Firearms For The Homestead Part II

Well, I meant to post this entry a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, a cat bite changed my plans.
I was bit on the hand and due to neglegence on my part, the bite became infected. I waited a
week before seeing a doctor and found that I had a particularly nasty strain of bacteria.
More about all of that later. I wanted to post part II of the Firearms For The Homestead
entries. I will do that now.

In our last entry we covered firearms based on their versatility for survival, their ability to
perform tasks on the homestead, to provide meat for the table and an almost secondary use
for defense. With this entry we will concentrate on two more categories of firearms of which
their main purpose is for defense and one more category for eliminating pests from the
garden and bagging meat for the table.

Our first choice in defense is again a rifle. This will not be your everyday hunting rifle,
however. This will be a semi-automatic, military design rifle chambered in a full blown, high
powered cartridge. When I say high powered cartridge, I do not mean the mid-powered,
milder recoiling carbine cartridges chambered in firearms commonly referred to as "assault
rifles". You must choose a rifle built for a cartridge that will give you range against those
using such carbines and versatility. Such rifles are reffered to as battle rifles. Rifles
chambered for .308 Winchester or the 7.62x51 NATO, .30-06, 7.5x54 French and 7.62x54R
are most commonly available in America. The .308 Win/7.62x51 will be most common.
Common rifles chambered in this cartridge will be the M1A Springfield, Saiga Model .308,
M-14, FN-FAL, H&K 91, CETME and some MAS-49 conversions. Of the above I highly
recommend the Saiga Model .308 and the M1A or M-14. The Saigas use the ultra-high
reliable Kalashnikov action and serves extremly well. The M1A is the newly manufactured
version of the M-14 for the Civlian market. Both rifle systems are extremely reliable, work
very well. The M1A holds the edge for accuracy, but costs twice as much as the Saiga. The
Saiga is accurate enough and with the right ammo will make a fine hunting rifle. I do not like
the H&K 91 and CETME systems as they are very hard on brass and will were it down
rendering only a few reloads per case. I briefly owned a CETME and sent it back to the
dealer for the turd it was. The FN-FAL, which uses the gas piston system is quite usable
and reliable. The MAS-49 design is dated, but works quite well. Its drawback is in pricing of
its magazines, which you will need plenty.

The M-1 Garand is the battle rifle to consider if you need one chambered in .30-06. These
are great rifles, but their means of feed via the enblock clips make them tactically inferior to
magazine fed battle rifles. The 7.5x54 French is available in the MAS-49. This is a good
magazine fed rifle that works, but magazines are expensive and getting rare. The 7.5 French
cartridge is also not plentiful. The 7.62x54R is a powerful enough cartridge, but is dated.
The R at the end of the cartridges designation stands for Rimmed. This means the cartridge
has a rim which modern cartridges lack due to feeding problems in semi and full autos.
Rifles chambered in this round are Soviet variants of the Dragonov Sniper Systems. While
Mosin-Nagants are more than readily available, we are considering only semi-automatic
rifles here. The Dragonovs or SVDs are excellent rifles that do make their rimmed
cartridges work, but they are expensive and make use of a rimmed cartridge.
You may be asking why such emphases is put on semi-auto systems. This is basically a
defensive system which you will be using to defend your family's lives and property. The
semi-auto allows you to engage multiple targets more quickly without the need to remove
your hand from firing position to work the action before engaging the next target. It is
essential for a scenario which includes the breakdown of society. This brings us to our next
firearm type, the semi-automatic carbine.

The semi-automatic carbine is what most people term "assault weapons". Assault rifles are
selective fire weapons chambering a mid-powered cartridge utilizing a magazine to feed the
weapon. Select fire means there will be a lever or button allowing the user to choose
semi-auto fire or full-auto fire. Mid powered cartridges are the 7.62x39, .223 Remington or
5.56x45 NATO, 5.45x39 and the rare 7.62x45. These cartridges are effective out to a range
of 300 yards while the full blown battle rifle cartridges are effective out to 1000 yards. The
battle rifle definately has the advantage of versatility and range which is why it is important
to obtain your battle rifle first. Why, then, obtain a carbine in a mid powered cartridge? For
in close defense when you may be moving in constricted areas such as your home or barn
and as back-up weapons for friends and family.

The 7.62x39 is, in my opinion, the better choice in cartridges. It is available in the SKS
variety of rifles, the AK variety of rifles, the Saiga Model 7.62x39, the Ruger Mini-30, and
various AR varieties and clones. I highly recommend the SKS and the AK-47. Both are
highly reliable and excellent firearms. There are many aftermarket accessories for both rifle
types, including detachable magazines for the SKS, which helps the tacticle application of the
weapons very much. The .223 and 5.56x45 are available in the versatile, but high
maintainence AR varieties and clones as well as the Ruger Mini-14 and Ranch Rifle as well
as some AK varieties and Saigas as well as the gas piston driven Daewoo and
Para-Ordnance with more choices coming on the market continually. I'm not impressed with
the cartridge. If you need a rifle in this cartridge, I'd recommend the AK or Saiga rifles due
to their reliability and ability of their actions to keep working without high end maintainence.
The 5.45x39 is the Soviet Union's answer to the 5.56x45. The Soviets made this cartridge
work by designing the bullet with an air space toward its nose. This causes the bullet to
tumble when it impacts with its target creating a larger wound channel. While on the surface
this makes it superior to the 5.56, those of us who may have to find or make bullets for
reloading will find the cartridge just as anemic. The 5.45x39 is chambered in the AK-74 and
AR varieties. The 5.45 is plentiful and some of the cheapest ammo available. If you like this
cartridge get an AK-74 for reliability. The 7.62x45 is a rare specimen. It is chambered in
the Chekoslavakian variant of the SKS. While this round is very worth-while, it never
caught on and supplies are too limited for consideration for our purposes.
Of the above two categories, the rifles recommended are; for battle rifle the M1A or Saiga
model .308. For carbine, the AK-47, SKS or Saiga 7.62x39.

There is one more category to cover. That of firearms chambered in .22 Long Rifle. The .22
LR is an excellent cartridge for small game like rabbit, squirrel and game birds. As such it
also rises to the task of eliminating pests from barn and garden while putting meat on the
table. There are many, many firearms chambered in .22 LR. Most are excellent and work
reliably. For aftermarket accessories allowing you to rig your rifle to accomodate your
particular situation, the Ruger 10/22 excells and is recommended here. A handgun
chambered in .22 LR can help save a day in the woods. There have been a few times that I
have been out with my hunting rifle for elk. While heading back to camp I've run across
grouse and snowshoe hare. After this, I began packing a Ruger Standard on my left hip with
my Trooper on my right hip for self defense against those who would steal my elk. I've
bagged more grouse during elk season and put food on the table this way than I have taken
elk. In a survival situation it is always good to have the option of taking small game
whenever you run across some and a .22 LR handgun comes in very handy for this. The
Ruger Target Pistols are recommended by me for this.

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