Cheap truck gun

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schlockinz

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I'm toying with the idea of getting an inexpensive truck gun to keep at my place.

I'm looking for a gun that I can hide in the house that isn't pretty but will shoot good enough and have enough mmph for a pig. Initially this was the goal for my 45-70, but now that its been scoped, and I know that it doesn't always feed the 3rd round reliably, I've been toying with the idea of a Mosin Nagant or an SKS that I'd leave open sighted.

If I get a Nagant from someone like J&G, is it worth the money to get a hand selected gun? Is it worth buying guns from the big internet sellers, or should I just dig in and start looking for one to pop up locally?

SKSs, would these be a better pig gun? I sorta like the idea of a carbine in case I decide to walk the woods looking for a pig, it just seems like the SKSs are getting too expensive for what they are (hell, I might be able to get an AK for the same price nowadays it seems).

Saiga, locally they are the price of an sks, but I can get them in 223 or 308 (same price for any of them). Don't really know too much about them other than the fact that if I were to get an AK, it'd be a Saiga instead.

Lastly, are there peep sight systems available for either of these rifles? I can shoot most buckhorn style sights well enough, it just takes me a long time to aim them accurately, so a peep would be nice in case I get into a herd of them.
 
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M44.

I picked mine up for $70.00

or try a shotgun, used 12 Gauge Mossy's go for $200. Keep shot, 00, and slugs handy in the truck with it.

LGB
 
I've got a couple I like. I have a Rossi .357 carbine that is pretty amazing ballistically and very light and handy in the field. I have a SKS carbine I put a Choate camo stock on, cut off the bayonet lug, put a ambi safety on. I had a scope mount on it, but I have better hunting rifles, so I pulled the mount off and started using it as a truck gun. The thing is a couple of lbs heavier than the Rossi, not quite as handy to carry, though I have a flush fitting 5 round magazine on it so I can carry it at the balance point and get my hand around it. It's just a bit longer and heavier. What I do like about it over the Rossi and why I usually grab the SKS on the way out the door is that when I get back to my truck, it's a lot easier to unload, just lower the magazine floor plate and dump 'em in my hand. That Rossi, I have to jack the rounds out of one at a time and it tosses 'em a country mile. Too, the 154 wolf is pretty accurate and equivalent to .30-30 and will shoot farther than the .357.

I had an old 20" 7x57 1916 Spanish Mauser for a while that was pretty cool for that, too, but sold it to a friend who needed it for what I had in it. It was a nice old gun, though. A Nagant, one of the carbine length ones, would be decent, too. They're quite accurate and handy. All the military guns are heavy because they have a lot of metal in 'em. A 94 or 92 or 336 or 1894 lever carbine will be handier afield. But, for a little more weight, those old military guns do have advantages and, hell, I just like old military guns. :D I don't really care to hunt with 'em, but as a utility rifle, ranch rifle down on my place, general truck gun, they're damned hard to beat. Calibers can be odd, 7.62x54R for instance, but another big bonus is, at least until the last year, there was lots of cheap milsurp to buy for them. I have dies for the SKS, but never use 'em. Wolf is just too cheap and it shoots just fine. I do reload for my .357 carbine and feel obligated to search for brass at the range when I shoot it. Don't care with the SKS, just let 'em fly. They're steel case berdan primed, anyway.
 
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If you can still find a cheap SKS, get it. They are great guns.

AND, jump on the M44. And prepare for constant cleaning becasue the ammo is corrosive. Also -- Mine had a bunch of misfires. I needed to clean and lube the bolt. Shoot it a lot and make sure it will go "bang" when you need it to do so.

I will also pile on the 30-30 bandwagon. Great to shoot, classic American gun and very easy to transport and carry.

All being equal, I would go with the Winchester or Marlin 30-30. If an SKS or M44 is 1/2 the price, the 30-30 is going to always be available.
 
I like the shotgun idea. Lots of versatility there.

If you're wanting rifle range, the SKS would be awesome. I got mine when they were $100 and even though they have become a lot more expensive than that, I don't know that they are expensive for what they are - a reliable and accurate semi auto rifle with a ten round mag. I've had good experience with J&G, but I think they may be sold out of SKSs right now.

The M44 would be great too, it does have that "pig sticker" that might come in handy. :)
 
Welp, went out to the local shop to look at some of the guns they had.

No used lever carbines

SKS from 450 "new" with synthetic collapsible stock to 400 used norinco, everything matching, looked like nice guns.

They also had some saigas there for 420 (every kind but the 30.06). These seem sweet, but I was hoping to get a better deal.

If I were to go the route of the SKS or Saiga, whats the overall preference out there. The SKS, to me, felt like it was built like a brick ****house. The Saiga was lighter and had a better sight picture, I'm just not sure about the accuracy. I'm most likely looking at 150yd for a max here, after that and I'll just need to sneak a little closer.

So far, it looks like the 45/70 will just get retrieved and buried in a case underneath the insulation unless I can find a deal on something else.
 
I agree on the SKS. Though, now they seem to run just as expensive as the saigas in the same caliber, between 3 and 400 dollars.
 
Yeah, I'd love to have an SKS, but I feel like anything over $250 is too expensive. For just a little more I could get a new saiga in a caliber that I could more reliably get ammo for (ie 223 or 308 is available at most rural hardware stores here)
 
The ergos, safety location, etc kinda suck on a Saiga for field use, though. If the SKSs have gone up THAT much, hell, you can usually stumble across an old 94 or 336 in .30-30 pretty cheap at the pawn shops and, well, who doesn't stock .30-30? I'd WAY FAR AND AGAIN druther have a 94 or 336 for the ergos for field use than any Saiga.
 
I second the single shot shotgun. Easy to switch from bird to pig, and IF it gets stolen your out 117.00 if you got it brand new.
 
yeah, at this point its looking like it'll either be the mosin, or remove the glass from the guide gun, and become proficient with slugs from my shotgun in case I see them while duck hunting.

Or hell, I could just get the mosin, put the glass on it, peep the '95, and then use the mosin in case I got a friend whose gun craps out on them (or if I am hunting where I don't need the higher powered scope on my 30.06).

So many options, so many guns, too long till tax returns
 
I would go with either a 30/30 or some other lever carbine. You could also go with a quality ak. Handguns and defensive shotguns are pretty easy to hide also. Your requirements seem to be pretty leniant. The mosins are good guns but tend to be horribly inaccurate and have terrible trigger from my experience. I recently dropped a howa ultralight 308 barreled action into a boyds jrs stock and it looks great and shoots even better. It's also very handy.
 
I haven't seen one other option mentioned. Buy a Savage bolt in caliber of your choice for the scope, take the scope of the 95 and scope the Savage. The Stevens 200 is the same gun less the "accutrigger", same as my older Savage 110 and it's a decent shooter. Trigger is danged nice, too. Don't see no use for any accutrigger as my old one is tuned down to about 3 lbs and very crisp. It's fully adjustable. This would cost ya about 250-300 or so I'm guessing for the Stevens and you might find a used Savage 110 somewhere for cheap. They've sold well since the come back in the late 80s.

The mosins are good guns but tend to be horribly inaccurate and have terrible trigger from my experience.
Click to expand...

Trigger is typical military, but inaccurate? That's not been MY experience at all. Never owned one, but my buddy has several and they're all good shooters.
 
"Yeah, I'd love to have an SKS, but I feel like anything over $250 is too expensive. For just a little more I could get a new saiga in a caliber that I could more reliably get ammo for (ie 223 or 308 is available at most rural hardware stores here)"


The .223's should be under 400 dollars in stock form. Everywhere i see stock 308's they are close to 600.
 
The place that I looked at the Saigas have them all prices the same (high for everything but the 308), but it looks like this money will go elsewhere instead. Hell, I got the marlin guide gun for this reason and just scoped it because I broke the sights and had a scope laying around. Maybe I'll take the scope off or put a lower powered one on it (kinda like having a scope on it, helps me pick out the piggies at 100+yds)

Thanks for the input, maybe one day when I'm richer I'll get myself a good truck gun.
 
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