PART ONE
Today we go back to talking about shotguns and home defense.
Very often I read contents about home defense and in particular about the application of shotgun platform, technical contents written by my fellow Instructors that often sound like real absolute dogmas.
Terms and concepts such as “Dogma” and “Absolute” are however the most wrong thing in the field of training with firearms for the purposes of the defense application.
As I have already said thousands of times and as I have said since I have practiced the profession of Firearms Trainer, the world is too vast and composed of an infinite galaxy of environments and micro environments, in turn containing an incalculable and unpredictable number of variables, therefore it is objectively impossible to generate an absolute standard, nor can there be dogmas or absolute truths, whoever claims the opposite is because he has never come out or has never applied outside his “little world”.
It is the environment that determines the dynamics and it is man who has to adapt to them, because vice versa it will never be possible and home defense is not only no exception to this rule, but is a clear example and confirmation of it.
Whenever a Firearms instructor talks about home defense, providing techniques, tactics, strategies, recommending or not recommending equipment, calibers and types of ammunitions, he should always, however, relate it to what context he refers to.
In fact, there is a huge difference between the dynamics regarding a hypothetical home defense that we could face in the USA and those that we could face in Europe, just as there is a huge difference between the dynamics in Europe or in the USA and those in South America.
The differences are mainly given by 4 fundamental aspects:
1) Urban architecture, structures and infrastructure including housing and building materials
2) Legal-regulatory system, i.e. the laws on firearms and self-defense.
3) Social dynamics and criminal dynamics
4) Environment, understood as the morphology of the territory, including climatic differences.
Only through these 4 fundamental discriminants, for logic and common sense, one should immediately understand that there cannot be ABSOLUTE DOGMAS, which are usually transformed into absolute truths and then sold in the various tactical courses.
In the attached photos I have reported an option linked to the application of the shotgun, an option that I have been applying personally for years and which I obviously always adapt to the context.
When we talk about housing defense, we must remember that since there is the word DEFENSE,
we always talk about reaction times that will or should be very compressed, but in this case also of extremely limited spaces and inserted in a three-dimensional environment.
So let’s analyze what I reported in the photographs and we will obviously do it, through the filter of logic.
The concepts contained in these shots are 3:
1) How and why to make the transition from cartridge belt to two-point sling
2) When, why and how manage the different types of cartridges according to the needs of the condition.
3) How and why to use a flashlight integrated with a bungee cord in our Sling system.
3) How and why to use a flashlight integrated with a bungee cord in our Sling system.
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How and why to make the transition from cartridge belt to two-point sling
The “Sling”
When we talk about “long weapon” we should consider the sling essential from its use itself, the sling is basically like the holster of the handgun, but it is also a fundamental tool for the manipulation of any long firearm platform especially when we need to use one or both our hands for other priorities besides swinging the gun.
The two-point sling is the only configuration that allows us a series of options and a very wide and adaptable working system to every need of the environment or action.
The Cartridge Belt
In the case of the shotgun, especially if we talk about a “tactical” platform, we often talk about contained measures and therefore contained magazine tube , consequently of a rather limited number of ammunition available directly on shotgun.
While on the one hand it is true that the statistics show us that clashes usually end with the explosion of a few shots, on the other hand, common sense and logic indicate that there is no certainty on this.
The ammunition then represents one of the greatest strengths of the shotgun in terms of home defense and therefore the cartridge belt is not only a tool we need to transport and simplify the loading or replenishment of the ammunition of our weapon, but it is for all effects an extension of our magazine tube, the configuration of which is absolutely essential.
Transformation of the cartridge belt into a two-point sling
Logically, if I ever find myself using a firearm for defense inside my home, the time it takes me to pick up my firearm and be in READY will be crucial.
Therefore for logic, the fewer actions I will have to do to get to the READY condition, the shorter the response and reaction time will be. By adapting a tactical cartridge belt to the two-point sling function, I cover three needs in a single action:
I pick up the firearm inserting me in to the sling ring, having already all the integrated ammunition i could need, if I then configure it correctly I will have a system that allows me to be able to cover any application need.
Since this is a solution that I will have to adopt for a limited time and in home environment, I will not have any cons in terms of weight or visibility, using the right materials, I will also have the resistance and comfort of a standard two-point sling.
Obviously this is only an option, I can use a very normal two-point sling and manage my integrated ammo differently.
