My Dad had a S&W .357 magnum with a 11-3/4" barrel that I really liked. It was really ridiculous looking and would probably provoke accusations of being hung like a pimple, but I loved the feel of it. The weight and barrel length made the recoil very manageable for a weapon that powerful. I probably will go with something smaller, and I’m not too picky about the manufacturer. I want something with good stopping power that I can keep in a drawer near the bed or carry easily in the glove compartment if I need to. For pistols I prefer revolvers over automatics because of their simplicity, safety, and the fact they never jam.
For a rifle, I want something more powerful than an SKS, and also something that doesn’t look as “scary” or have a bad reputation. ATF has described it as the rifle most frequently encountered by law enforcement, it’s killed more cops than any other rifle (at least six in 2004), and while there were some variants not covered under the last assault weapon ban, it’s a likely candidate for future weapon bans. I’d like to get a Benelli R1 - they’re pretty expensive but come in a lot of different sizes, and they have a version that looks about as “un-scary” as a semi-automatic rifle can.
All the more reason to get one NOW, before they can ban it. I mean, it’s so cheap, there’s practically no reason not to. It’s one of those rifles that every gun fan has at least one of, because it’s so versatile and dependable and the ammo is so cheap.
But if not an SKS, it’s hard to go wrong with an M1 Garand. You can get one through the Civilian Marksmanship Program. That’s $595 for a “service grade” rifle which means it’s in good enough quality to be reasonably accurate and with good wood on it.
If the gun control people gain more power, owning a banned weapon (even if it was legal for me to purchase at the time) could get me on lists as a possible threat. The SKS is loathed by many law enforcement agencies because of it’s popularity among criminals. I have a family and want to keep a low profile. If, for some reason, I end up on the receiving end of a no-knock search warrant I do not want to be known as someone owning a “cop-killer” weapon if I can have a more effective weapon that is just a hunting rifle.
The pros of this weapon are not that important to me. Cheap? Rifle is last on my list of weapons to get, hopefully by the time I get one I won’t have to save too long to get the $1200 or so I’ll need to get an R1 - or I could get one with my tax return, which (thanks to the kids) is several thousand dollars. Low maintenance? I enjoy maintaining guns. Tough? I don’t plan on carrying it around much, and like I said, I enjoy maintenance. Cheap ammo? I don’t plan on needing a thousand rounds.
Cons? Likely to be banned, might eventually be on a list of weapons to be confiscated or at least an indicator of being a potentially dangerous person. Low powered for a rifle, not very accurate. Also ugly.
It’s exactly that kind of wrongheaded thinking I alluded to in my first post. You really believe, that if gun control advocates get to the point of issuing no-knock warrants to collect SKSs & ARs & AKs, that once they get them all, they’ll say “Mission Accomplished” and retire? You’re deluding yourself. Five years later they’ll be back to collect your “high powered” “ultra-accurate” “long range” “sniper rifle” as well.
I’ll have it 5 years longer, though, and if they start confiscating semiautomatic rifles based solely on their appearance, I’ll know it’s time to hide the rest of my weapons (probably stage a break-in and say burglars got them).
BTW, I didn’t think they would be using no-knock warrants to confiscate them - not much purpose in that as you can’t flush a weapon. What I mean is, if there is a registry of dangerous weapons, and someone makes a false report that I’m dealing drugs and there is a no-knock warrant issued for my house, the cops will be less likely to shoot me or my family if my guns are not considered the cop killing kind, even if they are actually better for killing cops than a lower-powered cheap carbine.
Well, really, the only reason I brought up the SKS is because you did mention “when the shit goes down” as one possible reason for wanting a rifle. I don’t know exactly what you meant by that, but in the “gun culture,” and among “survivalists,” the SKS probably ranks number one among guns that people would prefer to have if “the shit hits the fan,” usually abbreviated to “SHTF” in discussions because it comes up so often. The SKS is consistently favored in these type of discussions because if the “shit really hits the fan” you are not going to want a rifle that requires a lot of maintenance, you’re going to want a rifle that you can carry around anywhere, you’re going to want a rifle that consistently functions under the worst conditions possible and you’re going to want cheap ammo and a lot of it (more than 1,000 rounds.) In that scenario the SKS and the AK are almost universally considered the guns to have for a “SHTF” type scenario.
An example of this type of scenario is, say, a really bad natural disaster in a suburban or semi-urban area, where there is widespread chaos, looting and crime, and the police’s hands are tied, and you are at risk of being attacked somehow, or you need to get from one place to another under extremely dangerous conditions - you need a “SHTF” weapon. A more extreme scenario and yet one that is often brought up, is a complete collapse of the government and of all law enforcement. (I think that in this situation the best thing to do is to be part of a large, armed group, instead of going Mad Max Lone Wolf. You don’t want to be a lone hero, you want to have strength in numbers.)
But if you meant something else by “when the shit goes down,” or if you think the shotgun and pistol will have the bases covered for that scenario and you’d rather just get a really, really nice rifle for hunting or target shooting - really, I’d recommend an M1A (the civilian version of the M14 [that rifle that the guys drill with in boot camp in Full Metal Jacket.]) Either that or an M1 Garand. These are both very, very accurate and powerful rifles without looking too “scary.”
The situation I was worred about was a medium-term disruption of law and order with large scale looting, rioting, etc. where I might end up defending my house or relocating in unstable situations. In that case, I wanted a rifle to round out my defensive/offensive options, but I don’t anticipate too many scenarios where I would need one (in my neighborhood I’d have to get up on the roof to be able to see far enough to need a rifle, it would probably only come into play in a large scale breakdown where I might get attacked on the highway or something). I think the odds of this scenario are low and I would want a quality weapon that I would like to have for a long time and would be useful for hunting, and the Benelli seems pretty neat and high-quality, as well as reliable. If things get REALLY bad, I’ll probably end up getting a mohawk and some bondage gear, strip all the fenders off of the LeSabre, and become a Road Warrior villain.
