Home Defense and/or "Battle Rifle" i.e. Bug Out Rifle

[marzie]

I have been doing some thinking lately (I know, dangerous) and I have some questions about how others are configuring their ARs.  Specifically, I want to know if people would configure a home defense AR differently than a SHTF AR.  For example, on a home defense AR, I would think it makes sense to have a light and laser, some type of red dot with back up iron sights, maybe a forward grip if you have trained on it and not much else.  On a SHTF rifle, I would want probably the same things as the HD rifle with the addition of a sling mount system, maybe a magnifier for the red dot.  Maybe a bipod? Bring a spare scope on a quick detach mount? I guess that's not too much different, and you (hopefully) would have time to grab those things and pack them with you AR should you have to bug out.  I guess my main question is do you or would you keep a sling and magnifier on your HD gun at all times?

I'm probably over-thinking it, but I just thought I'd ask.

[tombogan03884]

Do you plan on carrying this ?
Or towing it behind a Jeep ?
KISS
Keep It Stupidly Simple, less to remember, less to break.

[marzie]

Maybe I should post a picture of my rifle...



Just Kidding.  I agree with the KISS philosophy, so I will just stick with the setup I have.  I'll leave my sling attachment point on the rail in case I need it but I will leave the sling detached unless I am planning to carry it somewhere.

[Rastus]

I considered the same thing.  I decided on a travel rifle that is a DMR that won't do the close in work so well.  Scope on it, not a dot but it's illuminated and 1.5 power so essentially I have a dot good to go...not as good as my EOTech or an Aimpoint..but it has a bdc and 18 inch bbl to work from longer distances. 

[alfsauve]

Try this as an alternative,  if you can shoot.

http://sheriffjimwilson.com/2012/07/25/if-you-can-shoot/


Sheriff Jim Wilson article about Bill Jordan and what his bug out gun would be.

For me, I prefer the stainless iteration of the revolver, the 686.

[Sponsor]

[fightingquaker13]

I bought an el cheapo DPMS sportical. It was what I could afford. It shoots great, but not much real estate for buis, and no @@#$! way to mount a front sling mount or forward buis without dollars. So. Here's the rig. An eotech, a double loop shot gun sling (I tried a one point mount and lord I hate the thing, YMMV), and three el cheapo no name over the shoulder mag slings that will hold six GI mags or three P-mags each.. And you know what, it works great. The rifle will hit about 1.5-2 inches at 100 yards (benched). It always goes bang, the eotech works great, and in less than two minutes I'm good to go with 270 rounds (including a couple in my pockets). All for about a grand. What more do I need? Seriously, if the situation in either HD or SHTF requires more than that, a $3K Acme Whackinator probably won't save my sorry arse. Buy the rifle you want, but don't hump useless gear because some guru told you to. Buy a quality basic platform (better than what I bought, the model, not the brand, DPMS makes nice guns), and then add as you need it. If you've got the green I'd recommend a standard rather than a pencil barrel and a free floated quad rail, preferably one with included BUIS. Beyond that, hold off on bi-pods, lasers and the like til you see what you need after shooting the thing awhile.

[marzie]

FQ - I have shot the Sportical and I like it a lot. DPMS makes great guns and as a Minnesota native, I love supporting a "local" company.  And I agree 100% that as long as it does what it is supposed to do, i.e. go "bang," any reputable brand AR with decent accuracy will bring home the bacon (both mine and dinner, if necessary.). These days, all the ones that I have shot are capable of the same accuracy you got or better, depending on shooters ability.  The Acme Wackinator (I'm going to borrow that phrase btw) will probably only shoot marginally better than the Sportical, and on my worst day ever, there's no way that slight difference in the gun will come into play.  I haven't run into any reliability issues with ARs either.  Magazines, that's another story, but that's pretty common from what I have been told.  Someday I'll have to tell the story of the 12 point buck I missed due to a bad mag. But no matter how much you spend on a gun, if you don't spend any time putting rounds down range, you or it may fail when push comes to shove (and the former is more likely than the latter.). I already have my HD AR (a couple ARs for different purposes actually) and it is set up with the BUIS, an EOTech, and a foregrip for hand placement.  I have a Harris bipod but I think I'll just hang on to it for zeroing the rifles, rather than leaving it on.  Also, I'm not going to drop the money on a magnifier either, there's a lot of people that just don't feel the extra weight is worth it; one of the Downrange Radio interviews from Shot Show talked about that.  But I'm also going to follow your lead on the mag carrier.  I don't have one so I was looking at all the "tacti-cool" ones that I see on the training videos.  But in the end, I'd rather have something basic that works just fine than nothing at all, so to start with, I think I'll look for something at the next gun show.  Thanks for all the input.

Rastus - don't even get me started on DMRs/MBRs. Something I'm looking forward to down the line is turning my DPMS 308 into a "He-Man" Heavy Metal 3-gun gun.  I have a Lite Hunter upper on it now, but it sure didn't feel light lugging it around the hills in Wyoming!  It can shoot 1/2" groups at 100 yards when I've got a steady hand, so it's certainly accurate.  I took a look at the "Fat Camp" 308 article from Recoil magazine that MB mentioned a few podcasts ago.  There's no way I'm putting a $1k+ carbon fiber barrel on it, but I would look at getting something lighter and fluted like the Sabre Defense that is my current HD gun.

Alf-that's a great one.

[PegLeg45]

Speaking of the Sportical, I was just in our local wally-mart and they had one for $617.

I was thinking, that with it's stripped-down simplicity, it would make a great "leave in the truck for quick access" gun.

[fightingquaker13]

Speaking of the Sportical, I was just in our local wally-mart and they had one for $617.

I was thinking, that with it's stripped-down simplicity, it would make a great "leave in the truck for quick access" gun.

Its a great shooting rifle. But do yourself a favor and buy a model with a front sight and a front swing swivel. Those two things would solve all my gripes with the gun. And probably cost DPMS less than $25 per unit (I'm talking a bare bones front sight here). I can live without the dust cover and F/A (I wouldn't use them if I had them). But every rifle should take a sling, and some sort of front sight is pretty key on a defensive rifle. If you get creative with mounts or mount a newer model eotech you've got room for a rear buis on the rail. With those two things, at say $650 and nothing else changed) I agree it would be an ideal truck gun. Of course for that money  you could buy an AK. But either way, you'd get a great weapon at a reasonable price.

[PegLeg45]

I bought a DPMS Oracle last year for $600. It is the next step up, and is basically a base model M-4 style rifle for building on. I agree that for a few more $$'s, it would be more attractive with a factory front and rear sight.

http://www.dpmsinc.com/556-ORACLE_ep_135-1.html


Right now I have an el-cheapo red/green dot for short range chicken predator killin' in the yard.