Saturday, April 06, 2013

The Urban Rifle

Since NJ Larry asked the question on the last post, and I thought I should take a shot at answering it. Here's his comment to my discussing the DoubleStar C3 as an "urban rifle:"
Can you pls describe the use of a rifle for "urban carry"? Also can you quantify and document the actual incidents where this is used in the USA on a yearly basis?
Actually a pretty good question. First, you're going to have to grant that I'm paranoid. D'uh! Well, I prefer to think that I'm a realist and that much of my personal philosophy is based on a song by Jim Morrison:

Well, I woke up this morning, I got myself a beer 
Well, I woke up this morning, and I got myself a beer 
The future's uncertain, and the end is always near

So, let it roll!  Anyway, if I may borrow another quote, this time from Kurt Vonnegut, "Things are going to get worse and worse, and they're never going to get better again." Our culture is for lack of a better word broken, and the entire machinery of America is being steered by malevolent, ignorant children drunk on their own power. That creates a high potential for what we refer to in THE BEST DEFENSE as "social dislocations."

Whether those dislocations come from a great big windstorm that everybody plainly saw coming, a whack job in North Korea actually figuring out how to lob a nuclear missile onto the America heartland, the New Madrid Fault finally giving up the ghost, the children running the country succeeding in collapsing the economy and chumming up enough divisiveness for battles in the street, or the Iranians mastering their low-angle missile launches from cargo ships and succeeding in turning off the lights in lots of America, our security rests on a series of increasingly unstable assumptions.

I travel...a lot. Sometimes I drive and sometimes I fly. My primary imperative on my trips is to get home to my family, as unorthodox as that family might be. Based on my own studies of social dislocations, I believe that a rifle is a huge "force multiplier" in a situation where everything flies into the fan. Therefore, having a rifle seems like a good idea. The rifle becomes an extension of the very idea of concealed carry...I'm not sure when a fire is going to break out, so I carry a fire extinguisher. A rifle is a larger fire extinguisher. The function of that rifle is the GET ME HOME in extraordinary  circumstances. Does this happen every week? Nope. Will a major social dislocation ever happen? Don't  know. But everything we do in life is a risk/reward equation...my "risk" here is an additional baggage charge at the airport or one more bag in my car...not a very big risk against a very big reward.

As far as quantifying on a yearly basis, whatever for? I do know people who quite literally survived Katrina because of their hardware. I have spent a lot of time with first responders, military "war gamers" and experts on major social disasters. Sometimes I have nightmares about stories I've heard from those experts.

I guess it comes down to yet another saying...things don't happen, until they do.

So when I can carry a rifle, I do, for the same reason I carry a trauma kit.

Make sense?


28 comments:

Liston Matthews said...

Makes sense to me.

Speaking or Iranian cargo ships, did you read Arcturus?

2Savage said...

To a point. But, you've picked a rifle that can create more problems than it solves. Too many locations are "AR unfriendly" to put it charitably.

The last few years I've gone retro and hunted with a Marlin 336 with a Buris FastFire sight as a concession to "senior eyes." Dot on target, press trigger, break out knife.

The FTX load is pretty explosive out of a 30-30 and who can get upset about you carrying your grandfather's old deer gun?

Anonymous said...

MB,
What kind of trauma kit do you carry?

Will said...

Michael,

Why not chose one of the breakdown AR's? I like the idea of being able to stuff an AR into a briefcase, and have it up and running in just a few seconds longer than it takes you to get that one out of the bag.

Think one brand was MGI. Can't recall the other one.

Anonymous said...

Prescient post, Michael. Several times a year I travel from Home Base to {Location X] to perform [Purpose Y]. Mode is always wheeled transport because "It's not TSA" and moving that funny round armrest in front of my seat changes vectors at my direction.

And, while I never go anywhere unarmed, for the last few years I've added a long gun in my travel kit for the reasons you mentioned.

This year I upped the bore diameter and the loaded magazine count of said emergency tool. Why? Because 600 meters gives me more options than 300 meters. Options I hope to never have to use, but then again, I never take the spare out of the trunk and leave it home because I don't think I won't get a flat that day.

Thomas said...

Michael,

Very simply I want to say "Thank-you". Maybe one day you can share your fears based off your knowledge....but then again I have read that book too!

The Bible is the reflection of all our understanding of the "bad guys" on earth.

I do wish you peace and love.

The Freeholder said...

Michael, these are the same people who don't believe in insurance. They do, however, believe in the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny.

I'm not sure trying to explain the real world to them is even worth my effort any longer. When the social dislocations start, they'll figure it out. Or not.

Bubblehead Les. said...

Well, I look at it this way.

First, I need to be as Legal as I can be, so I'd check VERY Carefully all the Local, State and Federal Laws regarding Transportation and Stowage of Firearms in Vehicles. And Obey them. Because while You may not be doing anything Illegal, if some Drunks runs a Red Light and T-Bones your car, you don't want to have more Hassles from the Police as they go through your Wrecked Vehicle.

Second, I'd keep something that I would not be afraid to lose. Some people are adamant that all guns need to be in the Safe or on the Body, because Goblins will rob cars. I don't go that far, but I'd rather lose a SKS over a M1A if my car was broken into. YMMV, of course.

Finally, let's look at the Big Picture. Sure, most of us keep a Multi-Tool handy, but it doesn't beat a Tool Box in the trunk. So if you do decide to keep an "Urban Rifle" in the Car, make sure it has every thing it needs in case you have to Hump it. LBE, Vests, etc beats trying to stuff Ammo Boxes in your Hip Pockets.

Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Michael. Another important point discussed clearly and rationally.

Coroner Wyatt

DamDoc said...

"Our culture is for lack of a better word broken, and the entire machinery of America is being steered by malevolent, ignorant children drunk on their own power."

What could possibly go wrong?

Michael Bane said...

RE: Trauma kit...this one, but I may change to a self-created version:

http://cavalryarms.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CA&Product_Code=ITK&Category_Code=EMS1

RE: 2Savage, I do agree with the concept that traveling to or through the new "slave states," to borrow phraseology from THE TRUTH ABOUT GUNS, requires careful choice of weaponry. As I've mentioned in other posts, lever action rifles with a revolver for the handgun choice are probably the best choice. If money were no object (HA HA HA), I would go for the breakdown Savage 99 in .308, which gives us the long range capability, plus a box magazine. Any of the standard Savage calibers would work...I recently saw a Featherweight/Takedown in 30/30 for less than $1200. Couple that with a boring as dirt .357 revolver (S&W 686; Ruger GP-100; etc.) and a lightweight pocket revolver, and you've got a pretty good load out that is legal (at least for now) in the new slave states.

Maybe we'll go back and revisit this topic on a podcast.

mb

2Savage said...

MB,
Giving this a little more thought, glass bedding the stock on a 336 would provide a little more durability as you R&R the stock for travel. Maybe even check out an old Martha Stewart YouTuber on "distressing" materials, so that it looks more like grandpa's.

There's also the factory available take down BLR's in a bunch of serious rifle calibers and typically very accurate. Of course, they take magazines, which could be another "problem" in what I'll call the "subject" states.

Keep up your great work, I know we all really enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

RE: 2Savage's comment - my takedown BLR in 308 serves a 400-500 yard radius quite well, and lever guns rarely cause the PSH an AR does. And, to Les' comment, while it's not an SKS, I could suffer the loss of the BLR easier than my M1A.

Now, if we could just get someone to make 10 round magazines for BLRs....

Kevin said...

I here ya Mike I kept an M1 carbine in a para stock slung over the shoulder after Katrina.Local PD did not care it seemed here in Biloxi.A rifle gives one that buffer zone.

Anonymous said...

+1 on the takedown BLR. Nice choice for "less-permissive" environments. .308 Win seems to be the ideal chambering.

David said...

I'd like to hear your thoughts and ruminations on the topic of the best items to keep in the trauma kit.

nj larry said...

MB thanks for a clarification on my prior question. Honestly I was flummoxed by that turn of phrase "urban carry". I didn't know if all of a sudden I was not part of the clan any more ! I never heard that phrase before for a rifle.

I certainly appreciate the use and usefulness of a rifle in SHTF situations. In fact I bought a KelTec SU16 just for this purpose. Discreet carry, bigger punch, moves the perimeter out a bit. I do understand the "get home" primal urge. I just can't see myself Mad Maxing my way across America.

I can only think of the Korea Town defensive use of rifles when pushed to justifying the rifle. Maybe Katrina but I haven't read or seen video from there that is as clear as KT. Matter of fact the only rifle fire I can think of from Katrina was the cops killing the innocents on the bridge. And the cops beating down a 75 year old lady to take her revolver away. So I'll leave that disaster out of the discussion. It seems profoundly one sided. And I'll say "we" lost.

As for the other stuff like EMPs, Madrid fault etc. I'll bet a bag of doughnuts that none happens in my lifetime. Riots do happen and storms do happen. Matter of fact on a yearly basis I can quantify those. I will work on those.

If alien invaders from Zeta Reticuli come to steal our souls (which IS DISCUSSED on radio quite often) I guess I'll have to do some re-thinking. Or maybe I'll head to the big woods and hang with Bigfoot ! (thats a joke MB. A little humor can't hurt :)

Michael Bane said...

Aliens! Well, we all know flying saucers were the Nazi's secret weapon...it's all explained here:

http://www.amazon.com/Nostradamus-Ate-My-Hamster-ebook/dp/B0080UPIBI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1365459377&sr=8-2&keywords=Nostradamus+Ate+My+Hamster

Every word is true...I promise...I gotta stop typing now and take some kibble out to Bigfoot before the blizzard gets here tonight...

mb

LAUGHING!!!

Elm Creek Smith said...

Well, I'm the dinosaur who still carries revolvers, the aforementioned S&W Model 686 and a S&W Model 37 on duty and a S&W Model 13 and the Model 37 off duty (generally). I'm beginning to think I need a .357 Magnum carbine to augment my Ruger Mini-14...

ECS

Michael Bane said...

The little Marlin lever gun is a wonderful .357 carbine!

mb

Rastus said...

New Madrid fault...I keep forgetting about that one....

Rastus said...

New Madrid fault...I keep forgetting about that one....

Rastus said...

New Madrid fault...I keep forgetting about that one....

Kevin said...

njLaryy said:
I can only think of the Korea Town defensive use of rifles when pushed to justifying the rifle. Maybe Katrina but I haven't read or seen video from there that is as clear as KT. Matter of fact the only rifle fire I can think of from Katrina was the cops killing the innocents on the bridge. And the cops beating down a 75 year old lady to take her revolver away. So I'll leave that disaster out of the discussion. It seems profoundly one sided. And I'll say "we" lost

Not reported but some looting was happening here along the MGC.1800 Jamacains got shipped back home(importedhelp)and thats who got thwarted at the entrance of our subdivision.I had a firefighter,BPD and Navy dog handler(search dog) on my block heard of a few accounts.

Velda said...

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