Sharp as a Marble - There can only be one

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There can only be one

Guns. Lots of Guns. , You need this

So, I've already complained about last year's dearth of firearms purchases. This upcoming year doesn't look to be any more promising. One of my biggest issues is that technically speaking, I've got all my 'needs' covered. Shotguns, Evil Black Rifles, .22s for training, CCW pieces, revolvers, competition rigs, etc. I don't need anything.

So, considering that I might only get one chance at purchasing a firearm this year, what should it be? Here are some things to consider.

First and foremost, I am a shooter. I don't collect. Anything I buy gets used, period. I don't have enough money to purchase safe queens, and even if I did, I'd still not buy 'em. Second, the reason I'll probably only see one firearm is due to tight finances. So, $1000+ purchases ain't gonna happen.

Backups – I have one of each of some of those. The old adage Two is One, One is None come to mind, especially with the Para being my only 1911 and my competition piece.

Shotgun – I have a good home defense shotgun and it works fine for trap / sporting clays, but I think I'd prefer a decent side by side / over under for that.

Evil Black Rifle – The Sequel – My AR is in 6.8 SPC. I love the caliber, but it's not exactly something you can go out and buy ammo for without a second and third mortgage. Maybe an upper in .22lr or .223

Yielding to a Higher Power – I don't hunt, but I wouldn't mind doing so. Again, the 6.8 might work, but something a little more suited to higher power cartridges might not be a bad idea.

Accessories – I don't have any glass worth writing home to mama about. The red dot I got for the AR is of a quality you'd normally expect out of a Happy Meal toy. The only optics I have are better suited to illustrating how not to make a scope or have long eye relief that makes you think you're watching a James Bond intro. I'm woefully under-magazined. The AR needs better hand guards as well as a sling. So, there's those kinds of things I could look at too.

What's your take? What do you think would (bad pun warning) give me the best bang for my buck?

posted @ 12/29/2009 3:06:57 PM

Incoming Links

Glad I’m Not the Only One | Snowflakes in Hell on 1/5/2010 5:13:45 PM

Comments

Molon Labe says:

on 12/29/2009 3:34:04 PM

I was always a 1911 man and swore i would never buy any handgun bigger than a .22 cal but a 1911.

Then I got a mortgage. I was forcibly introduced to "economical" gun buying. And boy I'm glad I was, or i'd never have given the 9x18 Makarov a chance.

Instantly fell in love with it. So much so that I bought 4 more. When I went through my Mak spree, Bulgarians were going for about $150.00. East Germans were going for about $300.00. They're a bit higher nowadays, but in my view, worth every penny. The fixed barrel makes them extrememly accurate for a weapon of its size. They are light and concealable. Reliable? Hell yes. they eat any ammo I throw at it which is usually Brown or Silver Bear. Even that dirty Wolf crap. Not only that, but there is a great Makarov sub-culture on Al Gore's internets where you can get plenty of parts, tips, advice, etc...

For the money, best weapons I ever purchased.

BillH says:

on 12/29/2009 3:35:21 PM

Depends on your outlook for the furture. If you're a pessimist, then more ammo, mags, and spare parts for what you already have. If you're an optimist, I'd say go for the double barrel. You're a shooter and it sounds like you liked clay, so leave the defense gun home and shoot a really nice double, you won't be sorry. I'm biased though, because I've got my eye open for one too.

RuffRidr says:

on 12/29/2009 3:48:51 PM

M1 Garand? Might cover a couple of your bases.

RuffRidr says:

on 12/29/2009 3:49:30 PM

M1 Garand? Might cover a couple of your bases.

Joe Huffman says:

on 12/29/2009 4:09:47 PM

As if you couldn't guess what I would suggest...

A long range precision rifle for Boomershoot and similar tasks. Savage makes some good value long range rifles. Even if you can't afford to put some good glass on it this year do that next year and, as Kevin says, have your own God Switch.

Hypnagogue says:

on 12/29/2009 4:26:41 PM

I'm a pessimist.

Cover your caliber bases. Get a cheap .223 upper, and buy a $115 40S&W barrel for your Glock 29, so you'll be able to keep those guns fed during the riots. Buy case lots of cheap ammo.

How are you set for fire extinguishers?

John K. says:

on 12/29/2009 5:19:59 PM

Excellent suggestions so far. Personally, I think we'll see another AWB (this time without a sunset provision) before we see a zombie invasion so I'd focus on that first (you know, high-cap mags, EBRs with should things that go up, etc). Also have you looked into C&R guns? Personally, I've always liked the 'owning a part of history' aspect and working on them can be a ton of fun. Oh, and there's always the CMP.

John K. says:

on 12/29/2009 5:20:50 PM

Excellent suggestions so far. Personally, I think we'll see another AWB (this time without a sunset provision) before we see a zombie invasion so I'd focus on that first (you know, high-cap mags, EBRs with shoulder things that go up, etc). Also have you looked into C&R guns? Personally, I've always liked the 'owning a part of history' aspect and working on them can be a ton of fun. Oh, and there's always the CMP.

Brian says:

on 12/29/2009 5:26:32 PM

Voting here for a 5.56 upper. Lots of good choices out there, at varying price points. Put a .22LR adapter in it and you've got 2 guns for the price of around 1.3

Robert says:

on 12/29/2009 6:10:42 PM

I'm in a similar position. I'd really love another 1911, something commander sized. Unless I come across a good deal that won't be happening.

Most of my fun money is going to accessories. I've been tricking out my M&P15t a little bit at a time. I really need a sling and some decent optics. Since that will be upward of the $500 range that is probably all I'll be doing this year unless something unexpected comes along.

DirtCrashr says:

on 12/29/2009 7:28:37 PM

When you don't need anything you are FREE! Then you can do exactly as you wish: buy an English double, or a Scheutzen rifle, a Drilling, or an Enfield sniper... Whatever sparks your aesthetic eye.

aczarnowski says:

on 12/29/2009 7:35:01 PM

BillH nailed it. I'm buying ammo, mags and spare parts so you know which side of the fence I'm currently on.

If something new is really on your mind, a 5.56 upper would be my suggestion. And a truck load of mags/ammo to go with it.

Linoge says:

on 12/29/2009 9:36:06 PM

SBX-barreled .22 AR upper ( http://www.gunkings.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=81&products_id=1053 ) plus all of the magazines and ammunition for all of your firearms that you have the spare money left over to buy.

Next year, work on the tax stamp and can ;).

hsoi says:

on 12/30/2009 5:58:24 AM

I guess it all comes down to what itch you feel the biggest urge to scratch.

From how you're writing, it sounds like the accessories itch may be the best to scratch.

You've already got an AR in 6.8, and that can be used to hunt. Of course depends what you're hunting for, but at least here in Texas you can take whitetail deer and feral hogs (even the big ugly ones) with 6.8 just fine. But you can't really hunt if you don't have decent optics and other supporting materials.

So you list 5 areas, and going the accessories route could satisfy 3 of those 5. It hits accessories, it could further the hunting goal (better rails, optics, sling, etc. help with stalk hunting), and it helps some with the AR itch since you could work something like a different upper into that mix (it's not a full gun, it's an accessory!).

DJ says:

on 12/30/2009 9:53:58 AM

Optics. You can drown in the subject.

The one recommendation I have comes from experience: Don't Scrimp on Optics. This doesn't mean "go for expensive", it means "go for quality". The guiding principle ought to be "the bitterness of poor quality lasts longer than the pleasure of a low price."

I am rather partial to Leupold simply because I have had very good experience with their products for 33 years. Elsewhere, you can find much better quality at a much higher price, and you can find much lower quality at a slightly lower price. Leupold manages the tradeoffs quite well, in my unhumble opinion. I suggest using them as a baseline to compare all others. Do your homework first, then find a shop where you can compare them, one after another, in person. It's worth the effort.

Tony says:

on 12/30/2009 11:55:50 AM

Well, since you asked... I would place higher priority on firearms useful in serious social and other situations over ones that are useful mainly in specialized sports. Anyways, putting all you wrote into the order I'd approach them in:
You say you are woefully under-magazined? And you say you don't even have sling on your rifle?! A rifle without a sling is like a pistol without a holster - utterly useless except as a toy, good for only Practical shooting and similar games. Sounds to me like you most definitely need to get up to speed on accessories before you go buying any new guns on the basis of "want new toy". That's a definite, identified need.
Should you have any money left over after that... Well, you make a helluva lot more than I do in that case. :P We've covered accessories, that is priority 1. A 6.8mm rifle doesn't exactly sound like the best possible choice for a SHTF rifle, since ammo resupply will be quite difficult. I have quite severe suspicions on the poodleshutzen caliber, especially as a general purpose / fighting rifle caliber, but that is what's most common over there. And besides, I do have to admit it's insanely easy to shoot... So a .223Rem upper sounds like it would make a lot of sense in your situation. That'd be priority 2. After that, well, I suppose it depends. A spare 1911 would be a very worthwhile thing to have, especially since you compete with it - guns always break down in competitions, don't they? I'd feel a whole lot more comfortable if I had an identical back-up pistol to fall back to once my primary goes tits-up. (And it will do that, it's just a matter of time... They all break sooner or later. Why yes, I am an optimist - how did you guess?) On the other hand, did I mention my distrust of the .223 caliber yet? A nice .308 would round out the choice of tools nicely, and ammunition would be easy to obtain. But then again, you already have that 6.8mm, which would work in serious social situations as long as the ammo lasts, so... I dunno. 3 and 4, but I'm not quite clear on the order. That leaves the sporting shotgun at last place.

Tony says:

on 12/30/2009 11:57:51 AM

(By the by, were you aware that your blog shows very long gaps between paragraphs in the preview mode? Removing the empty line between paragraphs makes it appear normal in preview, but once you publish the comment it looks like what I wrote above.)

Robb Allen says:

on 12/30/2009 12:03:51 PM

Tony, thanks for the bug report. What browser / OS are you using? It looks fine on Firefox / Vista / Win 7. I'll look into that when I fix some stuff on Ansible.

As far as 6.8 ammo availability, I have to respectfully disagree. During the Great Ammo Shortage of 09, guess which caliber was always available? 6.8SPC. Popular enough to have plenty on hand, not so popular that everyone dries it up easier. Pricey, of course, but that's the trade off.

Now, I need more 6.8 brass, but I have 1K of bullets & primers handy plus plenty of X-Terminator powder (although I'm running a bit low). So, a few bags of brass and I'd be good to go.

Yeah, I need a sling, I know that.

NatefromOgden says:

on 12/30/2009 12:55:04 PM

Does anybody make a 22LR conversion for your Para? That would be my suggestion or a inexpensive 1911, aka Taurus and add a 22LR conversion to the top of it.

Robb Allen says:

on 12/30/2009 1:03:03 PM

Nate, I dunno if the LDA would be problematic or not.

I do know they have .22 kits for my G29.

Tony says:

on 12/30/2009 3:07:57 PM

I'm using Opera 10.10 and Ubuntu 9.04.

Hmm, that sounds like things are much better, factory ammo-wise, over there at your side of the pond than I had realized. Over here 6.8mm is strictly a reloaders only-type of deal, and from all the talk about rarity, I guess I misunderstood things to be at least somewhat similar over there. If you have access to good factory ammo - yay! That's that problem solved then. :)

(Next bug report: subscribing to posts does not appear to function either.)

I have a Viking Tactics two-point sling on my AK and I quite like it. Very field-worthy for a patrol rifle type weapon, and being rapidly adjustable in lenght you can use it as support, helping you get a most stable shooting position - in other words, it's not just a carry strap. You might lose some cool points for not being like all the übertactical ninjas, but from a real-world practicality point-of-view, I definitely recommend you at least look at it.

Peter says:

on 12/30/2009 5:36:36 PM

From what you wrote, you definitely need moar magazines and a sling, first and foremost.

In terms of a 'hunting' rifle, I found an Enfield with a cut down barrel which I put in a sporter stock (not the AGI plastic thing), so I have a military bolt-action that *looks* like a sporting rifle. Just a thought.

N.U.G.U.N. Blog says:

on 1/1/2010 1:04:21 PM

Let's see, in 2008 I bought 6-8 firearms. In 2009 I bought 1.

But I lost my job so that was a significant factor.

Matt says:

on 1/2/2010 10:13:25 PM

Mags, sling, and optics.

If you're looking for something with higher ammo availability than your 6.8, a 5.56 upper (not .223) provides many low-cost options for ammo, thanks to milsurp. If you don't trust the power of a 5.56, 7.62 surplus ammo can be had for a bit more $$$, but still reasonable. 7.62 also increases your range a bit, especially with a decent optic.

If you have everything you need, improve/practice with what you have.

Comments have been closed on this topic.