Posted on 02/28/2009 8:35:38 PM PST by mpstan
Hi all,
I'm researching AR 15s for the same reason most here are.... personal and home defense if things go to "mad max", and becuase I'm afraid that if I wait much longer I won't be able to get one.
Never owned one; right now I own a 12ga shotgun, 2 .270 deer rifles, and my favorite, a 6.5x55 Swede chambered Tikka deer rifle.
Because of my last selection, I started hand-loading. As far as AR-15s go, I'm thinking about the newer 6.8mm version, which should have better stopping power than a 5.56 but less recoil than an AR-10 with a .308.
If I'm not afraid to handload, are there other negatives to considering the 6.8mm?
Thanks!
Im looking at the Olympic Arms K30R - I had the Colt version years ago and like an idiot I sold it....both were chambered in the 7.62x39
When I was in Y2K mode, I decided to only buy firearms in calibers used by the military as I figured that resupply would be much easier in a real-life WTSHTF situation.
What he said.
I would go 5.56 (.223) or .308 if you want to reah out there into madmax land.
Big one. Availability of ammo and components. Go 5.56. More readily available.
5.56 or .308(7.62X51) Or both if you can afford it.
Take a look at the FNAR first.
AR-15’s are great weapons. However, since you are already armed it’s worth considering if you are overpreparing one angle at the expense of underpreparing for others.
First of all, keep in mind that no matter how bad things get, Mugabe is still in charge of Zimbabwe. Governments just won’t die on their own. There was no Weimar Revolution in Germany.
That being said, prepare first for the idea that a societal meltdown won’t happen. Good job/business, education, strong family ties, no debt, positive savings, etc.
Get into cash. Sell whatever you can. Drop your asking price to sell fast. And renting is better than owning during deflationary downturn panics.
With the basics covered, you need to be prepared for a short-term emergency like all banks being closed for an extended period of time. Do you have enough cash on hand if your ATM card won’t work for a month?
At the next level, can you survive inside your home without going to a public/government food/shelter depot if a hurricane/tornado/tsunami/volcano/avalanche/earthquake or other natural event renders all stores closed for a month?
You’ve got your meds? Water? Safe canned food (#10 cans keep food fresh for 25 years). A certain way to start a fire, even in the rain? Winter clothes?
Do you have a 72-hour “bug-out” bag to grab and run if a wildfire or medium-sized meteor puts your home in an unsafe region? Or a plague (e.g. terrorist infection in your area).
Does each member of your distributed family know how to call you if cell lines are working, and know where to meet up if they aren’t?
Do you have basic first aid available (painkillers, asprin, hydrogen peroxide, bandages) and know where to find a doctor/hospital?
Surviving for longer periods of time is an order of magnitude more difficult than preparing for any of the above...and most people won’t come close to having the water or cash handy to handle even expected outages of the comforts of civilization (e.g. sanitary).
A few tips if you are in a longer-term survival situation:
#1: avoid all contact, especially violent, with military and paramilitary groups. You won’t have the firepower of a Destroyer or B-2 bomber, and you won’t have acces to their level of medical care. You want to survive. This is not about starting or winning a war.
#2: stay put if you can. Once you leave you will become a forager, and that’s a very difficult way to survive.
#3: if you have to leave (e.g. to avoid contact with paramilitaries), then leave. F’in go! A stocked sailboat would be nice at that point. Go fishing. Come back when the crisis is over.
#4: announcements on loudspeakers, radio, TV, posters, and handouts, are not to be believed. But they’ll be out there.
This is important because in a desperate situation various bad actors will have incentive to tell you what you *want* to hear in order to manipulate your behavior.
Also, weapons, dogs, and body armor are great things...but they aren’t going to help you against paramilitaries and they won’t sanitize your hands before eating or after septic disposal.
Likewise, while a gun is nice (and better to have one than not), shooting a deer in a nation that is starving will bring *large* numbers of people toward what they hope will be a deer kill. Drawing attention to yourself by firing a weapon or turning on lights at night...perhaps even a campfire, may be contrary to improving your survival odds. This might be a great time to have a simple slingshot for squirrel hunting. Very quiet.
Now, just remember that the worst is unlikely to happen. Being prepared for the plethora of catastrophies that are possible is difficult. Moreover, you don’t want to scare yourself silly *or* become so invested in the mental idea of a crash/disaster that you begin *wishing* for it.
It’s unlikely to happen. Many a 1980’s “Reagan nuclear war” survivalist wound up disappointed. So too did the Y2K nuts (e.e. World Nut Daily).
What’s more likely is higher unemployment, limited riots/arson attacks near colleges and ghettos, and some inconvenient bank failures that tie up some access to capital.
You might also consider some redneck car armor for your family/commuter vehicle. Used police surplus ballistic body armor panels (soft armor) can be found online for as little as $25 each. Stuff them behind your door and rear hatch interior panels, plus in front/under your driver instrument cluster pod.
Lower your windows on your doors, remove your interior panels, and insert old phone books. Duck tape them out of the way of the glass windows and electric window motors. This can be done by an amatuer with as little as 1 hour of your time per door.
Lighter calibers of street-thug firearms such as .22, .38, and 410 shotguns won’t penetrate into your interior through your metal outer door panels plus through phone books.
This is a very quick and inexpensive way to help protect your family from small domestic riots where some bad actor in the crowd is likely to have a small pistol.
You can do the above without even alarming your family that an elevated level of threat exists. The windows will still work, after all.
You aren’t Rambo. You aren’t going to be machine-gunning down whole crowds of rioters before one of them can shoot your car from behind or from the side. A little armor can thereby improve your daily sense of security without running up a big bill.
Obviously the above is worthless against more powerful handguns, but a rioter is less likely to be carrying around heavy artillery without being picked off by whatever police/national guard forces are still in existence.
Good point !
darn, that’s big.
There is a hell of a lot more .223 ammo around than 6.8mm. You already have three weapons that will reach out and touch someone long distance. Call up your local sporting goods shop and ask them if they have any 6.8 in stock and if they do not when will they get it in stock?
Sound advice. Even if you do all this and nothing happens, you are still prepared and way ahead of the game.
That’s actual size!
LOL
Some good advice there. Thanks.
But I already bought the AR-15 anyway. :)
I love the armor for the car...definitely looking into that one.
Gun Porn!!! :)
A smaller picture would have been easier to view.
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