Master Custom Gunsmith Larry Crow, owner of Competitive Edge Gunworks and member of the Prestigious American Pistolsmith Guild, is joining Bikernet with monthly articles for 2006. Larry is not only a premier custom gunsmith but also teaches courses at his facility in Bogard, Missouri. Larry is a Board Member and Summer NRA Instructor at Murray State College in Tishomingo, OK. He is an avid Cowboy Action shooter and Missouri State Champion.–Bandit
Todays topic will cover home defense. In these troubled times we live in, we are hearing about alarming amounts of home invasions. What is the perfect home defense firearm?
Just like if I was going to overhaul my Harley, would I need a wrench or a screwdriver?
There is no one firearm that will serve every purpose. I believe the firearm that will fill the bill most often would be a home defense shotgun.
Handguns play a very important role in defensive situations as they are much easier to pack in a holster.
We find in the privacy of your own home shotguns are a much wiser choice.
Handguns are somewhat more difficult to shoot accurately under stress. They will typically over penetrate, which can do harm to someone in an adjoining room. It is very difficult to be accurate with a pistol when sound sleep, a noise wakes you up and you need to think about many immediate choices that are facing you and your family.
A 12 gauge pump shotgun has a sound, even in a dark room, that is known all over the world when the action is slammed shut! Also, birdshot is a much more effective deterrent in the confinement of your own home, rather than slugs or solid projectiles.
One of the reasons we feel that the shotgun is the best choice for home defense is that with a properly fit shotgun a 100 lb. woman can fire hundreds of rounds a day in competition. If a shotgun fits the smallest person in your home, a larger person can accommodate it rather easily, compared to the smaller person trying to accommodate the shotgun that is too long.
A tactical light is extremely important as it will light up the darkest of rooms like daytime. A light is the most important item that you should have for a home defense shotgun. You must be able to identify your potential target. Quite often a blast of this light in the face is an effective deterrent.
In my 870 Tactical Shotgun, Home defense DVD, I show a small woman shooting a shotgun very rapidly and with excellent control. The porting of the barrel significantly reduces felt recoil and muzzle rise. While back boring also decreases felt recoil it increases patterning. With this shotgun one can generally hit paper-plate size targets at 100 yards with regularity with slugs.
The Tactical shotguns that we produce at Competitive Edge Gunworks and are offering to the public are the same high custom quality that we offer to law enforcement officers.
The CEGW Bandit Defender starts live as a Remington 870 pump shotgun. We chose the 870 because it is the tactical shotgun of choice of 90% of military and law enforcement agencies. The Bandit model includes CEGW Signature Action Job, Surefire lighting system, tiranium ghost ring night sights, ported and back bored barrel, spare ammo carrier and speed feed stock assembly, big head tactical safety, and finished in CEGW tough as nails OD Green and black tactical finishes.
The gun will include the Bandit Defender and Larry Crow engraved on the barrel and as with all custom CEGW firearms, I personally test fire each firearm.
We offer the tactical shotgun with a variety of stock lengths. A good rule of thumb to measure proper stock length is to place the stock in the fold of your arm facing upright with your trigger finger extended, your trigger finger should easily reach the trigger.
Since tactical type firearms used in defensive situations are typically fast on and off the shoulder, you typically require a shorter length of pull than would a hunting or target type firearm.
There are now two Competitive Edge Gun Works, Remington 870 videos available in DVD or VHS from Bandit’s Black market, by Larry Crow. The Remington 870 Tactical video covers modifications, penetration test, customizing and more. The Remington 870 video covers design and function, trouble shooting, disassembly reassembly, cleaning and maintenance. There are 15 videos available now in the Larry Crow Gunsmithing video library, with another 11 to be produced in March of 2006.
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Armed we are citizens, unarmed we are subjects
Ride Hard
Shoot Straight
Speak the Truth
Until next time,
–Larry Crow aka Missouri Cyclone
