Ashleigh J. and her son Brayden live in Geauga County, Ohio.
One day, 16-year-old Brayden had just gotten home from school when he heard a car pull up outside the house.
Initially, Brayden thought it was his uncle, but when he looked outside, he saw a man he didn’t know walking toward the house.
Brayden was raised around guns and had been hunting before. He knew how to protect himself.
The teen was alone, so he immediately grabbed his mother’s gun.
Brayden stood with the gun and watched the unknown man walk up to the house and open the door.
That’s when Brayden pointed the gun directly at the door.
Once the man saw Brayden and the gun, he took off running.
“Never like pulled a gun out of anything before that was something I wish no one to go through pulling a gun on someone. It’s scary,” Brayden said.
After the incident, Brayden called his mom, and she immediately called the sheriff’s department and raced home to be with Brayden.
“He’s so young to have to experience that and then it goes through your head, is he gonna have any mental problems or like anguish from this,” said Ashleigh.
Since the incident, Ashleigh has put cameras all around the house and she can watch everything from her phone when she is at work.
She admitted that it will take some time before she feels safe again.
As much as Ashleigh wishes it didn’t happen, she is proud of the way her son responded.
“Most proud that is definitely like one of those awakening moments like as a mom, a single mom,” Ashleigh said.
In addition to stopping the man from coming into the home, Brayden also worked with detectives and was able to identify the intruder through a photo lineup.
Thankfully, Brayden knew how to handle firearms and was prepared to use it.
If you have teens like Brayden, and want to familiarize them with firearms, it’s a good idea to start with a smaller caliber gun.
These types of guns are easier to shoot and manipulate, with minimal recoil so new shooters can learn the basics of safely handling firearms.
When it comes to small caliber rifles, a good option (while not a common one) is a .17 HMR caliber.
The .17 caliber Hornady Magnum Rimfire is a rifle cartridge created by Hornady in 2002.
It is a shortened .22 with a .17 caliber projectile.
So, because the .17 caliber HMR is not widely popular but good for training new shooters, here are a few reasons why you might want to check it out.
The good things about the .17 HMR:
Even though the .17 HMR is considered a tiny bullet, it has good velocity.
Depending on the specific bullet, the .17 caliber HMR has a velocity anywhere from 2,650 fps to 4,250 fps.
The higher velocity provides a flatter trajectory.
Since the caliber is smaller it produces lighter recoil, and the rifle is easier to handle.
Plus, you can fire the weapon and not lose the sight picture due to the recoil.
This means it’s easier to see where the round hits and to perform a follow-up shot.
The tiny .17 caliber bullet is still powerful enough to take down small game, and
will do less damage to the animal’s fur than larger calibers.
The bad about the .17 HMR:
Because the .17 HMR is a small bullet, it would be a bad choice for hunting large animals.
Also, the .17 caliber is a mid-range bullet. It’s effective to about 200 yards but I wouldn’t trust it beyond that.
Plus, since it’s a lighter bullet, wind drift is a common issue with these rounds.
So, keep in mind that the farther the shot is the more it could potentially drift off target.
At 200 yards the bullet could easily drift a foot off target depending on the conditions.
The .17 caliber HMR is fun to shoot and can get the job done if you are hunting small animals.
But it wouldn’t be my first choice for home defense.
It just doesn’t pack enough punch to trust my life to it.
