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.
Beware the ganags of unruyl epopel.
The Kel-Tec 9mm carbine, described earlier, is ideal.
Regarding a shotgun, I have a 12 gauge with a shock-absorbing stock that reduces recoil to almost nothing. This is great for an inexperienced and/or smallish shooter in a semi-panicky state.
Knoxx recoil reducing stock (Blackhawk.com).
A 12 gauge shotgun and a .308 caliber rifle is too much gun for a mid 60’s woman. Something more in the order of an AR-15 with a 16” barrel and collapsing stock or an M1 carbine would be much better.
Both are small and light with low recoil and excellent choices.
My 86 year Dad has one in Detroit. No one bugs him.
I have a S&W .357, might be too much for you.
The US military has been using M-16/AR-15 type rifles for over 40 years with very good results. They work well. I carried one in the Army for over 20 years and have a few now. They are light, accurate and lethal. They are easy to train people to shoot well with and not hard to maintain if you are so inclined. They are very accurate and they don’t kick. I also have a couple of AKs and they have their uses but they are basically junk and they are not very accurate compared to an AR or just about anything else. AKs were designed for illiterate peasants to use and it shows but they are the best stash in the trunk and forget about them guns you can buy. It all depends on what you want to do with the rifle. If I knew I was not going to have any access to cleaning supplies for an extended period of time than I would want an AK, otherwise I definitely prefer an AR type of rifle.
One of the things we do around the MadHouse is teach people how to shoot. I developed a show and tell for the ones who were really scared of recoil. I put an apple between the gun butt and my shoulder. The AK smashes it to a pulp and the AR/M weapons all do not even bruise it (I do put a towel on the butt plate in both demos). My son has now taken over teaching the class and he used to show off with M’16’s/4’s in Spec Forces. So being the samrta$$ he is he puts the butt of the M-4 against his chin and empties the clip. Gets most people past the initial fear of recoil. He will not do it with the AK in any version and he carried one in Afcrapistan for three years - mostly for cover. An M-4 sticks out like a sore thumb when you do not want to be noticed.
One of the things we do around the MadHouse is teach people how to shoot. I developed a show and tell for the ones who were really scared of recoil. I put an apple between the gun butt and my shoulder. The AK smashes it to a pulp and the AR/M weapons all do not even bruise it (I do put a towel on the butt plate in both demos). My son has now taken over teaching the class and he used to show off with M’16’s/4’s in Spec Forces. So being the samrta$$ he is he puts the butt of the M-4 against his chin and empties the clip. Gets most people past the initial fear of recoil. He will not do it with the AK in any version and he carried one in Afcrapistan for three years - mostly for cover. An M-4 sticks out like a sore thumb when you do not want to be noticed.
“Why’d you shoot him 44 times?”
“Ran outta ammo.”
Cleaned my Dad’s when we went over for X-Mas. He wants to “Rock the New Year Detroit Style”. My brother is going to bring his 20 gauge Mossburg 500, but will use bird shot.
Don’t want to waste my ammo, also don’t want the million to one chance a .357 round might hurt someone.
30 rounds vs. about 5. When you run out, you're done.
That RFB rifle looks intriguing but I wonder about the reliability of the forward ejection system.
Hmmm...
First, the folks who’ve told you to get a shotgun are correct, IMHO. Get yourself a pump 12 gauge. The Mossberg 500 is inexpensive and reliable, and the Maverick knockoffs are even less expensive and the only real difference is the design of the safety.
One thing to consider is that this may only be fired in anger once, or never. So don’t blow a bunch of money on a firearm that will probably sit under your bed for years, maybe the rest of your life. That’s why I mention the Mossberg. You can count on it, but you won’t be kicking yourself in ten years if nothing happened and you dropped a few grand on some superweapon.
As for rifles, if I could handle the M-16 like a pro when I weighed 160 pounds soaking wet, you can probably handle the AR-15 just fine, but I worry about people using infantry rifles as home defense weapons. They are designed for offense and require a lot of range time to be highly accurate. Plus, manuevering even a carbine inside a house can be trouble.
Pistol grip pump shotgun or a semi-auto pistol with a sizable clip. That’s my advice at first blush. And do not, repeat, DO NOT skimp on range time.
That sounds about right. My Drill Sergeant did the shoot off the chin thing to demonstrate the lack of recoil with an M-16 when I was in basic. I really like both types of rifles but I greatly prefer the AR for ergonomics and accuracy. AKs are a hoot to shoot, especially the folding stock ones and they are much better to have than a pistol when you really need to shoot something.
Given that she's mentioned civil unrest specifically, I wouldn't want to be limited to two shots.
BTW, winter...If you expect to be in a protracted fight (which is very, very unlikely once you start firing off rounds) keep in mind how the cops do it. If an officer is carrying a shotgun, he puts it down after the last round is out and pulls his pistol.
Don't let the reload time scare you away fdrom a shotgun, though. People don't hang around in the area when one is being fired off at them.
If you think you’ll need an AR style rifle, get one with a gas capture system so that you’re not dumping crud onto the bolt
Most jams that I had with my M-16 in the service were due to Mr. Stoners wonderful bolt fouling device.
Ruger has the SR-556.
S&W has an optional kit for gas piston.
Personally, I’d go for a Springfield Armory M21, but NY state is terribly afraid of anything that has a horrifically deadly and maiming ‘flash suppressor’.
No, I haven’t tried the drum. I have the 7.62 model.
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