Backup rifle necessity?

[ASH556]

Hey guys, I’m struggling lately with a concept and would appreciate some outside perspective:

After having owned and used dozens of configurations of AR15’s, I’ve put together what I believe is the perfect setup for me and my uses. I’ve yet to find myself in a situation of using this rifle and wanting something to be different on it. It’s a fantastic place to be; and yet I wonder if I’m missing something. The problem is I don’t ever want to use any other AR. Despite being a certified armorer and having ample spare parts on-hand, it seems to me that having only one carbine/rifle is not such a great idea in case one does go down, want to shoot with a buddy, wife, etc. Two is one and one is none, etc.

Part of what further complicates the issue is that my “perfect” AR is an SBR. I just don’t have any desire/need for anything longer. I do have a longer AR, but it’s also a .308. If it’s going to be longer and heavier, it may as well throw a bigger bullet as well. That gun serves a different purpose as well, though with its 2.5-10X scope vs the Aimpoint T-1 on my SBR.
So here’s the crux of the issue: is it worth the financial investment to build a duplicate of my SBR to have a backup, second rifle? I mean, it wouldn’t be exactly the same. I might try a different handguard, fixed sights, but the basic setup of the rifle would be the same. My current is a DD MK18. For the second one I’m considering a Colt 6933.

So what do y’all think? Worth the financial investment in a second rifle just as backup/to mostly sit in the safe? Or, is the money better spent on ammo/training? I do have a backup to my pistol, but that’s a little easier to do financially. Glocks are only $500. SBR + stamp is roughly 3X that. Also, I’m not LEO or anything, just Joe Blow civvy, so the rifle isn’t used for work; if that makes a difference.

[GJM]

No idea if you need a second one, but getting an AR pistol would seem to fill about 90+ percent of the back-up need with a lot less hassle of doing the SBR paperwork now. (Says the guy who bought a Benelli M2 14 inch a year ago, and hasn't even gotten the initial transfer done to my dealer doing the NFA paperwork for me.)

[LittleLebowski]

Start doing a Sig brace build, bit by bit. Avoid the SBR question.

[LSP972]

I don't think anyone here will advise you NOT to have a spare of your primary-use anything… it just makes too much sense to have one (or two) extras.

What you have to decide is how deep you want to go. An EXACT duplicate is best, of course, but in your case quite financially painful.

Now that I'm retired, and a shoulder gun is strictly a recreational-or-emergency-times (plinking and a bit of CQB practice, power outages, The Revolution, the odd zombie apocalypse here and there, etc. ) item, I don't feel the need for exact duplicates.

A few years back, the wife suddenly decided she needed to be proficient with a carbine. Great; every husband's dream, right? So I bought her a Colt 6720, set it up with an H-1 and white light, and she promptly decided that MY 6520 was what she preferred. Of course…

And that's when I found out that the 6520 had been discontinued, and the few NIB examples still around were demanding my first-born in exchange. So I learned to like the 6720; and last year, I stole a 2013-special 6920 that had been mis-priced at a big box store.

The only real difference between these carbines is the fact that one must employ a chin weld (as opposed to a cheek weld) with the 6520 due to the H-1 being mounted on the carrying handle. I learned to fight with this combo (actually, the optics were AimPoint 3000s, but you get the idea) long before flat-top upper receivers were even an idea, so I'm comfortable with it. And my wife has neck issues so that's why she prefers it. However, it didn't require much effort on my part to get accustomed to putting my head down farther on the rifle with the risered H-1 on the 6720.

And I ended up putting an InSight MRDS on the 6920. This holograph-type optic has a 7MOA dot (the H-1s have 2MOA, which I wish were 4MOA), and I find myself much quicker on the pick-up with it, so it has become my go-to carbine. But the point here is, I could pick up either of the other two and do good work without having to think about it.

IOW… as long as your "spare" is reasonably close in configuration and has the same manual-of-arms… you'll be okay.

.

[LittleLebowski]

OK....tell us what the prices was on the 6920 so we can cry

[LSP972]

OK....tell us what the prices was on the 6920 so we can cry

$800, in November of 2013. When the kid behind the counter disinterestedly confirmed the price tag, I almost dislocated my shoulder getting the plastic out.

.

[Cookie Monster]

Yes. But I would make sure I'm stocked well with ammo and magazines (5000 rounds and 50 magazines - just a number for perspective) before getting a duplicate rifle. As well as a few training classes.

Cheers,

Cookie Monster

[Josh Runkle]

I did the same questioning two years back. I now have two very similar SBR's (in addition to others). I have the exact same grip, buttstock, trigger group, and hand guard on both. However, one is 10.5" and the other is 11.5". They have different optics: 1-4 vs red dot. One has no BUIS. They have different mounts and suppressors. One is camo'ed. Etc, etc. They shoot nearly identically, but they are different rifles...but my brain rarely recognizes that.

[Crow Hunter]

$800, in November of 2013. When the kid behind the counter disinterestedly confirmed the price tag, I almost dislocated my shoulder getting the plastic out.

.

You know if you weren't retired you should have arrested yourself for that.

Excellent find.

Makes me want to go cruise my local China-mart.

Of course, I have 3 identical backups already....

It started out as one for me and one for my wife. My dealer ordered the wrong model and instead of the small pin lower I got the old large pin lowers. So I told him I wanted the Milspec pin lowers. In the mean time, I got scared we wouldn't be able to get anything and I saw a great deal on a pair of Mil-spec pin Colts on Gunbroker and I bought them.

Then my wife decided that she didn't want to shoot them anymore.

So I wound up with one rifle and 3 backups...

I figure there will be a run on them again in 2016 and since they are Milspec pin LE Restricted lowers I should be able to get a premium on a couple of them.

[rob_s]

I'd suggest duplicating the current gun in a 16" configuration. Probably because that's what I've done several times over. You can see where I started in the pic at the bottom of this post.


I'd take whatever configuration you have now and get the same/equal handguard but longer, maybe put a 1.x-Y optic on it depending on what you have on the current gun...

A Noveske N4 or Medcon stainless, ore even one of the BCM ELW barrels might be a good start.