Purpose built is a good idea. I did the same thing, and use my AR pistol for one purpose... defensive use.
Same for my SBR... my scoped 700, my scout rifle, my shotgun... although I do have some (I guess all, if you're pressed into it) that are multi-use.
The thread title is Self defense rifle conceptsAnother "Purpose Built":
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Or I could hang with the "a 7.62 at HD distances isn't ridiculous" crowd:
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I wish I could like those rifles more than onceDefensive rifle = AR. At least for me.
I have a few to pick from. OK, I have 3. A pistol, an SBR, and a 18". These are the obvious choice for me. I spend 28 years in the Army so there is a serious second nature factor here in the muscle memory. I went to war with these guns 3 times, so it's just what I think of for defense right off the bat. There're what I'm best with, and fastest with. It's like I'm Quirt Evans in "Angel, and the Bad Man" reaching for my revolver... I reach for my AR.
The pistol, and SBR both have red dot sights, and the 18" a LPVO that can be used almost as a red dot. This is very important to me in a defensive weapon. I prefer the straight up red dot over the LPVO, as any scope can have scope shadow that will slow you down when you are panicked, and scared, and don't get your face in the right place because you screw up, or are in an awkward firing position. NOTHING beats a red dot for personal defense.
I also have a couple of others... odd choices that others may not think of as defensive rifles. A lever gun, and a bolt gun. In today's political times, it makes sense to have something to travel with, in case I need to go to where I can't bring an AR... Some of the less free states have really restrictive laws.
If you think about it, the lever gun, and the bolt gun were the choice defensive weapon of their time.
I started with a Rossi 92 in .44 magnum. It had a 24" octagon barrel, that I had cut to 17". A big loop lever was added, and a rear peep sight that replaces the bolt safety. A section of picatinny rail is on the top flat of the barrel where the rear sight was, allowing me to mount a red dot sight, and a light. Still holds 10+1, and the .44 mag out of a 17" barrel is pretty potent. It's also very fun to run the combat cowboy carbine. Very fun.
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In similar fashion, I did up a Lee Enfield No4 Mk1 by having the barrel shortened to 16.5". The front sight was moved back, and the front of the barrel threaded for a Surefire Warcomp. A custom mount is press fit on the barrel and held in place on the dimpled barrel by set screws for the red dot sight, then I re-worked the wood to keep the original flavor except the buttstock I replaced with a pistol grip style. Now it's practically a bolt action SOCOM 16... The fast Lee Enfield action works very well, and the 10 round magazine is a good thing for defensive use.
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Both of these use the red dot I love so much, and they are very fast on target. I actually enjoy shooting these more than my ARs. Not saying I'd take these over an AR to go to war with, but they would do... I have a lot of practicing to do with the Lee Enfield yet though as its a recent build.
Provided you can handle it. Slinging around and getting hammered by magnum 12 gauge isnt in my 90 year old father's wheelhouse anymore.The best self defense rifle is a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 9 pellet 00 buckshot.
Like that brace!Another "Purpose Built":
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Or I could hang with the "a 7.62 at HD distances isn't ridiculous" crowd:
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I
Like that brace!
Gotta link?
I find the motion sweeping the safety off very similar to a 1911, very natural. But I've shot both platforms a lot.I spent some around of time, in the early Nineties, internalizing the idea that the safely lever of auto-loading pistols should be aligned with the barrel, pointed AT the target/opponent.
How do you suppose he would do with a 14 lb 7.62 x 51 battle rifle then?. He'd be well served by a .410 though, or so it might be. But I don't think this discussion is the point of this thread.Provided you can handle it. Slinging around and getting hammered by magnum 12 gauge isnt in my 90 year old father's wheelhouse anymore.
When you're in a hole it's best to stop digging, first off my 7.62 AR is 5 pounds shy of your 14lb mark but no it's out of the running.How do you suppose he would do with a 14 lb 7.62 x 51 battle rifle then?. He'd be well served by a .410 though, or so it might be. But I don't think this discussion is the point of this thread.
When you're in a hole it's best to stop digging, first off my 7.62 AR is 5 pounds shy of your 14lb mark but no it's out of the running.
I built him a 8" 300 blackout that he handles real well and 130 Barnes TSXs at near 2000fps work real good on a 200lb Hog, should work well on a 2 legged creeper. I've never been real impressed with a 410 for SD.
Remington made a 7615 in 5.56 IIRC it took AR mags.Has a 30-30 or .35 Rem or such ever been made in the style of a Browning BLR with a detachable box magazine? With a extended 10 or 15 round box magazine that would be some firepower or imagine that in a intermediate cartridge like 300 blackout
or even a pump like that
Mine is 16" and am currently waiting on a Gen 5 OSS EL7.62k suppressor it is a OTB design that only adds 2.75" to rhe length. Here's a pic from a recent jail visit.Correct. A short little 14" .308 AR (pin & welded Warcomp) isn't gonna be anywhere close to no 14 pounds... Nice, and handy.
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Does it fit in the pack?Correct. A short little 14" .308 AR (pin & welded Warcomp) isn't gonna be anywhere close to no 14 pounds... Nice, and handy.
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I find the motion sweeping the safety off very similar to a 1911, very natural. But I've shot both platforms a lot.
but I have put as much or more effort in avoiding such situations.
Well that explains it the Slide mounted (sweeps upward) is the odd one for me. All my DA/SA autos have either been frame mounted safeties like CZ75 or decocker like Sig for that reason.Well, it is not simply the downward-sweeping motion at play, in my case. When shooting a 1911, my thumb is on the safety lever, which is aligned with the barrel, when ready to fire. When shooting a 3rd-Generation S&W autopistol, my thumb bumps the safety into the fire position, which is aligned with the barrel. The S&W’s safely lever sweeps upward, but I taught myself to bump it forward, with my thumb moving “toward the enemy/opponent/target” to off-safe the weapon, so, in principle, not unlike off-Safe-ing a 1911, and in both cases, the distal end of the lever is pointed where I want the bullet to go. Well, almost 20 years after I have learned the 1911, and about a decade after I learned the S&W auto safety manipulation, I found myself being trained to use the AR15 selector lever, which sweeps downward to off-safe, but, points downward for semi-auto fire.
So, the problem was not the 1911-like downward sweep, but feeling the selector aligned with the barrel, On-Safe, which, with either type of pistol, means “fire.” More than once, this startled me, as for that brief moment, I thought I had “caught myself” being off-safe, with the AR, when I was on-safe.
I also experienced the weird feeling of the selector being pointed toward the ground, off-safe, when I wanted to shoot the AR15, and being bothered with the old auto-pistol mantra, “Don’t get caught with your Dingus down,” with the “dingus” being the S&W/Beretta/Walther pistol safety/decock lever, which is on-safe when the lever is pointed at the ground. Whether or not one actually carries such pistols on-safe, or simply uses that lever to de-cock, and carries it off-safe, one has to take into account that the lever can be bumped to the on-safe position, so making sure the pistol’s Dingus is not down, when ready to shoot, is a step in the manual-of-arms. Even though I had stopped using my S&W 3913 several years prior to adding my AR15, thousands of repetitions of working the 3913’s safety lever had developed a not-so-easily erased conditioned reflex. (The 3913 was a HOT pistol, to have, once upon a time.)
When one is on a perimeter, for an extended time, much of the night, fighting fatigue, trying to remain alert, waiting for a barricaded suspect to do something, rifle pointed at a doorway, and with carelessly un-safe fellow officers occasionally passing in front of my position, little things like conflicts in the manual-of-arms of safety levers can be vexing.