Riot gun part 7: A bit of strategy

Long experience by military forces everywhere shows that an ensconced defender has a 3:1 advantage over those coming against him. What is an ensconced defender? He has a good fighting position that protects him from the enemy's weapons, he knows the lay of the land and is ready and waiting when the enemy arrives. A soldier who digs a properly situated hole and gets in it becomes as powerful as three soldiers in the open. That is a very useful thing to know in thinking about your personal defense plans. Whenever possible, have a plan to take cover.

Another number: The shotgun firing buckshot has twice the hit probability, within its limited range, of a select fire military rifle--a real assault rifle, not the neutered look-alikes the liberal media loves to fret and moan about.  What of the submachine gun? Here the shotgun scores nearly half again better. That is what our military concluded after studying the matter. The shotgun has the best hit probability of all the personal weapons. The pistol has the worst, and since the criminals these days are mainly armed with pistols, you can feel pretty good about your choice if you are armed with a shotgun.

What emerges here is the idea that you find yourself a sconce where you can use the shotgun within its range limitations; the field of fire should be fairly short. (In other words the surroundings should not be so open that someone with a rifle can stand a long way off and pot at you, while you cannot reach him.) Combining an ensconced defense with short range use of the shotgun gives you the three to one advantage of being ensconced, combined with a big advantage in probability of hitting, versus other types of weapons--improving your odds. 

What I'm pointing to is the wise idea of putting as many advantages as you can on your side. There is another advantage to consider putting on your side here, that of surprise. The value of the element of surprise is difficult to quantify. It is considerable, but it only lasts for so long as it takes your assailants to adjust to the unexpected situation, pull themselves together and react appropriately. Still, it is known to be an advantage, though the degree of advantage is uncertain, varying from case to case.

Strategy is boring to most shooters, so I won't go on and on about it. Just remember that you are stacking all the cards in your favor if you take cover, use a shotgun and spring your defense as a surprise. Is that always practical?  Probably not, but it is a worthy goal. If you find yourself in a fair fight, your planning stinks.