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Lonnie Jaycox

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I have been thinking of getting a carbine to keep in the house and use out on my brother's farm. I do not need ultra long range pinpoint accuracy, and I don't need military style battle capacity. That being said, I would like to have larger than sporting capacity available so that it could be used for HD in the event of some civil unrest (I live in a place where it could happen.), and I would like hunting type accuracy out to about 200 yrds. The full battle rifles seem large and may unduly alarm the neighbors--not to mention the fact that the good ones are very expensive. I have been thinking of the Ruger carbines (Mini-14, Mini-30, or the 44 mag) may be the best choice--are there others in htis class that are suitable and comparable in price? Are the Rugers durable enough for a long life of shooting? Are the new Rugers capable of using pre-ban magazines and are these available in, say, 20-30 round capacity? For any rifle of this class--are the 223 and 7.62x39 a toss-up and if so which is more available at low cost for lots of target practice?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Lonnie
 
The new search funtion on TFL is pretty good. You might want to try some searches such as; home defense, mini 14, mini 30, sks, ak 47, etc.
Home Defense Carbine:
part I http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=12080

Part II http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=12083

Various related threads:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=52247

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=32234

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=12638

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=47829

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=14589



What do you mean by hunting accuracy at 200 yards? Do you want to be able to hit crows? Or will hitting a pie plate work?

What might you hunt or shoot with it? If you use it for repelling goblins will you have a handgun or shotgun as a backup?

What price range are you looking at, the more information you can give or even the more information you can tell yourself about what you want/need the better decision you will make.

When you say larger than sporting capacity I think your talking about mag capacity. But that is honestly not as important as ease of reloading and reliability.

From what little you have said so far any of the following guns might work for you: SKS, AK 47, Ruger Mini 30, SMLE [303 or 308], surplus '98 Mauser or Swede rifle, 30-30 lever gun, mini 14, AR-15.

A bolt action military rifle with stripper clips is quick to reload unless you mount a scope over the action. IMHO a simple B square type mount attached to the rear sight base with a red dot or hologram sight makes the old WW I type rifles much easier and quicker to hit with, yet lets you reload with stripper clips.
 
I would go for a $150-$200 SKS.

But the .30-30 would beat it in accuracy. And aimed rate of fire would not not be appreciably slower. However, due to the slower reloading in the lever gun, I would get a quality auto-loading pistol.

If you want more shots per magazine in the lever gun, look toward the .44 mag or .347 mag models. You can go with a revolver in the same caliber or stick with an autoloader pistol in the caliber of your choosing.

Rick
 
How about a "scout" SKS?

$130 Romanian SKS 7.62X39 available everywhere including http://www.gunbroker.com

$35 synthetic sporting stock with sling studs, search the internet for these and choose the one you like best.

$40 Millett rear sight scope base http://www.gunaccessories.com/Millet/MilitaryRifle/index.asp

$125 used Burris or Leupold scout scope off of http://www.ebay.com or http://www.gunbroker.com etc.

$11 Brownell's glass bedding kit (If you want to get fancy with this project)

$5 20 stripper clips holding 10 rounds a piece, once again off of http://www.ebay.com or http://www.gunbroker.com etc.

$346 = A very reliable, semiautomatic, stripper clip fed, 200 yard defense weapon that looks almost like a hunting rifle so it won't scare the neighbors (take the bayonett off!). With this setup they can be quite accurate (1-2" @ 100 yards) and the scout scope allows you to keep both eyes on your target during aquisition.

Ammo runs $99 for 1,000 hollow points delivered to your door by http://www.ammoman.com
 
Another vote for the SKS.

When I dropped mine into a Choate synthetic stock and plopped a cheap 4x scope on it, I started cutting 1.5" groups at 100 yards.

Not bad for a rifle that cost me $89 and has a reputation for bad accuracy.
 
My house rifle is a Inland M1 Carbine. Loaded with softpoints and 3 15-round mags, I do not feel undergunned or at a disadvantage.

Scores of our enemies have fallen to the humble M1 Carbine (loaded with FMJ to boot!) and deserves a little more respect than it sometimes gets.
 
For the love of G*d, don't buy AK ammo by the box.

To REALLY save buy the 1000 round crates. Even if you shoot in such small quantities as to want 20 at a time, plunk down $80 and have anough ammo for the life of the rifle!

(Of course, there are those for which 1000 is a few trips to the range).

Battle.r
 
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