Sling or not for home defense?

[badboybeeson]

everyone has a pretty valid point but its still going to come down to what the owner is comfortable with and what they feel makes them shoot better

Comfortable????
This has nothing to do with " what the owner is comfortable with"

We are talking about a persons worst nighmare.
If you think that just because you have a firarms you have the upper hand your dead wrong!!
The idea of haveing a defencive firearm is to defend yourself.
Without training you run just as great a chance of becoming a victim as not having a gun, sure i may give you a little bit of an edge nbut not as much as you think.
If you have enought time to post here then you have time to train and talk with your household about what to do if/when that happen.

The weapons retention device ( sling) is somthing you should train with, picking the right sling is allso somthing that needs to be talked about.

If your on the winning side and all the bad guys ae nice easy targets then, sure if its not dark and you dont fall down or need to go hand to hand with the bad guy, or need 2 hands to do somthing like force a door closed when someones trying to push open, you are right you dont need a sling.

But who knows what goign to happen??
I know one thing, if a bad guy sees you with a gun and is close, the only thing he will think of is "must get that gun"
So he grabs it and now what????
Sure as shit going to wish you had a sling on it now!!
bbb

[frankhenrylee]

Read Costa's interview on this website. He makes a good point about why he uses a handgun for home intrusion scenarios. How are you going to open doors, grab your kids, call the cops, or turn on lights while carrying a shotgun? If you must use a shotgun, then you must have a sling for these scenarios. Also, what if the problem's outside? If you live in a neighborhood then carrying a shotgun around might freak out your neighbors. A full size pistol is still small enough to not draw a lot of attention. I prefer Costa's method. An XDM with Crimson Trace's lightguard is a nice setup. It has plenty of capacity, a lanyard loop for keeping the weapon near my hand if I get the crap knocked out of me and I can operate the light and gun with one hand.

[AkiroHikage]

Since Costa was brought up, I will add that a sling adds a lot more flexibility in a shooting scenario which is demonstrated in the Art of the Tactical Shotgun DVD (which I should probably type up a review for on the forum). It is definitely true that any home invasion encounter is likely to be extremely fast and dangerous, and sling may or may not help you in that scenario. As badboybeeson points out though it is all about how you train with your equipment. In Art of the Tactical Shotgun some sidearm drills are demonstrated and how it varies to drop the shotgun when you have different sling systems or to retain it with your off-hand and still draw and fire your sidearm effectively, as you are not going to ever want to set your weapon down entirely.

There are infinite combat scenarios out there and in some a sling can save your life and in others it wouldn't make a difference, the important thing to do is to train with your equipment you don't want to get tangled up in some new ridiculous tactical sling because you are unfamiliar shooting with it on.

[Tango Hotel 57]

Subsequent to my original post, I have used a single-point sling at Sig Academy classes twice. It's the thing to have on the range, but in a house, on short notice, at night, half asleep, disoriented, I'll probably stick with my handguns for now. With some time to prepare, more specific training, in a larger house/outside, a sling becomes a very reasonable option. For me, that's not the case right now. I thank you all for your inputs.

[Blackrock]

First, I want to say I enjoy the tone of this website. We are gentleman and disagree without rancor.

I would use a shotgun for home defense. It is the weapon most likely to stop perpetrator with one shot (FBI & NYPD). Utilizing the appropriate load the threat of excess penetration is minimized without compromising stopping power (US Army). Any long gun increases hit probability because of 4 points of contact.

Many valid points have been made about slings both pro and con. As for "ME" I train with and I believe in the sling concept. Your mileage my vary.

Clint Smith is known for having said, "A handgun is something you use to fight your way to a long gun." After seeing a perp. take a .45 round through his heart ( I was present for the shooting and autopsy). I will go with the Gauge.

Again Gentleman, "My truth is not your truth."

Blackrock

[Banshee]

I run a simple two point sling mounted on the side of on my HD gun. One points slings have their place, but I don't care much for them. They require you to keep one hand on the weapon anytime you are moving, or the weapon will swing around bouncing off of your body and or other gear and usually end up smacking you in the nuts and some point in time.

[Carlo1137]

Here is a good video to watch. It may be old, but the consepts are still good and they also talk about slings and proper way to carry your shotgun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM6ykZfl1F4

[DaveC]

Hello. I do have a single-point sling. Typically, inside my 660 or so square foot tiny urban house, I eschew using a sling because I do not want to get hung up on shelves, furniture, door knobs or other possible snags... YMMV. I have used a sling, and I have taken defensive shotgun classes/seminars, but I prefer not to use a sling for possible defensive use. For me, as a firearm owner, I simply have to assume that if someone tries to storm into my house, or break in while I'm at home in spite of my alarm system and the well-displayed alarm symbols on my (locked) fence and my "beware of dog" sign [which actually refers to me], that he/they have cased my house and understand perfectly well that I am a gun owner... So the shotgun is what I would grab for "an immediately expected pistol fight." I DO NOT OPEN my door to random knockers.... If I'm expecting a package from the post office, or the BBT/ UPS, then I'll open up. Likewise, if I recognize one of my neighbors. Otherwise, I simply do not answer the door... Religious missionaries, folks down on his/her/their luck, door-to-door salesmen, political activists, special offers, magazine sales, pizza deliveries I did not order, what-have-you. Keep the darn door as a barrier... I'll gladly call a phone number, if asked, or dial emergency myself. But the door remains closed.

[Kentactic]

Take a long gun with a sling on it, put it on. Now try and point the gun at yourself. Aslong as that sling is attached to that gun and the sling is around you, it is nearly impossible to shoot you with it. Your dealing with close quarters with a long gun. The bad guy getting hands on the gun is a real possibility. If your sling is hanging up on stuff its either WAY too loose or you dont even have the sling on. Both of which are user error.

[DaveC]

Will there be sufficient time to retrieve the shotgun, ensure it is loaded and there is a shell in the chamber, AND sling up? Good question. Some folks practice and can do it fairly rapidly I'm sure. As for an intruder grabbing your shotgun, at extreme CQB distances this is a real possibility... One might already be incapacitated or dead from blunt-force trauma to the head or slashed/stabbed or even shot.

While some tactics might be dated, Gabe Suárez's Tactical Shotgun recommends either immediately pulling someone attempting to grab the shotgun in front of the muzzle and firing... Lowering the center of gravity while doing so may prevent one from being pulled off balance or toppled/thrown while executing this defensive reaction... Or, if a back-up handgun is holstered, simply allow the assailant to grab the muzzle-end first, release the shotgun completely, draw the handgun and open fire on the assailant who would have to turn the shotgun around. In either case, "let him have it" is the watchword.

Folks should certainly train and plan. Avoid proceeding into a room or near a corner with the muzzle extended. Some folks might favor a handgun for clearing confined spaces as a result...