When someone asks me about a weapon for home defense, they’re usually surprised when I say, “The best answer is ‘an AR-15’.”
This list is meant to provoke thought. You don’t have to agree with everything, and you don’t have to have the same priorities I do. These are just some of the factors that drove my choice.
If you are somewhat new to shooting or seem to have more malfunctions than you should, you might be able to use some tips on how to clean your weapons. However, there is an area on most self-defense type handguns that even experienced shooter seem to neglect. I’ll start with the easy stuff before revealing my big secret discovery.
From ten yards with my M&P M2.0 Compact in 9mm, I typically shoot about a three-inch group. My goal is to shrink those three-inch groups into a one or two-inch group. Below are the three stumbling blocks that I currently face.
One of the fun things about the AR-15 / M4 style rifles is that they are easy to mix/match with a huge variety of accessories, including optics. That same flexibility can also be confusing. For example, a short barrel rifle can shoot very accurately at long distances, so why not use a high power scope? My answer to that question is, “Go ahead.” However, for my rifles, I use the standard of, “Have a rationale.”
The Beretta 92/M9 variant was getting pretty long in the tooth. The weapon had served our military admirably, but I had no interest in owning one initially, other than some sense of obligation due to its place in history. But now, I have a new viewpoint
I was experiencing light primer strikes with one of my AR-15s. This particular lower has about 4,000 rounds through it.