Weird Idea - Airplane Rifle

[sloughfoot]

I carry a side by side 12 gauge in my Cherokee. Legal everywhere. A nice companion for camping. Or in the airport car to get a sandwich. Folds in half. In addition to my EDC pocket gun..

Some birdshot, a couple of which can be cutshells for self defense, and a couple of slugs. You won't need much more.

In reality, in much of this country, you will have to maneuver to avoid hitting a house or a cow or a fence should you have an inflight emergency.

I've been flying for 40 years. 90 per cent of all inflight emergencies are due to running out of gas or running into weather. Don't do either and you won't have to worry about a survival gun. Be sure to have a good blanket and a handheld radio to talk to passing aircraft to inform them of your problem. 121.5 is your friend. Everybody that flies has a radio tuned to 121.5. The radio is far more important. Sportys has them for about $300.

I have flown search and rescue missions with CAP. Get the radio. Or a cell phone.

Alaska is different. But you still get vfr flight plans and flight following even in remote areas.

I too am curious about what you're building that a 5 pound gun will make a big difference with your W&B.

 

[kickbacked]

henry .410 axe

 

[Gaffer]

A bigger plane.....

 

[Leadeye]

Broomhandles and airplanes do go together.

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

Inspired by this thread, I just posted a WTB ad looking for a Savage Rascal. Have an idea on how to modify it. It will either work or be a hot mess.

 

[roscott]

I've pursued this to a point of working with a manufacturer on it.

The ideal bushplane gun would be 6.5 grendel bolt action braced pistol. You can get some extremely lightweight chassis and optics. Grendel gives phenomenal performance out of a 12.5" barrel. Capable of handling most aggressive game in the lower 48. Once you get into Alaska bush flying you need a thumper you just have to suck up the weight.

Ar15 is off the table because of how easily you can fly into an unfriendly state. The last thing you want is a ramp check in norcal with any type of ar15.

My goal with the aircraft survival rifle was to put it in a package with a thoughtful first aid kit all housed in a water resistant soft gun bag.

I used to work on a lot of bushplanes out in Washington and generally guys flew with revolvers, which was cheaper and much simpler than the kit i was dreaming up. It never went anywhere.

What airplane are you building?

How about a braced G2 Thompson Contender pistol in Grendel? I’ve been considering building one...

 

[1nderbeard]

Personally I don't think I'd trust any kind of electronic optic to work in a disaster/plane crash situation. I'd probably not trust a scope that had been in a plane crash to hold zero either.

 

[DadSmith]

My nephew bought a kel tec SU16C it folds up and with a 10rd mag loaded weighs around 5lb or less. It's a 556. We played with it. It was reliable. We heated it up several times trying to make it fail. It didn't. We also only fired around 300rds that day. It was cleaned and lubed before we started.

I'm with Magyars but would step upto 44mag just because.

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[Ggreen]

In reality, in much of this country, you will have to maneuver to avoid hitting a house or a cow should you have an inflight emergency.

This is true up here. There are parts of Appalachia that could get hairy, some parts of southern pine land but most of these areas have cell phone coverage.

Large parts of the north west are still void of people and cell coverage

Personally I don't think I'd trust any kind of electronic optic to work in a disaster/plane crash situation. I'd probably not trust a scope that had been in a plane crash to hold zero either.

Depends on the pack it was in and how it was secured. A lot of rifles have survived crashes and held zero in the Alaskan bush.

 

[Ggreen]

How about a braced G2 Thompson Contender pistol in Grendel? I’ve been considering building one...

Any grendel is a good grendel. I would want a mag fed bolt gun in a survival rifle though. Follow up shots can matter a lot

 

[DadSmith]

Any grendel is a good grendel. I would want a mag fed bolt gun in a survival rifle though. Follow up shots can matter a lot

Something like a Ruger Ranch in Grendel?

 

[Ggreen]

Something like a Ruger Ranch in Grendel?

No i specced out a 700 action in a lightweight chassis with a telescoping pdw brace. You don't really have room in a lot of small planes for a full size rifle.

 

[bwframe]

 

[seldon14]

As with many questions, 10/22 is probably the best option. In a braced charger format if size/weight is a huge premium.

 

[Frontiersman]

Have you looked at the Springfield M6?

The AirForce used them in their Arctic (Red Sled) kits for a lot of years.

 

[jkholmes]

A couple of points so far:
As to the weight issue, my wife and I are both sport pilots, and as such, severely limited in weight. Currently the max gross is 1320 pounds, and by the time you add an 860 pound airplane, fuel, two people, well, there isn't much room for much else. And someone said to "lose a few pounds", well, we already did that :P Collectively, wife and I have lost almost 120 pounds in the last year. We're not giving up on losing more, but we would love to be able to carry more stuff with us that we just can't.

I totally do realize that most GA accidents are pretty much due to stupid mistakes (flying into IMC, CFIT, fuel starvation, that sort of stuff) and my wife and I are daytime VFR only at the moment (sport pilot). This is not to say we're not going to do something stupid, but yes, safety is a huge factor for us.

I've seen some recommendations for other calibers (i think someone was talking about being able to take down animals in AK) and right now our "back country" flying is mostly going to be camping trips in IN and the surrounding states. So really the only uses I can think of at the moment is to take small game and as a signaling device (I grew up always being taught that if your stranded and people are searching, 3 shots = distress). Definitely not worried about taking down a moose or bear (maybe an angry bobcat, lol).

Surprisingly the Ruger 10/22 Charger appears to be fairly heavy for its size. From the factory it is slightly over 4 pounds, and seems to go up from there. The idea of a 10/22 takedown and getting a stock that i can file down in places to shave weight might have some merit, i will have to look into that some. Also, I really like this Aero Survival Rifle, though it seems to be fairly heavy as well. Might be a great little backpacking rifle....

Thanks for all of the ideas so far. Airplane isn't quite finished yet, so I'm stuck renting planes to go fly which is getting expensive, so I'm trying to get it done asap :-D

 

[22ishplinkster]

A couple of points so far:
As to the weight issue, my wife and I are both sport pilots, and as such, severely limited in weight. Currently the max gross is 1320 pounds, and by the time you add an 860 pound airplane, fuel, two people, well, there isn't much room for much else. And someone said to "lose a few pounds", well, we already did that :P Collectively, wife and I have lost almost 120 pounds in the last year. We're not giving up on losing more, but we would love to be able to carry more stuff with us that we just can't.

I totally do realize that most GA accidents are pretty much due to stupid mistakes (flying into IMC, CFIT, fuel starvation, that sort of stuff) and my wife and I are daytime VFR only at the moment (sport pilot). This is not to say we're not going to do something stupid, but yes, safety is a huge factor for us.

I've seen some recommendations for other calibers (i think someone was talking about being able to take down animals in AK) and right now our "back country" flying is mostly going to be camping trips in IN and the surrounding states. So really the only uses I can think of at the moment is to take small game and as a signaling device (I grew up always being taught that if your stranded and people are searching, 3 shots = distress). Definitely not worried about taking down a moose or bear (maybe an angry bobcat, lol).

Surprisingly the Ruger 10/22 Charger appears to be fairly heavy for its size. From the factory it is slightly over 4 pounds, and seems to go up from there. The idea of a 10/22 takedown and getting a stock that i can file down in places to shave weight might have some merit, i will have to look into that some. Also, I really like this Aero Survival Rifle, though it seems to be fairly heavy as well. Might be a great little backpacking rifle....

Thanks for all of the ideas so far. Airplane isn't quite finished yet, so I'm stuck renting planes to go fly which is getting expensive, so I'm trying to get it done asap :-D

10/22 takedown is a great option, though I'd consider a 22lr more of a leisure rifle than survival rifle.

Semantics aside, its a great option! One thing you might want to know, due to detachable barrel, POI will shift with any pressure on the barrel. I wouldn't bother with a scope (for weight savings too) as you'd be hard pressed to get minute of squirrel outside of 50 yds. (Its possible to do but pressure on the barrel and front handguard makes a massive difference in POI) The fiberoptic irons are great for 25-50 yds, and are adjustable elevation and windage.

If you value space savings more, get the takedown, if you value weight savings more, get the regular size.

 

[Leadeye]

A couple of points so far:
As to the weight issue, my wife and I are both sport pilots, and as such, severely limited in weight. Currently the max gross is 1320 pounds, and by the time you add an 860 pound airplane, fuel, two people, well, there isn't much room for much else. And someone said to "lose a few pounds", well, we already did that :P Collectively, wife and I have lost almost 120 pounds in the last year. We're not giving up on losing more, but we would love to be able to carry more stuff with us that we just can't.

I totally do realize that most GA accidents are pretty much due to stupid mistakes (flying into IMC, CFIT, fuel starvation, that sort of stuff) and my wife and I are daytime VFR only at the moment (sport pilot). This is not to say we're not going to do something stupid, but yes, safety is a huge factor for us.

I've seen some recommendations for other calibers (i think someone was talking about being able to take down animals in AK) and right now our "back country" flying is mostly going to be camping trips in IN and the surrounding states. So really the only uses I can think of at the moment is to take small game and as a signaling device (I grew up always being taught that if your stranded and people are searching, 3 shots = distress). Definitely not worried about taking down a moose or bear (maybe an angry bobcat, lol).

Surprisingly the Ruger 10/22 Charger appears to be fairly heavy for its size. From the factory it is slightly over 4 pounds, and seems to go up from there. The idea of a 10/22 takedown and getting a stock that i can file down in places to shave weight might have some merit, i will have to look into that some. Also, I really like this Aero Survival Rifle, though it seems to be fairly heavy as well. Might be a great little backpacking rifle....

Thanks for all of the ideas so far. Airplane isn't quite finished yet, so I'm stuck renting planes to go fly which is getting expensive, so I'm trying to get it done asap :-D

Wow! That's not much useful load. I had a primary instructor that was pushing 400, the trainer we used struggled to get of the ground even with partial fuel.

 

[avboiler11]

OP, if you only have a Sport Pilot license and will be flying around Indiana, you'd be much better served with a SPOT than an airplane rifle.

You're not ever going to be far from rescue in the Great Lakes region; most remote area around here is the mountains of eastern TN/KY/western VA and even there there's a crap ton of overhead air traffic to hear an ELT or calls on Guard.

 

[Ggreen]

OP, if you only have a Sport Pilot license and will be flying around Indiana, you'd be much better served with a SPOT than an airplane rifle.

You're not ever going to be far from rescue in the Great Lakes region; most remote area around here is the mountains of eastern TN/KY/western VA and even there there's a crap ton of overhead air traffic to hear an ELT or calls on Guard.

Agreed. There is almost nowhere in Indiana that your enthusiasm or cell phone won't get you out rapidly.

But, as you get comfortable and start making trips to the gulf coast or other places more wildery than the tri-state, you can get into blackbear and alligator Country fast. You don't have to go far north or south to get into fairly dangerous wildlife that will laugh at 22. South of the nwt and Alaska there are very few areas that a survival rifle for food would really be necessary. Ads-b, 407, cell phone can get a rapid rescue in most of the conus. Quite a few of The guys who flew bush in Idaho were sport pilots. Rans makes very capable lsa bush planes, not to mention we were about 25 minutes from the carbon cub mothership. They generally always took more than a 22 when they headed out for Northern Idaho or the cascades, because they were less worried about food and more worried about claws and teeth.