Hey gang, we are going to talk about setting up your AR Carbine for home defense or self defense purposes. I’ve got my Colt Combat Unit Carbine here, and I’ll tell you how I like mine to be ready to go.

First, I want a good white light that I can identify threats with. Remember there is no justification for firing your weapon at a target you can’t identify.

I like to have my Inforce Light right here at twelve o’clock so I can be on the right side of cover or the left side of cover. That light is always going to be directly in my line of sight. It's not going to be covered up by coming around cover.

I also like backup iron sights. I’d rather have them and not need them. And, I am a big fan of the Aimpoint Micro red dot sight. You can turn it on, leave it on, and it’s good for five years.

I like a good gripping surface, like this M-LOK rail. That way, I’ve got something that allows me to get a good firm grip on the weapon so my hands won’t slide around.
 

You’ll notice the sliding butt stock, a nice feature on a carbine because you can adjust to any size for any person or any member of your family.

I’ve got some bicycle inner-tube right here. Simple reason for that is to keep from plucking my mustache when I am shooting.

You’ll also notice another piece that allows me to take my sling and ribbon-wrap it so it is not going to snag or catch on stuff. I ribbon-wrap it so if I want to deploy it quickly, it’s ready to go.

You may not want a sling on your carbine at home because it may snag on furniture, so quick detach swivels can be a real plus.

Another feature that I am a big fan of is a good trigger. Without a good trigger, it is hard to shoot well.

Let's talk about conditions of readiness. First condition of readiness: if there are small children in your home, your rifle should always be unloaded and locked up. The ammunition source should be separated.

Second condition of readiness: the hammer is at rest, loaded magazine inserted, so at a glance I see the dust cover is open. Safety is in the fire mode. I know from a glance at either side all I have to do to put this firearm into action is grab the charging handle, pull it to the rear, and now its ready to fire.

Third condition of readiness: round in the chamber. I charge it, I engage the safety, I close the dust cover. Now I have a round in the chamber, magazine of ammunition, safety engaged, dust cover closed. Again, at a glance I can tell this thing is ready to go.
 

Pretty straight forward. Very simple. Think about which one applies to your needs.

I’ve got a skill drill too. It’s called the One-to-Five Drill. My version has three targets at 25 yards, six feet apart edge to edge.

I take a piece of eight by eleven paper cut it in half, then put it as my down zero zone on my USPSA silhouette target.

You are going to start ready, gun muzzle depressed, finger out of the trigger guard, safety on.

On the beep, I am going to fire one round on the left target, two rounds on the center, three on the right.

I am going to come back to the center target and fire four rounds and back to the far left target and fire five. 15 rounds total. Let's see how it looks.

Here’s how the One to Five Drill is scored: 17-20 seconds is a D, 14-17 is a C, 11 to 14 is a B, anything under eleven seconds is an A performance.

Ok let's check to see what I got. First target six hits. Down zero, second target six hits down zero, third target two good ones and one off. One point costs me one second, so my score of 11.95 became 12.95. I shot a B.

Remember it’s the first one you shoot cold that matters. The rest of them mean nothing. Try it and good luck.