What is a "Car Gun?"

I always thought of a "car gun" as a cheap pump shotgun or old .30-30 lever that you can toss in the back, hang on the window, and aren't too particularly worried about. The gun would typically see more time in the vehicle than anywhere else.

I do not leave any guns in my car.

It's a large bore firearm that uses cars as ammunition, a gun that fires cars, but that's not important right now

Sorry, couldn't resist

The most frequently stolen type of gun.

I grew up a city boy and don't leave anything in my car I can't afford to lose or anything that I would feel bad about losing. If I left a gun in my car that was stolen and used to hurt an innocent person. Maybe that's just me.

When I make long car trips I usually have a smaller gun on my person and a high capacity 9, 45 ACP, or 4" or more 357 in easy reach. I also carry a light rifle, lately my Rossi 357, in the trunk. That's an acceptable long gun in all jurisdictions and is effective to 100 yds plus. All guns leave the car when I stop overnight or am at my destination. The only time I leave the guns in the car is for a rest room or food stop.

I can see a rationale for some to have a car gun depending on where they live and what they do. Their perceived use for the firearm would dictate if it's a 22 pistol or a battle rifle or a 338 Lapua or anything else.

As others have said if you're in your car and you come under attack the best way to get out of it is with your right foot. A basic military tactic is get out of the kill zone. If you are blocked in in a way that precludes you driving through it you won't have time to dig anything out of the trunk or back of the pickup or SUV. You will have to fight your way out with what's on your person or what's there right now (like the full size combat handgun I keep in a bag on the seat next to me).

Which of the different categories listed by the OP would depend on your perceived use. The one category I feel is the closest to useless is the rifle caliber "handgun". If you have an AR pistol you can have an AR rifle with a collapsible stock for a few more inches of skinny barrel length and a much more formidable weapon.

JMO.

My idea of a "car gun"? If I'm driving my 1964 Aston Martin DB5 then its twin .303 British machine guns behind the flip down front parking lights. Effective and stylish.

You should see my "truck gun"!

Well, it's unlawful in WA to transport a loaded long gun in a vehicle so, it's got to be a pistol here to stay on the right side of the tracks. I keep a handgun in an electronic lock/unlock safe that chained to the passenger seat frame. As another poster said it's not going to keep someone with a large bolt cutter from stealing it but it will slow them down. I rotate various $600 price point handguns in the safe.

My car gun can be a wide variety of guns.
On a normal it is a Browning Hi-Power, but on occasion - which varies depending on where I'm going and what I'm going to do - it can be a CAR 15/40 rd mag or an M1A1 Thompson SMG/30 rd mag. In all instances the Browning is also always carried.
When I stop and leave the car I have a secure "lock box" to put them in till I get back.
Sarge

GRIZ22 said:

The one category I feel is the closest to useless is the rifle caliber "handgun". If you have an AR pistol you can have an AR rifle with a collapsible stock for a few more inches of skinny barrel length and a much more formidable weapon.

Click to expand...

After building and shooting a 300 BLK AR pistol, I definitely agree. While a fun range plinker, I'd rather put up with a little more length and legally be able to shoulder the gun for more accurate fire when needed.

But, as bikemutt said, carrying a loaded rifle in the car is not always an option.

In my opinion, what a "car gun" is depends on the use and the speed at which it needs to be deployed.

So many "stolen gun" posts on this thread. Maybe that should be a post on its own. I lock my shotgun down in my car or truck secure for my comfort. What I got out of the Op was what type of gun do you consider to be somewhat of a "beater" but trustworthy/useful to keep in your vehicle. Mine is a 12 Ga with various boxes of ammo.

Means different things to different people. For me it's a gun that's easy to get to and put to use without blowing my ear drums out if I fire it.

Coyotes don't always wait for me to put earplugs in.

jmorris your solutions are always unique and classy. MY take is Hi Point, or maybe even just a plain old Hi Point.

My "car" "truck" guns depends on the vehicle I am in at the time. If I am in my car I carry a Glock 29 with two mags, or a K frame .357 and my long gun is a Chicom SKS rifle, ten rounds in the mag and the chamber clear and 40 more rounds in the case bagged in stripper clips. If I am in my truck it is a CZ-82 for the handgun an Chicom SKS rifle same config as the car SK.

cfullgraf said:

After building and shooting a 300 BLK AR pistol, I definitely agree. While a fun range plinker, I'd rather put up with a little more length and legally be able to shoulder the gun for more accurate fire when needed.

Click to expand...

Don't you know, until further notice, that you can once again let that pistol brace touch your shoulder?

My normal carry pistol serves my needs most of the time. However, when traveling in the no man's land down near the Mexican border I routinely have my 300 AAC AR pistol along for the ride behind my seat in a zippered case. Not for use from within the vehicle, but in case I find myself sin transporte. It would also go with me into my hotel/motel/campsite to serve as defense against things that go bump in the night.

I pocket carry a mouse gun 100% of the time, and don't often step up to something bigger for my hip unless I'm in the woods, or heading out of town, so my car guns bridge the gap. I use inexpensive, but good performing firearms. I had a cz-82, but wouldn't you know it, it got stolen out of my glove box in one of the nicest neighborhoods around. Until I get that back , I'm using a full size RIA 1911, and a cheap ex-cop 870 rides in the back.

I figure 14 rounds of .32, 20 rounds of .45, and 45 rounds of 00 buck ought to get me home from pretty much whatever around southern VA. It's all fluid though; my car and personal carry choices change drastically when I head into, say, Richmond or Newport News.

Mn Fats said:

What I got out of the Op was what type of gun do you consider to be somewhat of a "beater" but trustworthy/useful to keep in your vehicle. Mine is a 12 Ga with various boxes of ammo.

Click to expand...

I agree.

When I was shopping for a beater pistol, I went ahead and got a Glock 19. Looking back, I wish I had got the G17 instead, and cut the grip down to the G19 size. The shorter barrel hasn't done much good since it's had a light hanging on it since I bought it.

I used a Saiga for a camping/bush gun, but ended up selling it, so I use my Mossberg 590 instead.

.44 magnums make great car guns.
Everyone knows they "can pierce the engine block of a Buick." lol

I always bring a socket set when car hunting, so I can field dress and harvest the beast.
I hang trophy bumpers all over my garage.

A car gun is a paradox, a chimera, a mythical beast, a figment of our overactive imagination. It doesn't exist. Its not real. You can have that thurty-thity or shotty in your trunk (unloaded in many jurisdictions) and it will do yo no good if the situation instantly falls apart. If you are driving along peacefully and suddenly find yourself in a riot, insurrection, or zombie apocalypse, you're having a really bad day. You forgot your defensive driving from your behind-the-wheel class and left your OODA in your other pants. If you are carrying concealed, that's your car gun. Your car is a 4000 pound street sweeper. If you slow to a stop and a crowd forms around your car and decides to tip it over or tee-off on the windows, its too late for a car gun.

In the country, we carry truck guns for the reasons stated in the OP. When you live in the city, you tacitly consent to the social contract theory that the laws and complex systems that civil society depends on for order and sustenance will prevail and hold even when tested. Dire circumstances don't happen instantly except in the case of earthquake or direct meteor strike. In those cases you have bigger fish to fry.

Cooldill said:

Much like a "tackle box gun", something you can tuck away and forget about until needed. If someone else finds and nabs it it won't be a big deal because it was cheap.

Click to expand...

Exactly, hence why a revolver seems to best fit the bill for me, not being someone that enjoys the cleaning and maint. of firearms as some do.

MedWheeler said:

To me, a "car gun" is a gun kept in a car, or carried while in a car for the purpose of deployment while in said car, i.e. to repel a carjacker. In the event of a civil violence situation, the gun and car together should be brought into use for defense and escape. I'm not going to be around long enough to shoot a hundred rounds in such a situation, as one of four things will happen: I'll escape in the vehicle, I'll escape on foot, I'll be overpowered, or I'll eliminate the threat (which won't happen if the time it takes to do so is enough to load and fire 100+ rounds.)

Click to expand...

+1

The OP's definition is quite specific. But in reality, any firearm with sufficient ammo and caliber can be a car/truck gun. It can be 9mm, 5.56, 7.62, whatever. There are way too many platforms and options to choose from, and each person's definition of a car gun is different based on their needs and preference.

I used to keep a Draco AK47 pistol (with 40rd mags) concealed in a backpack in my car, as a 'backup' to my 9mm EDC. A bit overkill so I ended up taking it out of my vehicle; but it was a compact and powerful weapon that checked all the boxes. But then again, if you are in a situation where your primary handgun/ccw is not sufficient, you are already in trouble.

In arrondissements where it is not prohibited, I keep a 12 gauge pump in the trunk.

I get in the People Mover, gun goes with me. I get out of the People Mover, gun goes with me. No firearms stay locked in the vehicle.
Biggest/best argument for a "car gun" is to arm the passenger in case something stupid happens and you actually have the 30 seconds to recognize and respond.

I dont "typically" keep a rifle in the vehicle....but an AR makes it in there from time to time.

What I do have is a speed six, loaded with 38spcl+p that can be readily accessed by my wife or myself while in the car. My BHP stays on me, and isn't the easiest to get at while buckled up, so the speed six was my remedy to that. And it's the pistol my wife is most fluent with (actually quite good with)

That's my car gun

That one above reminded me of the adapter I welded up and machined so FNH could mount one of their turrets on a humvee awhile back.



Gives a whole new meaning to "back seat driver"



I was supposed to get to play with it but they hadn't ironed out the conversion of it from the M3P 50 cal to the SAW so it didn't work, just looked good for the photos.

I offered a trade for mine that worked but they didn't bite.

Only when I can't carry somewhere and that's not very often.