home defense...line of fire

[greencobra]

there's a lot of talk over the years of defending ones home with a firearm and what to choose for the task. i spend a lot of time studying where my bullets will go if i ever have to take a stand. i'm not that naive to think every round i fire in a panic situation will strike the intended target so i need to know the general path my misses will travel. an example is my bedroom is at the end of a hall on the second floor. at the top of the stairs, where the intruder would have to turn 90 degrees to continue on down the hall, is a window. that window faces my neighbors young daughters bedroom. so i'm cognizant of that fact and where a missed shot could end up if i spray and pray at that hallway location.

i've done this with a lot of scenarios through the house since every outside wall faces another property in relatively close proximity.

back to the bedroom, i actually moved my bed on an angle. if i ever did have an intruder, i'd grab my night table pistol and bail off the opposite side of the bed, kneeling, using the bed for cover. it means i have little time to id the threat, not to mention there'd be only 11 feet between us as they came through the door. but i know if i miss, my line of fire at that angle is 3 inner walls before it would penetrate the outer wall if the round gets that far.

just for discussion, does anyone else take the time to go to extremes to prepare or am i too paranoid? i don't know if i have the discipline to think of all this while a confrontation is happening. so i guess i'm curious on how you all prepare.

 

[DitchDigger]

Ur not paranoid ,,,ur responsible and prepared.
If anyone has a firearm at the ready for defense best have a good idea of what is vulnerable around them.

 

[one-eyed Jack]

Easier just to tell the wife to grab her snubbie and check it out while you roll over and go back to sleep. Jack.

 

[Mountain]

I do make those considerations- primarily for other people within my house. I'm not in close proximity to neighbors so that's not a huge consideration. Most importantly, don't miss your target.

 

[LuvDog]

I've done the same thing... the easiest position for me would leave my son's room and the neighbors in line of a miss. So I moved a dresser to the other wall to provide cover and that line of fire is towards the woods/wetlands and a hill.

 

[DarthRevan]

If you’re truly worried about missing, perhaps a PCC sbr’d would be best as the bedside gun.
Of course, following all state laws regarding storage, yadda yadda...

 

[PATRON]

Get a 410 judge,

 

[Broc]

Get a 410 judge,

Is the goal to tickle the intruder?

OP,

1. It is great you are thinking about that stuff.
2. what sort of early warning system do you have? Dog, alarm...?

 

[Realtor MA]

and of course there's your choice of ammo too! Is an AR-15 Appropriate for Home Defense? Part One: Penetration Issues | OutdoorHub

 

[Dante231]

I'm curious as to what role frangible ammo has in this regard. Have a buddy who lives in a condo in the S End and that's his solution.

 

[ScottS]

back to the bedroom, i actually moved my bed on an angle. if i ever did have an intruder, i'd grab my night table pistol and bail off the opposite side of the bed, kneeling, using the bed for cover. it means i have little time to id the threat, not to mention there'd be only 11 feet between us as they came through the door. but i know if i miss, my line of fire at that angle is 3 inner walls before it would penetrate the outer wall if the round gets that far.

just for discussion, does anyone else take the time to go to extremes to prepare or am i too paranoid? i don't know if i have the discipline to think of all this while a confrontation is happening. so i guess i'm curious on how you all prepare.

Unless your intruder is armed with a pellet gun, you're using the bed for concealment, not cover. Unlike the movies, that mattress, etc. won't do much to slow down even an handgun round.

 

[DarthRevan]

Unless your intruder is armed with a pellet gun, you're using the bed for concealment, not cover. Unlike the movies, that mattress, etc. won't do much to slow down even an handgun round.

Time to start lining the bedsides with ballistic steel.

 

[kalash]

I've considered line of fire as well. Luckily in my current home, if shooting in the most likely direction I'd be defending myself, there would be a lot of walls behind the threat.

Easier just to tell the wife to grab her snubbie and check it out while you roll over and go back to sleep. Jack.

PHRASING!

 

[Camhabib]

there's a lot of talk over the years of defending ones home with a firearm and what to choose for the task. i spend a lot of time studying where my bullets will go if i ever have to take a stand. i'm not that naive to think every round i fire in a panic situation will strike the intended target so i need to know the general path my misses will travel. an example is my bedroom is at the end of a hall on the second floor. at the top of the stairs, where the intruder would have to turn 90 degrees to continue on down the hall, is a window. that window faces my neighbors young daughters bedroom. so i'm cognizant of that fact and where a missed shot could end up if i spray and pray at that hallway location.

i've done this with a lot of scenarios through the house since every outside wall faces another property in relatively close proximity.

back to the bedroom, i actually moved my bed on an angle. if i ever did have an intruder, i'd grab my night table pistol and bail off the opposite side of the bed, kneeling, using the bed for cover. it means i have little time to id the threat, not to mention there'd be only 11 feet between us as they came through the door. but i know if i miss, my line of fire at that angle is 3 inner walls before it would penetrate the outer wall if the round gets that far.

just for discussion, does anyone else take the time to go to extremes to prepare or am i too paranoid? i don't know if i have the discipline to think of all this while a confrontation is happening. so i guess i'm curious on how you all prepare.

Well I’d start my preparations by not detailing my home layout, location of my guns, and my defense in a way that anyone with 30 seconds and access to a computer now knows. It’s scary how much you can find out about a person just by googling them, never mind if you’re actually fairly tech savvy and don’t mind breaking a few laws, ya know, like any criminal does.

 

[babygorilla]

there's a lot of talk over the years of defending ones home with a firearm and what to choose for the task. i spend a lot of time studying where my bullets will go if i ever have to take a stand. i'm not that naive to think every round i fire in a panic situation will strike the intended target so i need to know the general path my misses will travel. an example is my bedroom is at the end of a hall on the second floor. at the top of the stairs, where the intruder would have to turn 90 degrees to continue on down the hall, is a window. that window faces my neighbors young daughters bedroom. so i'm cognizant of that fact and where a missed shot could end up if i spray and pray at that hallway location.

i've done this with a lot of scenarios through the house since every outside wall faces another property in relatively close proximity.

back to the bedroom, i actually moved my bed on an angle. if i ever did have an intruder, i'd grab my night table pistol and bail off the opposite side of the bed, kneeling, using the bed for cover. it means i have little time to id the threat, not to mention there'd be only 11 feet between us as they came through the door. but i know if i miss, my line of fire at that angle is 3 inner walls before it would penetrate the outer wall if the round gets that far.

just for discussion, does anyone else take the time to go to extremes to prepare or am i too paranoid? i don't know if i have the discipline to think of all this while a confrontation is happening. so i guess i'm curious on how you all prepare.

Just use an aa12 with deer slugs. f*** your neighbors.

/sarc

 

[wahsben]

I just push a button and the floor drops out and they fall onto long sharpened spikes below! I don't have to worry about the neighbors that way. Although I keep losing my wifes and kids by mistake of course! Just kidding in case anyone doesn't get what the wink and laugh emoji means.

 

[whatluck]

Frangi 5.56 is a good choice, maybe a light and a holo. If you have all bedrooms on the second floor I would say your best bet is to fight from the top of the stairs if you can. Elevated position is always good, and your loose rounds go into the basement.

 

[PATRON]

Is the goal to tickle the intruder?

OP,

1. It is great you are thinking about that stuff.
2. what sort of early warning system do you have? Dog, alarm...?

I always tell people who think a round is weak,are you willing to take a hit from it?

 

[jek]

Line of fire is not a concern unless my wife is in another room when an intruder enters. Thanks for bringing this up as I will likely give my setups another thought. Never hurts to do a check every so often.

 

[mwalsh9152]

I have absolutely thought of all this before. Kids bedrooms, neighbors, all very real worries.

 

[Choctaw]

My wife doesn't wear anything when she sleeps. The plan is if someone crashes into our bedroom in the middle of the night she is supposed to leap out of bed and scream "Oh my God! You're supposed to be out of town!" This should provide me a few seconds to respond. We haven't actually tested this yet.

Good idea on thinking through the line of fire in advance. I may need to put a glow in the dark X on the floor to mark her a spot.

 

[enbloc]

Get some 'flash-bangs' and practice lobbing them out your windows...
Seems to work when they're 'Inbound'...

 

[Rocky Mosasaurus]

“What is ‘akimbo Taurus Judges’ for 1000, Alex.”

 

[Dcdr]

Unless your intruder is armed with a pellet gun, you're using the bed for concealment, not cover. Unlike the movies, that mattress, etc. won't do much to slow down even an handgun round.

My dad had an accidental discharge in his room the other day, shot into the bed and the round lodged somewhere in one of the mattresses cause it didn’t hit the floor. I think it was with his .380 but not sure

 

[Lucas McCain]

#3 or #4 buckshot in a 12 gauge. Probably won't go through the walls but packs a woopin!

 

[Uzi2]

there's a lot of talk over the years of defending ones home with a firearm and what to choose for the task. i spend a lot of time studying where my bullets will go if i ever have to take a stand. i'm not that naive to think every round i fire in a panic situation will strike the intended target so i need to know the general path my misses will travel. an example is my bedroom is at the end of a hall on the second floor. at the top of the stairs, where the intruder would have to turn 90 degrees to continue on down the hall, is a window. that window faces my neighbors young daughters bedroom. so i'm cognizant of that fact and where a missed shot could end up if i spray and pray at that hallway location.

i've done this with a lot of scenarios through the house since every outside wall faces another property in relatively close proximity.

back to the bedroom, i actually moved my bed on an angle. if i ever did have an intruder, i'd grab my night table pistol and bail off the opposite side of the bed, kneeling, using the bed for cover. it means i have little time to id the threat, not to mention there'd be only 11 feet between us as they came through the door. but i know if i miss, my line of fire at that angle is 3 inner walls before it would penetrate the outer wall if the round gets that far.

just for discussion, does anyone else take the time to go to extremes to prepare or am i too paranoid? i don't know if i have the discipline to think of all this while a confrontation is happening. so i guess i'm curious on how you all prepare.

Have some other early warning systen in place so an intruder NEVER reaches the top of the stairs before you're alerted of their presence. A stairwell is a perfect choke point to engage an intruder, you'd be firing downward not horizontally and potentially through walls or windows into a neighbor's home.

 

[Picton]

OP, I'd say you might not be going far enough; this is the mindset you'd ideally be applying everywhere, 24/7, no matter what you're doing. I've got scenarios pre-wargamed for everyplace I routinely spend any time. It's a part of situational awareness, as is continually wargaming as you walk or drive.

 

[general disorder]

I have a samurai sword at the ready. I'm going to yell "banzai!" I also have bayonets' set up around the house and under windows. I have poisoned punji sticks in the basement. I'm going to take the perpetrator hostage and try to ransom his return. At least that's my plan today.

 

[yogi]

Yeah I have thought of this too but can only hope that if its “go time” I am cool and calm.

 

[BigTimber]