Will a .22 stop my assault rifle 'jones'.

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Jim PHL

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I am a would be "panic buyer". After the election and probably more importantly, the Mumbai attacks, I said to my wife: "I'm buying an AK47!" I was surprised she didn't even blink. I started doing basic research and as most do, arrived at the old: "AK, AR, Ruger Mini or SKS" crossroads. I am starting another thread asking for additional suggestions.
OK, a few issues:
1- I consider myself to be more of a handgun guy. I don't plan to -actually hope not to- become a "rifle guy".
2- I don't hunt, and don't get to shoot outdoors as much as I'd like.
3- Seems money always has been and always will be an issue!
4- I know going into this next purchase that I am not likely to shoot any of these all that much. I don't even shoot my handguns as much as I'd like to/should!

So here's where I am.
-An AR is out of the question. Too much $$$.
-An AK47 is a little more in reach and probably what I'd prefer of the three, but still a real financial strain. (I'm looking at a wood stocked Romanian WASR10 at a little over $500 or a Yugo underfolder at a little over $600.)
-I've always liked the looks and feel of the Rugers but they're real pricey these days, too. I think if they were cheaper I'd go this route but their cost is close to AK cost around here.
-For what an AK would cost me I could buy 2 SKS's. I kind of like them and could see myself eventually possibly owning two; keep one stock and bubba-ize the other. I might even cure my urge with just one and save myself some dough!!

Before I became a panic buyer I was becoming interested in getting (at least one!) .22 rifle. Cheaper to buy, cheaper to feed and can shoot it anywhere I shoot my handguns, even the indoor ranges. I can imagine eventually getting two, as I thought about the SKS. Maybe two 10/22's, one with a nice wood stock and longer barrel and scope, and one shorter barrel I could add a folding stock and hi-cap mags to for my "Evil Black Rifle" jones!

I guess my main question is, has anyone gone this route and decided the .22 just didn't feed your need and go for something full power/centerfire, anyway? What do you all think of the panic buying, anyway? Justified? Two opposing thoughts stick with me:
1- "If you don't get one now you might not be able to when you really want one - or ever!"
2- "If you didn't have the need or desire before the election and Mumbai attacks, do you really have it now?"
 
LOL, I have done exactly what you are thinking about. I bought a 10/2 jazzed it up and it fills the role quite nicely. On the down side it will leave you wanting more noise and range, but for upclose and personal work its a fun gun in and of itself
 
While .22s are fun, they're not going to provide you with what you apparently want.

I went down this road with carbines. What I wanted was a MP5 or quality clone or build of some type, in 9mm.

So....

...I bought an Uzi. It was cheap ($475 from Vector at the time). Tax stamp and mags later, it's fun, but it's not a MP5.
...I bought a Vector V51 HK-51 clone. It's the same size as a MP5, just fired a bigger, meaner shell. I love mine, don't get me wrong, it does everything I expected it to. It just wasn't a MP5. That one was a tax stamp too. Then I thought if I had one set up as a rifle and one as a short-range urban defense thing, I'd get the MP5 out of my head. Another tax stamp done.
...but it wasn't enough. Then I looked at the GSG-5 MP5 clones in 22. They're fun, but they feel cheap and toylike. And I wanted a MP5. This time I learned before I put money down.

So, several years down the road, 3 tax stamps, and enough to have bought an autosear at the time in semiautos....

...I bought one of the 100ish Vector MP5 builds in 9mm.

I'm happy. I don't need another one, I haven't had amazing gun lust for something I don't have.

And I only spent 3x what it would have cost me if I had just bought it outright in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I like what I've bought in getting there, but if I did it all over again, I'd just buy what I wanted and do it right the first time.

Do the same.

The little bit extra now will save you worlds of headaches and 'wish I had's later.
 
i love 22's. they are a lot of fun to shoot. but it you want serious stopping power, a 22 ain't it! sorry to spoil your thoughts. you may want to consider a used remington 7400 in 308 or 30-06. SERIOUS stopping power, semi-automatic, lableled as a sprorting rifle, and you can buy 10 round magazines for them. find a rifle, put a hold on it, order the magazines (at least 5) to be certain you can get them, and you will be good to go. you can also stockpile ammo reasonably inexpensive (30-06 anyway) by buying excess leftover cartridges just after deer season. most retail stores buy to much, and have clearance sales after the season is over to get rid of the overstock. get a few used gi ammo cans, and you will be good to go. another plus of 30-06 is EVERYBODY carries 30-06 ammo! just something to think about.
 
Panic buyers advice. First to answer your question as to what will become of your 2nd amendment rights. Answer: Nobody really knows for sure, therefore it would seem prudent, to purchase now instead of waiting to see what happens.

Now what to purchase. Easy, one of each. You will need a wheel gun,(revolver), an Automatic,(think 1911), at least 1 shotgun, and at least 1 rifle.
Here's what I answered each category with:

Wheel guns, start with black powder Colt or Remington, there's your first 200-300 bucks, you can upgrade the Remington to fire modern day cartridges, for an extra 100 bucks, do that with your second paycheck.
Next, get a Mosin-Nagant rifle. This will set you back about 100 bucks if you shop around. Following paycheck start stocking up on 7.62x54r ammo, it is very inexpensive.

Three months into your purchase plan pick up a fairly short barreled shotgun, at a minimum Over/under 12 guage. Excellent for home protection using double 00 buck.

You can satisfy the Auto Handgun requirement with a used Walther PPK, probably cost you less than 300 bucks and now when you hear something go bump in the night inside your house, you don't have to hide in the corner of your bedroom, with your shotgun pointed at the door, awaiting John laws arrival.

Inside 6 months, you can forget what whims of the spineless Congressional idiots amount to. You will have become totally stocked up. As time allows prefect each category, and stock up on ammo for each.

KKKKFL
 
A few months ago, I bought a plain-vanilla Saiga .223, thinking that the upgrade in firepower from my .22 Magnum might come in handy. I don't think of it as a panic buy; more like a preparedness buy (better to have one and not need it . . .). The main selling point was the price: $270+tax; I really hadn't expected to find a centerfire rifle that cheap. I like it. Look around and see if you can find one of those.
 
I recommend 3 things, depending on your situation, and assuming you don't want to spend more than about $600 at the very most:

1. Just buy the AK. It's a great gun and you won't regret it.

2. Get 2 SKS rifles. They're in the same ballpark as the AK as far as reliability and they use the same cheap ammo, plus you can arm another person if the SHTF. Two rifles are always better than one, right?

3. If you only get to shoot at a public range that allows pistol ammo, get a 9mm rifle like a Beretta Storm. That way you have the cheap ammo, pistol ammo range access (some ranges require a pricey membership to shoot rifle ammunition), and you'll have a much more useful defensive round than 22lr.

You may want something else. These are just my thoughts on the subject.
 
rfurtkamp-
That is sound advice. And honestly the thing I am most thoughtful of: that I will shop and spend, shop and spend, and end up eventually buying one of the ones I mentioned anyway. If I go that route, I might end up with an AR for about $1000 after spending another $1000 first figuring out that's what I really wanted in the first place!

Franco: I don't really have any desire for a shotgun right now, and my handgun needs are well covered. (My handguns 'wants' will probably never be covered! I'm afraid that's where the rifle thing will lead!!)
 
if you have a dunhams near you, check them for AKs

the wasr's have the Tapco parts installed and they usually have them on sale for <500
 
FYI, if you get an AR, you can get a drop in .22lr conversion kit (ciener) for about $200. No gunsmithing required, simply replace the bolt carrier group. No tools. With practice, you could probably swithc from 5.56 to 22lr in about 10 seconds
 
This is simple. If money is really the issue and you want the best bang for your buck, get the SKS.
 
It depends on why you want it. If you're worried about a terrorist attack, .22LR probably won't work.(But if terrorists attack, I'd stay away. You don't want to get mistaken for a terrorist.)

If you want something for home defense, still no. (But I'd say get a 12 gauge instead.)

If you just want a plinker, a .22 should work.
 
I love .22's! And to try and stop my AK-jones, I tricked out a 10/22. That didn't work for me, so I put it back to it's standard carbine configuration. Then I bought the ubiquitous Armscor AK-22. It's sorta shaped like an AKM. But in reality is a Squires-Bingham trapped inside a bunch of cast AK-like castings and has a lot different feel. It's still fun though. Just a bear to tear it down to it's Squires-Bingham action buried inside all those AK-look-alike castings.
So I looked at the SKS.....at the time the ones in the shop were within $140 of the price of a WASR AK-type. So I figured I was already 2/3 of the way there. I traded a pistol (I was about to sell) in to cover the extra and was happy. Nothing stopped my AK-jonsing until I bought a WASR GP10/63; as reasonably priced as I could find, it's reliable and shoots well.
I primarily use .22 rimfires when I shoot rifles and have a ball with them. But when it's time to quench the AK-jones, the WASR gets loaded up. The smell of Russian 7.62x39, the clack of the action, the "whooomp" when the bullet hits the target, the muzzle fireball in the twilight...aaaaaahhhh :)
NOTE: I currently own many .22LR rifles, but only one centerfire..the WASR GP10/63. Horses for courses.
 
I got into assault rifles earlier in the year, bought a AK (a Yugo Underfolder), a Mini-14, and was loaned a AR from uncles collection (1 of three). If you can get a Yugo for a little over $600 its a steal still. There is no question if I could only have one it would be a AK, if the market for Yugo said they were selling for $1000 I would still buy one if I didn't have already. Its just a awesome weapon. I just sold the Mini buy a long range weapon. I would buy a SKS for value, since you can still order from dealers for $199. Then if you could afford it a AK.
 
I'd get the AK in a few months when the panic has died down. There is absolutely no way you'd ever catch me paying more than $400 for a WASR.

Just keep saving money until then.
 
The best part about your predicament is that your wife hasn't said no!

When I was hankering an assault rifle, I really wanted the AR and ended up settling on a Daewoo DR200, and I've regretted it ever since. Don't get me wrong, the Daewoo performs well, but it's not an AR.

Buy one of the best you can afford, because it's difficult to fire two rifles at once, and are you really going to post your wife on overwatch if the terrorists attack?
 
I bought an Yugo SKS a while back really cheap from a guy needing to pay some bills and I got it with a folding stock, a scope, cleaning kit, about 250 rounds of 7.62, and 2 extra clips. He claimed that it would only fire expensive ammo and would sometimes not fire that. I checked it out and the firing pin was gummed up. Quick fix and it has been a great gun. I personally feel the SKS is a better gun for me than a AK. The SK was bought kinda as a if the SHTF gun but I just got a awesome deal on a M&P 15 stripped lower so now I am going to build a REAL if SHTF gun!

I dont think you can go wrong with either the SK or the AK. They both are cheap to shoot and ammo can be stocked up on relatively cheap.

I have a couple .22's that I use to plink with as well. Extremely cheap day of shooting with them and most .22 rifles can be found at any pawn shop or gun shop.
 
You could also buy a sporter Saiga for around $300-350, and consider converting it later. The conversion's pretty easy to do in the space of a few afternoons and doesn't cost that much - another $150 or so in parts. Pre-conversion, you'll still have a fine sporting rifle that's relatively cheap to feed, which can be readily converted to an EBR if a ban looms.
 
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Yes!

Yes, i plan on buying a 10/22 and some high-cap mags for it. It simply makes more sense to me. I will use it primarily for hunting and some fun at the range, home defense/ SHTF is covered by my 12 gauge. here in CT, unless you hunt on private land, you cant use any rifle bigger than a .22lr, and a 10/22 does all i need it to do, and its cheap!

however, if i lived in a state where i could hunt with centerfires on state land, i would spend the cash on a saiga or something.
 
1- I consider myself to be more of a handgun guy. I don't plan to -actually hope not to- become a "rifle guy".
Click to expand...

It's a slippery slope to becoming a rifle guy. I bought a Marlin Model 60, then a WASR-10, now two Mosin Nagants.

My handguns are feeling neglected.
 
An SKS would be a good choice. I use my 10/22 for cheap practice at the indoor range, but if you have a rifle jones, I know for me the .22 wouldn't satisfy it. It's my practice tool/plinker.
 
To the OP:
First, I recommend that no matter what you do later, you should buy a .22 rifle to begin with. They're good for practice, plinking, some hunting and most importantly with the typically low to non-existent recoil, your wife will be able to learn rifle skills also. Fear of recoil is one of the biggest impediments to shooting and with a .22 that fear should disappear quickly. You should be able to easily buy a nice .22 rifle and probably a couple bricks of bulk .22 ammunition for less than $200. You don't have to get all "tactical 10/22" with it either. Keep it simple to start. Get a magazine semi-auto or tube fed semi-auto.

Second, you will want to move up to a higher caliber rifle. An SKS and/or an AK variant are good. If you ever get to the point where you can afford an AR, then by all means go that route. But for SHTF right now, I believe an SKS or AK will suffice and then some. SKS's are usually less expensive, and you will want to have the $$ to stock up on ammo.

Best of luck to you!
 
My Assult rifle is either my Savage .300 WSM or my Ruger M77 .30-06. The first two pics are my 06.
 

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