Posted: 3/12/2008 4:12:49 PM EDT
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I am lucky or unlucky enough to have the in-laws live on one side of me and the wife's grandparents on the other side. Neither one are gun owners, gramps might have an old shotgun. I have myself covered as far as firearms go, but don't have extras to hand out. One of the local fun shops has M44s and the old galvanized tins of ammo, for 150 bucks out the door. I was thinking of picking up 2 to have extras. If things get bad or SHTF I can arm the rest of the family without cutting myself short. If all else fails its back up for me. If I never need them, I figure I could also sell them for what I have in them. Good idea or should I spend my money on other things? |
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not a bad idea. I have done so... I tend to try to find user friendly firearms. The Mosins are nice and cheap and simple BUT lack a user friendly safety. I have opted for a variety of simple firearms. Revolvers. Lever Guns. 870's. In my case my friends are not "gun people" but have handled these firearms previously and these are not complex firearms. While the prices are greater I would be more inclined to opt for Lee Enfield and Mauser rifles. A useable safety is useful... |
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How are you set for other preps? You're more likely to face losing your income/buying power, having your utilities interrupted, having food deliveries and/or potable water interrupted.... If you feel you're pretty well covered there and want to "arm up the neighbors", look at their skill level and physical abilities, especially the older folks. Not being a jerk, just realistic. My mom just turned 81 and was actually more that a little anti-gun until I wore her down about two years ago. She's pretty gung-ho now but the reality is she cannot handle the recoil of a .38 Special (std, not even +P - maxes out at .32H&R Mag) and finds my 10/22 too heavy to hold steady long enough to aim. When I had her shoot it from a bench instead, she couldn't see the irons very well and needed to use the scope. Cheap Moisins are great unless the first round blows out your dentures and gives you a heart attack. 
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I would reconsider the M44, although it is a good surplus gun, you have to consider who will be shooting it. can your gramps fire a heavy recoiling gun? can the women folk use it? can any children shoot it? I would say look for an SKS if you can. other wise maybe just a 10/22 as anyone can shoot one of those, sick , old , young, injured...they are pretty useful and will keep a bad guy's head down or make him think twice about messin with any family member. and ammo is much cheaper. |
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Get a back up of what ever you own for yourself. Will run on same ammo and mags. If it is an AR then start saving. don't start another platform for handout shit that will differ from what you use, know, stock, shoot, and maintain. KISS. $300 (two of those) equals a complete AR lower or almost a whole AK just my thoughts. |
Stop it already! The man wants/needs to buy a new gun and you are ruining it for him. 
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+1. Doesn't kick much, shares food with my ak's, shares strippers with my ak's, stupid simple to use, can be found cheap, ammo(steel cased) is still kinda cheap, not to mention, more acurate than my ak's. 
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I have AK's and 2 SKS's (among other guns) and goatloads of ammo for them. Those are my SHTF guns since they require only a few minutes of instructions to operate and are semi-auto. It's frustrating trying to teach someone how to operate a bolt-action and get them to understand all the nuances of having to pull the bolt all the way back to eject the round or how to re-cock in the event of a failure to fire. Semi-autos are more simple from a "I dont know shit about guns but I'm scared of looters" standpoint and you can substantially up your voluminous fire with extra people on semi-autos rather than bolt-actions that might take 10-40 seconds between shots depending on how comfortable they are with the gun. |
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I've been picking up police trade in Glock 19's. I also have several AK's and am looking to buy 3 or 4 SKS's for this purpose. All easy to use and effective weapons. It's just me and my GF, with no kids. Most of my friends are married and have children. I realized a long time ago that I would not be able to survive a major SHTF event to long without the help of others. My friends do what they can as far as preps go, but they cannot afford what I can. I'll give my one of my friends a couple of firearms and get a nurse, a mechanic and a horse. Another couple of firearms and I get a dental assistant and a metal worker. |
| I'd get a couple of old single shot shotguns, can pick them up dirt cheap and easy for anybody to figure out. Should be good enough for just about any realistic situation most people would need a long arm for I would think....Bolt shotguns don't go for much more ether and are easy for most people to use too I would think.....Todd |
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Of course it would be nice to have duplicates of your primaries, but that may not be fiscally possible. For hand out guns, these are the criteria that I would think is important. They are not in any particular order, as that would be situationally dependant. Cost of weapon and ammo. Ease of use and training. (Recoil would be weighed heavily into this.) Commonality of ammo. Cost of spare parts and ease of repair. Compatibility with primary weapons. (ammo, magazines, spare parts, etc.) David |
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I would have to agree with the SKS over the Mosin 44, I have both and I'm a pretty good size guy and that little Mosin kicks like a pissed off mule. Romain SKS's can be picked up for around $150, add a couple of chest pouchs loaded with stripper clips gives you two hundred rounds, I just saw Romanian 7.62 ammo in the tin of 700/$139.00 at Natches Shooter Supply. Now you have about $450 you can arm two people with a good intermediate rifle, stripper clips and 350 rounds of ammo each. Thats only about $150 more than you would spend on two Mosins and ammo, and you would be getting a lot more for your money, not to mention the additional firepower they would produce if the need arose. Just my two cents cause thats what I did. I also picked up a couple of Smith Model 10 in .38 special that were police trade ins and keep them packed away specifically for this reason. Minimal training required. Minimal financial expendature. |
I vote SKS as well. Too bad we're way past the days of the $70 SKS that were mechanically perfect, but ugly as hell... 
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