rifle choices

RIFLE CHOICES


Well my friends, it is the end of an era. Take a moment with me to bow our heads in reverence. A sad day, a preventable day. But perhaps an inevitable day. My hair, alas, is no longer perfect. While panting from the heat as heavily as a dog who just spent the last twenty minutes chasing his own tail, I finally gave in to a long running desire to chop of my top patch and just go with the same length all around. It looks ugly as sin the first few days and then grows in enough not to scare babies and geriatrics. And is a lot cooler. Henceforth when I proclaim my hair to look nice, you may smile knowingly. On other exciting news, the pit roof is up. I have only to lay down plastic sheeting and insulation. Well, okay, I still need to do the trap door. But the bulk of the project is complete. Next up after a short break will be the solar oven ( Solar Cooking: A Primer/Cookbook ) and heater. I got two medicine cabinets from the trash so it will be as simple as some black paint, insulation and figuring out how to replace the mirror with glass.

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When a loyal minion commented on the much higher price of an Enfield, $225+, my first reaction was disbelief and distress. I chose to remember my last price exposure which was $125-$175 six to twelve months previously. But it was gnawing at me so while at Wal-Mart ( The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--and How It's Transforming the American Economy ) I looked in an issue of Shotgun News ( Shotgun News ). Good Lord Almighty! Over $200 for an Enfield. Even worse than the fact that I was wrong was the fact that the supply is almost gone and the end of the Enfield as the surplus queen. The horror. Henceforth all that anyone can buy on a strict budget will be the crap Russian bolt. I could have seen paying double, well worth the price for a far superior long gun. But three times? You are already paying three times the ammo price compared to the commie bolt, to also pay three times the price for the gun itself was salt in the wound. Of course, having said that, if all you are buying is one rifle, I would still get the Enfield. Much better bayonet, much better ergonomics, you can scope the Enfield without the need to gunsmith it. However, if you are getting more than one rifle you might need to consider your other options.

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My first choice would be the Mauser ( Mauser Military Rifles of the World ). I don’t like its tendency to jam when dirty, but it does take a good bayonet, they sell idiot proof scope mounts and they are still cheap compared to the Enfields. And the fact that it does jam also means it tears up its brass less readily than the Enfield. If you can live with the limitations of a carbine, you can’t beat the SKS ( SKS See-Thru Scope Mount ). I would de-semi it as discussed by Vlad in the comments section. I know you don’t care, but since this is my blog and I can do as I wish, I’ll repeat myself. Semi-autos are indeed the bees knees for a lot of reasons. But they are not a viable option for the near future of resource depletion. Plentiful, cheap ammunition is a thing of the past, a relic of the Oil Age ( even if you don’t believe we will run out, you can at least agree that it is no longer cheap oil or abundant oil ). Ammo is already twice as expensive and harder to find. Ammo is your vulnerable spot. Your two thousand dollar weapons system relies on the ammo supply of two years ago to make it worth the purchase price. Are you going to sit there with a straight face and tell me a year and a half of ammo shortages and high prices are a passing trend?

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Also, consider any gun at all. You don’t necessarily need a military weapon, although they are preferable. A hunting bolt action is still a nice rifle as long as you don’t try to rapid fire it or use it as a club. Realistically, most of your average shooter shouldn’t try to shoot much past 300 yards with a scope. About a hundred without one. I’m talking realistic figures to mostly assure a hit. Almost any rifle will do. If you are conserving your ammunition then even oddball rounds are less of a handicap. If you are in open country, go with the thirty caliber. Not for range, since you have average skills and will waste ammo, but for knock down power. The story Rawle’s ( Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse ) reader tells us about a home invasion wasn’t a cautionary tale of reinforcing your door but that a 9mm has crap for knock down power. And we already know that the 5.56 is great for killing 99 pound Somalis, at least by the third shot. If you want harassment and wound-to-slowly-die, use a rimfire. Otherwise, don’t mess around with pussy rounds. Although, any gun you have, or can cheaply get, is better than a pie in the sky dream of an unaffordable gun ( such as, sadly, the Enfield ). Getting armed at all, with a reasonable amount of ammo, is the name of the game right now. Not perfection but Better Than Nothing.

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