Best small carbine or rifle

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DerkThunder

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I'm wondering what you guys think the best small carbine or rifle is? It's looking like concealed carry of any gun without a permit will be legal where I live soon.

So I'd like to get a gun to keep in my car. It doesn't have to be small enough to conceal on your body but I would like it to be wieldable within the tight area of my car. I definitely want something with more stopping power than a 9 mm and with a high capacity.

Any ideas?
 
AR-15 M4 style carbine . Tactical Mini-14

You can consider pistol cartridge guns like the Beretta CX4 , or the Kel-tec sub 2000 in .40 cal to get more than the 9mm and some capacity behond the single stack magazines of the HiPoint carbines.
 
I think mini 14 and AR-15 are too big to use for self defense INSIDE a car. Also I've found a pistol grip shotgun to have too much recoil. I'm leaning more towards a small semi-auto rifle that shoots a large pistol round.

On another note what do you guys think of the .410 shotgun shell for stopping power? Taurus makes small revolver that shoots 410 shells and I'm wondering what kind of punch it packs.
 
Is this a serious question? You plan to be in a gunfight INSIDE your car?

I don't think ANY legal length rifle would be manageable inside an automobile.
 
The matter is not open to debate. The answer is known.:D

The United States Carbine, Caliber.30, M1 stands above all others in rank, importance, or achievement.
 
I have to question the meaning of "inside" the car as well. If your plan is to protect yourself inside the vehicle, perhaps a short bat might be best and will save your ear drums. If a gun is required, than a handgun would make much more sense than a carbine.

If your plan is to stick a gun out the window to fire it, or to get out of the car, than the Mini14 or AR15 shorty is about the same size as most pistol cartridge carbines . Either way, it would seem a pistol would fit better. If the threat is too far away from the car to take care of with a pistol than perhaps the plan should be to drive away.
 
M1 Carbine, paratrooper model with the folding stock. Or M4 carbine, if you want something modern.
 
You leave an M-1 military carbine in a car around here.
They would steal the car to have something to carry the rifle.
This is the new America--whadda ya expect !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
M1 carbine is, for me, faster on target than an AR or AK variant, and doesn't wack the ears as much. It also does not look as ominous as the others, and has been in civilian hands (and thus maybe enjoys more public acceptance) longer, with many WWII vets starting the popularity right after the war. With mags from 5, 10, 15, or 30 rounds, it will be easy to comply with any local restrictions. I do not believe it is on many "assualt rifle ban" lists, either. If you need more power, then the AR's and AK's are the next step up.
 
I was thinking along the lines of an uzi style 45, or semi-auto mp5. Also over penetration would be an issue to worry about.

The the reason I say inside the car is because I live in a state with castle doctrine laws. The laws apply to anyone trying to forcefully enter your home, occupied vehicle, or place of business. I'm not going to stick the gun out the window and shoot at people. It would be a gun to grab in case of an armed car jacking. It would have to be very short, but I'm considering alternatives to pistols.
 
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It would be a very poor type of gun for a carjacking. A pistol would be the best thing to use in a carjacking. A rifle you will not be able to successfully use from the car, and if you manage to somehow, it will probably land you in jail for murder. Mainly because no one close enough to carjack you is far enough away for you to have any hope of beating to the punch, and if they are far enough away, they aren't a threat to you unless they are shooting at you.
 
While i would not plan on using a rifle or carbine inside a car or truck, a leveraction carbine can be handled inside a pickup truck cab Iwithout firing it in a 97 Chevy half ton pickup with a single cab with a 94 Winchecter trapper.
 
I'd suggest you actually try using a carbine inside your car. Go to your car place a carbine (or something that size) in it where you plan to store this carbine. Fasten your seat belt. Now try to access and manipulate your carbine. A carbine, and I have some fairly small ones, is going to be much more difficult to use inside a car than a handgun. Even something like a PLR or a Draco would be more difficult to use and manipulate to say nothing of accessing it. Further I can only imagine what touching a round off of one of those things inside a car would be like.

I just have a hard time imagining a scenario where I am in my car and the best response is to sit there and take the time to access and and attempt to deploy a long gun (you wont be driving around with it on your lap I take it). Rather it seems like a better response will either be to use the gas pedal or to deploy the pistol that is immediately accessible to me.

Further legally there could be some real issues if it can be shown it took you some amount of time to access and deploy this long gun. It might speak to both the imminence of the threat and whether you had other non lethal alternative available (the importance of which depends on state law)

What type of threats do you see yourself responding to? Is this for use inside the car or out.


I'm leaning more towards a small semi-auto rifle that shoots a large pistol round.
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What advantage do you see this offering you over a handgun of similar caliber while operating inside your car?

On another note what do you guys think of the .410 shotgun shell for stopping power? Taurus makes small revolver that shoots 410 shells and I'm wondering what kind of punch it packs.
Click to expand...

Search for taurus judge on here and you will get dozens of pages of people debating its merits. I am of the opinion that it is inferior as a self defense gun to a good number of other handguns.
 
The the reason I say inside the car is because I live in a state with castle doctrine laws. The laws apply to anyone trying to forcefully enter your home, occupied vehicle, or place of business.
Click to expand...

Check your state law and the case law interpreting it carefully, various states with "castle doctrine" treat the issue of one trying to access differently than that of one having accessed.
 
what's to prevent from concealing a pistol and haveing a carbine in the auto also? a folder stock Marlin Camp or such in .45 but IMO you shouldn't discount a 9mm+p loading. one of my nephews has a KelTec and that 9 comes out of there with a 'crack'. my hot 124gr Golden Sabre loads. blew a impressive hole through 4 stacked 2"X8 spruce.
 
DerkThunder:

What state are we talking about here?

In all seriousness, a carbine is NOT for firing fights from a stationary vehicle. This is further complicated if you are the driver. This thread really sits wrong with me...somehow.

Your best option is to learn situational awareness and take some Advanced Tactical Shooting courses. I have no problem understanding having a carbine handy, but having the carbine as a primary defensive weapon?! From a car?! Are you joking?

In closing, if you even think about discharging an AR-styled .223 inside of a car, I hope you precede it with sign language classes.

Geno
 
If you check out Kel-Tec, they've got a SU-16 that has an underfolding stock to make it compact, and it uses standard AR-15 mags. You can check out their PLR-16 5.56 pistol as well.
 
Though I did say M1 Carbine to be strict to answering the question, the true answer would be a PISTOL. Smaller, easier to use, and won't make you quite as deaf at the end. Not to mention taking extremely less time to deploy.
 
I know a guy who carried a paratrooper M1 in his tool box for years. He had to travel and work in some pretty crappy areas, and stay at some crappy hotels. This was a few years ago, but he said where he was the legality of carrying a pistol varied, the carbine OTOH was totaly legal.

As handy as a pistol no, but when your in a crap hotel and a someone starts to try to kick down the door at 3am, pretty damn nice to have.
 
Again maybe carbine isn't the right word. I'm asking about very small guns that shoot with one hand but are one step up from pistols in magazine capacity.
 
if you want something small but legal barrel length...fn ps90. extremely compact, yet expensive. small round but it'll do a lot of damage and there is virtually no recoil
 
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