Joe Williams
Shooter
- Jun 26, 2008
- 10,431
- 38
Trading my 870 house gun off this weekend for another 9mm to help Cathy and I work toward achieving our goals of having common handguns. The 870 was originally intended to be house gun/shtf gun, with no other real purpose. Hadn't really planned to shoot it much, except for some practice. A couple problems surfaced with the concept, though: First, I enjoyed shooting the shotgun quite a bit, and taking it hunting, and the gun is limited for that purpose, though quite good within those limits. Second, neither Cathy nor Sean can use the gun particularly well, the gun is just a bit much for them, especially the reach for the forearm.
The original plan was to then buy a Mossberg 500 20 gauge combo with field barrel, 3 chokes, and a ported slug barrel. This would give us two shotguns for close range power, not to mention two very versatile hunting guns. We can all use the guns well, they have similar controls, we'd only have to maintain spare parts for one type of gun, only have to buy one kind of ammo to stash away. Was going to skip the slug barrel due to the cost of ammo, but after coming across Federal's Powershock sabot rounds for only $7 a box, I can see spending that for hunting and setting some aside for slightly longer range fighting if needed.
So far, so good.
BUT, it's occurred to me that I can buy 1 Mosin-Nagant rifle and a buttload of ammo (plenty to stockpile, and plenty to shoot for fun) or 2 Mosins and a little ammo.
Currently, for SHTF use we have handguns for each of us, .22 rifles for each of us, a 20ga shotgun.
For shtf and "real life" purposes, advantages of adding another 20ga as I see them are:
1) We've got two quite powerful and easy to use close range fighting guns, useful both for shtf, and home defense.
2) We've got two guns capable of delivering accurate and powerful hits out to 100 yards, maybe a bit more as long as we have sabots for the slug barrel.
3) We've got two guns we can use very effectively for small game hunting, important in both emergency situations and our "normal" lives. Though the .22s do serve quite well for this, and are our preferred guns.
There aren't quite as many advantages with the Mosin. It does add a capability that we don't currently have. It gives us a powerful long range gun, and some countersniper capability. If forced from our homes, our main goal is to NOT get into a fight, and if we do to try to make as close range a fight as we can. One does not always get a choice, though. If we were forced into a long range fight, and couldn't close to within at least a hundred yards, we'd be screwed with the shotguns. With the rifle/s, and our current capabilities, we could engage at least 250 yards out. It also gives us a decent gun for longer shots on coyotes, and a good hog hunting gun. In other states, it's also quite a good deer cartridge. The downside is it isn't really suitable as a house gun, at least not in our current location, and as such wouldn't even be kept loaded in the home.
Cathy has learned to tolerate recoil better, though she still says she sees a second Mosin for her as mostly a fighting gun, and not one she'd shoot much for fun. I do think she'd enjoy it more with lighter bullets than she's had the chance to shoot. She does like the idea of having her own fighting gun, and just loves the history behind the guns. Hence, why we are juggling whether to buy one or two Mosins. The long range plan is for us to all eventually build our own AR15s, but that project won't even start until next year, and will take quite a while to complete. The Mosin makes a perfectly serviceable fighting gun should we need one in the meantime.
As far as not quite so "practical" pluses to the Mosin: We both like them, Sean and I think they are true fun, and we'd kind of like to have one or two LOL.
So, what do ya'll think?
The 20ga Mossberg 500 combo, 1 Mosin and lots of ammo, or 2 Mosins and some ammo?
The original plan was to then buy a Mossberg 500 20 gauge combo with field barrel, 3 chokes, and a ported slug barrel. This would give us two shotguns for close range power, not to mention two very versatile hunting guns. We can all use the guns well, they have similar controls, we'd only have to maintain spare parts for one type of gun, only have to buy one kind of ammo to stash away. Was going to skip the slug barrel due to the cost of ammo, but after coming across Federal's Powershock sabot rounds for only $7 a box, I can see spending that for hunting and setting some aside for slightly longer range fighting if needed.
So far, so good.
BUT, it's occurred to me that I can buy 1 Mosin-Nagant rifle and a buttload of ammo (plenty to stockpile, and plenty to shoot for fun) or 2 Mosins and a little ammo.
Currently, for SHTF use we have handguns for each of us, .22 rifles for each of us, a 20ga shotgun.
For shtf and "real life" purposes, advantages of adding another 20ga as I see them are:
1) We've got two quite powerful and easy to use close range fighting guns, useful both for shtf, and home defense.
2) We've got two guns capable of delivering accurate and powerful hits out to 100 yards, maybe a bit more as long as we have sabots for the slug barrel.
3) We've got two guns we can use very effectively for small game hunting, important in both emergency situations and our "normal" lives. Though the .22s do serve quite well for this, and are our preferred guns.
There aren't quite as many advantages with the Mosin. It does add a capability that we don't currently have. It gives us a powerful long range gun, and some countersniper capability. If forced from our homes, our main goal is to NOT get into a fight, and if we do to try to make as close range a fight as we can. One does not always get a choice, though. If we were forced into a long range fight, and couldn't close to within at least a hundred yards, we'd be screwed with the shotguns. With the rifle/s, and our current capabilities, we could engage at least 250 yards out. It also gives us a decent gun for longer shots on coyotes, and a good hog hunting gun. In other states, it's also quite a good deer cartridge. The downside is it isn't really suitable as a house gun, at least not in our current location, and as such wouldn't even be kept loaded in the home.
Cathy has learned to tolerate recoil better, though she still says she sees a second Mosin for her as mostly a fighting gun, and not one she'd shoot much for fun. I do think she'd enjoy it more with lighter bullets than she's had the chance to shoot. She does like the idea of having her own fighting gun, and just loves the history behind the guns. Hence, why we are juggling whether to buy one or two Mosins. The long range plan is for us to all eventually build our own AR15s, but that project won't even start until next year, and will take quite a while to complete. The Mosin makes a perfectly serviceable fighting gun should we need one in the meantime.
As far as not quite so "practical" pluses to the Mosin: We both like them, Sean and I think they are true fun, and we'd kind of like to have one or two LOL.
So, what do ya'll think?
The 20ga Mossberg 500 combo, 1 Mosin and lots of ammo, or 2 Mosins and some ammo?
).
