Posted on 10/27/2015 9:17:30 AM PDT by w1n1
The AK family of weapons is reliable and rugged. It was designed to be operated by illiterate teenage conscripts with little to no training. It was never intended to protect a family after a natural disaster and is ill suited to that purpose. If the answer comes down to supportability and simplicity, you need a shotgun.
Everybody has their own ideas about guns, that is part of their charm. There are near-infinite combinations of precision, wounding potential, and magazine capacity. There is much opinion on this. I will give you mine. You are welcome to violently disagree; it is your God-given right.
I have been to some bad places around the world and have seen bad things happen. When I lived on the Gulf Coast, I went through the aftermath of several major hurricanes. I now live in a rural area and maintain a wide selection of weapons. When I hear a noise in the night, I grab the shotgun.
Simplicity
The AK was designed for wartime production. The elimination of a bolt hold-open feature saved three parts. In Soviet Russia, magazines are scarce and valuable, so you are driven to hold the magazine to work the flapper magazine release. This is meant to make you hold on to magazines rather than let them drop free, since it’ll be in your hand before you insert the next magazine. The sights require a tool to adjust. This keeps recruits from messing up the fine zero the factory armorers put on it.
Semiautomatic rifles have their place. In the proper hands, with quality ammo and parts, they can shoot a lot of rounds a long way. There is also a place for bolt guns, but the relatively slow rate of fire demands that they be employed with some stand-off. At distance, even a Lee-Enfield or Mosin-Nagant could be effective.
My vote for home protection? The all-American choice is the Remington 870. The pump shotgun is incredibly simple. The controls? A safety button and a pump. Work the pump and shoot. Got a jam? Work the pump and shoot. Repeat as necessary and reload. Read the rest of the shotgun story here.
Totally agree, but I like the 1100 a little better. Although the sound of racking the shotgun has been known to run off many toughs, I do not know if I want someone a little better trained to hear it and begin firing in that direction. And one pull on the trigger and hold can send a lot of pellets downrange.
Have another one on hand so your partner can be reloading the first.
I guess that's why I enjoy mine so much..
What about an old Greener?
Yes, we all have our opinions. A shot gun would be best to hold off a small crowd on your doorstep.
A rifle would be great for one or two targets several feet from the home plinking at you.
My all time favorite is the 40 cal pistols with the rail mounted spot light and laser dot. Once upon a time someone threatened my life and proved they could carry it out by illegally entering our home a few times while we were gone. The weapon I just described will blind a person with that little spot light while putting a red dot on the target. I practiced self defense scenarios just for this person with my XD40 and eventually felt very confident I’d be a winner. A scenario such as this is where you do not keep the gun locked in a safe or the phone handy to call the cops for protection.
Wow! What an understatement. You will never find more gun "experts" until you start talking about guns.
Black Aces Tactical Pro Series 5, when you absolutely positively have to kill every sucka in the room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgIi70yUK8s
That AK has been “TAPCO-F&$%#D”.
He forgot to mention, pumping an 870 in a dark room is one of the most frightening sounds on earth.
870 bump!
Also a Ruger 10/22 with scope.
Most urban shootings take place within say 50 feet, well within the stopping power range of a twelve gauge magnum. In addition, one does not kill ones neighbor. Too bad the “street sweeper” was outlawed.
“You will never find more gun “experts” until you start talking about guns.”
The testosterone on youtube can be quite overwhelming on the subject. When researching ARs prior to purchase it was unbelievable. lol. Wanna start a real argument? Start discussing 223 v/s 556. : )
Strange. Because practically everywhere in the world where S*&t HAS hit the fan, they drop everything and pick up an AK.
He’s absolutely right about choice of weapon for home defense.
No mention of the AR15?
Yeah, the AK is designed for “bottom of the barrel” expendables. Fine, dump it.
The AR15 isn’t - it’s designed for competent non-expendable operators able to afford cheap components like magazines.
AR15 vs shotgun?
30 vs 5-8 rounds.
Fast mass reload (push button (mag drops), insert mag, push button) vs individual loading (grab round, insert round, repeat 5-8 times).
Instant followup vs manual cycling.
Soft body armor penetration vs ...well, not.
Suppressable barrel vs no viable suppression.
Easy to carry more ammo vs ...well, not.
Shotguns are of course quite respectable for home defense.
Faced with the “brick wall effect” of capacity, I’d rather have 30 rounds loaded instead of 5-8, with another 30 easily shoved in a pocket and just as easily shoved in the mag well when needed.
Nice, but it is hard on the thumb after awhile. Can’t be too careful. I do have a breakaway .410 we use for snake shooting. The children love it.
I know. YOu don’t have to tell me! :)
“It was designed to be operated by illiterate teenage conscripts.”
I never learned to read or write Russian. So I bought a Chinese AK clone. The markings are in Engrish.
you may be illiterate, and you even might be a conscript, but you ain’t no teenager...
Them days are long gone, pardner! ;-)
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