Long Guns For Preppers: My Take

After at Survival Blog, Steve Markwith wrote up a post about the five long guns he feels prepper should have. While I don’t consider myself an expert on much of anything, I am more knowledgable about guns than most folks, so I thought I’d give my thoughts on his take.

First, I’d advise you to go over there and read what Mr. Markwith had to say. After that, come on back and let’s talk about my take on his suggestions.

The Evil Black Rifle

I had a post bouncing around on here.  It was all about how you don’t really need a “black rifle” as a prepper, and all the reasons why you don’t.  Part of it is rationalization on my part since I’m a little broke and can’t afford one right now.

I’m not going to run it.  I’m just not.  Not after Orlando.

Right now, I won’t do a damn thing that could be construed to help the gun grabbers take our God-given right to keep and bear arms.  Despite the fact that I have never supported banning any class of weapon, I could see someone interpreting it that way.  A pro-Second Amendment ally seeing it like that, I could deal with.  A simple explanation that no, there should be no bans would probably be enough.

However, there are others who wouldn’t bother to ask.  They’d just quote me, maybe link to me, and pretend I’m on their side.  I’m not.

Today, my advice is different.  Get an AR-15 or an AK-47 or a FAL or M1A or whatever flavor of combat rifle you want.  Get it, shoot it, train with it, and so on.  Become the baddest mofo you possibly can.

Why the change?

First, there are the political facts at work.  Let’s say the left banned so-called “assault rifles.”  Do you really think they’ll stop there?  Next, it’ll be handguns, then “sniper” rifles, then shotguns.  They’ll systematically eliminate every way we have to protect ourselves under the pretense that they’re somehow looking out for us.

Every time more rifles are sold, it becomes just a bit harder for them to argue a new law will have any change.  Period.

Second, while I don’t think preppers should go looking for a fight — in fact, they should be doing every blasted thing possible to avoid one — sometimes a fight comes looking for you.  You’d best be ready to roll as best you can.

Now, not everyone can get their hands on one for whatever reason.  I get that.  Trust me, I’ve been there.  I’ve owned both AKs and ARs, sold them when times were tough, and regret not having either at the moment.

However, there are some options to consider.  These are things I’m looking into myself.

First, if you go AK, there are kits available for a not unreasonable price.  These kits are from actual demilled AKs that have been imported.  Now, you’ll need two things to build an AK, and that’s a receiver and a barrel (the barrel thing is relatively new).  I built my AK with the help of a gunsmith buddy.  Back then, the barrels were original.

Since then, BATFE decided to require the demil process to also cut the barrels.  They were going to show us AK builders!

Now we get brand new barrels, which is good because my AK had some slight barrel issues that affected accuracy.  Whoops.

The receivers are a different matter.  I suggest you get a less than 80 percent receiver and complete it yourself.  That keeps your name off of any paperwork and is completely legal in most places.

Now, if you’re wanting to go AR, things are a little different.  I’d still go with a less than 80 percent receiver for that platform, but rather than buying a kit, you can assemble the weapon with individual parts that meet your personal specifications.

Honestly, this is the route I’m going.  I’ve got a drill press and a router, both of which can be used to complete a receiver.  Might need to break out the files too, but I’ll make it work.

The point is, get an evil black rifle.  It’s our way to tell the jerks in Washington that we will not bow down to them.