Looking to buy a 308 Battle Rifle

I'm going down the same road. Would love to have a M1A but for the money I'm not sure it will be up to my expectations, I don't know. I thinking real hard on a Rock River LAR 8 X1
 
For home defense get a semi-auto 12 gauge defense shotgun. Load it with birdshot to mame and buckshot to kill. You don't have to be precise with your aim to be effective. Under a severely stressful home invasion you won't be precise. If you don't hit center mass, you may still get a couple of pellets into the robber. More than likely you and the perpetrator will **** yourselves when you "squeeze" the trigger on the 12 gauge and unleash the huge fireball and defening blast inside of the house or apartment. Your ears will be ringing for a while for sure 😃 You can use a shot gun for 2 legged and 4 legged varmits. It works equally well with winged varieties also. With a rifled barrel, a shotgun will work for large animals to feed the family. The shotgun is the Swiss army knife of the shooting world.
 
For home defense get a semi-auto 12 gauge defense shotgun. Load it with birdshot to mame and buckshot to kill. You don't have to be precise with your aim to be effective. Under a severely stressful home invasion you won't be precise. If you don't hit center mass, you may still get a couple of pellets into the robber. More than likely you and the perpetrator will **** yourselves when you "squeeze" the trigger on the 12 gauge and unleash the huge fireball and defening blast inside of the house or apartment. Your ears will be ringing for a while for sure 😃 You can use a shot gun for 2 legged and 4 legged varmits. It works equally well with winged varieties also. With a rifled barrel, a shotgun will work for large animals to feed the family. The shotgun is the Swiss army knife of the shooting world.
"Load it with birdshot to mame" is this serious advice?
 
For home defense get a semi-auto 12 gauge defense shotgun. Load it with birdshot to mame and buckshot to kill. You don't have to be precise with your aim to be effective. Under a severely stressful home invasion you won't be precise. If you don't hit center mass, you may still get a couple of pellets into the robber. More than likely you and the perpetrator will **** yourselves when you "squeeze" the trigger on the 12 gauge and unleash the huge fireball and defening blast inside of the house or apartment. Your ears will be ringing for a while for sure 😃 You can use a shot gun for 2 legged and 4 legged varmits. It works equally well with winged varieties also. With a rifled barrel, a shotgun will work for large animals to feed the family. The shotgun is the Swiss army knife of the shooting world. It's call
"Load it with birdshot to mame" is this serious advice?
It is if you don't want to "kill" someone or something. Birdshot is a less lethal approach, not a non-harming approach. Or you could take the shot out of the shell and load it with rock salt like the old timers. I have 3" "high brass" 00 buckshot in my Beretta 1201FP. I'm not looking to mame. I by no means am giving out advice for others to live by. Kind of like this whole website and the Internet in general, I trust advice from total strangers about as far as I can throw a piano. Opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one and they all stink! But back to the OP, recommending a .308 for an in home self defense weapon is seriously flawed and is horrible advice. How many sheets of drywall will birdshot go through? Not even one unless you put the barrel directly up to the wall. How many will a full metal jacket .308 ball round go through? It'll probably go through all of the walls in your friggin house and the vinyl siding and then through your neighbors vinyl siding, then through his drywall and into one of his innocent kids! I say FMJ ball rounds because anyone that is thinking about using a .308 for close quarter combat inside their home for self defense isn't working with a full deck, and will buy the cheapest surplus crap they can buy. High velocity .308 FMJ is like the Energizer bunny it keeps going and going and.....
 
Ok, since the wheels have come off this roach coach, here is what I think makes a great primary or secondary DH weapon and one I use, with a caveat on lightweight, fast, and 100% reliable. The ammo {5.56x45} I picked for me is the M262 mod 1 77gr OTM... cantilever tritium red dot no wake up always ready, light, and laser, the kiss system. 0 to 400 yards all day long. Just my 0.2 Cheers

AR15 HD rifle 2.jpg
 
Just wondering where you all live to need a 308 as home defense. Or multiple weapons hiding around the house. Would think that one hand gun within a fast reach in the house would be plenty. But then iam not scared of my shadow either..
How many smoke detectors or fire extinguishers do you have in your home?
Implying that someone is afraid of their shadow because they are prepared is really a dick move.
just sayin
 
Just wondering where you all live to need a 308 as home defense. Or multiple weapons hiding around the house. Would think that one hand gun within a fast reach in the house would be plenty. But then iam not scared of my shadow either..

It has nothing to do with being afraid, it has to do with being prepared, worst kind of scenario kind of prepared.

A shotgun is a great primary HD weapon, provided you have ready access to it, handgun is a great mobile SD weapon until it's not, a rifle is a "the last resort" things have gone sideways in a big way HD/SD weapon, provides heavy accurate fire, easy to carry enough ammunition in a relatively small compact bag, puts you further out from the fight and still keeps you in the fight.

You may not be afraid of your shadow, but I bet you haven't had to endure the stress of battle or your response would have been:
Si vis pacem, para bellum

I have an alarm, doesn't stop them from breaking in, I have a gun safe, doesn't stop them from gaining access, it's a deterrent.

My philosophy in order: handgun, knife, shotgun then a rifle. Two things a criminal doesn't expect, an armed victim and going to ground. The old Mike Tyson adage, until you get punched in the face you have a plan.
 
It has nothing to do with being afraid, it has to do with being prepared, worst kind of scenario kind of prepared.

A shotgun is a great primary HD weapon, provided you have ready access to it, handgun is a great mobile SD weapon until it's not, a rifle is a "the last resort" things have gone sideways in a big way HD/SD weapon, provides heavy accurate fire, easy to carry enough ammunition in a relatively small compact bag, puts you further out from the fight and still keeps you in the fight.

You may not be afraid of your shadow, but I bet you haven't had to endure the stress of battle or your response would have been:


I have an alarm, doesn't stop them from breaking in, I have a gun safe, doesn't stop them from gaining access, it's a deterrent.

My philosophy in order: handgun, knife, shotgun then a rifle. Two things a criminal doesn't expect, an armed victim and going to ground. The old Mike Tyson adage, until you get punched in the face you have a plan.
Agreed! Well said.
 
View attachment 530741
This was taken in 2011 - my oldest son plinking with my Iver Johnson M1 .30 Cal carbine.
Finest sub-machine gun cartridge ever designed. Works great in a Carbine too. ;) I need to pony up and get that Fulton ordered.....

I did recently read up on the case and there were complaints of the FMJ's over-penetrating at close range. I'd expect that a hollow point would fix that in a jiffy.
 
It is if you don't want to "kill" someone or something. Birdshot is a less lethal approach, not a non-harming approach. Or you could take the shot out of the shell and load it with rock salt like the old timers.

I by no means am giving out advice for others to live by. Kind of like this whole website and the Internet in general, I trust advice from total strangers about as far as I can throw a piano.

a .308 for an in home self defense weapon is seriously flawed and is horrible advice.
As a civilian, there is no scenario where you can legally shoot some one with non-lethal or less-lethal ammo. If you use a firearm, it is considered lethal force. If you're justified in using lethal force, you're going to want it to be lethal. If not, lethal force isn't justified, now you are the criminal. Right or wrong that's how it works.

Obviously if one even thinks they may use a firearm in defense, they need to be well versed in the laws and not be taking internet advice!

I do agree 308 for self defense is a terrible idea!
 
I hadn't mentioned it yet, but there are more chambering options for "ARs" than 5.56 and 308. An AR-15 chambered in 6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel (and others) is fully adequate for predators and big game up to deer. It's also more appropriate for self defense than a 308 Winchester battle rifle.

If you want to buy a battle rifle because it's a battle rifle, then go for it. It's highly unlikely to be used for self defense, so that particular possible use case shouldn't be the main consideration. I've got a few of them, but have no plans to use one for home defense, since that's what the 12 gauge, 6.8 AR, and pistols are for.
 
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