crofoot629
Absent Comrade
Colt 6920 or 6940.
Buy once, cry once.
IMI M193 from Wideners for about $0.30 a round.
Pmags.
gtg
Emory
Buy once, cry once.
IMI M193 from Wideners for about $0.30 a round.
Pmags.
gtg
Emory
Help me finish off my home defense line up.
- Thread starter StuperDan
- Start date
amazingflapjack
US Veteran
If it were me, I would stay away from anything in .223/5.56-anything. I have a Yugo AK-47 as my first in line. I have also recently purchased a Winchester 94AE in .357 Mag. No magazines-practically anyone (kid-Woman) could shoot the thing because it is light and has almost no recoil. I removed the rear sight and fashioned a piece of an old scope base that attaches to the 2 holes @ 1/2 inch center that are left when the rear sight is removed-the base going forward about 2 1/4 inches, and simply mounted a red dot on it in a scout rifle set up. It easy to do and inexpensive. Hard cast lead will shoot well at 12-1300 fps without appreciable leading. The rifle is a 16 inch barrel, and should be very effective. The SKS is a good thought as well, but like some have suggested, concentrate on educating your family, making your house send the message to perps to stay away, and do not open the door for anyone you did not know was coming, and never when you aren't there or armed. Trust the Lord. Go safely. Flapjack.
mauiblue
Member
I doubt I would use my AR-15 carbine in my dwelling. My neighbors are only a stone's throw away and I don't want my rounds hitting any of them. I do have a Mossberg 500 Persuader 12 gauge for home duty.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
bronco45
Member
In a shotgun try #3 or #4 buck. Easier on the shoulder and doesn't carry as far. At close range it is devastating.
I recently went to a 357 Marlin Carbine as they are simplicity with a quick ten rounds that are powerful for home defense.
An SKS is a viable option, simple powerful and ten round capacity. I personally like Leverguns and my friends and family know how to operate them.
Education and preparedness training is as important as the weaponry.
I recently went to a 357 Marlin Carbine as they are simplicity with a quick ten rounds that are powerful for home defense.
An SKS is a viable option, simple powerful and ten round capacity. I personally like Leverguns and my friends and family know how to operate them.
Education and preparedness training is as important as the weaponry.
khiggins498
Member
Some of this could depend on your location. If you are in a rural area, a 30-30 is hard to beat for the price and versatility. If you live in a suburban/urban area, a major hunting caliber can have serious overpenetration issues. In that area, I would reccomend a .223 of some sort, as numerous tests have shown they penetrate even less than bird shot, but have good stopping power. Kel Tec makes a .223 "assault rifle" that uses AR mags. They may not look as sexy, but I have seen good reviews and they are much lower priced than your typical AR.
Good Luck.
Good Luck.
The above advice is spot on.
It's the rifle sitting in my safe. If you want an auto loader, look at a Ruger Mini. Rock solid and pretty cheap. But you'll find a good sturdy levergun to be really affordable.
Hook686
US Veteran
Who do you plan to defend your home against ? Why a 'Battle Rifle' ? Are you in a rural setting ? Are you in a residential neighborhood ? Are you in a condo, or apartment ? It seems to me thinking in terms of 'Battle Rifles' can be a distraction from your real quest. Do you want a rifle just to have a rifle ?
YogiBear
Absent Comrade
Aloha,
Our First Alerters are 3 dogs who each weigh over 60 pounds.
Wife and I prefer 38/357 Smiths for in house. Due to Hawaii Laws
no shooting outside due to liabilities.
Our First Alerters are 3 dogs who each weigh over 60 pounds.
Wife and I prefer 38/357 Smiths for in house. Due to Hawaii Laws
no shooting outside due to liabilities.
Doug M.
Member
*
There ya go. The Smith M&P line has a decent rep, too, at a lower cost. My preference for a lot of reasons is a BCM/EAG package, with an added Aimpoint H-1 in a Larue mount. I did upgrade the flashlight to a G2X for more output, and the Z59 tailcap for positive on/off switching. It takes about two wraps of electrical tape to get it to fit right in the mount. For ammo, search up Gary Roberts' duty ammo testing results. ASYM/Black Hills are the first places I would look, although my agency uses a Federal 64 grain SP, as I recall. 30 round P-mags, loaded to 28, and you are good to go.
As said, "buy once, cry once". Gee, Emory, I wonder what other forums and people have influenced your thinking.
mg357
Absent Comrade
I am going to suggest
1. lever action rifle in 30-30 caliber
2. lever action rifle in .357 or .44 magnum
3. m1 garand rifle in 30-06
4.m1 carbine in .30 caliber
1. lever action rifle in 30-30 caliber
2. lever action rifle in .357 or .44 magnum
3. m1 garand rifle in 30-06
4.m1 carbine in .30 caliber
BobR1
Member
I am guessing that you live in a rural area, with very slow law enforcement response time. Not all that uncommon. I was a reserve deputy sheriff for 15 years in a 1000 sq mile county in rural missouri. One Sunday I put over 400 miles on my car, all answering calls, no patrol. I was the only one on. It seemed that day that every call I went on was a 50-60 mile drive.
Today with several more deputies than we had back then, my guess is response time to my house at say 2:00 AM on Tuesday would be no less than 30 minutes, and could be as long as an hour depending on where the one deputy is at when the call came in. What this means is, It's all over by the time law enforcement show up. All the deputy is going to do is the follow-up paper work.
Considering you are on a tight budget, and probably a dual purpose long gun would be a better choice in your situation. I would agree with several posters above and suggest a Marlin 30-30 as the best choice. Simple to operate by anyone, no magazine to worry about, hard hitting, easy to find ammo for almost anywhere in rural america. It is also plenty accurate, can be bought for under $300 used, and doubles as a deer rifle. With this platform in a gun fight, all you need to remember is to keep topping it off when shooting.
Bob
Today with several more deputies than we had back then, my guess is response time to my house at say 2:00 AM on Tuesday would be no less than 30 minutes, and could be as long as an hour depending on where the one deputy is at when the call came in. What this means is, It's all over by the time law enforcement show up. All the deputy is going to do is the follow-up paper work.
Considering you are on a tight budget, and probably a dual purpose long gun would be a better choice in your situation. I would agree with several posters above and suggest a Marlin 30-30 as the best choice. Simple to operate by anyone, no magazine to worry about, hard hitting, easy to find ammo for almost anywhere in rural america. It is also plenty accurate, can be bought for under $300 used, and doubles as a deer rifle. With this platform in a gun fight, all you need to remember is to keep topping it off when shooting.
Bob
revolvergeek
Member
Depending on the construction of your house, size of the yard, layout of the neighborhood I would likely go with either a .357/.44 mag lever action or a .30-30 lever/SKS.
When I was pondering this question myself about 20 years ago (in a suburban neighborhood with big yards and old houses) I ended up buying a Rossi 92 in .357 magnum and a ?Yugo? SKS. Both shot well and gave a lot of versatility, cheap to feed, and powerful enough but not too much penetration with the right ammo selection.
If I had been somewhere rural I would have gone with a .44 mag or .30-30 for more penetration / better power at longer ranges.
When I was pondering this question myself about 20 years ago (in a suburban neighborhood with big yards and old houses) I ended up buying a Rossi 92 in .357 magnum and a ?Yugo? SKS. Both shot well and gave a lot of versatility, cheap to feed, and powerful enough but not too much penetration with the right ammo selection.
If I had been somewhere rural I would have gone with a .44 mag or .30-30 for more penetration / better power at longer ranges.
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I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for, your post says "main battle rifle" - that would mean a high power full size rifle firing a .30 caliber full power round. I don't think any of these are great choices for home defense unless you live on 100+ acres near the Mexican border where you might be engaging multiple soldier-drug smugglers at very long range. If that is the case I would get a class 3 machine gun if I could, if not I would get an M1A, FAL or M1 Garand in that order. I would also consider a scoped version. Personally I would forgo the bolt actions becaue this is a situation where the ranges will likely close and you need to maintain a high volume of fire.
If you live in the country, say 20 acres or so a good intermediate rifle is your best bet. A 30-30 lever action would be a good choice as would a short AR-15 or AK. Personally I would go with a 16" collapsable stock AR-15 for this use case.
If you live in the suburbs or the city, an AR or AK would still be a good choice but I would opt for a M1 Carbine. Inside a house I have not found any semi-auto rifle that I like better. The intermediate rifles mentioned above all penetrate more than you will want and the .30 carbine is plenty accurate for the ranges we are talking about. It also has milder recoil and muzzle flash and is actually easier to handle than an even an AR-15. A 12 gage is still better in most cases, but the M1 Carbine is the next step down for home defense inside the house and yard in my opinion.
If class 3 weapons are an option I would also consider a Tommy Gun. When I lived in college my roomate had one and I think that even trumps the 12 gage. It is unbelievable how fast you can spray bullets with one of those and they are hard hitting .45. It has suprisingly little recoil for a full auto.
If you live in the country, say 20 acres or so a good intermediate rifle is your best bet. A 30-30 lever action would be a good choice as would a short AR-15 or AK. Personally I would go with a 16" collapsable stock AR-15 for this use case.
If you live in the suburbs or the city, an AR or AK would still be a good choice but I would opt for a M1 Carbine. Inside a house I have not found any semi-auto rifle that I like better. The intermediate rifles mentioned above all penetrate more than you will want and the .30 carbine is plenty accurate for the ranges we are talking about. It also has milder recoil and muzzle flash and is actually easier to handle than an even an AR-15. A 12 gage is still better in most cases, but the M1 Carbine is the next step down for home defense inside the house and yard in my opinion.
If class 3 weapons are an option I would also consider a Tommy Gun. When I lived in college my roomate had one and I think that even trumps the 12 gage. It is unbelievable how fast you can spray bullets with one of those and they are hard hitting .45. It has suprisingly little recoil for a full auto.
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sheriffoconee
Member
Of course, home defense means any number of things. In the average, residential subdivision, taking a 300 yard "self defense shot" with a "battle rifle" is gonna be dern tricky to explain to the DA unless and until civilization collapses.
Now, if someone just wants a rifle, I don't care, I like rifles, and have quite a few myself.
Now, if you are Iggy's next door neighbor, as it is, and his house if a 45 minute hard drive from yours, then the need for a LONG range SD rifle seem to be more likely, certainly if you are in bear country as well (sorry, i just had to throw that in there)
Now, if you just want a rifle, then get all the rifles you want. However, for defending hearth and home against any reasonable threat as long as the courthouse is still functioning, and if you live anywhere near "town", then I suggest as others do a good lever gun, or a basic AR package. However, virtually any shoulder fired weapon can and has been used for home defense, so you should get the rifle YOU like, and you can use it for any number of purposes....including self defense
Now, if someone just wants a rifle, I don't care, I like rifles, and have quite a few myself.
Now, if you are Iggy's next door neighbor, as it is, and his house if a 45 minute hard drive from yours, then the need for a LONG range SD rifle seem to be more likely, certainly if you are in bear country as well (sorry, i just had to throw that in there)
Now, if you just want a rifle, then get all the rifles you want. However, for defending hearth and home against any reasonable threat as long as the courthouse is still functioning, and if you live anywhere near "town", then I suggest as others do a good lever gun, or a basic AR package. However, virtually any shoulder fired weapon can and has been used for home defense, so you should get the rifle YOU like, and you can use it for any number of purposes....including self defense
Hi:
I know where you are coming from-Father of six.
1. used Winchester or Marlin 30/30
2. Russian M1891 7.62X54
3. SMLE .303
4. Mauser M98
good dependable used rifle at a affordable price. extra money invest in ammo.
I know where you are coming from-Father of six.
1. used Winchester or Marlin 30/30
2. Russian M1891 7.62X54
3. SMLE .303
4. Mauser M98
good dependable used rifle at a affordable price. extra money invest in ammo.
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This. I've got one that's my main woods gun but it's always close to hand in the home. I HIGHLY recommend a Wild West Guns Big Loop lever and "Bear Proof" extractor for it. If you've got big hands, gloves on, or are in a hurry the big loop is wonderful. And the heavy duty extractor is nice peace of mind.
Or any lever gun in either .357, .44 mag, or .45 LC. Good for close ranges, not tons of recoil and can handle 100+ yard shots of need be with leverevolution ammo.
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orion1
Member
If it is strictly a home defense gun, I would add to the many voices voting for the Marlin lever gun. I would choose the short barreled model in .44 mag. If you want more of a dual purpose gun (home defense & hunting or plinking at the range) I would get the same gun in the 20" barrel chambered in 30/30.
I'm surprised so many recommend a lever action 30-30. Hmmmm.
I think the best home defense gun is a 12 gauge pump with a slug barrel. They are absolutely devastating at close range and harmless past about 60 yards using birdshot.
I think the best home defense gun is a 12 gauge pump with a slug barrel. They are absolutely devastating at close range and harmless past about 60 yards using birdshot.
StatesRightist
Member
Marlin 30-30 or Mini-14, easy to shoot and clean.
Do not let these guys talk you into an AR. They are not for newbies.
Do not let these guys talk you into an AR. They are not for newbies.
