Heya @Robert Mitchum,
Did your Daniel Defense carbine arrive yet? Seems to me that you ought to have a really good answer to your question in that one.
Heya @Robert Mitchum,
Did your Daniel Defense carbine arrive yet? Seems to me that you ought to have a really good answer to your question in that one.
"If I ever needed to hunt in a tuxedo, then this would be the rifle I'd take." - okie john
"Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." - Michel De Montaigne
Give me a m4 with acog with absolutely no hesitation in terms of a martial rifle.
Anything else is just a want to have
On the ragged edge of the world I'll roam,
And the home of the wolf shall be my home - Robert Service
My thoughts are influenced by John "Mountain Guerrilla" Mosby who is homesteading somewhere in Wyoming: I'd go for a 308.
Per John's Patreonand"What I have experienced, over the last two years though, and much more relevant to my everyday needs, is the failure of 5.56 to stop quadrupeds."Quoted from: Building the Survival Rifle: A Retrospective Update Jul 14, 2023"The simple reality, in my own experience is that, while 5.56 will kill people, just fine, it’s not as reliable on animals, and in my context, the ability to reliably stop a quadruped threat is as important—if not more so—than the ability to stop a human threat."
"Well you know, it's a toolbox. You put the tools in for the job." Sam
From your post, it seems like you have an AR-15 and want to add an AR-10.
If you got the time, funds, and bandwidth to add 308 platforms and it would be fun, then do it.
Probably a better move to use that time for working out and keeping healthy but if you got that basics covered already. Fucking send it.
All the mindset in the world doesn’t change the fact that being solo and over 40 in any sort of combat are huge disadvantages.
The idea of making it as LAMOE (The last man on earth.) in the event of a major disaster is generally unrealistic.
As is the idea that you’re going to be picking off threats at extended ranges like the second coming of Simo Häyhä or some Jeff Cooper scout rifle fantasy.
The idea that you’re gonna be able to identify threats at extended ranges in the scenario you cited is unrealistic.
There’s a strong case for “bugging in” and being as low visibility as possible.
That said:
AR-15.
5.56 kills people dead. I’ve seen over 30 people shot with 556, 26 of them in a single incident. anyone who tells you otherwise is full of s**t.
5.56 is easier and faster to make hits with.
5.56 can be effective out to 500 or 600 yards with the right gun and the right ammo. But realistically gun fighting occurs within 200 or 300 yards.
556 Ammo is cheaper, more common, weights less, and you can carry more rounds with the same weight. In a fight bullets are opportunities, especially if you are by yourself, which is a real disadvantage.
Longer-term the odds of finding ammunition, magazines and parts to keep a 556 AR 15 going in America are significantly higher. There are generally accepted standards for 556 AR’s and a lot more data about keeping them running long term.
Almost every AR 10 platform is proprietary in someway and not as durable or reliable as a 5.56 gun.
What actually wins fights?
Fire superiority
Mobility
Adequate marksmanship
Adequate lethality
My biggest concerns in the scenario you cite are water and food, with security third. Medical 4th.
Under security I’d rather have two AR 15s 10,000 rounds and a lots of magazines instead of one AR 10 and half as much ammo and magazines. .308 weighs twice as much and costs twice as much.
I definitely want a suppressor to help mask, muzzle, flash, and the exact location I’m firing from. I’m not looking for the quietest suppressor just something to make me harder to locate.
I also want body armor, preferably low visibility and medical. A lone person with a long rifle and overt body armor is going to be perceived as either a threat or a target of opportunity.
An 18 inch 556 is nice, but a 12.5 or 14.5” with a suppressor is more practical.
A bag gun, something that lets me carry a long gun in a lower visibility package is probably more useful than a DMR. A 10.5” with a law folder or something like an SIG MCX or Rattler.
If you just want an AR 10 because they are cool, get one. If you’re not already heavily invested in 308 consider one in 6.5 Creedmoor. Just be realistic about what it is and what it is not.
Last edited by HCM; 04-14-2024 at 06:14 PM.
"You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
"I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI
Reading the whole article, John goes on to talk about pest control on his ranch/farm, not hunting. I'd quote more of it, but I'm not certain it's appropriate. He does mention having to shoot a fox (it was raiding his feed bin or something like that) 3 times with a 5.56, even though the first two hits were in the vitals (according to him).
And since OP said "Live in a Rual area open space westside farmland not in use." this information seemed applicable to his surroundings.
"Well you know, it's a toolbox. You put the tools in for the job." Sam
And as has been noted, the AR-10 platform isn't the most reliable thing in the world, and tends to be a bit proprietary in parts. One isn't going to be ordering new parts from Brownells after the SHTF, and probably won't be able to get them from the neighbors either.
As noted, if one needs a gun to shoot the bigger bullets after TEOTWAWKI, a boltie would be the better pick.
"You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
"I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI