Recommend a good all-around defensive rifle (if I can't get an AR/M4)?

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I do like the 10mm as a pistol round and the only thing I dislike about Glocks are the triggers, but I'm accustomed to 1911s, SIGs, and H&Ks. For an inexpensive option down the road I considered a full-size G20 (I shoot the .45 ACP G21 very accurately) and I'd have a potential hi-cap defense gun (I'd get 135-155 grain loads that would not over penetrate but maybe explode on impact of a bad guy like a small-grain rifle round) and could use it in a survival situation with heavier loads - even the lighter hunting I mentioned. Plus...much lighter than any rifle and could CCW sometime if I felt like it.

I could even get the 6" hunting aftermarket barrel for it, and of course the versatility opens right up with barrels for .40 S&W (not a big fan but to each their own) and/or .357 Sig (which I LOVE). That and a G29 to go with it would cost as much as the LW Govt Colt I've wanted to get for EDC due to a back injury, plus I could start getting G20 mags now before bans may or may not go into effect (my birthday is in a month on Groundhog's Day).

(If they're not all snatched up already or being charged scalped prices, that is.)

Oh yeah, I wanted a gun with a rail for HD anyway and can't afford a bunch of ponies like I planned now so a Colt Rail Gun or the new Marine gun isn't gonna happen...at least anytime soon. The G20 would work if I selected proper ammo.
 
I have a .357 lever carbine. It handles sweet in tight quarters and 158 gr slugs ain't exactly air soft pellets especially out of a 16" barrel. I also have a 30-30 and there seemed to be plenty of 170 gr on the shelves today.
 
I can't believe no one has mentioned the greatest battle implement ever devised. The same jokers who are proposing an AWB are the ones that will sell you a nice M1 Garand, and ship it right to your door! You can even buy surplus ammo from them for a pretty good price. If the proverbial stuff hit the fan, I wouldn't feel outgunned with my Garand and a couple of bandoleers full of ammo.
 
I can't believe no one has mentioned the greatest battle implIf the proverbial stuff hit the fan, I wouldn't feel outgunned with my Garand and a couple of bandoleers full of ammo.

Well, it worked for Dirty Clint in Gran Torino! I would love one...just thought they were too much money.

I can't believe no one has mentioned the greatest battle implement ever devised. The same jokers who are proposing an AWB are the ones that will sell you a nice M1 Garand, and ship it right to your door! You can even buy surplus ammo from them for a pretty good price.

Huh? I saw something on the Wikipedia page on the M1 Garand about the Government program but it looked like it's over. Even Obama was selling us guns for cheap?! :)


"Often the surest way to convey misinformation is to tell the strict truth." -- Mark Twain
 
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Hey Scotty, not sure if you are kidding or not, tough to tell online. If you aren't, look into buying a Garand from the CMP. They haven't gotten rid of that program, yet!
 
Marlin 1894cs you can have a rifle and pistol in same calaber. only need to carry one calaber, and it shoots 357 and 38spc so if there is a shtf thing it would double your chance of finding ammo for you gun.
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The first rifle I thought of was the M1 Garand. Its eight round capacity is lower than the proposed ten round maximum and lacks the other features they want to ban. The only issue may be if it is explicitly on the ban list.

If you cannot get an M1 for some reason, then a shotgun or leveraction is the way to go until you can procure a better weapon from another source.
 
I d say the Winchester SXP home defense shotgun is hard to beat. And you can buy plenty of slugs and 00 bucks to boot. Now the Chicom SKS is also hard to beat but ammo are all sold out .
 
I agree with many others. I'd grab an SKS, and if I couldn't get that a nice used Marlin or Winchester Lever gun in either 30-30 or .357 mag.
 
IMHO, a good .357 levergun carbine is about ideal. Forget the nonsense about pistol cartridge carbines. The .357 gains 300-700fps from rifle length barrels and that completely changes the game. Although a .30-30 might be easier to procure. A practiced rifleman with a levergun gives up nothing to a semi-auto until the rifle runs dry.
THIS!, The SKS and Mini 14's will most certainly make the list of evil banned guns. A lever in .357 mag is a hundred yard gun with the right ammo, and they are higher cap than a 30/30, generally coming in at 8-12 rounds in tube magazine. Plus they are M4 short, easy to handle and quick to cock in CQB situation.

If you practice maybe you can shoot like Chuck Connors (the Rifleman) and then you'll have a real assault weapon.:D
 
Hey Scotty, not sure if you are kidding or not, tough to tell online. If you aren't, look into buying a Garand from the CMP. They haven't gotten rid of that program, yet!

KDS, understood. I'm fluent in sarcasm but not being sarcastic here. I'd love one of these. And a levergun still, of course. If only they (lever action rifles) came in .45 ACP...


"I may be a slow walker, but I never walk back" -- Abraham Lincoln
 
If you come across a Hi Point Carbine in the pistol caliber you keep handy it is lot of fun. If you can live with a bolt action the marlins are not bad for the money. They are a lot of fun and good hunters. If you shoot someone once with a hunting caliber rifle they are done. You can find a bolt action used at a very good price.
 
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I'd recommend an SKS for an AWB situation, just like Apache and other have done. As an alternate to AR's, I'd go for a 5.45x39 AK. I also recommend PCC's.
 
These are a tiny sample of SKS right now on GB:
Nor. $475 (0 bids).
Nor. $320 NIB (1 bid) $395
Albanian refurb. (3 bids) $275.
Russian $495.

There are many more on GB at fairly normal prices, and I see little evidence of any so-called panic for these.
Plenty of sellers would like to Induce a panic, as they tried after the '08 election.
 
Pistol caliber carbine.

Cheaper ammo, can be handled by small/ young members of household, effective ballistics.
 
An SKS has been my first and only choice for a SD carbine for over 20 years. Dead reliable, plenty accurate enough (more accurate than most seem to think), and cheap. You would have to pay far more for a semi-auto built to those standards if it wasn't a milsurp rifle. And the 7.62 x 39 is a very effective round. And it's also cheap. Stipper clips are just as fast (if not faster) than detachable mags and you don't have to carry the weight of the extra mags, just the ammo and the clips (which is a much lighter way of doing things).

Other rifles clearly work very well. Saigas are a great choice. AK's are great but cost considerably more in most cases. The SKS is the cheapest way from 0 to SD though. And it's highly effective.

For most SD work I would suggest a shotgun but if you want to lock in before the government cracks down an SKS is a way to go.

Plenty of sellers would like to Induce a panic, as they tried after the '08 election.

I saw dirty, beat up Norincos selling for $600 in early 2009.
 
[quote: Cee Zee] Stipper clips are just as fast (if not faster) than detachable mags[/quote]

I keep seeing this, but having fired an skS, I can tell you it's a lie. The sharply-tapered 7.62x39 round won't strip neatly, requiring both thumbs and a piecemeal approach of stripping 3, 3 & lastly 4 rounds into the mag. Is it quicker loading 10 rounds into an skS than loading 5 rounds into any tube-fed lever action cowboy carbine [aka "coyote assault rifle" ;)]? Absolutely! But as quick as a mag change? Not on the mag-loader's worst day & the strip-charger's best.

Like Joe Friday said, "Just the facts."

OTOH, the stripper clips are much cheaper & more portable than mags, and the cheap Chin Alpha Industries skS I shot was was more accurate than my friend's Mini-30 [but that may be partly due to firing .311 size surplus bullets down the -30's .308 sized bore. Would have to try it again w/ relatively expen$ive U.S. manufactured reloadable ammo & see if the roles reversed.]
 
As others have already said I'd stick with what you have. Save up some cash and figure out what ammo your shotgun likes the best. A shotgun is a very versatile and formiddable longarm. It can do everything from putting food on the table to protecting the home just by switching ammo. No other firearm can match the versatility of a good shotgun.

Slugs can be and are more accurate than what most people would expect, even from a smooth bore barrel. I took a average sized georgia deer this year (read not very big :D) at 50 yard. I used a Mossberg 500 12GA with a 20" field barrel and Brenneke K.O. slugs. I only had a full frontal shot so I lined up the beads center of it's chest and let er' rip. The slug squarely center punched the the chest, upon impact the deer did a back flip and fell over dead. That has been typical performance for me and my shotgun, DRT every time. A smooth bore shotgun with ammo (slugs) it likes is capable of 5"-6" groups @ 100 yards easy.

With one pull of the trigger your letting loose with 8-9 pellets of 00 buckshot. If you opt for another size such a #1 buckshot you can get 15 .30 cal balls at time. That is a lot of lead with one trigger pull. All my late father ever had was a old Mossberg bolt action 20GA shotgun, Marlin .22 bolt action for long guns. He always talked about getting more but never did. He always had that 20GA in his hands when he hit the woods every year, and more often than not filled his tags with it.
 
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An SKS might even be my first choice, but close behind would be a lever carbine in a pistol cartridge for home defense. I am partial to the .357 since I bought a Marlin 1894C many years ago and have had a ball making things dance with it, but a .44 would be just as useful at close range.
Wow........
 
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