What do you consider to be the perfect "truck gun"?

[improperlyaged]

I have carried a firearm in every vehicle I have owned. Just wondering what you all think is the perfect truck gun and what criteria you use for that decision.

My criteria
-must be something I won't cry over if its lost or stolen
-must be a common caliber so I can pick up ammo at Wal-Mart
-more than a single shot
-powerful enough to handle most common threats (around here that's snakes and wild dogs, maybe a 2 legged critter)
-something I didn't pay much money on
-must be dead reliable

Right now my truck gun is a .22 magnum Heritage Rough Rider, over the years its been a few pump 12's and I just got this to put in there next to the Rough Rider. It only cost me 90 bucks, I keep it loaded with Winchester Super X slugs.

 

[MartinS]

...and something one can wield and fire whilst still behind the wheel, since it is a truck gun.

 

[X-Rap]

Scoped AR in a Carbine/M4 configuration.

 

[MtnCreek]

M4 look-a-like. IMHO, don't look at it as a replacement for a sidearm, just a different tool for different tasks.

 

[19-3Ben]

I'd go with an inexpensive, utilitarian, basic 12ga pump.

I no longer keep a gun in my car, BUT if i did, and I were looking for a dedicated "truck gun" i'd head to the LGS and look for a Mossberg 500/maverick, Rem 870, Winchester 1200/1300, etc... with the most cosmetic screwiness I could find. I'd want it ugly, so I can get it cheap, but still need 100% function. So ugly, but mechanically perfect.

Heck I think there's a strong argument to get even cheaper guns than the one mentioned. Montgomery Ward, J.C. Higgins, Western Auto, Coast to Coast, etc... all represent a great value when you consider that you can buy them for next to nothing, and they tend to be pretty darn good.

I'd clean it, test fire, and load it up.

 

[X-Rap]

My second choice would probably be a scoped 10-22 with a folding stock.
Around the place I often use mine to keep the rock squirrels in check and have to shoot around buildings and other equipment so accuracy in a smaller caliber is very desirable as well as being compact.
I keep the AR or 10-22 in the truck almost constantly and they transition to an ATV when needed.

 

[WestKentucky]

You hit the criteria pretty good. Accurate enough to get a rabbit at 30yds is one of my criteria too just in case I'm getting hungry. I stay low on power too so 22lr is enough. My current truck gun is a marlin 60 beater that I got free as a parts gun and put a $15 stock on.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

Well My choice is miles different from yours but you asked so... a Rem 700 in .300 Wby. I bought it for $300 off a grocery store bulletin board. It is without question the ugliest gun I own-the barrel appears to have been finished in some sort of roof tar-but I see a wolf 400 yards off on a river bar, it's mine.

 

[Reinz]

For me it's a polymer big bore pistol.

That way my heart won't break if it is stolen.

(I have no emotional attachment to plastic guns, even though I own several Glocks and XD's.)

 

[RevDerb]

A loaded long gun (rifle or shotgun) in a vehicle is a no go in Michigan so I guess that I'll have to go with an S&W 500.

 

[NOMI WASP]

I'm cheap and don't want to lose anything nice. I keep an old Rossi 38 special in between the seats. I have often thought about putting my mossberg 500 tactical under the back bench seat, but thought I don't want to lose it and really I'm just keeping something in the truck for the days I'm going to work and can't carry my g19 on person.

 

[X-Rap]

OP,
Your going to get a lot of different opinions due to geographic locations, as Jim pointed out, he likes a 300 to take down that wolf at 400 and I'll ad has much bigger predators to deal with than most of us while I live in the open west and need to be able to pop a coyote out the window at times or take the head off a grouse for lunch. Other areas will prefer a shotgun or handgun for various reasons.

 

[dmurdach]

hi point 45 carbine

I keep a hipoint carbine in 45 locked in the box in my truck. Not to expensive, rugged, has never had a malfunction, if it does get knocked around Hi Point will likely fix it at little or no cost, accurate enough to 100 yds(here in Illinois I dont see any need to suddenly need to reach out any farther), and I can carry extra ammo that will also fit my carry gun.

 

[BigBL87]

I keep a hipoint carbine in 45 locked in the box in my truck. Not to expensive, rugged, has never had a malfunction, if it does get knocked around Hi Point will likely fix it at little or no cost, accurate enough to 100 yds(here in Illinois I dont see any need to suddenly need to reach out any farther), and I can carry extra ammo that will also fit my carry gun.

This was my first thought. I'd go 9mm for cost of ammo but other than that dead on. I've kinda been throwing around the idea of a Hi Point carbine over a semi 22 for the last spot in my long gun safe, have a Savage Mark II for cheap plinking so don't really NEED another 22, and a Hi Point carbine would be easier for my wife to use than the shotgun or handgun in a home defense situation.

 

[MountainBear]

03a3 scout rifle. 18" barrel, laminate stock, forward scope, and iron sights. Unlike a .22lr, I can still find .30-06 at Wal-Mart if necessary...

 

[Panzerschwein]

Stoeger coach gun.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

OP,
Your going to get a lot of different opinions due to geographic locations, as Jim pointed out, he likes a 300 to take down that wolf at 400 and I'll ad has much bigger predators to deal with than most of us while I live in the open west and need to be able to pop a coyote out the window at times or take the head off a grouse for lunch. Other areas will prefer a shotgun or handgun for various reasons.

Yup spot on with that one. Bears are open year round here. Never know when I'm going to spot one. So I carry "enough gun" No harm in it.

 

[burrhead]

Glock 21

 

[Dr.Rob]

30-30 Made by Mariln for Sears or Glenfield. It might not be pretty but it will work.

 

[MtnCreek]

Every time someone mentions the Hi-Point carbine it makes me wish I had kept mine. Ugly, felt cheap and had a strange recoil, but a neat little carbine. Mine was 9mm.

 

[Robbins290]

Hipoint or ak47 pistol

 

[Walkalong]

Anything that will go bang every time, is reasonable accurate, and you don't mind getting beat up.

 

[CZ223]

A 22 wouldn't be my choice but

if it is yours I don't think you can go wrong with a 10-22. The take down model or one with a folding stock might make it ideal as a truck gun. There are so many aftermarket parts out there that you can customize it as you like plus there are lots of high cap mags available.
Unlike a lot of people who you will undoubtedly hear from I keep guns in my vehicles all the time. I will not let the cost of a gun dictate what I carry either in my vehicle or on my person. Reliability is my only consideration when choosing a weapon. If it gets dinged up, oh well. If it gets stolen, from my locked vehicle, oh well. I always have a loaded Glock 23 with 4 spare mags in a small bag in my vehicle. I almost always have an AR-15 with 3-5 loaded mags in the vehicle as well. In addition, I always have a 1911 and 2 spare mags on my person, always.
If I were to choose a long gun for the ideal Truck gun I think it would be one of the following 3 in this order.
1) Mini 14 with folding stock
2) AK with folding stock
3) Hi-point carbine 4095 40 Smith and Wesson.
As for the ideal pistol, I think I already have it, the Glock 23.

 

[scotjute]

Remington 20 gage pump. Lightweight and yet fairly powerfull.

 

[Cee Zee]

We can't carry a long gun loaded in the car in Ohio so that leaves us with handguns. I like having something that will knock down any problem I might encounter. So I often take my S&W 629 .44 magnum revolver. It will deal with the bears I might encounter on the farm or in my yard.