Tactical use for the AR-15 at Home

AR-15: the Ideal home defense?

Everybody has an AR because of its reliability, durability and flexibility. Besides owning a shotgun an AR is the next best thing for a home defense.

Below video highlights Richard Nance (GunsandAmmo Editor) and Dave Spaulding (Handgun Combatives) discussing tactics and techniques using an AR-15 which any lawful citizen can learn.

They talk about best ways to enter and clear a room while not extending your AR out there. But if you do there are some weapon retention methods that can be used to retain your AR. So sit back and enjoy this training session.

Video Transcript:

Speakers: Richard Nance (gunsandammo host), Dave Spaulding (HandgunCombatives.com)

[gunshots]

Richard Nance: “Well Dave, it’s really no mystery why the AR15 is the preferred weapon of tactical teams. I mean you’re not going into a structure hunting a dangerous badguy with a handgun if they have access to an AR. That explains why the AR is so wildly popular now for home defense.”

Dave Spaulding: “I agree.”

RN: “But unfortunately, in home defense you need to understand some of the nuances of this weapon, because while we tend to think of close-quarters combat as say, seven yards, fifteen yards, there could be situations in your home where you’re much closer than that.”

DS: “Right, and the homeowner needs to understand that they’re not part of a tactical team.”

RN: “Exactly right.”

DS: “We made a fairly quick entry into this room, and I think the homeowner needs to understand that they need to go slow, they wanna be methodical, because one thing you don’t want to be in a hurry to do is get shot.”

RN: “Exactly. You’re gonna take as much information as you can from outside the room and everything else.”

DS: “Absolutely.”

RN: “But rather than talk about tactics, I wanna talk about the use of a longgun in a confined setting.”

DS: “Ok.”

RN: “So, you know, here is the typical shoulder-mount that we often use. Now, when we’re entering a room, you can imagine our muzzle is definitely going to preceed our movement into that room.”

DS: “Right.”

RN: “There’s some other positions that we wanna consider using, and what we can do is: Unload these guns, use an inert training gun, and I can demonstrate some of these for you.”

DS: “I think that’s a good idea.”

[Unloading]

RN: “Good there. Ok, let me come back outside the room here. And if I enter with this huge, long musket here… I mean, if you’re a badguy and you’re secreted in the corner of the room, you’re gonna shoot me. Because you know I’m behind this gun.”

DS: “Right.”

RN: “If you’re unarmed, you have ample opportunity to grab hold of this, and there’s so much leverage here, you could certainly off-balance me.”

DS: “And for the viewer, I should let them know, this is a full-length M16. A car bead(?) that’s commonly used nowadays is gonna be a little shorter, but what you’re getting ready to talk about still applies.”

RN: “Exactly. So, sometimes that’s remedied by the use of a low-ready -or even like a safety-circle type position- when you enter the room. That way, the muzzle doesn’t preceed your movement into the room by much.The only problem is, if I’m coming in the room from the low-ready, and you’re there and you grab hold of the weapon, I’m kind of in a bad position here.”

DS: “Now I have the leverage. Absolutely.”

RN: “So, oftentimes people say, ‘if someone grabs my gun, I’ll just shoot them off’, well if you’re exerting pressure there, then shooting the weapon isn’t going to take care of the problem.”

DS: “Well, Rich if you go ahead and just fire a buncha rounds, this barrel’s gonna get hot, and he’s gonna let go. But what’re you firing those rounds into?”

RN: “Exactly right.”

DS: “Yeah.”

RN: “So, I mean, you gotta be accountable for every round. Another option is to enter the room in what’s called that close-quarter hold, right? So I’m in the room like this, now if you grab hold of it, I can actually take it away from you, using what’s caled COPP. Clamp, Orient, Push, Pull. So I’m already clamped here, the muzzle’s oriented to you, but the same technique works if you grabbed it this way. Just orient the muzzle to you this way, then Push-Pull. Driving the muzzle in, and pulling back.”

DS: “The leverage is definitely yours.”

RN: “Exactly. And this is actually a firing position that we can demonstrate. So why don’t we get the live-fire guns back up, and we will demonstrate shooting at close-quarters from this close-quarter control hold,and above here like this.”

DS: “Okay, let’s do it!”

RN: “Dave, I’m gonna load this AR-15, we’re gonna go hot again just for a second. Just to live-fire some of these positions I just showed. The first is a close-quarter hold, I’m gonna clamp down here, now–”

[GUNFIRE]

RN: “–Pretty dang good shots from here. This isn’t something you’re gonna do at extended range. Then you would want to have the sights, and you have the shoulder mount. Another option we showed here, and that is after I drive the muzzle into the badguy and I’m pulling it back here–”

[GUNFIRE]

RN: “Get my effectiveness here, I’m not even seeing the sights. It’s similar to shooting from here with a handgun at extreme close quarters.”

DS: “Right.”

RN: “Now why would I come over the shoulder? Because you have a little further length of pull there, to completely extract the muzzle from the badguy’s hands.”

DS: “Rich, that is great information, and I think what homeowners need to understand before they select the AR-15 is, it is a different gun than a handgun. That, you know, it’s like anything else. You gotta give careful consideration, you gotta select the weapon that works best for you, you gotta train with it, and then you gotta do some really solid preparation in order for it to work for you.”

RN: “Excellent point, Dave. Thanks a lot.”

Source: Richard Nance – GunsandAmmo, Dave Spaulding – Handgun Combatives