Posted: 10/9/2011 3:29:42 PM EDT
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So, I know some people are private about what's in their "collection", but for sake of this topic, I'll play...
A couple of handguns, shotgun, 30-30, 30-06, 10/22. The 30-06/30-30 are my wife's rifles (dad passed and they are hers now). I've really been itchin' for an AR/AK rifle. The Smith and Wesson M&P 15 Sport has really caught my eye. Price is right where I like it (under $700). I'll add to it as I go... Here is the dilemma...my wife likes guns. We are obviously a gun friendly family. We stack silver when possible. We have a decent food storage. So, I guess "prepper" would be an ok thing to call us, but not over the top. However, my wife asks "why do we need another gun - an assault rifle for that matter". I tell her that it's part of the "prep" package. We never know...better to be prepared, right? I also LOVE the AR platform, but don't know enough to accurately describe the benefits for having one, over the other rifles. Any thoughts/help in this area? thanks |
I bought a new AR with an adjustable stock. The wife is short and stubby. I bullshitted her into believing I bought the rifle for both of us. The shortened stock does help her. I also put an Aimpoint PRO on it. End result - the wife, kid, their friends have all shot it it fits them all. And with the PRO they all hit the target. Now to come up with a reason for a another! 
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1.) A semiautomatic rifle capable of loading with 30 round or higher capacity magazines is much more effecient than other long rifles for defense 2.) cleaning and maintenance is much easier that most long rifles 3.) they can also be used fairly efficiently for hunting small to medium game 4.) parts and ammo are widely available, and cheap due to the current popularity and after SHTF, probably abundant 5.) there is a wide variety of ammo made for the 5.56 and 7.62x39 rifles |
| You need at least one semi-automatic carbine with detachable box magazine because in the event of the breakdown of civil authority or even a home invasion, you can be expected to be faced with multiple assailants. You will need major stopping power and fast changes of hi-capacity magazines. For reliability, you want military-proven systems, including the gun, magazines and ammunition. It is very hard to beat an AR or AK for this purpose. |
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Battle rifles lend themselves to adaptation (both by design and what you can buy after fact).
I don't think there's anything a 30-30 can do that a good AR-10 cannot. -Better sights (the aperture and square post is superior to the tangent style sights on most sporting rifles. If it weren't so then match rifles would have tangent sights.) -Better scope mounting options. -Longer maximum point blank range. (The range where you needn't worry about sight adjustment, within reason) -Can readily accept a bipod or a loop sling (factory free float tubes really help a loop sling) to increase your accuracy. -An AR-10 can hold three rounds and be shot slow, a lever gun won't hold 20 rifle rounds and self load in a pinch. -Better triggers are available (often from the factory) -You can replace any parts on an AR pattern rifle with a vise and less than 100$ in tools, can you replace your 30-30's barrel in an hour? -Stocks are available with adjustable length of pull and even cheek height, you can make the rifle fit you (AND YOUR WIFE) rather than fitting you to the gun (which is bad). I am getting lazy... The AR-15 puts auto loading center fire rounds in a 7 pound package that you and your wife can practice with all day. Because of your increased practice and lower recoil you will be faster with it than a .308, practice being the most important aspect. ETA: If you have your hunting weapon totally taken care of the AR-15 is more adept for home and defensive use. It is also cheaper and much easier to acquire parts and magazines for. |
| Why bother with stacking silver? The AR will buy a heck of a lot more than a chunk of shinny metal. I really don't understand people collecting precious metals like they are. If you are doing it for a investment, I totally agree have at it. But in order to prepare for TEOTWAWKI I think many will be disapointed. How much silver do you give for a gallon of milk, a box of bandaids, etc......... I can promise you this, gun and ammo, knifes etc...... will be far more desirable than silver or gold. |
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The bennefits are firepower and being able to engage multiple targets quickly should a large number of folks bent on stealing what ever you have say in a disaster situation and on top of it trying to kill and victimize yourself and family while said bad guys are amassing toward your home...explain it to her that the way wich is the truth..
the AR is the lightest,quickest to reload,high fire power,reliable all wether rifle there is and unless youyr children are old enough to handle a firearm in a situation like that its you and your wife and 2 of you with ARs and knowing how to use them give you a firepower advantage that translates into force multiplier if defending and your out numbered...thats the reason to have the weapon system in the prep package..see what she thinks when you explain it that way.The shotgun is great for home defense but thats the reason for adding an "assault" rifle they excelle at personal deffense of yourself and a posistion. My wifes a handgun person but after 911 nad hurricante Katrina she got very curious about learning to use an AR now we have his and hers rifles with backups to those rifles and we take classes together when we can so now we are teamates just not on a married level but on a self deefense of family and home and goods level.So bottom line being well armed with modern weapons that the people coming against you may likely have gives all of the family a better chance at survival...and thats the bottom line protecting the family from the ghouls out there . Its not like Japan where 99% of people with nothing after the reactor went are selfless and help eachother to survive..in this country there are some like in hurricane Katrina saw it as an oppourtunity to steal,rape brutilize and murder and people and indeed neighborhhods where good people were well armed that was the equalizer to the chaos. |
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Any prep'er knows that an AK/AR is a must have in the arsenal :)
But there are many benefits (when compared to the other guns you have): its semi auto, fairly accurate, low recoil, light weight ish, modular, parts can be found easily, ammo is there, cops/military use it, etc etc. I think your wife is going to like the AR more than you. Then you'll have to buy another AR and standardize on the AR platform with extra parts, mags & ammo. The S&W Sport is a good start. Also look into CMMG, Stag, PSA and RRA. If you can, go for a Noveske, Daniel Defense, BCM, or maybe a Spikes. |
| My wife wanted as light as possible and only wants a red dot so I went lightweight chromelined barrel from Bushmaster and had it ADCOed to 14.7 with the standard cage its a flat top with M4 handguards and an MOE stock,Aimpoint Comp3 and an arms#40 she prefers GI aluminums. |
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There are already several pieces of good advice on how to justify the purchase to your wife. My opinion is to buy the rifle that you want and apologize later for spending the money without her approval. The benefits of the AR platform greatly outweigh the negatives, actually, I can't think of any negatives. You also need to turn her thinking around, AR's owned by most civilians are not automatically labeled assault weapons, they are civilian battle and sporting weapons. In simple terms, assault rifles are machine guns and typically owned by military although it is legal for US citizens to own automatic weapons, it just costs a bit more to play.
As taken from Wikipedia: An assault rifle is a selective fire (selectable between semi-auto and fully automatic) rifle (capable of being fired from the shoulder) that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies. Assault rifles are categorized in between light machine guns, which are intended more for sustained automatic fire in a light support role, and submachine guns, which fire a pistol cartridge rather than a rifle cartridge. Once your wife shoots your AR, she will want her own...and a spare, that is the nature of the evil black rifle. AR's are great fun, easy to shoot, very mild recoil and somewhat affordable if you stick with a basic stock rifle and don't overspend on accessories and modifications. Don't forget to post a picture once you make your purchase, you know you want one. Since you are a prepper, you already know about redundancy and might consider buying two AR's right away. After all, two is one and one is none. |
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Pick a task handled by almost any rifle in the inventory. You can configure an AR to handle that task for less than the cost of another rifle. Think of another future task you'd want a rifle for. The AR can be configured for THAT task for less than a complete new rifle. (there are exceptions, but they're few and far between these days)
Effectively, one AR can be turned into a firearm for nearly any task involving a rifle or carbine for less than the cost of a dedicated rifle or carbine. You get commonality of controls, the ability to share many parts or reuse parts from previous configurations, and a wide and competitive market of vendors offering a huge variety of parts and accessories. For example, you start with a basic AR with 16" barrel, A2 flash hider, M4 style stock and handguards.... Six months later you get an invite to go wild pig hunting and want to use the AR for rate of fire, but feel that 5.56 is insufficient for the job. No sweat, you can get a 450 Bushmaster or 458 SOCOM or 50Beowulf upper for that rifle, slap some irons or a holographic sight on it and be good to go. A year later you want another 22LR, same thing. In both cases you can tailor the upper design to what you need, and even changing around things on the lower is simple. A few minutes to change a pistol grip or stock... No sweat. |
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Ammo availability for one if things went that bad that's what ammo will be around in any quantities. Also for faster follow up shots or multipul target engagements. Also a centerfire rifle that's cheapish to shoot and buy ammo also u can carry alot more 556 than 30 cal. Takes up less space as well, the ammo.
Lastly if, god forbid, you were decisively engaged in any capacity having to manually cycle any weapon will cost u precious time in the best circumstance. Plus they are FUN! 
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Quoted:
So, I know some people are private about what's in their "collection", but for sake of this topic, I'll play... A couple of handguns, shotgun, 30-30, 30-06, 10/22. The 30-06/30-30 are my wife's rifles (dad passed and they are hers now). I've really been itchin' for an AR/AK rifle. The Smith and Wesson M&P 15 Sport has really caught my eye. Price is right where I like it (under $700). I'll add to it as I go... Here is the dilemma...my wife likes guns. We are obviously a gun friendly family. We stack silver when possible. We have a decent food storage. So, I guess "prepper" would be an ok thing to call us, but not over the top. However, my wife asks "why do we need another gun - an assault rifle for that matter". I tell her that it's part of the "prep" package. We never know...better to be prepared, right? I also LOVE the AR platform, but don't know enough to accurately describe the benefits for having one, over the other rifles. Any thoughts/help in this area? thanks Okay- the S&W Sport is a good rifle. That I should get out of the way. It's simple, goes Bang every time, and has good features and a great company backing it. As for rationale for an AR? They give real rifle performance at a fraction of the cost for actual shooting. 30-06 ammo is expensive, and the rifle is not really friendly to shoot 200 rounds through it in a day. The AR is of a different discipline. It is a close quarters to medium range rifle. It's a great varmint gun, it's a great coyote removal machine. Yet, with a carbine length AR, you get to shoot out 25-150yds with open sights for .20-.30 cents per round. In fact, at the show today I got a 500box of WPA for 89.00 That is like .17 per round. And, the M&P sport eats it up just fine. It's not the perfect in home defense weapon, but it's damn good. (I'd still rather use a shotgun or pistol. But that's me, others feel differently.) The AR can give lots of on target shooting to develop great standing marksmanship; it's short and light.....very easy to handle. Well balanced. It does not kick much at all; it is very youth and woman friendly to shoot. And finally..... every once in a while, a 30 can mag dump IS an awesome thing to behold when you are in a pumpkin patch!!!! 
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She said this and doesn't have a black eye or two yet? 
Just kidding... Modularity, ammunition selection and availability, multi-purpose platform, easy to maintain or fix on your own, reliable, rugged, and dependable. These are some of my reasons. Hope it helps. |
| Ok, thanks everyone for the feedback. Very helpful. So, effectively, I can change the upper on the M&P15 even though it's sold as a complete S&W model? Are all uppers/lower compatible with each other? If not, how can I tell what would fit the lower - vice versa |
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Tell her that the AR-15 is the most versatile rifle platform ever devised.
It can do basically everything IMHO. It is simply a HALL OF FAME rifle. She'll understand. 
I'll never forget the time my wife shot my old Colt AR-15. She said............."oh my!!"
ETA: She still, to this day, jokingly says "that is my rifle".
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Quoted:
Ok, thanks everyone for the feedback. Very helpful. So, effectively, I can change the upper on the M&P15 even though it's sold as a complete S&W model? Are all uppers/lower compatible with each other? If not, how can I tell what would fit the lower - vice versa The M&P 15 Sport is a rifle built on a .mil spec platform. No, the stuff is not magnetic particle tested, each and every part is not to the 'T' for gov. testing. But YES, you can swap a 6.8 upper onto the rifle, or a .22lr upper and be shooting a whole new animal in mere minutes. The key is, buffer tube, bolt, magazine well, are all compatible with the industry .mil standards. Any various number of uppers can be had for between $200-400. There are a lot of options. For the first rifle? Buy some ammo for a good price. Get a couple extra mags so you can shoot pretty readily. Get some stripper clips to load mags with, she will be very pleased at how fast you can load the rifle. It does not kick like a mule; but you might want a small pad on the back for her comfort. (It will not lengthen the rifle to make her reach for a good fit. The stock is adjustable) If you are truly interested in a plinker, and a decent home protection rifle, you can get 2 of those rifles at $600 ea. and be shooting twice as much as with some other manufacturers. And you will quickly understand that a simple rifle is a great rifle. Adding a light on the front, or a red dot sight or a small hunting scope should not be any serious cost issue over time. But out of the box, the sport as it comes is ready and has adjustable sights. Learn the rifle, THEN add stuff. I bet you will be plenty pleased with the rifle as is, for quite a while. |
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A couple of handguns, shotgun, 30-30, 30-06, 10/22.
Many people prefer the AR platform for home defense over shotguns or handguns. Compared to the .30-30 and '06, ammo is very cheap, light, and low recoil, but still very effective. The wife will appreciate the low recoil, light weight, accuracy and ergonomics of the AR. If you float the barrel, ARs can provide superb accuracy. The AR is a great choice for home defense, prepping, and general purpose use. I'd select it over the .30-30 and the '06 for any application except big game. An AR with carbine length barrel and collapsing stock also makes a great woman or youth gun. A wide range of body sizes can make good use of it. |
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Tell her its a fun gun to shoot. Plus it would play well into your "preps". But it doesn't have to just be for that. They are a lot of fun. And there is nothing wrong with having a fun gun or two. That's the main thing. If she thinks she likes guns now, get her on a light and handy AR. Tell her you can even get them in pink. |
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1. take her to shoot an AR. after the initial trepidation, most women LOVE them––you might never get it back. 2. as for the prep argument, the tack i'd take is the need for suppressive fire to break contact. in a survival-type emergency that would require you to employ a gun, your goal is going to be to move away from the threat or to make the threat move away from you (rather than just killing people). both of these are usually going to require you to establish a significant volume of fire, which is going to be much, much easier with an AR than with a bolt or lever gun. essentially, the AR is not just "another gun", it's a specific tool for a specific purpose. second point is logistics. you're going to be operating one of the most popular weapons out there, shooting one of the most common cartridges out there. mags, parts, ammo––the big 3. 3. fun. |
