What is a "Car Gun?"

[PegLegPeat]

.44 magnums make great car guns.
Everyone knows they "can pierce the engine block of a Buick." lol

I always bring a socket set when car hunting, so I can field dress and harvest the beast.
I hang trophy bumpers all over my garage.

I about choked on my soda pop when I read that. I will definately be using a variant of that story the next time someone asks about the license plates hanging on the walls of my garage.

 

[Big7]

Youth 870 20 ga. Express.. Short and sweet. Plenty of fodder..
Carry is PT-111 millennium pro. 9MM..
And the GP-100 will get me to my shotgun. Just sayin'

 

[Sundancer2004]

Hells Bells, as long as we're leaving firearms in vehicles unattended for criminal types to steal, thereby
providing fodder to the Anti Gun Crowd, might as well start driving armored vehicles

 

[Choctaw]

For goodness sake, don't arm a criminal by leaving your guns in an unattended vehicle. I realize carrying them into the office or Walmart may not be cool. However, when you get home at night take your firearms into the house with you. When I worked patrol I got sick and tired of listening to citizens reporting their guns needlessly stolen from their vehicles. If your gun is stolen, hopefully it won't be used against you.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

This is kind of a conundrum that may not have a solution.

1. If I need a car gun, I'm probably in a place where there is a good chance of the gun and/or the car being stolen if I leave it around.
2. If I am in the car when I need the car gun, there's a good chance I will need it much faster than I can reach it, especially if I have taken elementary precautions against #1.
3. The most physically convenient and powerful car gun would be a short-barreled rifle or shotgun, which brings NFA compliance issues and drastically increases the financial cost in the event of #1.
4. Leaving aside the ethical concerns of having a loaded firearm in a place where theft is highly possible, the most financially convenient car gun would be one that was inexpensive and wouldn't be missed. However, that means that it's also not likely to be a more effective weapon than the pistol I am already carrying.

So I guess when it comes down to it, if after considering all of the above, I was still set on getting a car gun, I'd have to say a Kel-Tec Sub-2000 or a Hi-Point 9mm carbine would probably be it.

 

[jmorris]

Hells Bells, as long as we're leaving firearms in vehicles unattended...

I didn't realize that was the topic when I posted.

 

[John Joseph]

How about a gun for shooting cars?
The .38 Super ACP and .357 Magnums were popular back when LEOs did that sort of stuff

 

[Jack B.]

Don't know . Never had to shoot a car before.

 

[jmorris]

How about a gun for shooting cars?

My 50 BMG, looks like a 45 ACP on the "in" hole and throws things it comes in contact with out the other side.

 

[tactikel]

Great risk of theft aside, if I were to pack a "car gun" (in addition to my CCW 9mm) it would be my KelTec SU-16C .223. It is 25.5" OAL, easy to fire from a vehicle, and accepts standard sized mags.
BTW my CCL only allows me to posess a loaded handgun (NOT a rifle) on or about my person.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Car or truck gun usually means a gun carried in a vehicle for self defense. Not necessarily left in the vehicle when at home.

My wife's uncle had a car gun which he carried in his glove box and took into his house when he got home.

On the other hand, a friend deployed to Afghanistan told me about using a .50 cal Barrett rifle to shoot a Taliban Technical (armed Toyota truck). Truck gun for shooting trucks.

 

[armoredman]

So maybe that is the purpose for a Mossberg Shockwave, the ultimate car gun that can be deployed inside the vehicle? Ouch, my ears.

 

[jmorris]

Ouch, my ears.

Pretty much anything fired inside a car is going to not be that great.

A suppressor and sticking the muzzle out the window is worth leaning across, if your shooting out the passenger side.

If I can turn the vehicle, I prefer to shoot out the drivers window, much more like just shooting outside.

Might be ill advised if your an "operator" or planning on shooting at someone shooting at you but I have never found myself in that situation.

 

[Sundancer2004]

I didn't realize that was the topic when I posted.

evolution applies to just about everything nowadays, perhaps if one feels the need for a "car gun" one should have an armored vehicle....

 

[coloradokevin]

Civil society has not yet deteriorated on my part of the Front Range to the point that I can envisage requiring a firearm and 100 rounds of ammo in my vehicle at all times. At the point where that would be required, I rather imagine armoring my vehicle would be nearly as important.

I agree. But, I did build an AR-15 specifically to serve as a truck gun when traveling, mostly to remote areas (built to be affordable and reliable).

I spend a lot of time camping in the mountains and desert, and have been doing so most of my life. There are a number a number of times over the years when I have either wanted or needed a gun. On the want side, it's often fun to plink while camping. On the need (or possible need) side I've encountered rough individuals or groups on occasion in areas where dealing with a problem yourself is the only option... fortunately these issues have been resolved non-violently in the past. I've also had occasions where it would have helped to put down wild animals that were injured on the road (my buddy hit a herd of deer with an F350 while coming around a turn in a Utah canyon about 15 years ago).

More than anything, I see a truck gun simply as a more capable implement of accomplishing exactly what my defensive CCW pistol is there to accomplish. But, like you, I don't see a need to have it in my vehicle at all times while driving around the Denver area! Stil, I figure that if I encounter a need for a gun in the backwoods areas, there's a strong possibility that a long gun would be the best tool to have at my disposal during such an event (whatever that might be).

 

[Hypnogator]

FWIW, my "Car Gun." 7.5" AR-15 pistol in .300 Blackout with Primary Arms red dot sight, offset BUIS, Viridian X5L laser/light.

 

[pharmer]

Car gun= $200 Model 67. Won't rust and 6 reasonably effective rounds. Joe

 

[Derek Zeanah]

I'm late to this, but I'll try and keep my response serious and on-topic.

I live in the country, and the most common use for a firearm would be putting down an injured animal.

Once upon a time I carried an AR and a Glock in the truck, with utility in mind. Then one day I got to thinking about it and decided that both of those also had a lot of utility for a thief - lots of bad things could be done with those by a guy with minimal training. So now I've got an inexpensive bolt-action .308 with an IER scope there. I'm not the most talented guy with a scout rifle, but I'm pretty sure I can make good use of it in the worst-case situations I think through, and a long, hard to conceal, bolt-action rifle isn't very useful for your average thug breaking into trucks looking for firearms.

It's a healthy compromise. I keep a small backpack in the truck box that has spare ammo. Beyond that it's on me to not go into places where I might need that stuff, but things seem to be getting a bit less orderly and predictable of late, so that's harder than it used to be.

 

[jmorris]

Then one day I got to thinking about it and decided that both of those also had a lot of utility for a thief - lots of bad things could be done with those by a guy with minimal training. So now I've got an inexpensive bolt-action .308 with an IER scope there.

Could a bad guy not do bad things with an inexpensive 308 or the automobile itself?

 

[Derek Zeanah]

Could a bad guy not do bad things with an inexpensive 308 or the automobile itself?

Of course. And the gasoline in the tank can do quite a bit of damage as well. The way I see it is that stereotypical bad guys are looking for something concealable, and something that's got a lot of firepower. A bolt-action rifle is neither of those things. A skilled man can do just about anything with one, but I'm assuming the sort of person breaking into cars is the sort of person to take short-cuts in life, and a Glock 17 or an AR or a Remington 1100 would be a lot more useful for the sorts of use-cases you'd think a street thug would be considering.

 

[Walkalong]

Car or truck gun usually means a gun carried in a vehicle for self defense. Not necessarily left in the vehicle when at home.

This. Mine comes in the house with me, where it becomes my house gun.