Posted on 02/10/2019 12:38:43 AM PST by vannrox
ping for later
Great read and well thought out. Agree with every point for my M4 with ACOG - but my primary will always be my match-prepped M1A.
The basic combat rifle for home property defense in my opinion is anything that throws lead with reasonable accuracy at 100 yards or better, doesn’t jam and requires little to no maintenance. That would be an SKS with open sights.
Now I said “basic” as in minimal, not ideal as in perfect.
Good Stuff!
bttt
One common comment i hear in defense of the AR platform is the shear number of that weapon across the US. Parts are plentiful. True enough. A similar thought for me is the 30-30 lever gun reasonable range, simple operation, hundreds of millions of that type across the country. And cheap, plentiful ammunition.
L8r
My first problem with this is the twist rate, really 1-7! A 1-7 will not stabilize 55 grain rounds worth a chit, that twist is for 60+ grain rounds. I can run 62 grain rounds through my 1-9 with no problem or loss in accuracy. This move towards slow heavy rounds defeats the purpose of what is considered hi velocity rounds. I’m on a ranch every day and carry several rifles, none of my rifle ammo combinations shoot less than 3500 fps. On one rifle I run a 1-12, it’s STEYR pro hunter 243 running around 3950 with a 58 grain pill.
Absolutely. I own a LOT of firearms and if I was on my belly in the mud or sand and needed reliability it would be the SKS without a doubt. I like stripper feed weapons, just as fast as a detachable but you can go a long ways before you have to do any refilling. And you can carry a lot more rounds if need be because strippers are lighter than mags.
I have to admit I have a built in antiquated hatred for the AR simply because when first introduced to combat they were known to jam, where the M14 just kept on spitting bullets out the front end.
I often recall loading up on a Caribou sitting by a butter bar that had an M16, he noticed my M14 and wished he had one due to reliability issues.
My recollection is the AR was actually designed for the Air Force and worked quite well, when the Army got their hands on it they specified an ammo that was dirty, thus causing the jamming. Eventually the bugs were worked out and it is today a world renowned platform.
But I still prefer something SKS’ish or M14’ish.
“The basic combat rifle for home property defense in my opinion is anything that throws lead with reasonable accuracy at 100 yards or better, doesn’t jam and requires little to no maintenance.”
A Mossberg 12 gauge pump with slugs would work, too. Use 00 buck for close encounters.
I’ll call these the snowflake threads for gunnies. Story time, one class I took with Max Velocity Tactical out of 12 people we had 3 snowflakes, one guy shows up with an M-1 Garand with the usual General Patton platitude, disaster on fire and movement, second guy Century Arms 93 clone nuff said and lastly a guy with an SBR who had the jam of doom in the class. And then we got the porch snipers here dreaming of John Wayne and his Winchester 73 mowin em down.
Git an AR just like the man says and then go train.
A memory I have of the SKS was during a foreign weapons training event. The instructor took an SKS, dropped it in a mud puddle, drove through the mud puddle with his M151 jeep (I do not know if he actually drove over it). Pulled the weapon out of the mud, cleared it, fresh ammo and it fired perfectly. The point with that training was that’s all Charlie had to work with. The Russians designed their weapons to run in the dirt and keep on working.
Confession time: I have had my SKS for 25 years and never, ever cleaned it once. Oiled it, yes, but to actually dissemble or run a brush down the barrel, never.
Of course I cannot do this with my higher grade closer tolerance weapons, especially semi auto pistols.
I agree with both you and Sergeant Major Plumley on this one. And while everyone is trying to get 1/4” accuracy at a hundred yards, in reality the target is going to be a minimum of 1 foot by 2 feet. The SKS has no accuracy issues here at all.
Just about any rifle which is reliable and you have sighted in so that you know where it will hit.
It should be reasonably accurate which just about all new rifles are.
If it has a scope, make sure it is really well mounted. I once had the scope on a Thompson Center Contender fall off during a match. I sure thought it was on good but it wasn’t.
Just have a good supply of ammo too. If you have enough ammo and can shoot the rifle well, then caliber is not important.
Even a .22 or .22 magnum is better than nothing.
In 1969 they gave me an M14 rifle. I carried it and used it in 5 or 6 fire fights with the Viet Cong. It weighed 10.5 pounds loaded, and never failed me. Six months later they took it away from me and handed me an M16 (7.5 pounds loaded). That M16 failed (bend cartridges forced into the breach) during 2 different firefights. I never trusted the damn thing after that. I also, never used either rifle in fully automatic mode, ever, so both rifles were only used as semiautomatics. An AR15 is the semiautomatic version of the M16. I don’t like the AR15, because the M16 almost got me killed on 2 separate occasions.
Yep. They are one of the most simple, durable, reliable, and practical semi-auto weapons ever designed. I have owned several and NEVER had one jam. I actually prefer it over an AK because of the stripper feed. And it’s best attribute is the chrome lined barrel. Like I say, I own a lot of fine weapons, but if things got down and dirty I am going to grab the SKS first. I know I will still be rocking while they are jamming, cleaning, or refilling mags.
Git an AR just like the man says and then go train.
____________________________________________________
As my Drill Sgt pounded in my head so many years ago and remains my tag line today, “More sweat in Training, less Blood in combat.”
Similar here with the cleaning. I do just field strip it now and then to blow it out with the air gun and re-oil. Main thing for me is just making sure the gas port is clear. I figure with the chrome lined barrel the next round I put through it will clean the bore for me. lol
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.