Good Rifle For Auto Defense? (Vanity)

11/08/05 | JoeGar

[JoeGar]

I have a SIGARMS P239 .357 SIG for concealed carry and inside-the-home defense, but I feel I need a good rifle for neighborhood defense outside -- just in case somebody wants to torch some cars. I'd love an M1 Garand -- just to hear the ka-ching when the clip ejects -- but it's too expensive. The Ruger Mini Thirty looks interesting. What are your suggestions?

[MineralMan]

For the ranges you're talking about your 12 ga. loaded with 00 buckshot should do the job admirably. It's a massively scary weapon as well. One member of a group going down should cause the rest to leave post haste.

In a typical city neighborhood, a rifle is very likely to cause unwanted casualties.

[jpsb]

What the heck, I'll play

357 revolver/semi auto 12 gauge/semi-auto 308/M1 carbine/bolt 22 mag/

wish I had funds for an M14, M14 is a great weapon for a rifleman. But these old eyes can't see 500 yards any longer so the need for an M14 is greatly reduced. A military sight is a big plus on all long rifles.

[MineralMan]

"For $16 I can buy 100 rounds of 12ga 7 1/2 shot."

If you're going to use small shot, I recommend #4, rather than your 7 1/2. I inflicts a more serious wound, but still maintains the advantage of losing destructive force past a certain distance. #4 shot is my choice for in-home defense. It's also cheap, and readily available, especially around turkey season.

[jrp]

Winchester Defender is another option. Benelli also makes defensive shotguns. Take a look at each one (shoot them if possible) and pick the one you like best. They will all get the job done. I would however, advise sticking with a pump action. Some good info here on selecting appropriate ammuntion for your defensive shotgun:

http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs10.htm

[Bottom_Gun]

Personally, I have found, while teaching basic shotgun classes, alot of students preferred a Mossberg shotgun over a Remington mainly because of Safety placement. The Mossberg safety is on the back-strap vice the Trigger guard. Makes accessing it easier in a high stress situation.
I personally perfer the Mossberg, I bought a 500 combo set, came with both the 18, and 24 inch barrels. good for both home defense, and hunting, with a barrel change-out that takes only a few seconds!

[eastforker]

You can use deadly force in the daytime also if it is to prevent theft. At night it can be used for criminal mischief also. Texans have always been able to use deadly force to prevent theft or when in hot pursuit of a thief to regain property if the threat of harm is present. There was a story not long ago of a home invasion where the occupents were robbed. When the perps left the victims chased them down in a car chase and shot them to recover their property. They were not charged.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Who needs a rifle when you have this...

[mcshot]

What Lancer said only I've changed it to the 4 gun safe rule and have about everything covered but then I'm an out-of-control accumulator.

mc

[TalonDJ]

You clearly have no idea what a 30 round magazine of 7.62 would do to a mob at the range about as long as my driveway. If it is going to have to be one hell of a big mob if they are still going to torch the house. If we had riots like that... heck, I would leave my '88 out by the curb and wait for them from the living room window. The cost of replacing it would be well worth the fun.

[Theophilus]

In real life, this will result in a mob torching your house and torturing/killing your family and I don't care how many bullets you have stockpiled. They won't be enough.

I don't know about that, Shughart and Gordon lost their lives to an armed mob but they saved Durant.

[TalonDJ]

American law does not permit deadly force to protect properry alone, including your home if the person is unarmed and not threatening you physically.

In some states... In other states you can blow them away on your front lawn if you think they might be about to break in.

[SwankyC]

I own a mini thirty. The thing is an absolute piece of crap. It literally jams at least every other round fired. I hate it. It's not bad as far as accuracy, I can hit a 18x12 target at about 100 yards, but the jamming problem more than nullifies any accuracy it has.

[TalonDJ]

If you plan on shooting someone for lighting up your cars, I suggest you get a lawyer....
Remember one word LIABILTY

If there is a mob coming down my street lighting stuff on fire then the only word I care about is 'AMMO'.

[Cliff Dweller]

In some states... In other states you can blow them away on your front lawn if you think they might be about to break in.

Ain't America Great??!!

[Atlas Sneezed]

I agree. A .223 slug will go right through a wall inside your home and possibly hit somebody that you don't want to hit.

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Actually, 223 is less likely to be lethal after passing through the first material than even a 9mm pistol bullet. Nothing is perfectly safe in this context, but 223 is a champ.

If you live in a condo, or if your kids' rooms are behind the zone where you expect to be shooting at an intruder, then nothing may be safe.

To the original poster, let me add that if you can't afford a Garand (they are cheap through CMP) then maybe you should save the autoloader for later. For about $100 you can get a .30 cal bolt rifle with exceptional accuracy (Swiss Schmidt Rubin K31) that shoots surplus match grade ammo that costs about $0.40 per round (GP-11?).

But buy and read Boston's Gun Bible before buying anything. It was written for you.

[Little Ray]

Gee, isn't that what happened to those Korean grocers in South/Central LA during the riots? They threatened the mob with their rifles and their stores were stormed and looted and the grocers killed?

NOT.

A mob ain't a military unit. Kill a bunch in front, and they'll change their mind.

[1L]

I agree, but would probably get still bigger shot. I'm not as big of a buckshot fan as others. Too few pellets and at close range, the bigger shot does exactly what you want even if you have to pump 2 or 3 loads into them.

[yarddog]

Send it back to Ruger. They will repair it for a low cost assuming it is out of warranty.

I once sent them an old .22 target pistol which was rusted and jammed. (I actually knew the problem was the magazine but sent it in anyway.)

They fixed it and sent it back in a new box. I could not tell it from a new one except for a place which was particularly badly pitted. They had to grind down enough to remove the rust that there was a very slight loss of contour. Also included a new box and papers.

The cost was $25. That was a few years ago so it may be more now.

The mini-14 and 30 generally have a fine reputation for reliability and a poor one for accuracy.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Also, for indoor home defense, a smaller shot is still capable of killing an intruder and less likely to pass through interior walls and injure/kill valid occupants,

---

Some of what you write suggests you may be under the mistaken impression that shot spreads out more than it does. Even in the longest interior household range, that shot will still all hit in the area about the size of a salad plate. Small shot is not "less lethal" unless it is falling from the sky after shooting at a bird, or maybe after a pellet ricochets.

[fish hawk]

I have quite a few guns but none of the military type. I was thinking, with all this mess going on in France, if I should maybe look into more firepower. Do any of you think that this French problem will up gun sales here in the US? I think besides a good handgun the best weapon for the home would be a pump shotgun with some heavy ammo (trench gun type).