Crash
12-08-2010, 11:37 AM
This is a follow-up to my original question as to what is the best long gun for defense if one arm is disabled.
I conducted some very limited, dry-fire, tests with a pump, lever action, bolt action (I don't have a semi-auto long gun) and a couple of handguns and the results are as follows:
1. Pump shotgun: after firing, hold the stock between your knees with the forearm facing away from you, work the pump, grab the stock so you have quick access to the trigger, raise the gun and fire.... Reloading would be accomplished by putting the muzzle on your shoe, holding the stock tight against your shoulder (or between your chin and neck), reloading, cycling the pump, and firing. For me the pump was the fastest of the manually-cycled long guns.
2. Lever action: after firing, put the muzzle on your shoe, hold the gun tight against your chest or between your neck and chin, with the lever facing toward you, work the lever--which puts your trigger finger pretty much in the correct position--pull the gun back up and "go to work." Hold the gun in the same position for reloading. 2nd fastest long gun, at least for me.
3. Bolt action: I'd hate to have to work a bolt-action with one arm. Drop the muzzle onto your shoe with the bolt "on top," hold the stock tight against your chest, work the bolt, pull it back up, and fire. Slowest of the three for me. My rifle doesn't have a detachable magazine, so reloading it would be a slow process, at best, although maybe not any slower than reloading the pump shotgun or the lever action rifle.
Handguns:
1. Semi-auto: no cycling to worry about, so when the last shot is fired and the slide locks back, put the barrel between your legs, grab a loaded magazine, insert it, drop the slide and start firing. The fun would start when you ran out of loaded magazines. I guess I would try hold the magazine between my legs and recharge it--or maybe just throw the empty pistol at my foe.
2. Revolver (double action): again, no cycling to worry about, but reloading could be a problem. I tried it with a S&W K-frame and it was hard to work the cylinder latch with my thumb and reach around the other side with my other fingers and push the cylinder out (I have small hands with short fingers). Maybe a J-frame would have worked better. I could "flip" the cylinder open (as we see in the movies), stick the barrel between my legs or in my belt, reload and then "flip" it closed, or push it closed against some object, I guess. Definitely slower than the semi-auto until we get to the point where I run out of loaded magazines for the auto-loader.
Those are the results and again, the tests are very limited and the results might be different for you.
Crash
I conducted some very limited, dry-fire, tests with a pump, lever action, bolt action (I don't have a semi-auto long gun) and a couple of handguns and the results are as follows:
1. Pump shotgun: after firing, hold the stock between your knees with the forearm facing away from you, work the pump, grab the stock so you have quick access to the trigger, raise the gun and fire.... Reloading would be accomplished by putting the muzzle on your shoe, holding the stock tight against your shoulder (or between your chin and neck), reloading, cycling the pump, and firing. For me the pump was the fastest of the manually-cycled long guns.
2. Lever action: after firing, put the muzzle on your shoe, hold the gun tight against your chest or between your neck and chin, with the lever facing toward you, work the lever--which puts your trigger finger pretty much in the correct position--pull the gun back up and "go to work." Hold the gun in the same position for reloading. 2nd fastest long gun, at least for me.
3. Bolt action: I'd hate to have to work a bolt-action with one arm. Drop the muzzle onto your shoe with the bolt "on top," hold the stock tight against your chest, work the bolt, pull it back up, and fire. Slowest of the three for me. My rifle doesn't have a detachable magazine, so reloading it would be a slow process, at best, although maybe not any slower than reloading the pump shotgun or the lever action rifle.
Handguns:
1. Semi-auto: no cycling to worry about, so when the last shot is fired and the slide locks back, put the barrel between your legs, grab a loaded magazine, insert it, drop the slide and start firing. The fun would start when you ran out of loaded magazines. I guess I would try hold the magazine between my legs and recharge it--or maybe just throw the empty pistol at my foe.
2. Revolver (double action): again, no cycling to worry about, but reloading could be a problem. I tried it with a S&W K-frame and it was hard to work the cylinder latch with my thumb and reach around the other side with my other fingers and push the cylinder out (I have small hands with short fingers). Maybe a J-frame would have worked better. I could "flip" the cylinder open (as we see in the movies), stick the barrel between my legs or in my belt, reload and then "flip" it closed, or push it closed against some object, I guess. Definitely slower than the semi-auto until we get to the point where I run out of loaded magazines for the auto-loader.
Those are the results and again, the tests are very limited and the results might be different for you.
Crash