Posted on 02/16/2003 8:38:11 PM PST by conservativefromGa
John Strauss
Assault rifles offer a bit too much for home defense
February 14, 2003
As store shelves throughout the city are emptied of duct tape and plastic sheeting by people concerned about terrorist attacks, other folks think the best defense is a good offense.
Don Davis said gun sales at his Westside store have doubled since the latest terrorism alert. He said the $599 AK-47 is a top seller.
Davis became locally famous a few years ago with endlessly repeated TV commercials in which he cocked a finger at the camera and cackled, "Folks, I don't want to make money -- I just love to sell guns."
It turns out that terrorism sells.
"For me, when times are bad, business is good," Davis said Thursday.
He was at a trade show in Florida this week, shopping for gas masks for customers suddenly nervous about chemical or biological attacks.
At his Don's Guns, manager Ben Chance let me test-fire the AK-47 and a $999 Bushmaster, similar to the military M-16, in the store's indoor range.
The Bushmaster delivers a high-velocity round very accurately with little kick. The AK-47 will give you a jolt, but with that kick you get a larger round capable, they say, of going through a car's engine block.
Just what you need to stop terrorists invading your subdivision.
Of course, some people might end up with guns simply for home protection. And if that's the case, Chance says, an old-fashioned shotgun might do the trick.
"A 12-gauge is a nice gun to have in the house. You don't have to aim the gun. You just point it in the general vicinity, and you're actually going to hit what you're pointing toward, because (the shot) scatters."
Business also was up at 500 Guns on the Westside and at Pop Guns Trading Post on the Eastside. But managers at those stores said that had more to do with the arrival of income tax refund checks than Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein.
"There have been a few people come in and express concern," said Mike Hilton, the manager at Pop Guns. "But overall, people tend to be pretty complacent about it, to be honest."
Hilton said he recommends that someone who wants a gun take a training course. Then, once he has an idea of their skill level, he'll suggest a firearm -- often a small revolver.
He's not big on the AK-47 in this case. If used for self-defense, it's likely to "overpenetrate" -- go right through the attacker, through the wall of your home, through the wall of the next house and into somebody there.
Guy Montgomery, manager of 500 Guns, also recommends a revolver -- not a battlefield rifle -- for home defense.
Still, there's a magnetism about the assault weapons. Firing one of these guns is the shooting equivalent of twisting the throttle on a squat Harley -- lots of noise and simple, raw power.
They're fun, but they may not be real practical.
So if you're convinced al-Qaida is down the street and you want to establish a defensive perimeter in the front hallway, do the neighbors a favor.
Just borrow dad's old shotgun.
Actually the 7.62mm is a .30 cal round and the NATO spec is the same as a .308 winchester and if you have armour piercing, or steel tipped rounds they will penetrate and engine block with no problems at all. The m14 was cambered for this round as well as the m60 machine gun. The max effective range for m14 is 450 meters...with scope 1100 meters. Trajectory is different but still very similar to the 30.06 used in the M1 Garad. Please do not fire it at my car.
Thanks and GOD Bless,
RAWGUY
I'm pretty sure that Remington does offer "Police" marked models of the 870 and 11-87, complete with ghost-ring rear sight and rifle-type blade front sight. Extended magazine, short barrel, black plastic furniture. Find a local gun shop where the off-duty cops hang out; they'll either have the "Law Enforcement" models in stock or will happily order the model of your choice.
IIRC, Remington does not feature those variants in the consumer products catalog. Check the prices, too - it might be cheaper to pick up a plain 11-87 and ship it off to Scattergun Technologies (Wilson).
Century Int'l Arms seems to be the source for those CETMEs. I've read of some problems, but most seem satisfied with the rifles. The most common problem is a barrel not correctly "timed" to the receiver, so that the front sight is canted a few degrees left or right of the barrel centerline. The result is a gun that cannot be made to shoot to the point of aim, or require excessive windage correction when adjusting the sights. The problem can be corrected.
The CETME "clone" rifles are built on one of several types of receivers; mostly the stamped steel or the cast stainless steel. Both work, though the stamped version is made by Hesse Arms (or whatever name it is using these days) and there have been dimensional errors reported. If you check out a CETME, try to insert and remove a magazine. If the magazine binds and must be slammed in and removed with a mighty tug, it's probably a Hesse receiver.
The cast stainless receivers look pretty much the same, but seem to be of higher quality. That receiver was originally manufactured a few years ago by Special Weapons, LLC and the design, I believe, was sold to Century. There is also a cast aluminum H&K/CETME receiver which is ugly as sin - they have been improved lately (appearance-wise) but can be identified by the integral scope mounts. For not much more money, you can do better.
If you really want a HK/CETME type rifle, there is a screaming deal available right now at Federal Arms. They have the CETME rifle assembled on the stainless steel receiver for $299.95, and they throw in five magazines (Item No. RI1073X). Call them at (763) 780-5747 and ask for Harlan. I have no stake in their business, just a satisfied customer passing along what looks like a good deal. It's a "limited time offer", though - so don't wait too long if you want one shipped to the FFL of your choice.
If your tastes run more towards FALs, Harlan can help you there, too. Federal Arms has the matching-numbers Austrian StG-58 parts kits and Imbel metric receivers. Can't go wrong with that combo, and the guys at the FAL Files message board will help you out immeasurably whether you build it yourself or decide to pay someone to do the tough part.
My Russian SKS groups 6-8" easy at 200 yards with the cheap hollow point ammo and punches through 1/8" plate (it was my gong but it only lasted one session - LOL!).
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