So getting an AR seems unlikely, so...

[briney11]

What rifle would be good for personal defense as well as if the poo poo should happen to hit a fan??? An SKS?? Lever action????

 

[Big D]

You could do alot worse than an SKS or a good ole Winchester/Marlin .30-30!

 

[ms6852]

Lever action rifle holding 10 rounds in the tube in 357 magnum. Blazing ballistics out of a longer barrel, with recoil that is light making it easy to stay on sight with target. Short enough rifle to maneuver around hallways and doors in your house. Also can have your 357 revolver as backup with same bullets....easy peasy.

 

[Steve H]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Exactly what I have been thinking the past few days

 

[nathan]

I m seeing SKSs hitting $600-700 by next year as things getting more panicky. All forms of semis are gonna be priced like gold.

 

[Guillermo]

if you want an AR, print one

The way I understand the law, you can build your own gun (you can't sell it)

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/07/27/3d-printed-ar-15/

 

[MIgunguy]

Lever action rifle holding 10 rounds in the tube in 357 magnum

this... I kick myself for selling mine, and if I could do it over again, I'd consolidate calibers on 38 SPL and 357 MAG

 

[Captains1911]

if you want an AR, print one

The way I understand the law, you can build your own gun (you can't sell it)

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/07/27/3d-printed-ar-15/

I don't understand that at all.

 

[almherdfan]

The .357/.38 lever is fine option. So is an SKS (if you can find one reasonably priced). The venerable pump-action shotgun is also a good option (which are still widely available at decent prices).

 

[Guillermo]

I don't understand that at all

3D printing can be used to create objects from plastic

 

[Captains1911]

3D printing can be used to create objects from plastic

Ok, so what good does that do?

 

[Guillermo]

you can print a 3D object, like an AR lower

 

[exdetsgt]

Several months ago I bought a Rossi Model 92 lever action rifle chambered in 38/357 for exactly the reasons outlined by ms6852. After about 100 rounds both the action and the trigger become buttery-smooth, not to say they weren't fine out of the box. The action is a proven performer and the rifle is virtually maintenance-free (unlike an AR-15). Just clean the barrel now and then and apply a bit of gun lube to the action.

With the long 20" barrel a .357 round really comes howling out. I tried figuring the muzzle velocity, but I was an English major, so I'll leave that calculation to someone who knows what they're doing. My answer to a possible assault weapons ban.

 

[Isaac-1]

At the moment the other question you need to ask is can you get ammo, I was just in Academy a few hours ago, they had about half a dozen people doing NICS paperwork, plus another dozen or so standing around waiting on NICS clearance, I am not sure exactly what they had left, shelves still had stock of non black rifles, and there were at least full size semi auto hand guns. I was there looking at gun cases, etc. and saw that the ammo aisle was mostly empty, heard someone comment on the reason it was not packed full of people was the shelves were bare, which was almost true. They were out of most of the more popular calibers including 12GA & 20GA of ALL TYPES, no .22LR, 223, 5.45, 7.62x39, .308, 30-30, 9mm, .380, 40S&W, .38 SPL, .357, etc. What they did have were mostly the less common larger hunting rounds, and a few of the less common smaller calibers like like .22WRM, .17, and even 28 GA there were a few surprises still left like .45ACP, and 7.62x54, but not much else. While I was leaving I saw one guy that had just bought some type of .40 S&W (Glock I think, it was in a black box) handgun who was surprised to find that they had NO ammo for it, no cheap practice rounds and no expensive defense rounds.

 

[9thchild]

What about a Hi-Point carbine in your caliber of choice? Or are they impossible to find too?

 

[SunnySlopes]

You'll have a chance to buy an AR reasonably priced. The manufacturers haven't stopped making them, and as soon as the first wave of panic buyers are placated, there will be inventory available. And not all retailers have raised prices to "gougers" levels.

Be patient.

 

[mr.trooper]

I would hunt down a Remington 7615. Takes AR15 mags, and still a fairly fast cycling action.

 

[OhioChief]

What do you mean when you say "personal defense"? I always find that an interesting question. (this is not a post intended on an arguement!!) I think that term means many things to many people. I would never rely on my rifles for "Home Defense". Rifle rounds in my opinion are not close quarter tools. Carbines in pistol rounds however, are. but an in-house miss with a 9mm or 45, will send that round into your neighbors house. Shot guns with proper loads and pistols with defense rounds are my choice.
Personal Defense in a....let's call it Zombie situation, is different. If it's truly Defense, you're probably not shooting over 100 yards. The AR is great from 50 to 300 easy, but let's say you can't get a semi like that for a while. If you want to defend yourself, home, family, and intend on staying right where you are, then you need to survey your surroundings and see how far you can shoot anyway. The answer to that question probably helps you decided what firearm you need. It's not sexy, but generally the shotgun is what is a great choice for most. Easy to use. can be used for many different purposes. Many come with a standard barrel and a rifled barrel. lots of cheap options of ammo.
I own all the choices you could want, so I'm not biased, but you did say Personal Defense. Sorry i dragged this on so long.

 

[reggie_love]

What do you mean when you say "personal defense"? I always find that an interesting question. (this is not a post intended on an arguement!!) I think that term means many things to many people. I would never rely on my rifles for "Home Defense". Rifle rounds in my opinion are not close quarter tools. Carbines in pistol rounds however, are. but an in-house miss with a 9mm or 45, will send that round into your neighbors house. Shot guns with proper loads and pistols with defense rounds are my choice.
Personal Defense in a....let's call it Zombie situation, is different. If it's truly Defense, you're probably not shooting over 100 yards. The AR is great from 50 to 300 easy, but let's say you can't get a semi like that for a while. If you want to defend yourself, home, family, and intend on staying right where you are, then you need to survey your surroundings and see how far you can shoot anyway. The answer to that question probably helps you decided what firearm you need. It's not sexy, but generally the shotgun is what is a great choice for most. Easy to use. can be used for many different purposes. Many come with a standard barrel and a rifled barrel. lots of cheap options of ammo.
I own all the choices you could want, so I'm not biased, but you did say Personal Defense. Sorry i dragged this on so long.

I would disagree with you on some points. Carbines are favored by many professionals for close quarters use. With a 16" 5.56 upper, you get excellent ballistics, a weapon that you can shoulder (and therefore control better), and the overall length is such that it sticks out only about as far as your extended arm holding a handgun. Shooting your neighbors is a real possibility with all calibers (if it can stop a bad guy, it goes through walls. Period.), but .223/5.56 bullets tend to penetrate through drywall very poorly on account of their propensity to spall/keyhole in hard targets. Many carbine loads penetrate walls less than common pistol loads.

There is an extremely good case for having a lightweight, accurate shoulder-fired weapon that can be reloaded quickly for defense in the home. Not to mention the decades of service history, training/maintenance documentation, and the reliability of a tried-and-tested design that comes with those.

In the end, the best tool for the job comes down to what your house is like and what your defensive considerations are. For me, it is my AR. For others it may be a handgun, maybe your corridors are too narrow to maneuver around with a long gun. Shotguns are excellent but the downside for me is that they are long and low capacity (not to mention the difficulty of reloading, or the possibility of short stroking a pump action). Seems to me that if you can use a shotgun you can use a rifle.

Call me crazy, but all other things being equal I see it as rifle>shotgun>pistol, and any gun is better than no gun. Also, just to get this one out of the way: birdshot is for birds, not bad guys.

OP: Depending on what they ban... an M1 carbine might be good? The ballistics of .30 carbine aren't the best by today's standards, but as far as mobility and the potential for follow-up shots go, it's got a lot going for it. It cleared the '94 ban, but will probably fail the new Feinstein test. Otherwise, one of those lever-action trail carbines, the kind in a magnum calibers, could be pretty good. They've certainly got the maneuverability, light weight, and short length. The difficulty would be in working the action under stress; I feel like there's a lot of potential for disastrous malfunctions by short-stroking and not being able to clear the malfunction because it's a tubular magazine. As with all defensive firearms, you should drill with it a lot.

 

[Ignition Override]

briney11:

At this moment on Gunbroker, there are four pages of SKS rifles. Many of them are priced at $400, some more, many for less.

All of you might be aware of this, but if we remember that in March of '08, months before the '08 election, prices of many Norincos were $270-300, because I checked them for two weeks.
Some of the higher prices of semi-autos are market driven, or bald attempts to exploit the ignorant/naiive, before people start to read, and learn how difficult it is to get a new bill onto the floor of the House or Senate. Scalpers are also trying to $care people, right now. Why not, if it is profitable?

There is no indication (yet) of any "run" on the SKS, because the chic, glamorous gun is still the AR.
With price bubbles, they don't last forever...it's just a matter of when the bubble slowly deflates, or pops. Buy high....sell low.

 

[tahunua001]

man I have never seen americans so interested in SKS before the ARs all disappeared. the SKS is an alright gun. there are much better out there and for the price you could easily pick up a marlin 336 in 30-30 and have a lot less headaches to deal with.

SKS
1. some have accuracy issues, related to improper handling by their largely untrained militant users.
2. some of them have very poor stocks(like the one that I just purchased) which may require a replacement running you close to another $100
3. the sights are nothing to write home about, you can get upgrades but they are also kind of spendy and certain aftermarket handguard selections can impede them.
4. they use a cartridge that is vastely supplied to the US from russian companies(wolf, tula, bear(golden/silver/brown), and if I'm not mistaken, herters are all russian companies and should a ban on the importation of ammo be placed in effect alongside an AWB, the only supplier for american made 7.62x39 that I am aware of is Hornady, and they are ill equipped to handle the demand of several million SKS, and AK47 owners.

on the other hand the marlin 336
1. does not have the inherent risks assumed when buying military surplus rifles.
2. almost 100% of 30-30 ammo is manufactured in the USA so a ban on ammo importation will not effect availability and prices in the least... at least in the short term.
3. though quality control may be a bit hit or miss as of late, your odds of getting a lemon with a 336 are still less than getting a SKS with issues.
4. 30-30 though ballistics are similar to the 7.62x39 in terms of velocity, bullet drop ECT, the 30-30 has much heavier bullet options available and being a .308 diameter bullet, has many, high quality options all the way into the 180 grain weight range while most 7.62x39(.311 diameter bullet) maxes out around 147 grains and mostly only soft points so the 30-30 is a much better choice as a hunting rifle.
5. lastly is ability to mount a scope. some purists hate the idea of a scope on a lever action but most levers today come with the ability to mount one if you so choose. my best friend growing up hunted with a 30-30 lever gun with a scope and he always did just fine.

 

[Davek1977]

the only supplier for american made 7.62x39 that I am aware of is Hornady, and they are ill equipped to handle the demand of several million SKS, and AK47 owners

Actually, I know Federal has multiple 7.62x39 loads, and Winchester produces both fmj and softpoint hunting rounds. Remington also makes 7.62x39. If there are millions of ak/sks owners demanding it, domestic production will increase, rather than millions of gun owners having expensive paperweights. As far as bullet weights go, Wolf 154 gr soft points are typically available or at least were pre-panic.

 

[Silverado6x6]

For home protection I prefer a semi auto shotgun. Since I live far from any city in Alaska I also do not subscribe to the necessity of having an assault rifle, but I would and have very much invested in a battle rifle the M1A.

Now even if i had to be in an urban environment I would have to up my defensive firepower against others that have based themselves with an AR platform, I do NOT believe in going head to head with the same firepower, especially if I am a lone operator.

Nothing wrong with the .357 lever gun, I have a Marlin 1894, but its not quite heavy enough for Alaska game, a 45-70 would have been better.

 

[9thchild]

Based on Silverado's points how about a M1 Garand? 8 shots of SA .30-06 is nothing to scoff at.

 

[bhhacker]

I live in Juneau and had been working on getting an "all round" AR with a beowulf upper so i could hunt deer/bear/elk but unfortunately I dont think that will happen for a while.