Posted on 12/26/2009 9:43:36 AM PST by 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.
Shorter the better, within the law. I've had occassion to use a 28" barrel and an 18" in situations where I needed to maintain control. With the 28" I just felt like I was providing a handle for them to grab. Shorter is better in the house, without doubt. Try getting around a corner with a broomstick held out...you'll see.
This is a vanity rife with a request of ambiguity and replete on specifics. /s
Rifle?
id dis’ a once in uh rifetime purchase?
You may be on the Rife track.
A rife? Is that a type of gub?
The good news is, due to your misspelling the answer to your question will be rife with content and target rich.
Easy on the shoulder and at the distance you will use it about as effective as 12 gauge. In fact, at 25 yards and closer there is no appreciable difference in lethality.
Damage, yes but for graveyard dead purposes 410 is an excellent choice for personal protection at home or on your street.
ROTFLAMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also stay away from a pump shotgun unless you intend to spend a great deal of time practicing. Under extreme duress/panic people often forget to pump the shotgun.
I'd also stay away from anything semiautomatic, again, unless you intend to spend a lot of time practicing at the firing range. Semiautomatic is complicated for a novice.
A practical solution would be to invest in a couple of double action revolvers, identical, and lots of ammunition. DA revolvers are extremely simple to operate and very reliable. There's much less to go wrong than with a semi auto.
No, it's a guh.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408865/posts
Above is another thread on a similar subject and I will copy and paste my same post as it is applicable here as well.
“Consider the 20-gauge shotgun
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ayoob120.html
Home defense is of prime importance and no permits needed and it is light enough that women or older children can use it I would go for a pump because the unmistakable noise alone will likely cause a home invader to be in a hurry to get out of dodge if only to change his undies. Rifles or pistols are great but they all take time and practice to learn how to shoot well. A shotgun is a point and shoot even if you totally miss it makes enough noise to rouse the deepest sleeper. For easy learning find a shooting club with a laser shotgun simulator. My 12 yr old daughter hit 19 of 25 on her first round and thats simulated clays not a man sized target. No noise or recoil but the simulator builds the confidence. Then move on to some range shooting to get the noise and recoil part down.”
If you want .223 (5.56mm), take a look at CMMG’s gas piston M-4 (the rifle, not the conversion kits). CDNN sells them through their catalog.
Hmm, that Kel-Tec sure does look interesting! Agree 100% on the gas piston points.
How does it compare to the CMMG gas piston M4?
1. At what range do you want to shoot? Out to a mile seems excessive for a woman in her sixties worried about home defense. It sounds like you might not want to shoot farther than maybe across the street at those pesky neighbors. (Note; the bullet goes farther than you aim- for those lurking gun pros. I know that, but it isn't the point here.)
2. You mentioned recoil. The first recommendation for self defense is always a shotgun. Why? because it puts very big holes in whatever is standing in front of you. It is why it remains a primary self defense weapon while your handgun is a secondary self defense weapon. You can handle a shotgun and the recoil by simply using good technique but it is a skill you work to achieve so it might also not be the first choice. Although it is the best one. So keep it in mind and be open to trying it at a range with some instruction from an experienced shooter.
3. Well, medium range, not much recoil, but more than a handgun, sounds like you want a pistol caliber carbine. It will look like your AR-15 style shoulder weapon but doesn't shoot a rifle round. Just type “pistol caliber carbine” in any search engine. Beretta Storm is an example. HK USC carbine is another example. 9mm.. or .45 for the USC. These fire the pistol rounds so recoil is very small because you have a shoulder type weapon. Plus with the longer barrel you have higher velocity in the round which equals more energy hitting the target.
4. Sighting. With whatever you choose (other than close with the shotgun) if you don't aim well, you don't hit the target and whatever else, you are wasting your time. Therefore get a good big sight like a red dot type heads up sight so you can acquire and hit the target accurately and quickly. A laser might also be good as this is a close or semi close weapon you are looking at. A carbine you look at should be able to have these after market attachment points and any gun store can show you, and sell you, the attachments.
5. Finally, the caliber. I don't know what kind of hand gun you bought although I hope you practice with it and know how to clean and care for it. But buying a carbine to match the caliber makes sense if you are worrying about civil unrest. If something ever does happen, you don't want to run out of one type of ammo and have too much of another, so commonality makes sense. Rifle rounds,unless you want to do what a rifle does, might have over penetration problems as a personal defense weapon. I.E. you shoot the rifle round through the bad guy stealing your garden gnome and the round continues through his body and kills the retired nun living next store. Bad for karma and the next block party.
Happy shopping. And, by the way, let me ease your mind on one thing. The country will be just fine. Your local area might be hosed though. So once again, happy shopping. If you have any questions you can ask and I will tell you what I know, little as it is.
That’s nice. For just home defense I am getting the Benelli Supernova tac with 18” barrel and takes 2 3/4, 3, and 3 1/2 mag. Can mount a scope and has mounting rails. With the comfort tech pad it should cut down recoil. around $400. I already have an HK Compact USP 9mm.
http://www.benelliusa.com/assets/silos/small_jpg_grey/silo_502_snova_12_syn_ct_defense.jpg
I couldn’t decide to build with an upper and lower because I couldn’t find one that I liked. The DPMS is more of what I was looking for. I had started looking at the pistol carbines by Beretta (cx4 storm .45 cal), but they are very expensive.
As an NRA instructor, and an educator, might I suggest purchase of a spel chequor first?
PS Get a Saiga 12 with a few 12 round magazines.
Feed it low recoil #1 buckshot.
Have you tried the drum for the Saiga 12?
The AR is a good choice, but having a shotgun as well is even better. Since you already have a handgun, the addition of the rifle and shotgun will give you the self-defense trifecta, meaning you’ll have all the bases covered (short, medium and long-distance).
A Mossberg 500 in 20 gauge would be a good choice for you. They make a “Bantam” model with a shorter stock for youths and ladies. Check them out - they’re not terribly expensive, either.
This is a 60 year old woman. Either a 20 guage pump or a .223 would be fine.
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