UK Legal SHTF Rifle

[KC&97TA]

Buy a plane ticket from the U.K to Tijuana. Then paint your skin a few darker shades, buy a fake U.S. Drivers license and Passport for $100 and cross into America.

You can now buy all the guns you want. Just remember, Speak-o English-o in the Gunshop-o.

Just make sure you go into Arizona and not California, Cali gun laws are bad but not as bad as the UK.

It's too bad there isn't a lever gun that takes M16 or AK mags... the first thought I had was Remmingtons .223 pump riot rifle, I guess that's out of the question.

I've seen several right handers buying left hand bolt guns, so they can cycle the bolt with thier off hand and get quick shots back in, but it seems to be the Lever is your best choice. 30-30 is a good choice, too bad you can't get a pistol, then haveing the same caliber for rifle and pistol becomes a good choice.

 

[No_Brakes23]

1894 Marlin in .44 special/.44mag

10 shots, probably the quickest and highest capacity for the UK rules.

 

[Diomed]

Ishy 2A or 2A1. You can have those, right? Hard to beat twelve rounds rapid, with a bayonet mount besides. I doubt anyone would consider 7.62 NATO underpowered, either.

 

[Fosbery]

Firstly, to answer some questions:

Modern military ammunition (and guns chambered in it) is perfectly legal, the law makes no distinction between, say, .30-30, and 5.56mm Nato. Anqique rifles are always considered firearms even if they're obsolete, unlike shotguns and muzzle loaders.

Pistol ammunition is legal. It can be used in pistol caliber carbines like leverguns and the Armalon PC (pistol caliber) Enfields (and even if it couldn't, there is no law banning it).

I don't have a specific budget, name anything you like really.

A straight-pull AR is an AR with the gas system removed so you pull the bolt handle before each shot.

A rifle must have a barrel at least 30cm in length, and must be at least 60cm in overall length.

Silencers are un-restricted if they are integral (like on the De Lisle carbine). If they are readily detachable, you need 'good reason' to have one. However, my local police force (who handle the lisencing of firearms in my area) are very lax compared to some so it's not at all hard to get silencers.

A crank trigger would be illegal because of the wording of the law regarding full autos. A semi-auto American 180 or Calico would be legal, however.

Theoretically, you can own an AR upper with the gas system (from a special UK legal single-shot, auto-ejecting AR), and the AR lower from a straight pull rifle. You could put the two together when the SHTF. But I want a finished rifle which is UK legal, not something I have to break the law to complete.

The most common pistol calibers would be .38 special and .357 magnum.

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Ok, with that out of the way:

I already have a Marlin 1894C in .357 magnum (with an Eotech and Surefire ).

I was wanting something with more range really, something in a proper rifle caliber.

Enfield would be good, but I'm suprised nobody is thinking something more modern, like an Armalon PR. Not really looked at the Steyr Scourt. Is it a removable magazine? What capacity? How comfortable is it to shoot (looks a bit short and light)?

Yes, KC&97TA, my perfect rifle would be a 5.56mm levergun that took M16 mags but I don't believe one exists

 

[ugaarguy]

I found it

Fosberry, the BLR - Browning Lever Rifle is available in proper rifle calibers from 22-250 on up including 308 & 358 Win, 30-06, 450 Marlin, and even 325 WSM. Sadly, no 223, but it does use detachable mags! http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/category.asp?value=003B

Edit: Between the FAL/L1A1, HK G3/Cetme, M14, AR10, and the other 308 Win/7.62 NATO rifles I would think that a good smith could find mags from one of them that the BLR could be modified/adapted to fit without too much work.

 

[Fosbery]

How many rounds does a .308 mag for the BLR hold?

 

[ugaarguy]

Capacity is only 4 in the mag on the BLR, but at least it gives you quick action cycling and detachable mags.

 

[Boom-stick]

What about a SGC LA30?

http://www.southern-gun.co.uk/rifle.php?itemid=33
A bit pricey (£1400!!!!)but if you use the larger mags for .308win bullets in the .30cal cases it can really 'reach' out there?

 

[Beemerguy53]

Fosbery, to answer your questions about the Steyr Scout:

It has a five-round detachable box magazine standard, with a ten-round magazine kit optional. (The ten-round kit is expensive, however.) You can insert the magazine without seating it fully, thereby allowing you to load and fire single shots while keeping the magazine's five rounds in reserve. A spare loaded magazine is stored in the rifle's buttstock. Changing mags and charging them is very easy.

The Scout comes with three buttstock spacers, and it is well-padded. The stock design is very ergonomic, so yes, though it is indeed short and light, it is actually very comfortable to shoot, and very easy to shoot well. It is also -- and this is important too -- very comfortable to carry.

The trigger is light and crisp, just perfect really. The Ching sling concept is very effective. The Leupold Scout Scope works quite well. (I must say that for target work the crosshairs are a bit thick, though for any sort of "serious" shooting they are exactly what you would want.) The Scout is amazingly accurate, shot after shot, especially remarkable when one considers the thin barrel. With the right ammunition -- mine prefers Federal 168 grain Gold Medal BTHP -- it will easily shoot MOA groups all day long.

When Jeff Cooper created the Scout, he wanted a true do-it-all rifle, the one weapon a man could own for hunting, recreational shooting, or SHTF scenarios. Having had mine for several years, I can attest that it is indeed the best all-around rifle I own. I love my Garand, my M1-A, my AR15, my Winchester 94, and my Enfields, but the one rifle I would take in a SHTF situation would be my Steyr Scout.