 ft/lb 2000 fps rounds. Based on my own ballistic gel testing, these rounds will not over-penetrate like most rounds, so I will not end up hitting two people from over penetration.
Rifle
At that moment when the dobermans were going wild and I was reaching into the safe, my hands moved to the gun that I naturally felt most comfortable with in a tight, confined environment: the Tavor.
Almost every AR-15 I have ever owned has been totally reliable, but there are the occasional bobbles. With the Tavor, I have never had any problems in over 5,000 rounds without cleaning or lubrication since pulling the it from the box. None, zip, zero. Add in the feature that the Tavor is almost a foot shorter than a than a 16″ barreled AR15, and it’s essentially the length of most AR-15 pistols with 100% of the rifle barrel length and control.
My Tavor sports an Eotech 512 sight, Mission First Tactical low profile light, and PWS CQB brake. The PWS CQB Brake is from my perspective the finest CQB brake on the market. If you like your hearing, buy a PWS CQB brake before you shoot your home defense carbine indoors. My Tavor is fed with Livery 55gr Civial Defense low penetration, 3,000 FPS, 1100 ft/lbs of energy ammo. Again, I want ammo that will not penetrate beyond my intended target. Of course, my backup magazine is Milspec M855 steel core penetrator rounds should I need more penetration capability.
Longer Range
Stunning as it may seem, I currently reach for my extensively modified Ultimate Mosin Nagant build, firing Bulgarian surplus steel core ammo. Anything less than 6″ within 500 yard is mine and will have a hole through it, but that is about to change now that I have an FN A3G and custom Remington 700 .308 short action build in hand for testing.
Right now though, I have thousands of rounds through the Mosin and I feel stunningly comfortable and settled in behind it. It can range distance with surprising accuracy and can deliver shots on target quite quick. I was joking with my neighbor that I could provide coverage for him across the fairway in his kitchen 273-yards away should he need it. If he has a coffee cup that he doesn’t especially like, I could take care of that problem for him. It is not that the Ultimate Mosin is so sublimely accurate, it is that I have so much time behind the gun that I feel totally confident in my skills and where the bullet will go.
Final Thoughts
These might not be your guns and may not be your choices of ammo. I certainly feel comfortable behind any of my AR-15s, but in the tight confines of a hallway, the length of your standard AR15 limits maneuverability a bit. That is why I like the Tavor. My second choice was my AR-15 pistol, but I thought it might look bad politically that the pistol is running on a DIY 80% lower.
Pistols are another long debatable choice, but I am anxious to hear from readers what they like most. Shotguns are without question man-stoppers from a defense perspective, but my testing has shown that they are also horrible over penetrators, especially with the 00 buckshot rounds used for defense.
So I ask you the readers, what are your three guns for defense?
