The old WW2 bolt action surplus rifles such as the S.M.L.E in .303 British highly recommended by another survival blog author, may in reality be a poor choice for our purpose, if things get as bad a I envision. I hope I am wrong, but don’t count on it. Granted the S.M.L.E was the best military shoulder weapons of it’s time. It was a reliable design, strong, and accuatate out to longer ranges then most average soldiers could shoot. And during a time when virtually all infantry weapons sported a magazine capacity of only five rounds the S.M.L.E carryed ten.
But you as a lone survivalist or small family group, should have the best weapons available for defense. Don’t skimp on your personal safety, doing so could cost you your life or that of a loved one. Remember if you are to come under attack you will potentially be facing a superior force of determened well armed individuals, possibly rogue military personal no longer abiding by any command structure.
If you are to have a reasonable chance of defending yourself in a post collapsed world you will need a reliable semi-auto military type rifle, to put the odds more in your favor. Sure one could luck out pulling through with nothing more then an old worn out 65 years ago surplus bolt gun. But why not give yourself every advantage possible? After all, it is only your life at stake.
There’s one particularly good deal out there at the moment that you can take advantage of. AIM Surplus has Romanian WASR-2 rifles for $289. These are copies of the Russian AK-74 rifle, which replaced the AK-47 as the primary infantry rifle in the Soviet Union. They use the same AK design, but chambered for the 5.45×39 cartridge, which was designed to perform much like the US 5.56mm cartridge. AIM also has surplus 5.45mm ammo available, in 1,080 round sealed cans. Several other supplier have the ammunition as well, for similar prices. Finally, you can get extra 30-round magazines (the rifle comes with two) from Centerfire Systems.
So, for $620 plus shipping, you can get yourself a totally reliable military semi-auto rifle, six magazines, and 2100 rounds of ammo. Hard to beat that. It won’t be around forever though, especially the ammo. So don’t wait too long if you’re interested.













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I beg to differ with you on rifles. The round you describe (5.45) is slightly larger then a 22 bullet in diameter. These rounds are not as common as the AK-47 ammo (7.62 x 41) and will not penetrate wood (7.62 round will plow through 8 inches of pine) or other materials (car door sheet metal).
So many of the -47′s were made that parts are also more common.
The WASR-10′s I purchased were 380 USD and need no “upgrades”.
Michael,
I’m afraid you have no idea as to what you are talking about. First the AK-47 clones are chambered for 7.62X39 not 7.62 x 41. Second, have you ever shot the 5.45X39 into a car door, sheet metal or pine? I doubt it. If you ever do you’ll be surprised, I’m sure.
My mistake, I was thinking about the AR ammo (.223) being about the same size as the (5.45 X 39) with similar characteristics. Your also right, the size is 7.62 X 39, must have been thinking of something else. I have not shot my own rifles at car doors or sheet metal or pine but, have shot a lot of maple and oak, makes lot of splinters.
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