would you trust a milsurp as a main defensive gun

[ethangsmith]

I trust my beat up, worn, scratched, chipped, and ugly FEG PA-63. I can shoot it accurately and it's been very reliable. And if it gets broken or destroyed, I'm out $200 instead of $600.

[10thamendment]

i once had to 'clear' my house in the middle of the night after a motion light and then definite 'bumping around' in the ground floor of our rural house and after everyone was accounted for and on the 2nd floor.

in 3 seconds I decided I wanted out-of-position shooting, through walls if needed, and a big fat bayonet for an unknown number of presumably armed 3am people shuffling through my house.

With a healthy choice of weapons available, i surprised myself by grabbing the AK, while my wife had her very familiar Star 30M.

It turned out my neighbors half-blind Collie had come through our doggy-door looking for our recently deceased dog. She was bumping all around the ground floor in the dark. I walked the blind pup home.

Before that incident, I would have said that I would have grabbed a handgun or shotty, or my trusted AR. A kind old dog taught me that when "the moment" comes, its not academic.

I didnt know who, what, or how many I was up against. I wanted a short carbine with 30 fat rounds, a big knife up front, & a bang every trigger-pull. 40year old milsurp AK is what my primal mind reached for. It's bone stock, not a gun to show your friends, but it is the one I chose in the heat of the moment to protect my family. With a Krebs Safety, I also had my trigger-finger on a 'gross-motor' safety.
I carry a Star 30M, Glock, or 1911 by day, but i sleep near an AK.

[Pilot321]

I carry my Bulgarian Makarov on occasion, and consider my Russian Tula Arsenal SKS as one of my HD rifles. Both milsurps. And my K98k Mauser (with original Nazi proof marks) if I really need to reach out and touch something.

[Grey Bearded One]

Outdated because of weight, capacity, and caliber it has been long replaced by better lighter, higher capacity, more reliable handguns.

Lighter, yes. Better, not really. More reliable? My Glock broke in the first 50 rounds but my 50 year old 1911 has never missed a beat and I used it for a decade in competition. Capacity? Just means that you can miss more often.

[Hodgie]

Lighter, yes. Better, not really. More reliable? My Glock broke in the first 50 rounds but my 50 year old 1911 has never missed a beat and I used it for a decade in competition. Capacity? Just means that you can miss more often.

Every production line firearm will have a miss from time to time I bet you there are a lot less miss's with Glocks over the last 28 years then 1911's. Your statement on capacity vs shot placement doesn't prove anything I said to be incorrect since it's opinion and not factual. The amount of ammunition one may require if finding themselves in a gun fight would change depending on the situation shooting people that maybe shooting at you VS paper with your bud's are 2 very different things. There were 3 shots fired during that attempted mugging in Harrisburg on Wednesday night and from what I can gather it was very close range 1 fired from the mugger the other 2 returned from the State Rep and not 1 hit. This is very common epically with handguns in high stress situations. If I can get more of everything capacity, reliability in the same size package then that's what I am going to do it's just common sense.

There are plenty of expert 1911 builders out there that will tell you that it's a design that potentially has many flaws and there are a good many brand new higher end 1911's that come out of the box requiring tuning for reliability. I use a M1A for NRA high power competition or a 77 Colt SP-1 it's old beat up and is accurate as hell but if the bad guy's were driving down the mountain towards my house it wont be that AR or the M1A that I am going to grab. Not because it's crap or unreliable but because there simply are better options to go with these days.

This all being said there really is no perfect hand gun for CC everything is a compromise when you look at each different class of pistol. Full size, compact, sub-compact and mouse guns. Each has its pro's and con's you have to pick whats best for your situation and comfort level. For me carrying around a G19 in the summer months sucks it can be done but I don't like the added weight and having to wear a heavy duty gun belt all the time. The compromise was a S&W Shield 9mm with 9 round capacity in a smaller then most Sub compact size it's light, ultra reliable and rivals it's full size siblings on the range, and carrying a spare 7 round mag is cake. The compromise between that and the G19 is there in accuracy and capacity but it was one I can live with in most situations. If the 1911 meets all your needs then that's the way you should go but in no way is it perfect and I feel even more strongly about the CZ-70 being a poor choice but too each their own.

Hey if we all told the OP sure there's no issue with it this would be one boring ass thread.

[str8shooter]

Would I trust a firearm designed for self defense in a situation when it's very likely the carrier would need it for that purpose to carry or keep on my night stand for the extremely remote chance I'll need it for that purpose? You betcha!

[Hodgie]

Would I trust a firearm designed for self defense in a situation when it's very likely the carrier would need it for that purpose to carry or keep on my night stand for the extremely remote chance I'll need it for that purpose? You betcha!

Completely failing to take into consideration the opposition that maybe breaking into your home and what they may have with them. Some dude kicks in my Door and has a AK or a 12ga on him the last weapon I want is a pistol next to the last weapon I want is 8 rounds of .32 acp out of a 40 year old gun even if it has been ultra reliable.

[Hodgie]

i once had to 'clear' my house in the middle of the night after a motion light and then definite 'bumping around' in the ground floor of our rural house and after everyone was accounted for and on the 2nd floor.

in 3 seconds I decided I wanted out-of-position shooting, through walls if needed, and a big fat bayonet for an unknown number of presumably armed 3am people shuffling through my house.

With a healthy choice of weapons available, i surprised myself by grabbing the AK, while my wife had her very familiar Star 30M.

It turned out my neighbors half-blind Collie had come through our doggy-door looking for our recently deceased dog. She was bumping all around the ground floor in the dark. I walked the blind pup home.

Before that incident, I would have said that I would have grabbed a handgun or shotty, or my trusted AR. A kind old dog taught me that when "the moment" comes, its not academic.

I didnt know who, what, or how many I was up against. I wanted a short carbine with 30 fat rounds, a big knife up front, & a bang every trigger-pull. 40year old milsurp AK is what my primal mind reached for. It's bone stock, not a gun to show your friends, but it is the one I chose in the heat of the moment to protect my family. With a Krebs Safety, I also had my trigger-finger on a 'gross-motor' safety.
I carry a Star 30M, Glock, or 1911 by day, but i sleep near an AK.

Well of course it's an AK! When it's 100 years old it will still be a good choice because it's an AK with 30 rounds of kick ass feeding into it. I also keep a SBR AR-15 in my closet mounted below double barrel 12ga and a G19 on my night stand.

[Didnotcomply89]

Carry? no. Home defense... yes. If I had extensive knowledge of the operational capabilities of the gun (the gun's "health")

Think about it for a second.... ..trust a battle proven weapon?

THREAD WIN.

Like I said, thats kinda where I'm at with it too, just not planning on grabbing the nagant for home defense! Lol! Maybe the m44 lol

Better than nothing, but it wouldn't even be on my list. I'd go AK or some other semi-automatic and not bolt action.

Absolutely not.

I disagree. I would trust my life to a CZ-83, Makarov or M70A, but to be fair the last one isn't surplus.

and some have horrible triggers.

COUGH P64 COUGH

I guess as far as age I was talking more mid 70's and earlier.

Not religious, but most semi sane intruders will have the fear of God put into them with an SKS or an AK if you know what you are doing (or an AR for that matter).

M1 Garand

Sweet Jesus.

Outdated because of weight, capacity, and caliber it has been long replaced by better lighter, higher capacity, more reliable handguns.

I respectively call bullshit.

[Hodgie]

Carry? no. Home defense... yes. If I had extensive knowledge of the operational capabilities of the gun (the gun's "health")


THREAD WIN.



Better than nothing, but it wouldn't even be on my list. I'd go AK or some other semi-automatic and not bolt action.



I disagree. I would trust my life to a CZ-83, Makarov or M70A, but to be fair the last one isn't surplus.


COUGH P64 COUGH


Not religious, but most semi sane intruders will have the fear of God put into them with an SKS or an AK if you know what you are doing (or an AR for that matter).


Sweet Jesus.



I respectively call bullshit.

Call it what you want but ballistics and performance testing dont lie. Please tell me the last time you saw any LE or military or security guard for that matter carrying a 30+ year old under powered mil surplus weapon then ask yourself why? Again I have an extensive collection of firearms with 90% being military surplus weapons but at the end of the day I have not diluted myself into thinking they are far superior to modern weapons which are made to a higher standard providing greater firepower.