After years of SHTF hypothesis, the issues now appear much more real to me since we are getting a small taste of panic driven chaos with economic chaos just around the corner. Recently, I have had to rethink my home defense strategies.
For me, the issue is that now I am much older and my original weapon choices have changed. Instead of a high caliber semi auto rifle and a couple of 1911s, both with multiple loaded magazines, I have switched to a high capacity 9mm with 5 mags that will give me 100 rounds at the ready plus my Mossberg 500 in .410 with 6 rifled slugs.
I am a bit concerned by the lack of stopping power of the .410 but the light weight and recoil are a plus for me now that I am in my 70's. There would really be no opportunity for long distance defense unless they came from my back fence 100 yards away and then my AR in 6.5 Creedmoor and the 30 round mags would suffice.
Main problem is that it is just me a, 71 year old guy who can, at best, scare them off to find easier pickings or, at worst, could take out a few before they overwhelm me. My home is not defensible without at least one other defender but its just me.
I have talked to my immediate neighbors but only one, an ex LEO, has any concept of firearms or home defense. So, after years of "what if" it now seems much more real and my options are not looking good. I am currently trying to organize at least some of the larger neighborhood to agree to cooperate in a strategy to block our dead end lane which has 36 properties along it. Figure we could man the road block and only let residents in or out while also providing a first line of defense. At this point, I would hate to pin my hopes on the folks I have met who live up and down the lane. Another problem is that most of our properties back up to open or wooded space behind our 2-10 acre plots so we would be vulnerable to back door intrusions. As they say in El Paso, no bueno!
Bottom line is that now is a good time to update planning and preparation because this whole thing has been a wake up call for me.
For me, the issue is that now I am much older and my original weapon choices have changed. Instead of a high caliber semi auto rifle and a couple of 1911s, both with multiple loaded magazines, I have switched to a high capacity 9mm with 5 mags that will give me 100 rounds at the ready plus my Mossberg 500 in .410 with 6 rifled slugs.
I am a bit concerned by the lack of stopping power of the .410 but the light weight and recoil are a plus for me now that I am in my 70's. There would really be no opportunity for long distance defense unless they came from my back fence 100 yards away and then my AR in 6.5 Creedmoor and the 30 round mags would suffice.
Main problem is that it is just me a, 71 year old guy who can, at best, scare them off to find easier pickings or, at worst, could take out a few before they overwhelm me. My home is not defensible without at least one other defender but its just me.
I have talked to my immediate neighbors but only one, an ex LEO, has any concept of firearms or home defense. So, after years of "what if" it now seems much more real and my options are not looking good. I am currently trying to organize at least some of the larger neighborhood to agree to cooperate in a strategy to block our dead end lane which has 36 properties along it. Figure we could man the road block and only let residents in or out while also providing a first line of defense. At this point, I would hate to pin my hopes on the folks I have met who live up and down the lane. Another problem is that most of our properties back up to open or wooded space behind our 2-10 acre plots so we would be vulnerable to back door intrusions. As they say in El Paso, no bueno!
Bottom line is that now is a good time to update planning and preparation because this whole thing has been a wake up call for me.
