Suggestions please. I will soon buy a rife (Vanity)

[wintertime]

I will soon purchase a rife.

Purpose: Protection in the very unlikely event of civil unrest.

I am a woman in my early sixties who is fit and healthy but I do not have a lot of upper body strength.

Before purchasing a rife, I would appreciate any comments Freepers might have regarding the suitability of the rife I have chosen in regards to the purpose and my physical strength.

At the moment I am considering buying a DPMS Panther 5.56 NATO Sportical AR 15. This rife seemed to be the easiest for me to handle.

By the way, I grateful for the comments of the Freepers before I purchased a handgun. Because of your very helpful suggestions I bought one that was perfect for me, my abilities, and the purpose.

[wintertime]

Where do you live (rural, suburban, urban etc)?

We live in a small development with one street that ends in a cul de sac. It is a very rural town of about 2,000 (?) in a red state. Nearly all households in the community own firearms. We have no police and contract with the county for the minimal protection that we need. The county itself has only an handful of employees. ( Being a highly armed community we are essentially "policing" ourselves.)

How much expereince with fireams do you have? (meaning other than childhood or basic sporting experience)

My husband and I have had basic training. We have budgeted for more advanced training.

What is your budget?

This year's budget is about $2,000 for arms and ammunition. We plan to make room in the budget every year for self defense.

Are you alone or would you be in a family team of some sort?

We have three adults in the family. One of the three is completely untrained. We also have preschoolers living with us in the household.

My husband has read all the posts, and I am in the process now of carefully reading them and taking notes. We are grateful for the time posters have taken to help us. Already, I have very different and more realistic outlook.

The Freepers were very kind to help me in my purchase of our first handgun. The gun that I did finally buy was not only perfect for me but also for the purpose for which it was needed. ( Protection while sleeping in mini-van with little room to maneuver.)

[GYL2]

No matter which Gun you choose, make sure you get two – one to use and one to “Stow”.

[PioneerDrive]

What kind of sight is on that AK?

[mylife]

Its just a standard leaf iron sight

[jospehm20]

Won’t be anytime soon. Even if they started looking for a replacement today, they would not field a new rifle for years. The Army recently introduced a newer model of the M4 and they gave Colt a $9.5 million contract in February of this year for M4s and spare parts to run until September of 2012. The Army plans on using it for a while yet, maybe after 2012 they’ll get a new one. In the meantime any weapon that has been combat proven by our military for over 40 years is certainly reliable enough for any civilian application. Would a gas piston system be better? Maybe, but all of the good ones I have seen cost quite a bit more than a standard AR-15.

[mickie]

later read

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Would a gas piston system be better? Maybe, but all of the good ones I have seen cost quite a bit more than a standard AR-15.

Which is the crux of the problem. We tend to buy weapons that are 80% of the best because they are 50% of the cost.

Heck, I'd prefer we let our soldiers take their own personal firearms with them to the front (provided they were of one of 2-3 standard calibers). Chances are you'd have better-maintained, higher reliability weapons best-suited for each soldier!

[jospehm20]

I don’t know that any of the various piston systems are better than a standard AR-15. I would probably buy one if I thought they were noticeably better. One of the things I really like about AR-15s is that they are very accurate. Does hanging a piston off of one have any effect on that? I can see how it could if not done correctly. I personally have not experienced any reliability issues with the present AR-15/M-16 either in the military or with my civilian models aside from some issues caused by using old, beat up military magazines.

[ansel12]

The AR-15 that I bought a few years ago, is sure better than the worn out, old, AR-15 that I used in army basic almost 40 years ago.

[smokingfrog]

Here's the problem. Many NATO cartridges have bullets that will become jammed into the rifling of a SAAMI chambering (the throat is too short). This is VERY DANGEROUS, for a grat number of reasons.

[Felis_irritable]

I’m not going to read almost 200 smartalecky replies about your spelling and “get a shotgun.”

My opinion, formed over 51 years of shooting, is:

Get a shotgun. IF you can handle it, and you need to figure that out *before* you buy it. Home defense may or may not be a one-shot deal. You may have to fire multiple times, and the time to figure out you’re not skilled enough or determined enough or just not physically able to handle it is *not* when he’s charging you because you flinched and missed with the first round. And shotguns aren’t miracle weapons; I’ve seen misses from 7 feet.

If you get one, a Remington Synthetic HD with an 18” barrel is nice.

AKs? Figure out caliber first. 7.62mm looks a lot like .30 cal to me; try that first too. Same reason as a shotgun. *I* think the recoil is light; YMMV.

AR-15 clone? I think, actually, you could be on the right track with that. A 5.56 will do serious damage; it *will* go through walls, furniture, etc. and it is easily handled by those who are slight of build. Some very competent people think ARs are a great home defense weapon. I like Colts better than DPMS; I have 2, and have fired thousands of rounds through them with -zero- problems. The DPMS may be OK but I’m leery and have no experience with them.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Yes, accuracy suffers. You go to about 1.5 to 2 MOA with the piston. Meaningless change in battle where “minute of body” is more important, and having a much more reliable rifle is the goal. Reliable, consistent, and accurate enough is what our soldiers want (from talking to those currently deployed overseas); being able to shoot sub-MOA groups is irrelevant in a battlefield situation.

[fanfan]

o/~ If you rant to be happy for the west of youw life / Nevew make a pwetty roman youw rife... ~\o

LOL!

[STD]

Buy a consonant first Brother!

[Slings and Arrows]

Typoez + FReepers = LULZ!

[fanfan]

Evrytiem!

[mark3681]

Good point.

[Mr Rogers]

“AMC did a survey and over 90% of the troops really like the M-4/M-16 and gave them high marks.”

I would have given mine a high rating as well...but of course, I didn’t make it off the FOB (at 49, no one wanted me with them!).

Might make more sense to talk to the folks on the front lines. Folks who stayed on Bagram or the large FOBs shouldn’t count.

[300winmag]

Aside from all the smart-aleck remarks, just about any of the suggestions should handle about 80% of your needs, even if you close your eyes and throw a dart at a listing of this topic. Anything suggested here is better than choosing to remain unarmed.

Normally, I would suggest the .22 rifle/.38 revolver/12 ga shotgun/any kind of rifle you want route. However, these are not normal times. We are living in a "historic and unprecedented era" since January 20, and have to prudently prepare for at least three more years of it. So I have to advise a matching "historic and unprecedented" firearm for the first-time (or first-upgrade) owner. I use this as my motivation for the lecture.

see more deMotivational Posters

For the first time, people need to consider having the equivalent of the US military's primary infantry weapon. The M4 is popular with the troops that have one, and the ones that want one. It's become the '57 Chevy of the rifle world, with plenty of them out there, and lots of ways to customize it, some good, some bad. And like the '57 Chevy, it's a lot of fun to drive, and everybody recognizes it when they see it.

For your purposes a rifle has to out-range and out-kill someone armed with an AK47 type. With good optics (a must on this weapon), it can be done with confidence, which is another quality this type of rifle must inspire.

There is debate about the AR-15 gas tube vs. gas piston guns, but unless you expect to shoot of thousands of rounds non-stop, it only makes for an interesting academic discussion. I have a Sig 556, and I like it a lot. But the short M4-type is my go-to rifle because I've tweaked it and know every inch of it.

I vote for "America's rifle" because it is a known quantity, and millions of Americans now have had experience with it. You can't go wrong with a Sig or other gas-piston rifle, but something like the M4 brings a lot of institutional experience with it.

[jospehm20]

That’s not too bad. What system is that with? I know there are many different. Still I don’t think I’ll be looking to buy one anytime soon. I like the SCAR but at $3K, I can buy a very nice AR, a very nice AK and a bunch of ammo for both. Even the Ruger lists for $2K. I would advise anybody looking for a good rifle to get a nice AR and buy a lot of ammo to practice with instead of spending the extra money on a piston gun that won’t be any more reliable to a civilian.