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.
Isn't that the truth.
I know there used to be issues with the accuracy of mini 14s that had something to do with the barrels they used. I believe that Ruger remedied the problem and they are now fine rifles. But it's something to keep in mind if one is considering buy a used mini.
Yep... usually beginning with the “racking the slide will make even the Devil wet his pants” posts.
I happen to like my Mini. I’m aware that out of the box a typical Mini is likely a bit less accurate than a typical AR. There are a couple other common issues, like they throw spent brass into the next county, although that can be corrected.
But you would not believe the amount of heat generated by a discussion of relative merits in either the popular Ruger or AR forums. Like a Mac vs Windows thread here. (Or Catholic vs Protestant in a religion thread)
I have the two in one, the Saiga 12 gauge “AK shotgun”
beat me to it
Looks like a Vz-58.
I’ve put plated OO buck through a deer and had them stop at the hide on the other side...at 60 yards. Nobody’s very froggy when their lungs start filling with blood.
I have to agree. The Viet Cong and the NVA had very good success with the AK. I actually carried one occasionally in Viet Nam.
You forgot to mention that although not as recognizable as the sound of racking the slide on a shotgun the sound of an AR 15 bolt chambering a round is quite terrifying to the average lowlife home invader.
bflr
How sweet is that?
LOL - think of it as a savings account. If you buy used at a good price you can probably get your money back at any time even factoring in inflation.
Shotguns are okay, but I like something a little larger.
ping for later
If you're not an ignorant savage that doesn't know what the sound means.
Cycling a .45 M1911 has the same chilling effect.
It also gives away your position, and a hyped up addict might just start blasting away toward the sound of it. The first and last sound a burglar should hear is muzzle blast.
So what do you do when the SHTF and the bad guys simply step across the street and return fire? Shotguns have a very limited range.
True. I operate on the principle that there will always be somebody out there who's crazier than I am. For instance, suppose some dumbass brings a knife to a gunfight at close quarters in a darkened room of my house. I am not giving my knowledge of terrain advantage away by racking anything.
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