For AK's, check out Red Jacket Firearms, Inc and watch this Sons of Guns - First 1,000-Yard AK.
Posted on 07/25/2011 11:48:10 PM PDT by West Texas Chuck
If I ever get gainful employment again, I plan to buy a rifle. I don't consider a 5.56mm to be a proper battle rifle, call me a doofus but I want a .30 caliber firearm with a shortish barrel. No AKs, that might come later.
I have all the handguns I need, as far as She Who Must Be Obeyed knows anyway. Might pick up another or two along the way, but I want a long gun. Don't know squat about semi-auto rifles, but I am a good learner.
Bump for gun porn.
Wow, I guess that is word!
I’m not going to close my eyes on this, but I think I may have been mistaken so far. I have much to learn.
Thanx, ‘preciate it.
I have never shot one.
When I was about that age I begged my dad to let me shoot his double-barrel 12 ga.
He let me, not as a punishment, I asked for it. Damn near knocked me down. That is prolly where I learned to respect the Gods of Recoil ;)
I’m not sure what that is. Looks long and heavy, but I like the flash supressor.
OK, that prolly made me look like a fool. Which I likely am, ask my woman.
My old man told the story of how he took his dad’s old double barrel 10 gauge down to the river to hunt. I’m thinking he might have snuck off with it as he was probably too young to be down there by himself with a gun.
It was (is I guess, my brother has it) an old Damascus spun barrel with exterior hammers. Anyway, my dad told me he thought he would be smart to get a quick second shot off, so had both hammers pulled back.
Except when he pulled the trigger and the one went “boom” - the other hammer fell and went “boom” about the same time. Knocked him on his butt. I’m not sure, but I have the feeling he was about 10 or 12 at the time (about 1930?).
FN-FAL, not very short, but very reliable and accurate.
For a second semi-auto, I'd love to have a Kal Tec RFB bullpup but the only person I know who has tried one is a gunsmith and said it had a very uneven trigger that broke a bit different round to round. He didn't know whether that could be straightened out with an adjustment or if it was intrinsic to the rifle. It may be intrinsic to the bullpup design since I heard the same thing from a couple of Brits about their bullpup years ago. I wish I could afford something along those lines, though, it would be a lot easier to handle and it does have a magazine rather than a clip.
JMHO
a 5.56 mm round hitting you center mass will kill you just as dead as a 7.62 mm round. shot placement is what kills and a 5.56 mm AR15 is capable of surgical like shot placement. The 7.62 is better for shooting through heavy cover though, I will readily admit that.
The 7mm Mauser kicked my butt..cannot remember the rifles too much..but those shotguns..single 12 gauge..16 Remington pump, 12 Browning semi automatic,.. oh forgot the 30-30..and the 30 odd 6. Made a mahogany gun rack 8th grade wood shop.
Look hard at the Kel-Tec RFB bullpup. Can have a long barrel but in a short package sized like a conventional carbine. Takes metric FAL mags. This one has an 18” barrel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Xqa2vwq60
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNoUt3aVrus
GMTA, I just posted that up a second ago (after you did). It’s an excellent weapon and I’m thinking of getting one to supplement my DMR-ized FAL.
Sadly, 5.56 is marginal for Texas feral pig.
And I’m talking about the kind that go ‘oink’ and walk about on all fours while sporting tusks, that kind of pig.
Carbine length FALs are available, but they’re still stupid long even if you have the Para model with the folding stock (this is actually more complex than it seems.) FALs are actually not all that accurate out of the box, either, though they can be made so.
The "hackles" of Freepers are rising and the flames are coming, but like I said, it a personal thing with the buyer of said guns. I don't mean to insult a gun, but it's just the reality you find when you want to bring down a game animal or blast a tree, or shoot through an engine block. A .223 does fine for a human or a paper target, but if I want to kill something larger than a dog, I grab the .308. I hand load everything from 110 grn to 220 grn in 30 cal, but only have 3, maybe 4 choices in .223 ranging from prairie dogs to white tail. If you have the choice of hunting white tail, would you really choose the .223 over almost any .30 cal? I have a 30-30 and 2 AK 47's I would pick up before the .223. It's just me, I guess. As I think about it more, I would pick my TC 30-30, .357 Maximum, .44 mag, and TC .35 Remington, before I picked the Ranch Rifle. All my Thompson Center pistols are 14 inch and scoped except the .357 Maximum. I have a .223 TC in 14 inch, but in my mind its still a pop gun used for plinking. It's fun and I like to shoot it, but I just don't think of it as a serious hunting pistol.
As far as your shoulder goes, I can't imagine an M1A hurting unless you have arthritis or something. One concern I would have is the short barrel. Maybe it's penis envy, but I like longer barrels. Longer barrels burn more powder unless you load your own. If you use faster powder, you could compensate for the shorter barrel, but why bother for a few ounces of weight. If you want to hide it under your coat, well that again is a personal thing. A 16 inch barrel, vs a 24 inch barrel is a big speed difference and accuracy difference depending on how much powder burns in front of the barrel. Some sort of Bull Pup configuration may make the difference there.
IMO, if you are drawn to the M1A style weapon, you will always want one and nothing else will satisfy you till you get it. If you get it and want to buy another weapon, then get a .223. You can then decide, and if needed, pick one to sell. I bet the .223 goes down the road. If you love guns, the larger calibers are what you want. Look in the mirror and say out loud, " I don't want a .50 cal BMG". I bet you choke and your voice breaks. If not,........get the .223 cause you really don't like guns.
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