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 itll 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.
....who are drunken and fall down in the mud a lot
Ditto
The effective range of a scattergun is about 25-35 yards. The range is even less if you have an 18 1/2” (legal) barrel since you don’t give the propellant enough time to push the pellets.
And after about 100 feet, individual shotgun pellets tend to go off and do their own things.
So this statement: “It (the AK) was never intended to protect a family after a natural disaster and is ill suited to that purpose.” well, besides its risibility, maybe true but only if you can persuade your target to stay within the maximum lethal range of your shotgun:
“Excuse me, Mr. undead walker person/looter with my foodstocks/scavenger escaping with my daughter .. would you mind terribly coming in a hundred or so yards closer so I can shoot you?”
I have AK’s and AR’s and the AK / AR hybrid made by Sig Sauer which is nice but a bit front heavy.
I don’t recommend pumps for most people because they tend to become unreliable under heavy stress. People short stroke them.
Course everyone says they have ice water for blood and they are pump experts and I’m full of crap. But I watched it happen to a highly skilled Ranger and if it can happen to him it can happen to you (me).
So my suggestion for shotgun is a reliable semi-auto. For example a Benelli or the tactical Mossbergs are good value.
The sound of racking a shell into the 1100 by pushing the button is quite invigorating too.
Way back when I would travel across this once great nation, I would pull over in the rest area and take a little snooze. I always had my 870 across my lap, and as a precaution the chamber was open to prevent accidental discharge, but if needed I could come up, rack the shell into the barrel and go to town.
All those times no one ever bothered me during my naps...Go figure
Does a Saiga qualify as both? /s
The Kalashnikov is ok as a stand-off weapon or better as a MBR but a shotgun won't fulfill those roles.
Uh, the smart guy has AK, AR & pump shotgun. With proper amount of ammo for each.
The AK's crude simplicity has advantages as well as drawbacks. For a man without the support structure of a military organization, simple & reliable may be game changers and more important than tighter groups at the range.
Not exactly outlawed but was moved to the NFA Title 2 category of Destructive Device.
M1/M2 put out lead faster though and still available.
Stevens has a 320 Ghost Ring 12 ga. Security pump at Dick’s for $199.00 this week. You get 25 rounds of 00 buckshot with the sale for FREE!
Yes, the shotgun is quite effective ... as can be seen from this clip from one of the best action movies you folks probably never have scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bozxgVQ9m0
Now I have to buy a semi auto too? I was hoping not to be completely broke before the apocalypse happened.
I want one of those soooo bad.
Shotgun. Check. Done. . and done. - We’ve got my great-
great granddaddy’s old Smith & Wesson handgun. He used
to carry it when he worked as a lightkeeper on the
Tennessee River. (We make our own bullets for that gun.
You have to be careful not to spill any of the melted
lead on yourself while pouring.) :o(
I don’t even purchase ammo for my Mossberg. The sound of me racking it causes evildoers to pee their pants at 500 yards. Well, OK, maybe 300. When they get that close I load up some of that stuff that makes the target fly ten feet through the air turning backflips when I hit it. I can get at least 50 rounds of that in a single load. Oh, and I only shoot it one-handed. Chuckie Schumer taught me how to do that.
“That AK has been TAPCO-F&$%#D.”
It’s not even an AK. It’s a Vz.58
Bingo! Compare the time it takes to field strip an AK 47 versus an AR and get ready to fire. Also I like 7.62 as opposed to .223
If your Remington is in good condition, I wouldn't mess it up. Just buy a 18" barrel for it. A few years back, I purchased a new 870 Police Special. Comes off Remington Police assembly line. A proven performer.
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