Practical Firearms Discussion: The Rifle For Emergencies.

Exactly! Tailor your choice to your environment.

If I was in an environment such as yours my thoughts would be equivalent.

 

Funny that you should leave out the one thing that really gives you an edge. Training is all well and good but only one thing will produce the edge you need.

 

By any military measure you can go by, we won the war in Vietnam handily. After the Tet Offensive the Viet Cong was shattered.... but political pressures back home, combined with misleading reports on the situation, caused the people to think the war was "unwinnable".

North Vietnam military and government officials were stunned when we withdrew because of the political pressures back home. They knew they were up against the wall and didn't have the resources even to defend themselves, much less initiate any kind of offensive action... and we just walked away.

We might have "lost" in Vietnam, but that was because of the politicians, not for any military reason.

 

Sorry, but you're dead wrong. There is no single "one thing" to give someone the tools to be effective. Training, dedication to practice, and mindset are all key. If you're going to cite "experience", I'll just say that if you don't have proper training, if you don't practice, and if you don't have the right mindset, you won't live to get any "experience".

 

The .45 is a great round, and it has a deserved reputation for combat effectiveness.... against two legged predators. It doesn't have the penetration or shocking energy to be effective against a serious four-legged predator.

The shotgun with slugs is certainly an effective tool for the purpose of bear defense, but not always feasible to keep close at hand. A heavy caliber revolver is immediately available, light enough to have on your person at all times, and delivers enough energy to stop a dangerous animal with proper shot placement. And a lever-action carbine in a caliber like .44 Mag is likewise lighter and more handy than the shotgun.

That said, I do keep a 12 gauge shotgun around when going camping; like you I keep it loaded with slugs. But, when hiking long distances in mountain terrain, the shotgun just isn't feasible to take with you everywhere.

 

You're wrong, and the reason you're wrong is that you don't know.

 

I know plenty... and you apparently know a lot that just ain't so.

 

Fascinating.

 

I gave you a like but saying that the Republicans didn't support the working man until the Democratic party threw the middle class under the bus isn't historically correct.

During the 1920's the Democrats labeled the Republican party the party of the rich and for over 60 years many Americans believed it.

I don't know it it was on this thread or another but I pointed out that the labels of liberal and conservative weren't used often before 1970 but Democrats or Republicans identified as being Truman Democrats or FDR Democrats or Rockefeller Republicans or Nixonites, etc etc.

One could say the Rockefeller Republicans were for the rich and Eisenhower a Republican despised the Rockefeller Republicans. So did Barry Goldwater.

Gen. George S. Patton was the richest officer in the U.S. Army. Patton was a Republican and Patton was rich because of his father was extremely rich and was a Democrat.

I would say most Democrats and Republicans despised Democrats and Republicans from the Northeast, all were filthy rich.

 

You could find examples of poor Republicans, and wealthy Democrats, but by and large the Republicans had the money, and Democrats didn't.

Where are you from originally APACHERAT?

 

If you have a .45 ACP, depending in your confidence in the frame try a few .450 SMC. (Skip the .45 super).

 

My brain housing group memory banks weren't fully developed at the time so I can only go by what my father and mother told me and what it says on my long form birth certificate that is the "Real McCoy" and not computer generated...Wisconsin.

When I was two years old my parents had enough of the cold winters in Packerland and moved to California.

When I was three years old my memory banks began to function.

 

A Californian huh?

Well, you've got me interested in the development of the two parties regionally. I've been going strictly by 74 years of life. Minus, as you say, when my memory bank wasn't fully developed. So, thanks.

 

You have five more years experience in life than I.

 

I'm not in the 70's yet.

The 60's are bad enough.

I can't imagine how much worse the 70's will be.

 

I was 2 years and 6 months old when my baby sister was born, which I remember vividly.

It's my oldest memory. Happened on a sunny May day in Colorado Springs.

 

Naw ... I'm married to my 45ACP.

Have been ever since USMC advanced infantry school for officers (butter-bar's like @ArmySoldier ).

In USMC advanced infantry school for officers (butter-bar's) you learn platoon and company tactics, and supporting arms including tanks, arty, close air support, combat engineering, and combat demolition.

You also touch the Springfield 45ACP for the first time.

 

Love old Colorado City and the west side.

 

That’s part of my point. I have carried the .45 ACP in one platform or another for over 40 years, much of it with the 1911 platform which is the platform I do the bulk of my smithing work. The last few years I have acquired others such as Glocks and HKs. While I carry other cartridges as well for CC, one is my HK45. My retirement business, making custom bamboo fly rods, often puts me on remote streams where I test the performance of new tapers and increases my opportunity to encounter 4 (potentially 2) legged threats. While I like the 45 ACP, I don’t have complete faith in it for certain potential encounters. I considered carrying a 10mm, but about that time I ran into the .45super, a round of exactly the same dimensions as the .45 ACP...basically a Hotter than .45 +p. Early versions were often reloaded with ACP Brass. In a fully supported chamber they seemed safe, but I noticed on a couple guns (Glock) they weren’t as fully supported an was concerned about safety with the higher pressures. Then came along the .45 SMC that has greater strength in web of the brass, and I began testing them. I use ACP rounds for daily CC, but in the bush carry the SMCs in my HK which I know can handle their high pressures. Might or might not work for you, but you can research them... DoubleTap is a source. The hardcasts have excellent penetration. I haven’t tested them on anything like a bear, but have on hogs fresh harvested with a rifle and then penetration with the hard cast bullets was excellent. As they say, YMMV.

 

Sorry but you just proved you have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to the AR.

Please tell me what malfunction needs a screwdriver and a hammer to fix. Be very specific.

 

iggy list.

 

M-16's and AR's are notorious for when a spent rifle casing doesn't extract and is stuck in the chamber.

So what do you do ?

In civilian world or on the range you take a rod like a military steel cleaning rod and insert it into the bore of the barrel and ram it down the barrel dislodging the cartridge case.

But what if your in combat and in a fire fight ???

Unlike the M-1 Garand or M-14 that has a buttstock storage space for a cleaning rod, M-16's and AR's don't.

Screwdrivers are not normally issued to riflemen in combat. So you take out your bayonet or if you rate a K-Bar and use the blade tip dislodging the cartridge case from the chamber.

AR's seem to occasionally have this thing known as a "hard lock" problem when the bolt refuses to retract and is locked in place.
Never heard of it happening on a AR-15 or M-16 but with other AR platforms.

Again using a steel cleaning rod but you'll likely need a mallet or hammer to knock the frozen bolt free.

No hammer or mallet ?

Your only choice is a screwdriver and if you don't have one then turn to your bayonet and good luck, there are six gooks advancing on your position.

 

Couple things. ARs are not notorious for stuck cases. It can happen but it is quite rare. At least not if you are using brass case ammo in a quality rifle with an in spec chamber and you clean your rifle on occasion. Doing the job i do i spend an extreme amount of time at the range generally at least a couole times a week and often more. Shooting thousands upon thousands of rounds. I can think of maybe 2 or 3 times i have seen a stuck case that wasnt created on purpose to practice clearing that type of malfunction.

Second that you think you need a cleaning rod to clear it proves just how little you know about ARs. Since it is obvious you either have no training on how to properly use this season system or at least no quality training. You should do some research before posting nonsense on the internet.

Look up a technique known as mortaring. After you look up that technique look up kyle lambs three little kittens drill. If you can learn those 4 drills there is virtually no malfunction that an AR may get that you cant clear quickly and easily

 

Thank you for proving my point

 

As a Marine who unfortunately had his M-14 taken away from him and sent to Vietnam and issued a M-16 A1, I'm just going from personal experiences and what I observed.

FYI:
Back in the day all 5.56 mm cartridge shell casings were brass.

Steel shells are for poor people or an army that is about to lose a war.

Would be nice if every rifleman was issued a tool kit when going into combat but it doesn't happen. Screwdrivers, pliers, hammer, wrenches, saws, pry bar, etc.

Instead they issue you a bayonet or a K-Bar and an entrenching tool (shovel)

In the photo below the third Marine from the left has lineman cutter sticking out of his pocket.