suggestions for a truck/trunk long gun to keep there.

[DSAPT9]

I understand the truck/trunk situation because if I somehow end up in a fire fight where I have to defend myself back to my car for possible cover it might just be shot up enough it will not run. With a flat tire the car is still drive able but a stray round into the computer (Brain Box) and it is a no go situation and whatever person or group you pissed off are still coming.

This is no different than the police that carry a truck/trunk gun. It is an insurance policy and only to be used in an extreme emergency and when you have no other choice.

The shot gun is a good choice with either 00 buck or slugs as both will get you out to 100 yards or better.

A 10/22 folding stock and a couple 25 round mags will also keep folks at bay until help could arrive and the folding stock keeps a small package.

I prefer an AK over the AR (just my preference) but it will work as well.

 

[StealthyBlagga]

You can build an iron-sighted AR15 16" carbine with collapsible stock for under $500 right now. How much is your life worth?

 

[8200rpm]

After recently having everything (including old air freshener, tire pressure gauge, and a can of WD40) from inside my truck stolen, I will NEVER keep a firearm in a vehicle for extended periods of time.

I've even witnessed a thief breaking into a locked SUV in the middle of the day in a busy supermarket parking lot only 40 feet from the front of the store.

Car break ins are an EXTREMELY common crime. Consider yourself extremely lucky if you've never been a victim.

 

[TonyDedo]

Like others here, I also question the practicality of a trunk gun. If you already CCW a handgun, in what situation are you going to bypass your handgun, go to the trunk and dig out your "trunk gun," then turn and fight? I don't think that scenario is going to fly in any court of law.

If you're going to store a firearm in the car, keep a handgun in the cab where it's accessible (lock box under the driver's seat), in case you don't have your CCW on you.

 

[Inebriated]

Plenty of uses for a long gun in the vehicle. Just because you don't have a use, doesn't mean one doesn't exist.

 

[USAF_Vet]

But Inebriated, guns are only useful for fighting and killing as many innocent children as possible, there could never be any other use for a vehicle stored long gun aside from killing people, murder, mayhem, and leaving it unattended to arm your local street gang.


I suppose cops have no need for a long gun in their patrol cars, either, since they have a side arm.

 

[Inebriated]

But Inebriated, guns are only useful for fighting and killing as many innocent children as possible, there could never be any other use for a vehicle stored long gun aside from killing people, murder, mayhem, and leaving it unattended to arm your local street gang.

I suppose cops have no need for a long gun in their patrol cars, either, since they have a side arm.

Well, they're trained, so it's okay. Cops never have their guns stolen, because they're cops... duh!

I have a get-home bag in the back of my vehicle. With that, I occasionally keep an 870, in addition to my CCW. It gets bolted down to the vehicle, in a hidden area, partially disassembled, because I know that my chances of needing it in a hurry is very, very low. No, I'm not going to "fight my way back to the vehicle" and grab my RPK... I AM, however, quite likely to end up stranded up in the mountains during an ice storm, or on the side of the highway at 3 am at some point in my life. Telekinesis also brought up a great point about your vehicle being inoperable, but accessible in cases similar to riots.

 

[jlucke69]

Simply put, I am glad I live where I do. The concept of a truck gun for me is a 22 in case I get a last minute opportunity to take the boys out shooting.

Standing by your vehicle with a semi-auto rifle tells me that you do not want me to stop and help you if you are stranded.

 

[powder]

Mine is an old S&W 12 ga. someone local was dumping on Armslist: $150. Loaded with slugs, everything that needs to be greased is well greased, rotate out ammo every Spring/Fall at the range. It's fun.

Not sure what the big deal is HERE, people telling others they don't NEED a long gun in their vehicles? :banghead:

 

[torqem]

Who said that you are going to be holding a longarm when you need help with a mechanical problem? The issue, really, is some gang stuff like that Asian with the motorcyclists, or a pair like Platt and Matix, killing people just to take their car. Or somebody like Dormer or many others, fleeing from the cops. You BET there's times when you want an sks, rather than just the pistol. The pistol is to slow them down enough to let you break out a real fighting gun.

I am very much opposed to the idea of big, heavy guns and loads for the on-foot scenario. But when a vehicle is lugging it for you, why not have the additional power, penetration and so on? A shotgun is very limited for such work. So is the 223, really. Steel cored .30 AK rds penetrate cars very well. Everything, that is, but the engine block/head.

In some circumstances, on private land, (long access lanes) or public land, it's perfectly legal to fire at game, in seaon and licensed, either from the vehicle, or by walking a few yds from the vehicle. The chance to harvest an elk, bear, or moose is quite real, for millions of people. That's 2-4k $ worth of meat standing there.

 

[mac66]

Not sure the purpose of a truck gun is necessarily to get into a gun fight with it. Where I live you simply never know when/if you need to shoot a deer that was hit by a car, do some bird or bunny hunting or run across Sasquatch or space aliens. It is kind of the "the things you see when you don't have a gun" type thing. You just never know.

 

[we are not amused]

Not sure the purpose of a truck gun is necessarily to get into a gun fight with it. Where I live you simply never know when/if you need to shoot a deer that was hit by a car, do some bird or bunny hunting or run across Sasquatch or space aliens. It is kind of the "the things you see when you don't have a gun" type thing. You just never know.

What you said!

My self defense gun is what I carry! Although I often carry a second larger caliber pistol with me in the center console or a seat holster.

What I consider a truck or trunk gun is a rifle or shot gun that is in the vehicle for those emergencies such as you mentioned, although I have yet to see Big Foot or space aliens!

While I don't yet own one, I would consider an AR-7 by Henry rifles to be a good truck gun, or perhaps a pump shot gun in 12 or 20 ga.

 

[Sam1911]

I understand the truck/trunk situation because if I somehow end up in a fire fight where I have to defend myself back to my car for possible cover it might just be shot up enough it will not run. With a flat tire the car is still drive able but a stray round into the computer (Brain Box) and it is a no go situation and whatever person or group you pissed off are still coming.

Did he just say, "fire fight?"

This is no different than the police that carry a truck/trunk gun. It is an insurance policy and only to be used in an extreme emergency and when you have no other choice.

This is completely mistaking the role of a long-gun for police use. They do NOT carry a rifle or shotgun because they might get chased back to their stalled out patrol cars and fight their way back to their rifle to defend themselves in a "fire fight." They have those long guns because they have a DUTY to go into very hostile situations -- to choose that firearm ahead of time and carry it INTO a situation where a non-sworn citizen would have no justification to go -- to bring overwhelming firepower to bear in subduing and apprehending felons.

A cop's sidearm is for defensive purposes, primarily. (Well, actually it is part of his badge of authority, but that's a larger issue.) The long guns in his cruiser are not and do not help bolster the idea of a "truck gun."

 

[Sam1911]

I typed out a long explanation of why, but I think it is redundant. I'll just say put me down in the "nope" category.

If you've got a farm or ranch truck that stays parked on your property and you get regular occasional shots at small game and varmints -- sure, keep a truck gun.

If you're Joe Suburbia or an urban sort, or even an average rural guy, the detriments of keeping a firearm in your car or truck -- while you are not in it -- are far greater than any realistic benefit. (Leaving out unavoidable situations like parking outside of legally-required gun-free-zones. Which is an argument against THEM. Certainly not for truck guns.)

I won't get into "responsibility" (as it makes some of my pals here nervous) but I will not have a gun stolen out of my vehicle. Cars and trucks simply are THEFT MAGNETS and there's very little a thief would be happier to find than a nice juicy firearm. And there's pretty much nothing I'd prefer to see him take LESS than a firearm.

If you have some realistic situation where you may have a need for a long gun on any given random day (maybe you're a trucker on the Dalton Highway?), fine. You know your risks and hopefully have a realistic strategy planned out for using it. If you occasionally pass someplace that might leave you stranded and at risk of attack (maybe you do back-county exploring in Yuma County, Arizona?) great. Pack a rifle when you go. No need to leave it in the truck every day when you're at your job in downtown Phoenix.

You work in Atlanta and are afraid of snow and mobs? Look...get some realistic advice and maybe training on risk avoidance. Assuming that, since you keep a shotgun stored in your car trunk...wherever you parked... you're safer from a mob if caught out downtown (I mean, really? How do you see this even happening?) just doesn't make much sense.

 

[beeenbag]

I understand the truck/trunk situation because if I somehow end up in a fire fight where I have to defend myself back to my car for possible cover it might just be shot up enough it will not run. With a flat tire the car is still drive able but a stray round into the computer (Brain Box) and it is a no go situation and whatever person or group you pissed off are still coming.

So your justification for keeping a gun unattended in your vehicle is because you don't want to risk a mafia style attack in which they rendered your vehicle unusable before or during their assault on you, in which situation, you are able to hold them off and make it back to your shot up vehicle?

 

[Telekinesis]

You work in Atlanta and are afraid of snow and mobs? Look...get some realistic advice and maybe training on risk avoidance. Assuming that, since you keep a shotgun stored in your car trunk...wherever you parked... you're safer from a mob if caught out downtown (I mean, really? How do you see this even happening?) just doesn't make much sense.

I assume this was directed at me because of the Atlanta, snow, and riot comments?

To summarize my post, I basically wrote "hey, there are times when you can get to your car, but your car can't get you home. Here is a recent example of something nonapocolyptic where that happened."

Nowhere in that did I say I was afraid of snow or mobs. Nor did I say that I wished I had a gun while I was stuck downtown last week. Hell I don't even have a trunk gun except for those all too few times I get to go to the range and my guns just happen to be in my trunk for the ride over.

 

[torqem]

if you get a folding stocked, short barrel model, or one that takes down and reassembles quickly, you can have a cache in a vehicle that makes that longarm unfindable, unless you take the vehicle apart, like a search for dope. Thick-walled steel boxes, with a security padlock, are highly likely to suffice. Even a hardened cable or small chain thru the trigger guard will deter quite a few thieves. Longarms don't sell particularly well to criminals, anyway, you see. The pistol should stay on your person. So the theft "worry" is mostly just about your being too lazy/cheap to properly stow the gun in your vehicle.

 

[Sam1911]

I assume this was directed at me because of the Atlanta, snow, and riot comments?

Actually, no. Not really. Though your post did prompt the example.

We've had this discussion here so many times that there is a common trope about mobs and cities. Seems anytime we discuss the "why" of a truck gun, someone will say, "Well, I might get stuck in the city during a mob/riot post-Katrina, superbowl win/loss party, Obama victory celebration (or whatever else). And that is supposed to be the answer as to "why?" It isn't an answer to "why." It's the plot of a bad movie that doesn't make much sense.

 

[bullseyebob47]

well im gonna keep a long gun in my truck no matter what anyone says. this topic wasn't about opinions if i should or not but i guess i can give my reasons.

my cousin is in law enforcement. he told me about several times when a cop unloads a pistol mag at very close range and gets one hit. sometimes no hits. its stressful and not relaxing like at the shooting range. i admit i don't see how i could miss a man size target at 5 or 10 feet with a handgun. i never been in a gun fight and i want the tool that gives me the best chance to survive. thats a long gun if at all possible.

that youtube video of that drunk killing a cop with a m1 carbine also influenced me.

right now i have the mossberg 20" with federal tactical flite control 00 buck. that gun and that load will put all pellets on a poster board at 50 yards. it stays on the passenger seat with a wool blanket over it. i can get it real quick.

never seen rust on the gun. i do ballistol it every couple months as well as shoot it. 0 problems. the gun never rusted shut. the powder burns fine and the shells function perfectly. been in the truck a few years now. i will pay closer attention to the shape of the shells just in case. and i always make sure the chamber is soaked with ballistol.

i also found some buckshot under the seat that been there for at least 5 years. shot some and they kicked every bit as much as new born buckshot. made a big whole in the dirt too. im not convinced of heat degrading ammo.

 

[torqem]

And Dornier, Platt, and dozens of others never happened, and we are just supposed to live or die with nothing more than our pistols, right? What ever happened to the right to keep and bear arms with you guys?

 

[Fiv3r]

I keep a Type 53 in mine. It was cheap, rugged, and if the Mosin design can handle Russian winters, it can handle the Indiana mugginess and (usually) mild winters just fine. I spent about $100 on the rifle and a box of 20 soft tip cartridges. I just keep the Naugahyde ammo pouch that came with my 91/31 stuffed full and laying next to the gun which is stored in a cheap gun sock with a couple of silica packs tossed in there for good measure.

I keep it in my work truck because my truck is sort of my mobile BOB. I travel to a lot of rural parts of Indiana and Kentucky. I go there in my truck, so my "bag" consists of everything I can keep stored in the hollow compartments under my back seat. Having a potent rifle that doesn't take up any extra room just makes sense. It just compliments my first aid kit, emergency blanket, canteen, back up multi tool, etc. While I don't think I would immediately draw out my rifle if I break down after dark in the middle of cornfield, it would certainly make me feel better knowing I have that big hunk of wood and steel to back up my 9/.40/.45

We also take a lot of impromptu trips down to my step dad's cabin. He's not a gun guy at all and doesn't own one. If we go during the off season, there are a lot of shady folks poking around looking for cabins not buttoned up tight. 99/100 whatever pistol on my hip is going to do the job of defending my family...but having that rifle available isn't a bad thing.

There are also times when I visit friends from out of state. My handgun license is not acknowledged there but their laws allow rifles and shotguns to be transported in the vehicle. While pulling out a Soviet Flamethrower would not be my first choice in an emergency, if it's all I can have I would much rather have it than not.

I see no more risk of keeping a rifle in my truck full time (which is kept either locked in my garage at night or literally within eyesight from my office window at work) than I do with locking my carry piece up in my console nano safe when I enter buildings where firearms are not allowed.

 

[Telekinesis]

I assume this was directed at me because of the Atlanta, snow, and riot comments?

Actually, no. Not really.

Wait, you mean to tell me that the world actually DOESN'T revolve around me?!



My bad, I saw that paragraph and thought you were singling out my post.

 

[rbernie]

I have, on occasion and for reasons evidently best kept to myself, kept a 12ga semiauto shotgun and/or a semiauto rifle and/or a handgun in a car for some period of time during the Texas summer. I generally shot those guns regularly enough such that thermal degredation of the ammo was largely a non-issue. Had I needed to use any of those guns for social purposes, I would have had no concerns about the legalities or functionality of that kit. Given my experiences, I think that managing a truck/trunk gun such that it's reliable and useful is an eminently do-able thing.

If I felt compelled to have something in the car specifically for social purposes, it would probably be a shotgun of whatever flavor I am most proficient in using. Keeping it unloaded but with ammo handy would seem to minimize the effects of heat and magazine tube spring pressure deforming the hulls, as would using the ammo regularly.

 

[Sam1911]

well im gonna keep a long gun in my truck no matter what anyone says.

Well, that's how most good decisions are made.

my cousin is in law enforcement. he told me about several times when a cop unloads a pistol mag at very close range and gets one hit. sometimes no hits. its stressful and not relaxing like at the shooting range. i admit i don't see how i could miss a man size target at 5 or 10 feet with a handgun.

Yes, it does happen. One of the reasons it happens is that violent encounters happen VERY FAST. Very unexpectedly (to the victim). A rifle or shotgun doesn't fit into that picture. Unless you're going to get a cruiser rack and carry that shotgun right up by the driver's seat...

"Excuse me, Mr. Bad Guy, but if you don't mind giving me a moment, I have an appropriate response in the trunk. Just let me step back for a moment and retrieve it. A thousand pardons...."

i never been in a gun fight and i want the tool that gives me the best chance to survive. thats a long gun if at all possible.

So, then you won't be carrying a handgun, you'll be carrying the rifle or shotgun instead? Do you have a good holster for it? Realistically you're only going to defend yourself with the gun you actually have with you. So you'd better plan to go about your day with a long-gun on your body.

Even if attacked in your car, you aren't going to bring a long-gun into play.

that youtube video of that drunk killing a cop with a m1 carbine also influenced me.

There are some really important lessons to be learned from that awful video. You may note that what gun the cop had wasn't one of them. Shooting at the appropriate moment was one of the more obvious lessons. In fact, "more firepower" is an odd choice of take-away messages from that video. The cop had perfectly adequate weapon(s) at his disposal, and in fact probably even had time to retrieve a long-gun if he had understood the situation fully, in time.

it stays on the passenger seat with a wool blanket over it. i can get it real quick.

You drive around with a loose shotgun under a blanket on your seat? Oh kay. (Not a good idea to have an unsecured several-pound chunk of metal in the car. You're much more likely to have a serious auto wreck than a car-jacking or other violent encounter and that thing very well could seriously injure you or your passengers flying around the cab.)

Have you ever tried to fire a shotgun from inside a vehicle? Have you ever tried to engage a car-jacker at your window with a pump-shotgun? It's a scene worth watching over and over if you can get a video. This is one of the reasons we tell people repeatedly that they need realistic self-defense training. Some of the basic principles of fighting with a firearm, in daily life scenarios, appear to be very difficult for people to intuitively grasp.

I'm sure you'll keep on doing whatever you want to do because you're sure it is the choice you want to make. That's fine. My comments here are provided for the benefit of others reading who might be trying to consider realistic defense strategies in and around their vehicles.

 

[Edventures]

" This is one of the reasons we tell people repeatedly that they need realistic self-defense training".

well said SAM1911.

The problem with scenarios is everytime you think you have it all figured out,
your wrong.