[fivesidedpolygon]

[I know there's a survey function on the forum, but I haven't figured out how to access it from the mobile site, so I'll post it here and if a moderator wants to move it that's A-OK by me.]

I'm curious how XCR owners would answer this. I was trying to come up with a possible scenario in which this issue could present itself, but there are too many variables; so I'll just ask in a very general way: If you could only have one pistol and one shoulder fired gun, what would they be? (I don't mean "pie in the sky" fantasy gun, like a GAU-8 mounted on your Ford... I mean the sort of firearms you can currently own legally and use practically for defense and survival.) Also, I know it's unfair to make you choose only one long gun - what about long range vs CQ? - but you may one day need to choose what you can carry - and the choice is what makes the survey fun!

Thanks dudes.

 

[MickeyC]

Sig226 and SCAR17

 

[Bravo]

My M25 and my G17.
Neither of which are all that close to "stock".

 

[mjorin]

My super reliable 1911 and my HK91 Clone. That may change to the M depending how it fleshes out.

 

[fmunk]

Desert island? like nothing but sand? Is this a trick question?

A 410/45LC revolver with some 410 shells and signal flares for pistol. A spear gun for the "long gun". Spear for fish off the beach, use the fish for food, fish guts for bird lure. Shoot the birds with the 410 rounds. Eat the birds. Use bird guts for chum and go spear more fish. Rinse and repeat?

 

[TexasChris]

Desert island? like nothing but sand? Is this a trick question?

A 410/45LC revolver with some 410 shells and signal flares for pistol. A spear gun for the "long gun". Spear for fish off the beach, use the fish for food, fish guts for bird lure. Shoot the birds with the 410 rounds. Eat the birds. Use bird guts for chum and go spear more fish. Rinse and repeat?

'lo and the good lord loosed a thinker among them....and his was thoughts....and they were.

 

[Merlin]

Desert island? like nothing but sand? Is this a trick question?

A 410/45LC revolver with some 410 shells and signal flares for pistol. A spear gun for the "long gun". Spear for fish off the beach, use the fish for food, fish guts for bird lure. Shoot the birds with the 410 rounds. Eat the birds. Use bird guts for chum and go spear more fish. Rinse and repeat?

That island better have Pina Coladas and SI models.

 

[MickeyC]

I can make a spear from a stick!

 

[MrChem]

AK-47 and G17. I could make spare parts from scrap iron, drift wood, and coconut husks.

 

[fivesidedpolygon]

Ha! Well, someone had to take "desert island" literally. I love the careful analysis that went into that. Now I need to buy a 410 revolver in case I wind up on a desert island!

For my part, I would go with my Walther PPQ and my L. (Although if I get better with my m1a, eventually I might choose it.)

 

[Archangel7]

Sig P220/226 and SCAR 17

 

[fmunk]

That island better have Pina Coladas and SI models.

Hell yes. I want to be stuck there now!

 

[fmunk]

Ha! Well, someone had to take "desert island" literally. I love the careful analysis that went into that. Now I need to buy a 410 revolver in case I wind up on a desert island!

For my part, I would go with my Walther PPQ and my L. (Although if I get better with my m1a, eventually I might choose it.)

I thought you meant "deserted" island, but since you said "desert" I just had to play along. Not sure I would take a M1A to a sandy environment...

InRange TV?s Heinous M1A Abuse - The Firearm Blog

 

[fivesidedpolygon]

I thought you meant "deserted" island, but since you said "desert" I just had to play along. Not sure I would take a M1A to a sandy environment...

InRange TV?s Heinous M1A Abuse - The Firearm Blog

Heh. You're probably right about the m1a, fmunk. But just to be clear, I titled it "desert island gun survey" facetiously because of peoples' "desert island" lists, ie. What 10 albums would you take with you, etc? But the question itself was more general: If, for whatever reason, you could only possess one pistol and one long gun for any/all purposes, what would you choose. For instance - you need to leave home and your weight/space limits dictate that you can only have the two firearms. You have no clue how long you'll be away or what you'll come up against. If there were a practical application for my question, I guess that would be it.

Thanks for the responses guys! It's interesting to think about the chosen guns and the reasoning behind them.

 

[Bravo]

I'll go watch the video now, but my M14 lived quite well at White Sands Missile Range for some years.
Enough that when I left, the NM barrel was almost burned out.
I remember having some ugly blowing sand conditions, but I can't honestly say that I remember having a single malf with that rifle.
If you ask me what the four most reliable rifles I've ever had personal experience on were, I'd say that the AK, HK91, and M14 are all close enough I'd have to give them a tie. The FAL is so close to the pack, you could call it all the same, if you throw in the caveat that the FAL needs to be wet, when the others just prefer to be wet.

 

[Rockworx]

Ruger Gunsite Scout .308, Glock 17.

 

[fmunk]

I'll go watch the video now, but my M14 lived quite well at White Sands Missile Range for some years.
Enough that when I left, the NM barrel was almost burned out.
I remember having some ugly blowing sand conditions, but I can't honestly say that I remember having a single malf with that rifle.
If you ask me what the four most reliable rifles I've ever had personal experience on were, I'd say that the AK, HK91, and M14 are all close enough I'd have to give them a tie. The FAL is so close to the pack, you could call it all the same, if you throw in the caveat that the FAL needs to be wet, when the others just prefer to be wet.

Perhaps it's because the SA M1A and the M14 are two different beasts (i.e. not created equal)?

 

[Bravo]

Dunno. But I know I never dragged mine through the mud like that. The M1A used to be built to the same specs too.....
My rack grade M1A was built my senior year in highschool - the only non-USGI part on it is the receiver itself. Over time, Sproingfeld went downhill BIG.

Did mine work fine when I used it in blowing sand? Sure. Snow? Yup. Water..... A little (as in I had mine in water a little bit, and it worked fine when I did). I never did mud like in that video though.
Not that I was afraid to, just never happened to get that opportunity.

Besides, you get mud in the chamber of ANY rifle, it won't work.

The best for that would probably be the HK91 - my friend used to demo his G3 after dowsing 60 rounds with a full tube of toothpaste, rolling the ammo in it - then dumping the whole thing in the dirt. He'd kinda wipe the majority of the excess off the rounds as they were loaded into the mag, but then he'd run all 3 in three back-to-back bursts.

Would a M14 or FAL function like that? Nope. But I've popped the round out of the chamber on my M14, and been surprised at how much sand was on top of the ammo in the mag. It'd been firing like that all day.....

As for blowing a direct stream of sand into the receiver, I know that when the round extracts, residual pressure "blows" out the chamber end too. My bet is that the pressurized sand stream was blown into the receiver at a greater pressure than the residual chamber pressure could overcome - but that residual pressure is enough to do fine in "natural" blowing sand.

 

[MickeyC]

Actually the FAL is a good idea. Old Dirty has continued to run flawlessly and there are thousands in Africa that work despite not being cleaned for decades.

 

[MickeyC]

The Tale of Ol' Dirty. A Texas Legend. (Update: over 16,000 rnds fired w/o cleaning) - The FAL Files