Wow, Magnum actually read my first post and saw that I was not advocating the Mosin as the best choice for home defense. I have literally said at least four times on this thread that it isn't even my first choice, or second, or even third.
But, with that aside, the discussion has remained fairly level-headed and interesting. Let me give my two cents on a couple of things:
1. I have already addressed penetration, and will not repeat myself. I suppose it is a personal ethos more than a practical one, because bullets fired from a firearm penetrate, period. Perhaps they penetrate differently, but the still penetrate.
2. I would also point out the flaw in this logic...
One engaged and killed a VC pointman who fired first as they both crested a hill on a trail, he used his M-14 and emptied it into and towards the guy as he fell wounded by a bullet that went through his leg.
Hey, I am glad your friend lived, but he dumped a whole mess of bullets into killing a guy and still got wounded. Perhaps for some this speaks of the advantage of more bullets, but to me it says that if the VC had aimed a bit more carefully, he would have gotten your buddy. As it was, he took him out of the fight. I certainly mean no disrespect to your buddy, and I am damn glad that the other guy died for his country instead of the other way around, but it seems faulty to imply the fight was won because of superior weaponry. I am going to get flamed for this, but it sounds like it was really more of a case of luck.
3.
The other gentleman used his M-2 .30 Carbine successfully ending the threat after a Chinese soldier armed with a MN 1944 carbine shot first and missed my friend he did not get to work the action to get off a second round.
The Chinese soldier could have had anything from a Mosin to SKS to and AK and it still probably would ahve ended the same. It's better to shoot straight than shoot fast, and he made the mistake of missing. Again, not wishing it were the other way around, just pointing out that 1 round can end a fight if 100 rounds miss the target.
4. While not the only point I was trying to make, let me address the issue of cost. One of the things that I said was a plus for a Mosin was that someone could afford to buy the rifle and a whole ton of ammo to practice with. Regardless of the particular platform you choose (and this includes you shotgun advocates), nothing, and I mean nothing, makes a bigger difference than training. Most of us won't be attending a Thunder Ranch class anytime soon, but pretty much all of us can get out and shoot at least 100 rounds a month. With a Mosin, it just makes it cheaper. You might have the coolest blackticle rifle on the market, with the finest lasers and lights and optics available, but you know what? In the end it boils down to practice. What do you do if your AR stovepipes? What do you do if you hit a bad primer? If you don't know what to do with that bad round, the next 20 aren't going to make a single bit of difference. Anyway, the point of all this is to say that I can now buy roughly 5 times more 7.62x54 than I can .223 ammo for the same dollar. Whats the better platform then? I maintain that the Mosin that you practice with is better than the $2000.00 AR wondergun that you don't, but some of you may disagree.
5. Finally, let me see if we can get this past the whole "better options" available argument and get some more responses on the Mosin as a SHTF rifle (be it Zombies, Earthquakes, Fire or Weather). Earlier in the thread, a guy said that he was in Katrina and that he didn't feel that the Mosin would have been all that great because it would have been a pain to haul around. I can see his point, but I still think that the Mosin's ruggedness gives it a pretty big leg up. I will concede that it might be a pain to haul around, but it is a comfort to know that it will not lock up at the first hint of water, dirt or zombie guts. Not that a properly maintained AR will lock up, but the chances are higher than with a Mosin. Additionally, I don't think I personally want an auto if things get bad enough. It seems a little counter-intuitive to say that, but if I am not going to be able to get supplies and other stuff, I don't want a rifle that can lose not only it's mag, but 20 or 30 valuable rounds of ammo with it. If I am in a position where thats not such a big deal, I probably would go with an AR or an SKS, but I might not be in that position.