FL Survival / A Survival Community
Survival Gear, Weapons & Deals => Firearms, knives & weapons! => : mmgoose June 07, 2014, 08:31:57 PM
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Since I have been out of commission for the last couple of months and will be for some time. I thought I would keep myself busy by offering some firearms advice. My firearms business is not active right now so you do not have to worry about me trying to sell you something.
Also if you found what you think is a deal and want to be sure just let me know I can help. This applies to new and used firearms.
So if you have any question related to firearms, either post here or shoot me a PM.
We will start off with what I think every prepper arsenal should have.
1. Handgun (9mm or 45acp)
2. 22lr rifle (bolt or semi)
3. Shotgun (12ga pump)
4. Bolt action center fire (308 or 30-06)
My handgun is a EAA Witness in 9mm (4 mags)
My 22lr is a Glenfeild/Marlin Model 66 (tube mag)
My shotgun is a Mossberg 500 (8 & 6 shot)
My bolt gun is a Savage Model 11 Hog Hunter in 308.
Of course I have many other firearms in my safe but these are the ones that make up the core of my prepper guns.
So if I can help in any way just let me know.
Goose
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Thanks Goose for the post. maybe you can tell us why you think every prepper should have the weapons you listed.
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Sure can....
Handgun is for personal defense, in the early days of the SHTF or whatever it may not be feasible to walk around with a long gun. A handgun can be tucked in a belt and covered by a t-shirt.
22lr good for hunting small game and even some larger game with the right shot.
Shotgun is such a versatile weapon, it is my number one choice and my number one goto gun for almost everything. With something as simple as a barrel change and the right ammo you can hunt or defend almost anything.
Bolt gun, even though most things can be hunted with a shotgun, sometimes you need to reach out a little farther than a 100 or 150 yards. A good center fire rifle in .30 cal will do this no problem.
Now some will say that a AR15 or AK47 will cover most of these.....true it will. I love my AR15 and I am very very proficient with it, even out to 600 yards, but if I need to drop a deer at 300 yards or more I want a 30 cal doing the dropping.
These are of course personal choices of mine.
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Good advice Goose. I have a couple items left to square away, but I am headed in the same general direction in my selections.
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Just answered a question on Shotgun barrels....thought I would share with the whole family.
1. Smooth bore 18.5 barrels.
Good for defense as it keeps the shotty short. Can also use rifled slugs (pumpkin ball) out to 100 yards with fairly good hit ratio with practice. This is my standard barrel on my 6 shot shotguns.
2. Field barrels.
I like the 28 inch with a fixed full choke. This is also a smooth bore barrel. Full choke will cover most hunting situations to include bird hunts...can also use rifled slugs. I also have a couple of vent rib barrels with removable chokes (my turkey barrel).
3. Fully rifled slug barrel.
I have one of these for deer hunting. Uses special slug ammo (Sabot). Almost useless for any other type of shotgun ammo.
I keep 3 types of ammo on hand for the shottys (prepper wise)
1. Bird shot, universal 7 or 8 shot
2. 00 buck hunting and defense
3. Slug (pumpkin ball)
3a. Winchester PDX1 (slug & 00 combo)
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I have many guns.
But the core group, the ones i would depend on before all others
1 Handgun - Colt Government Model 45 ACP
2. 22 rimfire rifle - Ruger 10-22
3. Shotgun - Remington 870 Magnum Express
4. Bolt rifle - WWII Mauser K98k (I own no civilian centerfire bolt rifles, only milsurps)
That said, a S&W or Colt 38 Special revolver is hard to beat, and I really would hate to be without my Winchester 94.
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Goose, Any reason a 40 cal. hangun is not on your list?
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Hmm.... Not really.
My personal opinion is that you should stick to NATO rounds. 9mm,223/ 5.56, 308/7.62 and 45acp.
Battle field pickups are the thought behind this line of thinking. Who has the most ammo of all.....the military.
12 ga and 30-06 are also very popular.
40 cal is a good round and a lot of PDs use it....but I don't think you will be able to resupply from what they have/carry.
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I have many guns.
But the core group, the ones i would depend on before all others
1 Handgun - Colt Government Model 45 ACP
2. 22 rimfire rifle - Ruger 10-22
3. Shotgun - Remington 870 Magnum Express
4. Bolt rifle - WWII Mauser K98k (I own no civilian centerfire bolt rifles, only milsurps)
That said, a S&W or Colt 38 Special revolver is hard to beat, and I really would hate to be without my Winchester 94.
Nice setup...
The K98 is a easy convert to 30-06.....got one on the bench right know waiting to be finished.
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No need.
In 30-06 I already have M1, M1903A3, Remington 7400, and a scoped Rossi single shot.
And I am a purist, if you will. I would never rechamber, scope, or otherwise sporterize any historic military firearm.
A good example - in my local shop, which is actually one side of a neighbors barn that has been remodeled, he had a Mauser GEW98, a 1917 Danzig, that had been redone to K98k specs in the late 1930's by the German government. Most likely a GI bring back. Someone had sporterized it by cutting down the stock fore end and putting a rubber butt pad on it. :o It was an early stock, too, no thru cut for the sling, but sling swivels instead. >:(
So, a $400 - $500 rifle had been turned into one with a price tag of $188. I felt so sorry for the old gal I had to buy her before someone committed more indignities to her. Like drilling and tapping the reciever or something. :'(
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SKS's are always suggested for a cheap alternative...thoughts?
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I might buy a cheap pair of pants or t shirt or shoes but when it comes to cheap guns, not sure if that is a wise decision. I have gone to gun shows and bought many weapons from people walking around and got great deals on what I consider good solid weapons. Get what you can afford and then upgrade as you can. My two cents.
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An SKS isnt a "cheap" quality weapon from ANY of the information I have seen.
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I might buy a cheap pair of pants or t shirt or shoes but when it comes to cheap guns, not sure if that is a wise decision. I have gone to gun shows and bought many weapons from people walking around and got great deals on what I consider good solid weapons. Get what you can afford and then upgrade as you can. My two cents.
There are many "cost effective" firearms on the market today, many of them very good weapons. SKS being one of them. Tried and true design.
Paying top dollar does not guarantee a great weapon.
Right now EAA is putting out some great handguns.....I paid $274 (retail NIB) for mine and have beat the crap out of it and it has yet to fumble. On the other hand my full size SIG 1911 is so dang finkiy I quit carrying it and it cost $1100. Ditto for my kimber TAC 2, it has been sent back several times.
So unless you want to pay $3000 and more on a custom gun like from Wilson Combat or Ed Brown and wait over a year, shop around and do some research and you will be surprise at what you find.
Or ask me I will point you in the right direction....always have....always will.
4 EAA 9MM for the price of one SIG 1911....can't beat that.
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SKS's are fine weapons firing an intermediate cartridge. However, many people can't help themselves and trick them out with parts that alters their robust reliability.
Duck bill high capacity magazines for one thing. Scope mounts that replace the receiver cover for another.
I was given one as a gift that had a folding stock and duck bill mags, luckily all the original parts came with it, even sling, bayonet, cleaning kit, and most important - original 10 round fixed magazine.
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SKS's are fine weapons firing an intermediate cartridge. However, many people can't help themselves and trick them out with parts that alters their robust reliability.
Duck bill high capacity magazines for one thing. Scope mounts that replace the receiver cover for another.
I was given one as a gift that had a folding stock and duck bill mags, luckily all the original parts came with it, even sling, bayonet, cleaning kit, and most important - original 10 round fixed magazine.
Yep...What he said!
One of my favorite bolt guns is a Mosin Nagant 91 or the carbine version the M44/38. Can be had for around $100 bucks if you shop around. Dropped a many of pig with this rifle and hard hitting round.
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And don't even get me started on AR15s.....
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SKS's are fine weapons firing an intermediate cartridge. However, many people can't help themselves and trick them out with parts that alters their robust reliability.
Duck bill high capacity magazines for one thing. Scope mounts that replace the receiver cover for another.
Sounds like the one I got a few years ago. 30 round duckbill(that wouldn't lock the bolt open) and 4x scope(who needs that with 7.62x39?). Got a 10 original magazine through a three sided trade right here on this forum. Then bought an original received cover.
I wish I hadn't gotten rid of all my guns. :'(
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The duckbill mags will not insert and lock with the bolt closed. The SKS has no bolt hold-open, so you have to hold the rifle AND hold the bolt back with one hand while using the other hand to insert the mag. Very clumsy. Some people counter that argument by saying to take a Dremel tool and grind away a portion of the bottom of the bolt!! What?
The scope mounts that replace the dust cover sound like a good idea, but they sometimes will not hold zero.
Actually, for the prices SKS's are going for now I would probably buy a used 30-30 lever rifle myself.
But mine was free, and you can't turn that down.
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I have had a 30-30 lever action since I was a teenager. There are a lot of other rifles out there, but there is something special about the Winchester '94. Just wish ammo wasn't so expensive for it.
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mmgoose, I have a list of questions for a knowledgeable gun man.
I understand that you have a gunsmith and or gun sales store. I have a number of weapons that could use some skilled work.
If you would PM me with a contact I would like to have you work on some priority weapons that I would like to have modified with some tricks and stuff.
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PM sent.
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But but but the SKS, Mosin and AR-15 were designed to be tricked out as is the 10-22. That said, all I did on my Mosin carbine was add a brass tacker scout scope mount and rubber butt stock pad and kept the original parts handy so I can replace them easily.
I agree with all your choices of 4 catagories of weapons. I am not a pistol guy and only have a Ruger 45 that I got as a Christmas present from my dad so I will bow to your wisdom on pistols.
10-22 is by far the best semi-auto .22 for the price. And they are decent out of the box. There are also massive options to aid in your given task for it. I personally like the feel of a heavier weapon so I picked up a chunk of wood from a company that does the roughing in and built a heavy target rifle. My wife was weirdly short arms and could not effectively use the stock 10-22 so I got her an adjustable polymer stock and she has no problems now looking through the minor scope I put on it. In my hands that thing is dead balls accurate too. I also fully recommend a Hornet Trigger assembly. They are out of Sarasota and make a great low pressure trigger. Not as light as a Kidd but half the price and they give a $35 trade in if you mail them your old stock trigger group. Makes a world of difference and about 5 minutes to do.
Now for a bolt action .22, a CZ.455 and never look back. Tack driver from hell and you can convert it(you gotta buy the parts of course) from .22 to .17HMR or .22 magnum. Cant beat it. I got one and oddly for me I barely have done any customizing.(I love tricking guns out although aside from Mosins I wont do anything to milsurps). I added a scope(I have bad vision and zero depth perception which they didn't discover until after I started playing with explosives in the army). If you have the money to spend on a .22, this is the gun to get. CZ makes a fine weapon.
I like pump action shotguns, I think the sound they make is an excellent deterrent. That said, Ill take a Saiga with a 5, 10, or 20 round magazine any day. Easy to swap out as needed, as reliable as an AK, and shoots as fast as you can pull the trigger. Plus for me, theres the bonus of all the customizations I can do. Dog barking in the back yard, grab the very easily identifiable magazine with riot control shells and go sting some deer(wife wont let me use lethal rounds, she grew up watching Bambi). Some one in the house, grab the slug or buckshot magazine and lock and load. Want to celebrate New Years or the 4th of July, grab the 20 round drum filled with incendiary rounds and watch the dragon breath fire. Its also a nice hefty weapon.
As for bolt action, you cant beat a Mosin. Its a great reliable heavy hitting weapon for next to nothing in cost although that is a relative term. I have seen them in some places for 200-300 for a normal run of the mill Mosin, I got my carbine free but paid $150 for the one I went nuts on. I have seen people do 1km shots with them. Ammo is a bit of a pain to find unless you go milsurp and then you have to deal with corrosive ammo. Wolf made(probably still do) a really nice copper jacketed non-corrosive round for awhile that is worth ordering online. Shop around to find a Mosin at a good price, they are out there. I definitely recommend a non-invasive rubber butt stock pad. It doesn't devalue the weapon and makes it far more fun to shoot, all you do is take a screw or two off of the metal plate, pull off the plate and use the same screws to put the pad on and don't loose the metal butt plate.
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Nice post....
I was aiming more toward the caliber of weapons and not really make and model. Everbody has what works for them. I have several 10/22 and love them. I went with the marlin 60 because of the fixed tube mag. Kinda hard to lose the mag on that little 22lr.
I also keep AR15s on hand and not far away, the whole family is outfitted to military standard for AR15s, to include a basic load sitting in PMAGs. Love my ARs. Got some MAC90s (AK47) and a couple SKSs laying around. Not a huge fan of the AK .....for several reasons.
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The duckbill mags will not insert and lock with the bolt closed. TrueThe SKS has no bolt hold-open, so you have to hold the rifle AND hold the bolt back with one hand while using the other hand to insert the mag.False Very clumsy. Some people counter that argument by saying to take a Dremel tool and grind away a portion of the bottom of the bolt!! What?Seen it done, and it does work.
The scope mounts that replace the dust cover sound like a good idea, but they sometimes will not hold zero.Never tried mine with it.
Actually, for the prices SKS's are going for now I would probably buy a used 30-30 lever rifle myself.
But mine was free, and you can't turn that down.
The SKS has an empty magazine actuated bolt hold open.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=768eiQXcWtM
It does not have an external bolt hold open or release. If your magazine does not actuate the catch, you are stuck doing the "Hold the bolt with one hand while changing the magazine with the other," hand jive. Or you could hold back the bolt with one hand and reach down into the magwell and engage the catch. I have seen a few people that did have 30 rd duckbill mags that would activate the catch, but have of and from more that it would not work.
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I love my SKS model56 pre ban is in original condition.. i did buy a butler creek folding synthick stock shortly after i got the SKS but never put it on...
my kit goes:
Glock17 9mm
Remington 870 12g (i do need to get an 18.5 in barrel still)
mossberg 4x4 30-06
Ar15
the family will be carrying:
SKS
ruger SRc9
Stevens 12g
Iv been for years trying to consolidate my ammo to specific calibers so far all iv got is the 9mm and 12G
i moved to the Ar platform with in the last 2 years so I'm making that my main carry rifle and everybody knows how to use it... I'm considering another Ar but that will have to wait for money to catch up on that one.. a 10-22 is in the plans but for now its just in the plans...
If i have to run the 9's the shotty's, the Ar and sks are coming with..... if i have an extra person than the 06, 45acp...
my issue with the SKS is carrying the ammo.. the Ar platform has pmags w/vest so they are pretty portable but I'm still figuring out an efficient way to carry the sks ammo.. so far i have an alice belt with ammo pouches to carry the ammo but iv not been able to figure out any other way..
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my issue with the SKS is carrying the ammo.. the Ar platform has pmags w/vest so they are pretty portable but I'm still figuring out an efficient way to carry the sks ammo.. so far i have an alice belt with ammo pouches to carry the ammo but iv not been able to figure out any other way..
If you are using MOLLE gear: http://www.strikehardgear.com/sks-clip-pouch/ (http://www.strikehardgear.com/sks-clip-pouch/) I wish I had found these when I still had my SKS, as I was using standard 4 up AR bandoliers with the cardboard sleeves. That setup will hold 20 rounds on stripper clips.
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A trained SKS user can charge the 10 round fixed magazine using stripper clips just as fast as changing a detachable magazine.
The SKS is very good at what it does. My suggestion would be that if one wants detachable box magazine capability to buy a rifle designed that way from the factory.
I picked up a barely used, built in 1999, Mini 14 for $375 back in 2007. About what an SKS will cost.
Back when they were $79 they were a great bargain. Now? Maybe not.
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Understand that I think the Ruger Mini-14 is a great little gun (as is just about anything Ruger has ever made), the biggest problem with them is that they only use magazines designed for them, which are not cheap. I have never owned one, but have read that any magazine other than real Ruger ones can be an either they work right or they don't work at all. Maybe someone that owns a mini-14 can chime in here.
I have also heard that the barrels tend to flex when fired, so some came up with an attachment to stop the flexing.
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A trained SKS user can charge the 10 round fixed magazine using stripper clips just as fast as changing a detachable magazine.
The SKS is very good at what it does. My suggestion would be that if one wants detachable box magazine capability to buy a rifle designed that way from the factory.
I picked up a barely used, built in 1999, Mini 14 for $375 back in 2007. About what an SKS will cost.
Back when they were $79 they were a great bargain. Now? Maybe not.
RPD i got my SKS when they first arrived into the US early 90's for 38.00 with a 10.00 coupon (man what a deal) ^-^ and it came with a bandoiler, canteen, spike bayonett, and a canvas sling.. its in its original condition iv just added a flash suppressor i shoot it iron sites and im very accurate with it out to 300 yards.. my issue has been creating a system to carry the ammo now that Prepper gave me the SKS site that will solve that issue.... whoooo who....
THANKS PREPPER ::cz
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You're welcome.
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FLPrepper, Not trying to argue with you here, but...........
The issue of Ruger Mini 14's working best with Ruger factory magazines is hardly unique.
The Springfield Armory M1A is most dependable using USGI magazines made by Checkmate Industries.
I have found that aftermarket mags for the M1 Carbine are hit-and-miss, as are the el-cheapo $7.99 45ACP mags for a 1911. You want a 1911 mag you can bet your life on, it's going to run $25 - $30 each.
Yes, the Mini 14 barrels, until a few years ago, were thin enough to change point of impact after heavy firing. But, honestly, how many of us are going to be in a firefight?
I'm not picking here, don't mean to offend, that is not my intent.
My Mini 14 stays loaded at the head of the bed with the first 4 rounds Hornady V Max ballistic tip because its most likely use would be against coyotes after my livestock. And it really doesn't matter if it shoots one MOA or two MOA or even four MOA in this situation.
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No problem RPD.
As far as the magazines, I should have stated that I was (in my mind at least) comparing them to the abundance of cheap, reliable, AR-15 mags.
Once again, I have no personal knowledge of Ruger Mini-14's, just things I have heard/read.
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My own SHTF setup is similar. a Glock 17 9mm (or the Beretta 92 depending on the circumstance), a Ruger 10/22, a Remington 870, and a number of .308 "Battle rifles" to choose from. I don't carry a 9mm daily, I carry a 10mm 1911 and .40 S&W Glock 27 for a backup. But ammo for those would most likely become hard to get. The 9mm should be on every blue helmeted hip.
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If I could id get a AR15 5.56 in M4 syle. And a beretta M9. But untill I win the lotto. I will use what I have or get. I have a remmington 243 semi auto hunting rifle, bad side is it only has a 5 round mag. And my other weapons are limited. I do have some mags I can't use yet. But I hope to use my cross bow if I need to.oo.
But I see it if I need to "plink" I can try getting a "upgrade"...