Asking for a new gun for X-Mas, thoughts?

Originally posted by MystikMushroom
reply to post by tjack

 

Could you please expand/explain more on why it's a tactical nightmare -- I'd love some more details!

Here is a pretty decent video of it being shot:

~snip~

TLDR, you can take down small trees with it.

edit on 3-11-2012 by MystikMushroom because: formatting

A shotgun is not a weed whacker.

For starters, "aiming" at your target is what you'll want to do in most real world situations. You probably won't hit what you want without "walking" your shots on target when shooting from the hip, as the chainsaw gadget is by design to be used. If the target is moving, good luck. If it's moving AND shooting back, bye bye.

It's very wide and awkward compared to the shotguns natural shape.

Will it be carried on a sling? If so where with the handle be uncomfortably jabbing?

What's that handle going to get hung up on?

I see no valid purpose other than to look cool hip shooting for a video. Maybe there's some scenario where it would be handy but I sure can't think of what that might be.

YMMV

I do think for a "one gun" solution a shotgun is the way to go, because you can shoot a slug and have somewhat of a rifle capability (thinking hunting here), whereas there's not much shotgun-type capability to be found in a rifle.

Whoah, this is hardcore.

My only tool for survival if TSHF is baseball bat at the back of my closet.

I must admit,

I did witness my Dad using a shotgun to trim dead branches off a big old oak tree.

The neighbors might have thought he was a little crazy.

Originally posted by kawika
I must admit,

I did witness my Dad using a shotgun to trim dead branches off a big old oak tree.

The neighbors might have thought he was a little crazy.

I stand corrected.

May I ask, was he hip-shooting these dead branches off, or aiming properly?

the AR-15's can be problematic unless you get a 1500$ or more gun(Les Baer type,), i have a reliable one but it took much shooting and practice to get it all sorted out, accuracy and reliabilty wise, you will have to be "one with the AR", learning how to replace most parts and proper reassembly. now if you dont have the time to spend ,or dont want to, get a Ruger mini 14 ,a late model made on new tooling with front sight at end of barrel,its also designed to fire .223 or 5.56mm..Or get a Saiga .223, mine works great feeds and fires any ammo i put in mag, has bolt open lock ,and scope rail on the left side of reciever.300-500$.i would also reccomend a .308 bolt action rifle like a savage, with a internal magazine NOT the removable magazine, you wont have many of them, and if you loose or damage it you now have a single shot rifle.a 1-4X scope , high quality like a leupold,plenty of good used ones online.the 30-06 is a fine round, i just cant miss with my M-1, but the .308 has 90% of the power and is more easily found during hard times, it is a military round,as is the .223, and the 12 ga.,and 9mm..a hand gun is really for close range emergency "problems" and what you use to fight your way to a REAL weapon , a rifle.The Rifle Is The Queen Of The Battlefield-Jeff Cooper..A moss 12 ga or a 12 ga 870 will work just fine, 870 has steel reciever and will kick a little less then moss(AL reciever),in 20 ga get a moss ,the 870 20ga has ejection and extraction issues.Ruger pistols are the way to go ,their revolvers last forever , with no repairs,can be field stripped by owner,(only revolver you can do that to after you drop it in mud or sand) and the Ruger semi-auto pistols feed and fire almost any ammo .glocks are great ,except in .40,one BIG problem is after loading 4 or 5 rounds in glock mag by hand (any caliber)you WILL need a loader to finish loading mag to full capacity. glock resonded to reliabilty issues on their .40's by stiffing up mag spring, so loader is not an accesory but mandatory.An interesting take as a survival rifle , the Marlin .444 lever action rifle,or any other big bore rifle,you can reload with black powder and soft lead slug, or reload as a shot shell too.

reply to post by MystikMushroom


Ruger Mini-30 Ranch Rifle. Versatile enough for hunting and SHTF, packs punch, takes a beating, classy. You will be truly pleased with the garand style action and low maintenance.

The best gun in your price range is a shotgun. Dont buy the chain saw version unless you are doing alot of door breaching. That is what it is for. And is useless otherwise. The idiots on the video are just that idiots who know little to nothing about guns or gun safety.


To tell ya the truth if you want a really good weapon save a little more money and buy a Colt AR-15 LE version. It is the best cheap AR out there. Do not buy DPMS,Bushmaster,S&W MP they are all crap. Many people like them because they made the mistake of buying without first doing the homework. If they did the homework they would have bought a Colt.



Another poster mentioned the Mini-14 they are alright but I would suggest getting a MO-ROD. It clamps to the barrel and makes the gun much more accurate and it is only 100 bucks and it is a do it yourself project. Also remember it only shoots .223 not .556. It could blow up you gun.

Go with a 30-06 M-1 Garand.. They are classified as war relics so that makes them less likely to be outlawed by any kind of legislation that the high capacity black rifles are... The cartridge will take down any large game animal on the American continents.... The M-1s are extremely accurate, can be upgraded to National Match Grade by Springfield Armory and appreciate in value like crazy... Mine has quadrupled in value in the 18 years I've had it, which is amazing for a military rifle... There are a mess of trick gizmos being marketed all of the time for anyone that thinks they can improve on the perfection that was designed into this historical firearm before it was adapted as the first semi automatic combat rifle adapted by any country for issue to every military service.

reply to post by hypervigilant


Such a great weapon but they are getting hard to find a good one under 1000 bucks. I fell in love with the action after owning a Socom2 and a mini-14. They are easy to clean and field strip. Very few parts.



The only problem I have with them is the weight issue.

reply to post by SubTruth
It is very heavy rifle.. My father carried one from North Africa to Germany when in the 36th division.. I trained with the M-14 twenty five years later and if not for carrying a radio on my back I would have prefered it to the Mickey Mattel M-16 when with the 9th Marines.. The 5.56 round is a joke in that the smallest twig will deflect it and make it impossible to hit a target perfectly lined up in the sights...You can't fire through a masonry wall with an M-16 but it is no big thing for a Garand... I've seen a 30 round magazine fired into a wild hog from a full auto CAR -16 without taking it down while I was taking one after another down with one shot kills.. On that hunt the only thing as deadly was an 1873 45-70 Winchester.. I'll admit that it kicks my butt to carry it over rough wooded terrain these days but I'm 62 years old and have been receiving treatment for chronic pain for seventeen years ... Fortunately I don't have to carry it far to hunt deer or hogs and have killed a couple of the latter with another relic of WW2, a John Inglis FN Browning HP with holster/stock, from my front porch... It has also climbed in value more than my Garand.... It doesn't make sense to me to buy a newer high capacity firearm that is likely to require you to fire more rounds per kills, suffer mechanical failures and be unlikely to appreciate in value at the rate of an older rifle that classified as a war relic is... en.wikipedia.org...

Thanks guys for all the replies, I'm still going back through them!

I think ideally, there isn't just "one gun to rule them all" in a survival situation. The more I talk to people and the more I research, it seems each weapon is designed for a specific purpose.

Considering where I live, I think a 308, 30-06, .300 mag or a .338 mag scoped bolt action rifle might be the ticket. These are costlier weapons, and I can always afford a Mossburg 500 down the road.

I've read that the .338 is better for deer and up to 400lb game. We don't have those types of animals here. A brown bear or a moose could easily weight more than 700 lbs.

The AR's an AK's would probably be "OK" for medium sized game, but I've been told to assess the "largest" game you would want to take down and go from there. I'm fairly confident with my .22 at 50 yards (no scope) for rabbit, fox, and birds. The side arm I have I can use for personal protection. It's only a .40 S&W w/hollow points.

Weight is an issue. I'd have my .40 with a chest rig, the .22 packed away and the scoped rifle lashed to the side of my internal frame pack. (I have shown pics of the Arc'teryx Bora 80). Having to carry snowshoes and other winter gear puts my load-out at over 50lbs+.

I'm not a large guy, 5'5" 155lbs. So you can see the dilemma.

Water is a weight-killer. Luckily I am fortunate enough to live in a place where water is available all the time.

Anyone have any suggestions on a rifle in those caliber's for around $700? I doubt It'll be used heavily so I don't need "the best of the best".

I'll ask my co-worker that moonlights at Sportsman's Warehouse in the gun department as well for his advice tomorrow.

a Stevens 200 rifle in .308 would be a good choce, its a Savage 110 made with "cosmetic defect "parts, in other words parts that the finish, blueing, or polish wasn't quite right, but the parts are mechanically good.this will save you money that can be spent on a high grade scope, like a leopold or a Bushnell Elite.Weatherby rifles are good buys,made in japan and some are engraved MOA on the floorplate, meaning they shot smaller than 1 inch groups at 100 yards at the factory.i have seen some 300$ Weatherby MOA's at pawn shops that didnt know the difference.you can get Weatherby's in lots of different calibers too, far more than the Stevens 200 such as .338-06 ,which is the 30-06 with the neck expanded to take .33 caliber bullets used in the .338mag, Elmer Kieth called the .338-06 the best non-magnum big game rifle caliber he ever used.my preference would be the Stevens 200, it has internal mag and also for spare parts avalibility,same as Savage 110 thats been made since 1958,look around in your area and see what the top 3 rounds are most popular... a .22 hit on small game is not a sure thing, plenty of hunters have done that and when they went to pickup rabbit it jumped up and ran off!! a head shot with .22 is only sure way to ensure a quick kill on small game, and most people cant consistently do that.I know i cant...leave your .22 at home and get a long barreled .40 or one thats accurate and use that to pot your small game with a body shot, no rabbit or fox is going to run off with a .40 hole all the way through it!!.its great training and practice for self defence to hunt small game with a handgun.And you did say your .22 had no scope right?? so use the .40 on small game.A magnum rifle is going to be a big, heavy ,long rifle,as is the long action for the 30-06 too.Stevens .308(medium action length) has 22" barrel and is 6.5 lbs, no scope.i wouldnt go shorter than 22" inches on barrel length i had a Savage model 10.308 once, light weight hunter with 18" inch barrel , muzzle blast ,noise and kick from recoil was fierce!!! Also think about whether you want open sights on rifle or not, a serious fall could damage even the best scope, then you would need open sights, also with sights most are bolted on with 2 small screws, not good enough IMO , i would have a gunsmith silver solder those open sights on. Ruger has a new rifle out ,the American rifle, its more expensive than a Savage/Stevens, has a removable mag made out of plastic, not good IMO.I do not like removable mags in my bolt rifles, they just get lost or damaged, and definally not made of plastic!!!the older Ruger 77's had integral scope mounts milled into top of reciever making scope mounting way better than every body else, and could be had with internal mag.

prt 91... your welcome

reply to post by MystikMushroom

I have just copied and pasted this threads title and forwarded it on to Canadian songstress Alanis Morrisette, as an example of Irony. Christmas the season of good will, peace on Earth, here's a semi automatic assault rifle for you, so you can save time and mince the deer in the forest.


Disclaimer: No offence is intended in this post toward Americans or their right to bare arms, Being British I usually get cheap aftershave, socks or £5 book token off my Nan :-)

Mossberg 500 Bullpup.... Nuff Said....

Honestly you cant go wrong with a 12ga but if its actually for hunting that shortie wont be very helpful my advice would be the bushmaster i have had a couple just make sure to get a cleaning kit and learn to use it i also think you should consider back-up iron sights, scopes can break and when the batteries die the rifle would be almost useless without the ability to aim it. But an ak may be an even better option runs even when dirty and has more knockdown power just my 2 cents