The firearms training world is loaded with “sayings” or anecdotes that sound great. Some are meaningful, most are more myth than fact, and mostly occupy time on the range. Maybe one of the more misleading and ultimately largely useless is the idea that you are going to “fight your way back to a rifle”, presumably in a truck. Generally uttered while decrying the ineffectiveness of a pistol, the truck gun is just not borne out by the facts. The truth is, using your pistol to fight your way to a rifle is not practical, largely impossible, and in most instances pretty stupid.
Getting Your Truck Gun: Reality vs Fantasy
The idea that while engaged in a gunfight with your pistol, you are going to somehow disengage, go to your truck, grab a rifle, then run back (or wait) to finish the fight is pure fantasy.
If you make it back to your truck, get in it and go! Vehicles are much better at providing an exit than a means of cover. Most professionals consider stationary vehicles a bullet trap, not a bunker. If it runs, use it either as a 1-ton projectile or as a means of escape.
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Escaping an active shooter in a store, getting your rifle, and “going back in” is likely to get you shot. Not to mention, running across the parking lot with a rifle as dozens of cops show up looking for an active shooter is pretty stupid.
Rather than being a hero, it’s more likely you will be dead or in custody. This does not take into consideration the very real legal ramifications of running back to the shooting.
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If, for some reason, you are in a rural setting and evildoers, or something intending to eat you, have been engaged with a pistol, the choice is likely the same. You are probably going to finish it (or not) with the pistol. If you get back to your truck, instead of spending time accessing your rifle, just leave.
If you do need to fend off attackers from your truck, well, it’s better with a rifle for sure. However, for most of us, that is just not going to happen. You are far more likely to get the truck stolen with the rifle in it, or the rifle itself taken.
Going Back for a Home Defense Rifle
The answer to going back into a structure (such as a home or office) is much the same. Assuming you are already engaged in a pistol fight, and you fight your way back to a structure, the smart thing is to barricade, rifle or not. Leaving the structure puts you at a significant disadvantage.
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Anyone who has “cleared” a shoot house or had to look for someone will attest to how hard that is. That said, it’s not like we don’t have plenty of real-world engagements to make this determination. With very few exceptions, any gunfight (LE included) will be finished with what you have on you—generally a pistol. Running back to get anything from anywhere is just not going to happen.
Ideally, the “best” case means you finish it right there with what you have, the faster the better. You really need to practice the most with what you carry on your person, not in your vehicle or house.
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Safe and Fast Access to a Rifle
Since 99.999 percent of those carrying a rifle for self-defense in a truck will never use it, safe storage is critical. Depending on where you live, protecting it from theft is more critical than accessing it in a fight.
The only rifle ever taken from my locked vehicle was eventually confiscated during a drug raid on a known dealer. Not good. I thank God to this day it was not used against a brother in blue or anyone else.
It makes balancing the two problematic. My Ram provides a fantastic place for some of the best access possible. I can step right out of the truck, take two steps, open the RAM box, and it is right there. The only issue is that it means a simple crowbar provides access to a thief.
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A solution would be an electric lock designed for a cage or rack. However, that can make it harder to access in a fight. Hard cases can be helpful, but provide more concealment than security. Gun racks, gun locks, and some aftermarket safes for rifles can be very secure, but make “immediate access” problematic.
In most cases, in the time it takes you to access a secured rifle, you could be a couple of miles away from the problem. This makes the whole “fighting your way to a rifle” pretty silly. For a farmer or rancher needing it for predators that are not trying to eat them at the time, it’s a different story. However, in that case, you did not engage in a fight with a pistol.
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Bottom Line
During my police career, a rifle was largely within reach, locked or not. But much of the time, it was not something I could take with me on most calls. If a particular incident required a rifle, it went with me upon arrival, with no expectation of going back for it once the fight started.
Every expectation was that you would end the fight with what you brought, not what’s in your truck/car. It is exactly the same, if not truer, for everyone else. If you are going to carry a truck gun, practice accessing it and fighting from inside and outside your truck. It’s fun. Make sure it is secure, so you are not arming the criminals.
At the same time, spend the vast majority of your training time with the gun you have with you all the time, ending it with what you have rather than what you wish you had.
