It Shoots Itself

Last year for Father’s Day, I decided to give my dad a concealed weapons class. And we put it off until today. I took him to Ace’s Indoor Gun Range in Hialeah and got him fixed up. This is probably a better present than cigars or brandy.

While he was taking the two-hour class, I put in some range time. Trail Glades is where I usually shoot, and they won’t let you use buckshot, and I needed to try out the Saiga 12 and laser with my new police loads.

In a word, this gun is fantastic. The recoil is negligible compared to a high-powered rifle. And sighting the laser in took about three shots. At 50 feet, the pellets go right where the green dot is, and they make a pattern you can cover with your fist. How can you top that? This has to be the ultimate in semi-automatic home protection. A halfway decent shot will put all nine pellets inside your burglar, and after that, they all go in different directions. And you have eight shots in the magazine, plus one in the pipe. And you can replace a magazine in three seconds! Once you get it fitted right, I mean. The magazines are plastic, and sometimes they need a little filing.

I only shot it 9 times. I apparently dropped a shell into the bag I took with me, and I didn’t see it until later. You don’t really need to practice with this gun. At household distances, missing is nearly impossible. I just needed to be sure it cycled okay, and I had to adjust the laser. Now I’m ready to cut it up and turn it back into an AK.

The Vz 58 is hard to discount. It has the same easy short-range accuracy, the recoil is even lower, and it holds 30 rounds. Maybe when you add in all the factors, it’s the better choice. You can shoot it folded; that’s a big deal. It will also shoot through both sides of a car, and it will defeat some bulletproof vests. Although those qualities probably won’t be required in a home invasion defense.

Either gun will make your house one of the worst places a criminal can imagine being.

I don’t know which is best. I’m just glad my biggest home defense problem is deciding which gun to grab.

My next project should be a nice safe.

I’m glad my dad will have a permit. The biggest benefit for him, in my opinion, will be having to worry less about being hassled by the cops for violating Florida’s bizarre firearms laws. We have strange rules about how you can carry in your car and so on. You can’t leave it on the seat, the way you can in Kentucky. You can put it in your glove compartment, but only if you do it a certain way. It’s a pain. Once you have a permit, all you have to remember is concealment plus the list of places where you’re not allowed to take a gun.