Range of a typical home defense encounter inside your place
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Cheapshooter
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How fur away a bad dude is likely to be when ya ketch 'em in yur shack.
There, might be easier for some to understand!
kilimanjaro
New member
Can't say what is typical around my place, not having the bad luck to have had a self-defense event, but the averages are 3 shots, 3 seconds, 3 feet.
I think most homes could offer a maximum range of about 15 feet, even large open rooms have furniture and objects keeping people from a wall-to-wall distance.
I think most homes could offer a maximum range of about 15 feet, even large open rooms have furniture and objects keeping people from a wall-to-wall distance.
Double Naught Spy
New member
Since you aren't and English major or technical writer, let's just consider the logic of your query. How is it that you expect a person to know the distance of a conflict, what you call "typical," without the person being psychic? Like you said, you used the word "would" to indicate something happening in the future. So that is prognostication. Nobody knows at what distance such an event will be.
OldMarksman
Staff
If "I meet up with" someone in the house, it will almost always be a matter of his coming to me.
Unless I am certain that someone in the house poses a clear danger, I will not be quite ready to shoot when I hear him or see him.. I will have to recognize danger; draw or otherwise access a weapon; and then, just maybe, shoot.
None of those things will happen instantaneously.
And I seriously doubt that if he does present a threat, he will be standing still.
I really don't see how that would differ all that much from what we see in Tueller exercises outdoors.
So, do we mean the distance from where I am to where he is when I detect the presence of a possibly unwelcome guest? To where I see him and decide that there is a threat? Or if I happen not to be carrying at the time, the distance from where I access a weapon and where the intruder is at that time?
Or did the OP mean the actual shooting distance?
All of those would be very situation dependent, and in our house it would all depend upon where I am at the outset, where the person makes ingress, and what it is that alerts me to his presence.
armoredman
New member
Every one I have had has been well within one foot, as the crafty devils try to tie me up in cables and nooses...until I rip the spiderweb down and stomp them FLAT!
Longest distance I MIGHT have to engage a threat? God forbid, it would be roughly 34 feet.
Longest distance I MIGHT have to engage a threat? God forbid, it would be roughly 34 feet.
bedbugbilly
New member
None of the above as far as I'm concerned. Every situation will be different - every house is different - depends on if you hear someone entering your house or if they surprise you when you wake up.
Most SD classes will have you use 7 yards - 21 feet - for SD training - or less. One of the classes I took for my MI LCP we practiced at anywhere from 21 feet to 1 feot close encounter.
In my case and my house - probably the maximum distance would be 14 feet based on the layout of my house.
Regardless of what you may "think" it will be . . . no one knows. That's why it is important to practice for SD situations at various distances using the size of central mass as a target. And, remember that shooting in the dark is a whole different ball game than shooting in lighted conditions. In the dark, once you have the first shot and the muzzle blasts, your sight is not going to be worth a tinker's tater tot.
Most SD classes will have you use 7 yards - 21 feet - for SD training - or less. One of the classes I took for my MI LCP we practiced at anywhere from 21 feet to 1 feot close encounter.
In my case and my house - probably the maximum distance would be 14 feet based on the layout of my house.
Regardless of what you may "think" it will be . . . no one knows. That's why it is important to practice for SD situations at various distances using the size of central mass as a target. And, remember that shooting in the dark is a whole different ball game than shooting in lighted conditions. In the dark, once you have the first shot and the muzzle blasts, your sight is not going to be worth a tinker's tater tot.
You made this hard to answer. There is no area in my home that is longer than twenty feet, outside my home, my property lies within a fifrty foot square, about, but it is still conceivable that a home invader will land right in my lap as I sit in my chair by my bookcase. So, it's hard to say other than inside my home it can be anywhere from point blank to fifteen, and if it happens outdoors, legally I'm probably only covered to about forty. The one time I drew was at about fifteen. The has been only one other time that I felt certain I was in a situation of grave danger, but it deescalated before I had to choose. It also took place at twenty feet or so, again outside.
I'm sure that I'm unusual in that I never, ever anticipate getting into long range combat, at least not with a handgun.
I'm sure that I'm unusual in that I never, ever anticipate getting into long range combat, at least not with a handgun.
Model12Win
Moderator
I have absolutely no idea what a "typical home defense encounter" would be since I've never had it happen.
The longest shot I could take in my house is about 50 feet. I have a long hallway that leads straight into the living room so it's a ways. A load of buckshot or pistol rounds should be effective though.
The longest shot I could take in my house is about 50 feet. I have a long hallway that leads straight into the living room so it's a ways. A load of buckshot or pistol rounds should be effective though.
My longest stretch might be 35 feet. But I have no idea what a typical range might be. If I hear you coming it will be as long as I can make it.
I have the same problem with my wife. She tells me something and then when I do it or answer her question she says "You know what I meant". And I tell her "No, I only know what you said".
Most of the time I know precisely what she meant. But I like exactness in words. There is no confusion that way. I sometimes wonder if English is really her first language.
I have the same problem with my wife. She tells me something and then when I do it or answer her question she says "You know what I meant". And I tell her "No, I only know what you said".
Most of the time I know precisely what she meant. But I like exactness in words. There is no confusion that way. I sometimes wonder if English is really her first language.
larryh1108
New member
This thread is a perfect example of some people who wish to be difficult and cause drama. The written word and spoken word are used to communicate a thought or message. The OP conveyed his thought, although not as gracefully as some would like, but everyone who read it knew what he meant. If you think his question is stupid then move on. But no, we have to pee on this guy because you are smarter or more keen on the English language than he is. Hey, if gun boards don't meet your idea of perfectly written words then maybe you should find a board with more people who are more to your liking.
Give me a break. (for the language police, this is a common phrase that should not be taken literally. If you want to know what it really means then YOU can look it up since you have to put others down to make yourself feel superior).
Give me a break. (for the language police, this is a common phrase that should not be taken literally. If you want to know what it really means then YOU can look it up since you have to put others down to make yourself feel superior).
Give me a break, Larry. How do you answer a question that limits you to this, or that or another thing, when the outcome is conceivably none of the above, or any of the above, and "only one of the above" is the least likely answer? He asked, in sum, what a person expects to be th a range of possible encounters, and that's a nearly impossible question to answer, as an encounter can easily range from outside of the actual door a negative five feet all the way to twenty or more feet from bedroom down a hallway? It even left me wondering, if I have an encounter with a person who is coming up my stairs, how do I measure that?
Snyper said:
What advantage? I'm not laying a trap for them, I'm defending myself and my wife. If they know I'm upstairs and armed they're more likely to leave and I avoid a gunfight. win-win
If they come upstairs to face me, my (and their) chances of survival drop significantly. lose-lose
OldMarksman
Staff
Do you somehow believe that law enforcement officers responding to a home invasion in progress would for some reason arrive with sirens sounding?
Spats McGee
Administrator
In any sort of urban or suburban setting, if the police arrive to a home invasion, it may well be with sirens. For liability reasons, police policies often mandate running lights and/or sirens in any pursuit or driving to an emergency situation (read "moving significantly faster than the speed limit").
OldMarksman
Staff
Pursuing someone, yes, but in responding to a report of a burglary or home invasion, the practice here has been to arrive in as many different cars a possible from different directions, as silently as possible, and for some of them to disembark some distance away and continue on foot.
A surprised suspect is less likely to hide successfully and make his escape.
A surprised suspect is less likely to hide successfully and make his escape.
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