Anyone tried a takedown gun... stupid movie question

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bigalexe

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Ok I got a dumb question. Has anyone ever tried to build a really accurate suitcase gun like you see in spy movies.

I was considering the concept and came up with the following thoughts.
-My shotgun gets it's barrels pulled rather regularly, still maintains accuracy
-Accuracy is primarily a function of sight-barrel alignment
-How accurate do you want to get?

I considered that probably it would be easy to build a gun that can hold a few MOA after being hastily disassembled and reassembled, now when you want to get sub-MOA it gets harder. So my final thought if you were to try and build a sub-MOA gun that you can takedown to suitcase level is that you need an hexagonal barrel (which fits a socket) and a torque wrench to put the gun together to the same spec every time. Also the sights would have to be fixed to the barrel, no slapping the scope on and off.

I was just really intrigued if anyone has tried to do something that would require this kind of accuracy. I LOVE extremes.
 
Most competitive benchrest rifles are switch barrel and are the most accurate rifles around. Sure the stock stays with the action, but that's not a problem. There have been takedown hunting rifles built that are plenty accurate enough for hunting, and it would only take some thought to produce a takedown rifle capable of half MOA.

AR's can be separated into upper/barrel and lower/stock pieces, and when put back together are as accurate as before they were separated. A good AR will shoot half MOA assuming the shooter is capable.

I used to shoot benchrest and have an AR.

Comparing rifle accuracy to shotgun accuracy is like comparing apples to tomcats IMHO.
 
Wild West Guns has one based on the Marlin action (I think it's the Marlin)
There are a number of .22, The browning Semi comes to mind, and they make a number of high end shotguns like that.
 
The AR-7/explorer was a take-down,and stowed its parts in the stock.They were available in .22lr,and I believe the military had one for pilots,in .32? They actually were pretty accurate,and when stored,they floated!
 
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Take-down high-accuracy rifles are a specialty of HS Precision. However, given a friend's experience with them, I'd aproach any dealings with caution. Oh, the $4500 price might be an issue, too.
 
Benelli R1 30-06, 20" barrel:

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Will easily break down to fit inside the same size case as a takedown shotgun (actually comes w/ a very slim takedown case, but requires removal of scope to use):

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I don't routinely carry mine in a takedown case, have no need, but no doubt it could be done. Early models had some issue w/ return to zero as they used an attachment that depended on lining things up precisely instead of bottoming out the attachment lug. My rifle gets dissassembled/reassembled 5-10 times a year for cleaning, always returns to zero.

1st few boxes of ammunition I was lucky to get 2MOA out of this rifle but after a couple hundred rounds it will routinely shoot MOA:

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and sometimes better....

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David
 
I have an MGI Hydra AR with the Quick change barrel upper. BY separating the upper and lower receiver and detaching the barrel/Gad tube assembly it will easily fit into a briefcase sized package. Of course, removing and reinstalling the barrel is going to cause a slight shift in the point of impact, but that's to be expected. If you were really trying to put together the ultimate concealable sniper rifle, I would think that experimenting until you found the shortest barrel AR that would deliver the performance you're after would be the way to go - then just separate the upper and lower halved, and reassemble when you're in position and ready to take out Khaddafi...
 
I have a few "take down" guns, and they are very accurate, NO tools are needed to take them down, or to put on/remove the scopes... Here's three of them,

Krieghoff 30-06,

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It's light, and very accurate,

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My Valmet 412 take down in 30-06, it's not only a take down gun, it also has more than 25 different bbls available for it, from shotgun to combo shorgun/rifle to double rifle,.

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And it's VERY accurate,

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And, here's my "go to" take down gun, it's chambered in 8x57jrs,

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And, it's also very accurate,

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Besides harvesting a LOT of big game with this gun/load, i dropped a coyote at a bit over 300 yards with that bullet/load...

DM
 
Nicely done T2 Paratrooper.
Dunno how it shoots-found on the net.
 

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I would say that the accuracy would come down to the repeatability and solidity of the different mating surfaces. If you have a firearm that goes together with little to no slack in the joint and scope mounts that have an ability to be returned to the same location on the receiver and scope with each assembly/disassembly then there should be no reason why you cannot have a system like this that works well.
 
There’s a suitcase rifle that’s been used in movies and on TV for decades. It comes in a fitted case, the barrel slips into the action and seats with a quarter twist, there’s a suppressor the slides onto the barrel and it uses a snap-on scope.
I suppose it’s owned by one of the prop rental companies.

I couldn’t guess how many times that thing has been used.
I remember one time, the actor fired, opened the bolt and a blank case fell out.
Maybe that’s why there wasn’t any recoil!
 
Well, I saw Charles Bronson take out a speeding formula one car with a Charter Arms 22 backpackers rifle. The rifle that takes down and stores in the buttstock. I also watched him sight in the scope by turning the windage and elevation knobs while he was tracking his target.

So if it happened in the movies ...................
 
Blaser had a straight pull bolt action that was designed as a take down rifle. The thing was supposedly amazingly accurate. They were VERY spendy.

But as someone who grew up shooting a Browning 22 autoloader it makes sense. The barrel and sights are a unit that locks onto a receiver. Small enough for suitcase use, pretty sure Browning even sold suitcases.

The AR-7 has some dismal accuracy by most accounts I've read, though because of James Bond I still want one.
 
In the movie "The American", George Clooney makes an awesome looking takedown Mini-14 that he rigs to explode in the shooters face.

Until I could get something like that, I'll deal with the plastic plinker. Not MOA by any means, but not inaccurate either. Only 31.25" long assembled. The bag is 23" x 9.5".

In front of a small laptop bag.
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Contenders and Encores come to mind.


I think that if you can keep the scope with the barrel, like the TC rifles, then there shouldn't be an issue. Sure its a single shot, but it still works and its a nice, tidy little package. :) And MOST TC rifles and long barrel pistols I have shot can, if handloads are up to snuff, keep most everything inside of 2-2.5 moa with better results on custom chamber cuts and handloads developed specifically for that rifle/pistol.
 
Ditto for the Browning .22. I have one of the Norinco copies and it's quite amazingly accurate with its preferred ammo. No discernable changes in group size or 'zero' after takedown and reassembly, even after I installed a Lyman 66 receiver sight and FO front to better accomodate my bifocal-clad eyes.

The short-lived Armalite military survival model that preceeded the AR7 was an aluminum receivered BA in .22 Hornet. The contract was cancelled when the DOD beancounters decided that there were ample numbers of the previously issued BA .22 Hornet on-hand. Don't believe many, if any, of either made it into civilian hands as they would be classified as an SBR.
 
Any system that allows the scope to stay with the barrel or a mount system that allows a return to zero is what you need.
Without going any further every AR offers this feature. you can switch uppers from a carbine to sniper rifle and will be dead on. Also break down for storage and transportation.
As easy as that.
Cheers.
E.
 
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