PART TWO
When it comes to Home Defense we have not yet understood that we are talking about perhaps one of the worst and most complex scenarios for conditions and dynamics in which a civilian can be projected and involved.
This does not surprise me because it reflects the mentality that prevails in this sector, the type of technical imprinting and the type of education on the subject. The total absence of an academic method of study of the subject, the fact that this is considered a field based only on the mere practice of the bang, bang, bang at the shooting range flanked by little, short information often obsolete or superficial, precludes the real path of knowledge and without knowledge cannot be understood and if it is not understood, no technique, tactic or strategy can be applied.
Every time we get to discuss which firearm or caliber is more suitable for home defense, scenarios open up in which myths and legends and wrong, false or improbable information flow powerful, as well as being taken as a reference parameters that are absolutely secondary and related, such as the STOPPING POWER.
Let’s be clear, the choice of the type of firearm must be subordinated to the technical ability of the subject who must use it, but each type of firearm in turn has a coefficient of difficulty in terms of handling and in terms of application technique which is very different.
For example, when comparing two platforms such as
Pistol and Shotgun in home defense, we forget the fundamental parameter, that is the technical ability of the subject in using a firearm for defense. If we are talking about a truly trained person or a professional, the choice of platform and caliber will be made mainly to maximize performance in that type of environment or to better adhere to the overall needs, but whatever platform or caliber will use, will know how to use it and he will know perfectly well the pros and cons.
If we speak instead of a subject in which the technical and experiential coefficient is medium-low (unfortunately the majority of civilians possessing firearms) the speech is completely different. The choice of the firearm in this case must be made according to the technical coefficient of difficulty that one platform has compared to another, this not to maximize performance but to limit the risks of improper use and consequent damage.
The Shotgun, for example, has an extremely lower technical coefficient of difficulty of use than that of the pistol, it is much safer and “simple” in its management than the pistol, thanks to the wide range of ammunition it offers ballistic characteristics that provide a drastic reduction of any collateral damage and greater adaptability to any type of environment or need.
As far as the choice of caliber or type of ammunition is concerned, this depends on the type of ballistic environment in which I will have to apply, that is the structural characteristics of my habitation and its configuration, and by the condition i have as for example if i’m alone in the house or with the family or other persons.
—————————————————————
2) When, why and how to manage the different types of cartridges according to the needs of the condition.
One of the major advantages of the shotgun, what makes it in my opinion the best choice for the medium-low trained hand user compared to the pistol, is precisely given by the wide range of ammunition that can be used in the field of home defense with the shotgun.
Before moving on to specifically analyze the various types of ammunition, however, we must understand two fundamental concepts.
The first is that if we want to make the most of the technical capacity and potential of the platform, obviously we have to work hard in training otherwise we will never be able to have the manual skills necessary to carry out the necessary manipulation techniques, especially under stress, so no training no party and the discussion ends here.
The second fundamental concept that also represents another of the strengths of the shotgun is the possibility of directly managing the ammunition in the chamber.
By applying the right technique we are able to quickly change the type of cartridge in the chamber or discard it to move to the next one.
To this is added the functional cycle which is coming from the magazine tube, in which we will have pre-inserted the initial sequence of cartridges that we will have selected.
With the shotgun we can in fact create a ballistic sequence consisting of a series of cartridges with different ballistic characteristics according to the environment, strategy and our needs, at the same time, however, if we were to find ourselves facing conditions different from those we had foreseen, we will be able to intervene in real time directly in the chamber by changing the type of cartridge.
As already mentioned, probably having to manage a limited availability of ammunition in the magazine tube, I have to be prepared to manage the emergency through direct loading into the chamber in a continuous and dynamic way and to take advantage of every frame of time available to be able to integrate the tube loading. through the loading port, all this always considering having to act under the highest level of stress.
We have carried out hundreds of terminal ballistics tests with a wide range of shotgun ammunitions, we have carried out tests on ballistic gelatin, on synthetic and animal fibers, on vehicles, walls, windows, different type of glasses and materials of various kinds, so we do not discuss hypotheses but reliable data.
