Recommendation for 'Homeland Defense' rifle

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Snark

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I already own a Mauser and a Mosin-Nagant, plus a ruger 10/22 and a few handguns. But now I need to fill in the niche for 'Homeland Defense'. I have no problems with the AR15, though i'm a bit picky with them. But that doesn't matter because I only have about 500 dollars to spend, so they are out of my price range. Thought about a SAR1 or something similar. Keltec SU16 Charlie looks pretty handy too. Basically looking for something semi with an intermediate cartridge thats not too heavy. I will be doing mostly plinking and target shooting , and have if the situation ever arises.
So choices I'm considering right now:
Sar1
VEPR K
Keltec SU16C
AR-180B (if price is reasonable)
Not too familar with the M17 bullpup
even thought about M1 Carbine
I have heard bulgarian AKs are nice too (SLR101 or something)
Does anyone have an pics of converted saigias from AK103, and opinions about them.

Feel free to suggest any others too.
Thanks
 
First choice: VEPR-K It's the cadillac of the AK-47 world.

Second choice: Kel-Tec SU-16....and this is a distant second choice.

I.G.B.
 
You could buy an AR15 kit (less receiver) from model1sales.com
or some other company for a little less than $500. Later on, or
before, you purchase an AR15 receiver (100-250) and complete
the rifle with the rest of the kit.
 
I'd go with your first choice - the SAR 1. Good price and caliber, reliable and plenty of mags around.

And for goodness sake, don't go AR, the rest of us may need you one day.


:D
 
Any rifle you have, sporting or milsurp, normally used for sporting purposes, will do Homeland Defense/SHTF duty. It's not a label thing. It's what do you have and how well can you put it to use.
 
Always remember two things about the concept of "saving money" with an AR15 kit...

1. The special tools required to assemble an AR15 upper cost money too. Unless you already have an action block and barrel nut wrench, as well as a vice and set of punches, that will have to be added to the cost of the build.

2. FrankenARs are not always 100% reliable and require tinkering. Assembling an AR is certainly NOT rocket science, but there are still things that can go wrong, or that you can DO wrong which will negatively affect reliability.

I have the tools, and have done enough barrel swaps, forend installs, and complete parts builds that the tools have well paid for themselves. I know I could have gotten by with less, but it cost me a couple hundred to get all the tools necessary to REALLY do the job WELL.
 
Is an AR15 dependable enough for 'Homeland Defense' duty? Aren't they high maintenance? In any event, I'd consider a more serious and larger caliber. Somewhere closer to the .30's neighborhood. ;)
 
Bah! Most AR kits come with the barrel already installed, and that's the only hard step. The rest of the instalation can be finished in an hour with a rock and a screw driver.

If you start with good parts and the gun isn isn't reliable, then you did something wrong. Engage your brain and figure out how to fix it. It ain't hard.

Building an AR is an excellent decision. You'll end up with the best carbine around. It'll be configured exactly the way you want it. You'll know exactly how it ticks, and how to replace any parts that break.
 
What's with all this semi-auto crap?

Buy a nice Savage 110 variant in .223 or .308, put a scope on it, and learn how to shoot instead of blast.
Click to expand...
This is silly. Why would one be unable to learn to shoot with a semi-auto?

If you're planning on buying a single defensive rifle, an autoloader is infinitely more useful than a bolt gun.

- Chris
 
SKS, a Tech-Sight rear aperture, and $300 in ammo. With the aperture sight, it is a hell of a rifle and plenty accurate.
 
I vote for the Kel-Tec in this case.
After you get a taste of the .223 and have the AR magazines, you can decide what to keep or sell, then save for a real AR15 and still have a back up rifle that uses the same ammo/mags.
 
What's with all this semi-auto crap?

Buy a nice Savage 110 variant in .223 or .308, put a scope on it, and learn how to shoot instead of blast.
Click to expand...

I agree. Much as I like my M1 Garand and Mini-14, if it comes down to the citizenry at large having to fight for their lives and homes, I beleive we'll see so many deer rifles come out it'll astound all the paramilitary wannabes into oblivion. I'm reminded of 9-11. The gun shop I was doing business with was selling .30-30Winchester by the case; everybody with a deer rifle was stocking up to fight with the rifles they'd had ever since. Many deer rifles in calibers other than .30-30 are essentially the same as "sniper rifles", but don't say that too loud since we don't want the antis to hear it.
 
Doing mostly plinking and target shooting, and keeping it on hand if the S ever HTF? I'd go with Roscoe, no question. An unissued Yugo SKS and $300 in ammo. No builds that could go wrong, no stamped receivers or mags to carry around. It's built like a tank, little recoil, intermediate caliber, stripper clips and ammo extremely easy to come by and cheap cheap to plink with, a breeze to take down and clean with no tools. Don't try to Bubbatize it with detachable mags that probably wont' feed right or by putting a cheap scope on it. Keep it stock, clean, shoot the heck out of it, and you'll be glad you did if the SHTF one day.
 
What's with all this semi-auto crap?

Buy a nice Savage 110 variant in .223 or .308, put a scope on it, and learn how to shoot instead of blast.
Click to expand...
One can shoot with a self-loader, too.
 
I really like the VEPR K, but one thing I'm worried about is weight. I'm a pretty skinny guy and I want something that isn't going to be too difficult to lug around alot.

I would like to have an AR, but in all honesty I don't trust myself when it comes to building things. I am quite inept at it.
 
The Mauser that you already have may be a good homeland defense arm. The only problem would be that in a protracted homeland defense situation, the Rebel Militia High Command will want to procure only a few calibers, and 7 and 8x57 may not be on the list.

If you are prepared to supply your own ammo, the Mauser would be hard to beat. It's a heavy caliber. Rapid fire isn't as fast as a semi-auto, but it may be fast enough for a homeland defense militiaman. If the bore and crown are in good shape, you can probably get decent accuracy out of the rifle. Yep, if you can supply the ammo, your Mauser may be a good choice.
Mauserguy
 
I have a lead on a beautiful SVT-40 for 300. Not an intermediate cartridge, but you already have a nagant so I assume you have some 7.62x54 ammo stockpiled.
 
Buy a nice Savage 110 variant in .223 or .308, put a scope on it, and learn how to shoot instead of blast.
Click to expand...


buy an AR

-spend more time learning to shoot and less time getting fast at cycling a bolt action or lever.

or better yet, ditch the romantic notions and learn to make plastic explosives ;)
 
". . . or better yet, ditch the romantic notions and learn to make plastic explosives"
Click to expand...
Make no mistake, I've always had a fond spot in my heart for HE. But I'm a little fuzzy on the tactics here.

Conventional knowledge puts a "Homeland Defense" longarm into a literal defensive buffet from the possible necessity of using it to repel boarders (home defense) to taking out those biker gangs/JBT's/Zombies @ 200 yards plus.

So how would that work, exactly?


:confused:
 
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