the naked prophet
Member
The wife and I are considering putting a rifle in our trunks as a final element to add to our "trunk kits" which contain food, first aid kit, basic survival tools (rope, hatchet, tarp) etc. This rifle is the last thing on the list, as it is the most expensive and least likely to be necessary. However, I like to get started shopping now, so...
This rifle would be used as a general-purpose car-rifle. Maybe it might be needed if there's an unforseen disaster or riot when we're out of town, or a sniper on campus (I could get my own rifle from my car) or some other situation where I might need to reach out and touch someone (like, I dunno, a whacko shooting up a courthouse) with a little more oomph than the pistol which I am assumed to be carrying. Or maybe to hunt game if stranded somewhere and unable to get to civilization for a week (although thinking about getting a couple of Cricket .22 rifles at $95 each with a box or three of subsonic ammo for squirrels and rabbits, in addition to the "fighting" rifle).
The ideal rifle must be powerful enough to get through a car door (so .223 may possibly be included, but as a bare minimum - no pistol-caliber carbines) and soft body armor (see Tyler Courthouse Shooting), easy enough to use that both my wife and I can practice with them, reliable and durable enough that we can oil them up really good and stick them in the trunk with minimal padding/packaging and still count on them to go boom when required, accurate enough to hit a man-sized target at 100 yards, cheap enough that we can buy one for each car and if one gets stolen, we won't be out too awful much money, and use cheap enough ammo that we can keep 100-200 rounds with the rifle (I was gonna say 50-100 but the wife insists on 200!). Ideally, it would also be 50-states legal (but we could easily avoid the commie states), assuming the ammo was locked up separately from the rifle (which would be cable-locked to the frame of the car with actually nice cable locks - not Wal-Mart bike locks). This rifle must also either use commonly-available detachable magazines (such as AK or AR mags, FAL mags, etc) or load with stripper clips - lever action guns excepted.
My first thought was an SKS, since I've already got a good deal of 7.62x39, but I can't find those for under $200 anywhere, and for two cars that's not chump change. For not much more than that, I could get a WASR-2 AK clone in 5.45x39 which is dirt cheap and probably save money in the long run over the SKS. Not exactly super powerful, but the FMJ should get through a car door, right?
I'm sure if I keep looking around I can find a couple of .30-30 lever action rifles, but that can only be used with round nose bullets, and the ammo isn't exactly cheap. I worry about the ability of soft-point ammo to penetrate a car door. I'm sure it would be okay out to 100 yards, but I know with a more accurate rifle/pointy bullet, I could do okay out to 300 or so.
Then there's the Mosin-Nagant for around $70-80. I had one before, couldn't get better than 18-20 inch groups at 25 yards. The M44 carbine kicked like a mule, bruising my shoulder with only a few shots. I know my wife won't fire one of those, but the longer 91/30 version isn't supposed to have as much recoil or blast, but they can only be had in "corrosive ammunition was used for a lifetime, don't expect a good bore" condition, whereas the M44 and 1938 come in "very good" or "excellent" conditions (the short ones with more recoil that I won't buy). [edit - she says no mosins]
There's the Kel-Tec folding SU-16 rifles, but then again for around half the price at $300 I could get the WASR-2, though that's more than I'd rather spend - that would be the rifle I'd pick if I can't find any SKS under $150 and a cheap reliable milsurp bolt-action rifle isn't forthcoming. If I could find a pair of SKSs for $300 total, I'd be happy.
Others have suggested a K98, but I think the 8mm might be too much for my wife.
Any other ideas?
This rifle would be used as a general-purpose car-rifle. Maybe it might be needed if there's an unforseen disaster or riot when we're out of town, or a sniper on campus (I could get my own rifle from my car) or some other situation where I might need to reach out and touch someone (like, I dunno, a whacko shooting up a courthouse) with a little more oomph than the pistol which I am assumed to be carrying. Or maybe to hunt game if stranded somewhere and unable to get to civilization for a week (although thinking about getting a couple of Cricket .22 rifles at $95 each with a box or three of subsonic ammo for squirrels and rabbits, in addition to the "fighting" rifle).
The ideal rifle must be powerful enough to get through a car door (so .223 may possibly be included, but as a bare minimum - no pistol-caliber carbines) and soft body armor (see Tyler Courthouse Shooting), easy enough to use that both my wife and I can practice with them, reliable and durable enough that we can oil them up really good and stick them in the trunk with minimal padding/packaging and still count on them to go boom when required, accurate enough to hit a man-sized target at 100 yards, cheap enough that we can buy one for each car and if one gets stolen, we won't be out too awful much money, and use cheap enough ammo that we can keep 100-200 rounds with the rifle (I was gonna say 50-100 but the wife insists on 200!). Ideally, it would also be 50-states legal (but we could easily avoid the commie states), assuming the ammo was locked up separately from the rifle (which would be cable-locked to the frame of the car with actually nice cable locks - not Wal-Mart bike locks). This rifle must also either use commonly-available detachable magazines (such as AK or AR mags, FAL mags, etc) or load with stripper clips - lever action guns excepted.
My first thought was an SKS, since I've already got a good deal of 7.62x39, but I can't find those for under $200 anywhere, and for two cars that's not chump change. For not much more than that, I could get a WASR-2 AK clone in 5.45x39 which is dirt cheap and probably save money in the long run over the SKS. Not exactly super powerful, but the FMJ should get through a car door, right?
I'm sure if I keep looking around I can find a couple of .30-30 lever action rifles, but that can only be used with round nose bullets, and the ammo isn't exactly cheap. I worry about the ability of soft-point ammo to penetrate a car door. I'm sure it would be okay out to 100 yards, but I know with a more accurate rifle/pointy bullet, I could do okay out to 300 or so.
Then there's the Mosin-Nagant for around $70-80. I had one before, couldn't get better than 18-20 inch groups at 25 yards. The M44 carbine kicked like a mule, bruising my shoulder with only a few shots. I know my wife won't fire one of those, but the longer 91/30 version isn't supposed to have as much recoil or blast, but they can only be had in "corrosive ammunition was used for a lifetime, don't expect a good bore" condition, whereas the M44 and 1938 come in "very good" or "excellent" conditions (the short ones with more recoil that I won't buy). [edit - she says no mosins]
There's the Kel-Tec folding SU-16 rifles, but then again for around half the price at $300 I could get the WASR-2, though that's more than I'd rather spend - that would be the rifle I'd pick if I can't find any SKS under $150 and a cheap reliable milsurp bolt-action rifle isn't forthcoming. If I could find a pair of SKSs for $300 total, I'd be happy.
Others have suggested a K98, but I think the 8mm might be too much for my wife.
Any other ideas?
