Four Firearms Every Family Should Own: When the World Comes Crashing Down, Protect You and Yours

Associated Content ^ | 10/10/2008 | Loran Montgomery

[MHGinTN]

It's not 'dumb' to ask when you don't know. I applaud your asking, in fact!

BTW, you can practice with 38 Special ammo in a .357 revolver, and, as I do, keep 38 Special +P Hollow points in the .357 for home defense rounds. Because most .357 revolvers are made heavier than a 38 Special, the weight of the .357 revolver helps 'dampen' recoil when shooting.

[willgolfforfood]

Great Post!! Should be very useful to the ladies.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Aren’t SKS rifles up in the $1,000 range ?

[willgolfforfood]

Very odd. Earlier in the day you had a picture of a rifle and a link to it. Now it's all gone. Could you put up the link again, or PM me something. That was a very interesting looking gun, and I'm looking for a quality .308 that doesn't cost a month's pay.

thanks

[mickie]

bump for later read.....

[MHGinTN]

Yeah, if you want four or five of them.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Good point about smaller hands of the ladies. Wife can shoot a .380 auto but the .38 is just too much gun for her hand.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I bought the Mini 14 because the cost was much lower. Haven't priced an SKS. What is desirable about this weapon ?

[MHGinTN]

Power, reliability, accuracy, very easy to maintain, inexpensive. As soon as I got the cosmolene off my paratrooper model (shorter barrel mostly), I was hitting my aim points and 100 and 200 yards, regularly, with open sights. Shot it so much the first few months, I put a rubber butt/recoil pad on it the second week. Took the twenty round box mag off when I found reliable thirty round banana mags to fit it. Get it dirty, don’t clean it regularly, it still shoots reliably. But I clean mine after every trip to the range ... part of the shooting ritual.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I noted there are used "Zastava" SKS (I gather this is a Russian mfg) in 7.62 X 39 for about $400.
Is the ammo pricey ? $400 seem high or low ?
Thanks.

[Free_in_Alabama]

1) Good 12ga Pump (870)
2) .22 Rifle
3) .45 Colt
4) Armalite .223 (M-15A2)
5) Bolt rifle (Remington 700 .270)

Here is the kicker - I have 2 boys so I buy in batches of 3’s everything but the .45. I am thinking of going to .40.

If you have sons and can afford it then stock them up now.

[MHGinTN]

Mine was a Chinese variety. I bought it deacdes ago. I was at a gun show in Kingsport a couple of months ago and saw SKS versions from Bulgaria, etc. that were under $300. There are lots of nice 'kits' for them now. I happen to have a nice black polymer folding stock, flash suppressor, and tritium sights.
Folks talk about the 'chu-chink' sound of a pump shotgun, but the bolt slamming shut on an SKS ought to bring water in the pants of an intruder cause there isn't any furniture to hide behind from the rounds it fires.

Gotta get to bed. Have a good one, enjoy your Mini-14 ... I had one a few years ago, bought from of Park Service surplus. Traded it for a nice Rockola M1-Carbine. Never regreted it.

[matt1234]

I have no objection to anything on the list but I’d add a high power rifle - something with a little more punch than 5.56 or 7.62x39.

Agreed. That was my reaction to the article, as well. Now, you can shoot deer with that 12 gauge, but only at shorter ranges.

[PilotDave]

Don’t sweat it. It’s super easy/logical. Forgot to mention that it has a nice feature, the barrel tips up. Push a lever with your thumb and up pops the barrel. Pop a round in and click it back down and start shooting. You never have to rack the slide back to chamber the round. Very unique.

[Charles Martel]

My Marlin is 37 years old and is still working perfectly.

I've got a 10/22 the same way, only around 2 years younger. IMO, the Marlin's only problem is lack of aftermarket parts sources. You can build a 10/22 from parts without using a single Ruger-manufactured component. The Colt 1911 is the same way - lots of repair parts available form lots of different sources. That's a big plus.

[Charles Martel]

I noted there are used "Zastava" SKS (I gather this is a Russian mfg) in 7.62 X 39 for about $400. Is the ammo pricey ? $400 seem high or low ? Thanks.

That's a Yugoslavian copy of the Russian SKS. Last year, I would've said that price was way too high. These days, it's probably a reasonable figure. Grab a copy of Shotgun News and see if some vendors are still listing the Yugo SKS.

Ammo similarly *was* very reasonable, but recently has become extremely hard to find. Most is imported, non-reloadable stuff, which means that an ammo import ban would hit the SKS and AK owners hard.

[Dstorm]

Ping for later

[RepublicanChick]

bflr

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Rockola M1. Rare of rare.

[Washi]

How many rounds of ammunition for each of the four mentioned firearms would all of you recommend be kept on hand?