Basic

[remington]

I know this topic has been discussed over and over and I get tired of it sometimes too but...I have decided to drasticly slim down my gun collection. Were talkin bare bones. I am planning to sell off most of it to buy a much needed truck. I am a family of two at the moment. Me and my wife who is of small stature ( 5' 90 lbs.) while I am not...(6'4" 180 lbs). I have taught her how to shoot but she does not on a regular basis so recoil is an issue for her. I need to outfit us with fighting handguns and MBRs as cheap as possible. I have shotguns and hunting rifles covered. I would like to be able to share shells so...Suggestions?

[hunter63]

So, like what are you getting rid of?
Maybe just expand on what you have?

[remington]

Getting rid of lots of Sharps action rifles, old Remington rolling blocks, Stevens Favorites. Personal favorites. In the way of guns I percieve as useful on the homestead we are in the process of moving to I have a Ruger Single Six 22 LR/22 Mag, a Remington 870 12 ga, a Ithica M-49 22 LR, and a Remington 760 30-06. All the others I plan to get rid of to buy first the truck and other needed equipment.

[remington]

If it helps...I am very experience with most types of firearms including Glocks, single and double-action revolvers, bolt, pump, lever, and single shot rifles, any shotguns. I have not however had any experience with the AR style rifle...

[rice paddy daddy]

Getting rid of lots of Sharps action rifles, old Remington rolling blocks, Stevens Favorites. Personal favorites. In the way of guns I percieve as useful on the homestead we are in the process of moving to I have a Ruger Single Six 22 LR/22 Mag, a Remington 870 12 ga, a Ithica M-49 22 LR, and a Remington 760 30-06. All the others I plan to get rid of to buy first the truck and other needed equipment.
That's an excellent back woods battery. I would suggest just one more - a centerfire hand gun, in case you need more power in your pocket than the Single Six.
I keep my Ruger Single Six with the magnum cylinder installed and filled with snake shot, as poisonous snakes are a big concern on our homestead. I have found thru experience the 22 LR snakeshot is worthless on an average size rattler.
Your Remington pump rifle would probably work better for your wife if you tried Remington Managed Recoil 30-06 rounds.

[Teg]

If it helps...I am very experience with most types of firearms including Glocks, single and double-action revolvers, bolt, pump, lever, and single shot rifles, any shotguns. I have not however had any experience with the AR style rifle...

The AR-15 and it's derivatives are decent weapons even for women, I've seen women around your wife's size description carry them and a combat load of ammo with no problem, they are very accurate with proper training and the buffer reduces the recoil to almost nill, they can be a little fussy if you don't keep them clean but they aren't hard to keep clean either. The AK and SKS are also good weapons to consider, kick is a tad more but not bad, fairly accurate with proper training and they can take just about anything you throw at them in the way of dirt and abuse.

[Wyobuckaroo]

I have used an AR-15 for Firearms Safety Class that had a fixed 10" stock. Looked like a standard A2 stock, just shorter (A2=13 1/2" long)

Smaller shooters liked it a lot better than the ajustable stocks that they could not get a good cheek weld and sight picture on.

It was too short for me. Think it is called a "Tactical entry" stock. It used the same buffer tube, buffer, and spring as the ajustable stocks.

Yes, both AK and SKS are good. They both have more muzzle jump than an AR typically does. Many equate that with recoil, so they tend to not care for those platforms as much because of that.

Good luck
Wyo

[remington]

Your Remington pump rifle would probably work better for your wife if you tried Remington Managed Recoil 30-06 rounds.

my main concern with her using my rifle is the length of pull....she is a very slight woman and I don't see the same rifle fitting us both. I even had to lengthen the stock to fit me so...

[ArmySGT.]

It was too short for me. Think it is called a "Tactical entry" stock. It used the same buffer tube, buffer, and spring as the ajustable stocks.

That is because you were not wearing kevlar body armor with a class IV plate with it.

[duckidaho]

As for recoild and length of pull for your wife. Using "managed recoil" ammo from remington or federal will make a 30.06 much easier to shoot. My wife used my remington 700 30.06 with that ammo. The Length of Pull was too long so she got a Browning youth/women's .308. .308 is a more manageable load in general and also comes in managed recoil for deer and smaller game. Browning makes a wide variety of guns with short length of pull. My wife owns Browning 12 ga., 20 ga., and .308. They are all expensive, but if it's what she needs to shoot well and enjoyably, it's worth it.

I would also add a bigger pistol to the arsenal, although I have and love a .22 single-six. I use a "Mountain Lite S+W" in .44 special. It's great for hiking long distances with a gun on the hip. You know the titanium frame, or whatever it is.

[remington]

I was thinking a couple bigger pistols...a CCW for me and her. And a walk around the homestead gun for me.

[willgate]

Just went through basically the same thing. So many firearms to buy ammo for just got old plus the little wife hates recoil.

I dropped hunting rifles to .243s (deer) and a 30.06 (elk), then kept and 870 and I am looking for an 11-87 or 1100 for recoil reasons for the little wife. A Rossi combo with the .410 bbl mounted for poisonous snakes around the house and a Ruger 10/22 for squirrels and rabbits. Moving to handguns, I have a single action FIE .22 lr revolver that is a outstanding shooter and extremely accurate. I am looking to buy a ruger .22 lr/magnum revolver as well. I still have to sell a .45 auto and a .380 auto. I moved to .38/357 wheel guns. A S&W model 10 .38 for practice and a couple of Ruger GPs at 2 different bbl lengths. My little wife shoots the .38 as practice and we load .357 HP for defense. I tell her over and over you will never feel the recoil if you have to defend yourself. A good friends wife confirmed this a couple of years ago. She emptied a clip out of a 1911 A1 and still will tell you she never saw anything other than where the little red light pointed.

I sold a .40, a 9mm, a 16 gu., a SKS, and am currently selling a few others. I choose .22, 12 gu, .410, .243, 30-06, .38 and .357 because they are all extremely popular rounds, easy to obtain and/or reload (obviously not .22), and recoil friendly. Granted the SKS was recoil friendly but I was the only person in my friends/family that had one so I sold the ammo during the peak of the ammo crunch and tripled my money. Also, I can speak specifically on the managed recoil 30-06. Buy the factory loads. You can reload it and make it work but I cannot reproduce the grouping of factory loads. I usually blow factory stuff away with my handloads but this is the one exception. The managed recoil loads are a pleasure to shoot as well. I am keeping a couple of family heirloom guns but I no longer buy ammo for them, they are vault queens now.

One other bit of advice that I took and it goes back to my friend's wife and her incident. If you have a dependable laser it is easy for her to point the little red dot and get down to business. You can buy the Ruger with a grip laser that works extremely well.

Good luck, brother! Hope I helped!

[willgate]

I should also say that we are looking to add a couple of .38/.357 lever guns as well. A friend just purchased one and it is a great little shooter with NO recoil at .38 and only very minimal with 357.

[Tuckahoe]

I have reduced my inventory a bit and here is my basic battery
5 .22 rifles
3 Shotguns
1 30/30
1 30/06
1 .40 handgun
1 Ruger Charger (fills a need I just need to find it)
1 combo rifle shotgun 20ga and .22
1 Ruger Ranch Rifle in 6.8SPC
1 .50 Muzzleloading rifle

I went out of the semi automatic AR/AK business when things got crazy after the last election. I do not feel undergunned in the least. All of my weapons are of high quality.

[remington]

I thought about the Ranch Rifle since I need a good truck gun to take out the occassional coyote two or four legged but have heard some bad reviews...true or false?

[rice paddy daddy]

I thought about the Ranch Rifle since I need a good truck gun to take out the occassional coyote two or four legged but have heard some bad reviews...true or false?
False. Of course if you listen to the gun snobs the only .223 platform that's any good is the Super Dooper Black Magic Death Ray (AR15), capable of killing anything that walks out to a distance of a thousand yards.;)
The Ranch Rifle is like any other Ruger - built like a tank. You might shoot groups the size of a mans chest at 200 yards, but I can consistantly bounce a 20 oz Pepsi bottle around at 50 yards all day long.
It can take abuse that would send the AR back to the armory for repair.
For what it's worth - I was issued an M16-A1 for my trip to Nam, and I refuse to waste my hard earned cash on any AR.

[Incoming]

Call me old fashion but if you want a CCW and you're of a grown up man size get a 1911 in .45 acp. I know I know - it's too heavy, too much recoil, doesn't carry enough rounds - heard it all but for the last 98 or so years it is the best combat side arm anyone has ever produced PERIOD! and my 40 years of personal experience of CCW with it says "if it works and your life will depend on it - use it and to hell with plastic guns".

To stay with your current inventory of ammo on hand I would get the wife a nice little Walter P22 for around $300. It is small, accurate to a fault and carries well, and with 10 stingers it is more than enough for the unlikely possibility she will ever actually have to pull it with deadly intent and if so it's deadly as hell.

Now, you already have a quality long gun plinker and a scatter gun so buy/reload lots of #3 Buck shot for close quarter hell or - meat on the table. The 0-6 is great for a meat gun and a distance man stopper but a mid-distance combat arm for wifey or you is the real need as I see it. Something that is actually a MBR and will work out to 2-300 meters that will be tolerated by your 90 pounder "delicate flower" while still a reliable killer with an adequate parts inventory in a SHTF environment. My first choice is the AR-15. It is proven, like it or not and ideal for both a small frame or big guy and meets the 300 meter requirement. While meaning no disrespect, women don't routinely excell at that distance ability so my second choice is a "quality" AK-47 for the 200 meter nich, still light enough for her to carry, high rate of reliable fire and don't forget copious quanities of cheapo ammo and a minimum 8 mags. Believe me, next year it will be one hell of a lot more expensive. Hope my ramblings will give you pause for consideration.

Incoming

[Tuckahoe]

The Ranch Rifle I have is in 6.8 SPC not in .223. The 6.8 has a bit more punch over the .223 or 7.62x39

[remington]

I do understand what a great arm the 1911 is but I have used Glocks since the first ones hit our shores. I shoot them well. Now I am skeptical about sending my wife out into the world with a gun I wouldn't carry...namely a 22. I believe they are perfectly adequate to kill a normal member of society under low stress situations but throw in some drugged up crack head and its a different story. I want something that will STOP him not kill him later.

[remington]

A new development in the story! Yesterday I traded my 30.06 for...a pre-64 Winchester 94 30-30. I figured it was low-recoil enough for her but powerful enough for me.

[wbo3]

Wow! My first real post!! Ok, I will start off by admitting I am a complete firearm junkie...that said I will toss my hat in the ring for a couple of AR-15s, but only if you build them yourself. They are INCREDIBLY easy to build, and if you get a kit from like Del-ton or somewhere, very inexpensive. The only part you would need other than the kit is a bare lower receiver, and that has to go through your local FFL dealer. By building it yourself, you will have much needed knowledge in the event of a malfunction of even a total break down...not to mention saving yourself LOTS of money. A bare-bones kit runs less than $500 with the lower ringing in around $130-150. So for $650, you can have a great rifle that will do most anything, withing reason, you ask it to. If the 5.56 round in too anemic, look at a 6.8SPC. I am not going to say they are the perfect rifle...but they are fun to shoot, relatively inexpensive to build, and very easy to work on. Something I think is ideal when considering a MBR.