Welcome back to the 13th installment of my blog, in which I don’t claim to be an expert, in fact the opposite. I’m a new user to the AR platform and want to share my findings and experiences as I go through and build rifles as well as being the Operations Manager at Tyrant Designs.

Tyrant Designs home defense dog

Is the AR-15 a good choice for a home defense weapon?

While surfing through gun blogs a popular and frequent post you see is someone showing their home defense protection gun. Most commonly I see people post a picture of their shotgun or a bedside pistol. I don’t see many people talking about using their AR-15 as their primary weapon for the defense of their home and family, and why not?

I think the AR-15 can be and maybe should be your primary defense weapon when it comes to home defense for these 7 reasons.

1. User Friendly – Blanket statement, the AR is easy to shoot. Well, I think it’s easier and more accurate than a pistol. Plus if you spend more range time using your black rifle, then maybe that should be your number 1 defense weapon.

2. Magazine Capacity – While there is no questioning the stopping power of a shotgun, you fall short with the amount of rounds that can be loaded into it. In a perfect world you confront an intruder in a small room and don’t need to spend much ammo but what happens if you get into a shoot out? Or your backyard? Even the best semi automatic shotguns are not as reliable as your AR-15. High magazine capacity makes the AR a nice choice.

3. Maneuverability – You might be able to point your pistol faster than your AR-15 but since when does pointing and hitting your target the same thing? Let’s be honest, pistols point fast and miss fast when compared to the precision of your AR-15.

4. Low Recoil – AR’s have low recoil considering their stopping power. Lower recoil means more time on the target. Good for you, bad for your intruder.

5. Noise – I’m not here to say your AR-15 isn’t loud. But is it much louder than your shotgun or pistol? Even if you make the argument that it is, in many states you can buy a suppressor to mitigate this potential negative. Plus deafening noise alone can intimidate an intruder, or better yet startle them and get them off their mission. 

6. Range – I don’t need to argue the effective range of your pistol and shotgun are under 15 yards at best (maybe 30 yards for you tactical operators lol). In closed quarters this may surfice, but life isn’t perfect. It’s better to be prepared for a long range assault than to not have the proper weapon when needed.

7. Sight acquisition – Anyone who has shot through a red dot knows how superior it is compared to shooting through iron sights on a pistol.

Whatever weapon you choose, make sure you have spent significant range time training with it, as well as shooting it with 1 arm. Training is the most important part in defending yourself and not mistakenly shooting your toilet.

 Who else uses their AR-15 as their home defense weapon? Leave a comment.