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Since there is no section for long gun questions I thought this question comment find find some sympathetic answers. There are a few of us who may EDC a long gun (black rifle) for various reasons. If you do or you have yours set up for personal home defense, what are the accessories you feel are absolute necessities ??
Of course we all would like an endless supply of ammo and loaded magazines, but what do you like on your carbine and what works best for you ??
Some choices may include:
Tactical light (mounted)
Red Dot Sight
Scope
Green or red sighting laser
IR Scope
Night Scope
Among others……
Currently have a carbine with keyhole stock and am looking for the best/practical additions.A weapon light has become a necessity, and probably the one truly required item for a home defense weapon.
A sling is also a form of weapon retention, especially in close quarters.
A red dot sight is optional for close quarters, if fitted, in average room space range, it’s easier to tilt the firearm on an angle, and sight down the rail. Basically point shooting.
Carbine ranges over 100 yards, Aimpoint red-dot or similar.
My bolt actions have all had scopes, either 3-10×40 or 4-12×50 or 1.5-5×24.
Never used a laser or night vis on my personal weapons.Hope this helps.
Sling with quick detach points.
Quick detach weapon light
Optic. Aimpoint Pro is the cheapest I’d recommend. Still trying to find a good price on one.
Back up Irons.My ORC Bushmaster was basically stock for the first couple of years, then i added a qd sling ring and a qd single point sling. Also picked up a couple of Magpul Mag Links.
Recently went on a run of gear (for me at least) Vortex Strikefire II, some heavy a** quad rail picked up form a guy at work, GPS Grip Pod LE, Magpul flip up bus, Magpul BAD lever, LaRue Index Clips and some custom home made ranger bands to cover the pistol grip and grip pod. Looking to add a Streamlight TLR-1 and I think I will be done.
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Motorman said: ↑
Good info. Thanks. Recommend a good light brand ???
I use Surefire, but never pay full price. Browse your local pawn shops and gun stores for used items. As long as they work, they’ll work.
Domain posting above, is correct on the Aimpoint Pro being a good buy.
I’ve used Eotech also, but they have had a lot of QC issues recently. Go Aimpoint if you can afford it. An Aimpoint Comp M4 wouldn’t cost you more than $450 on the used market, and the battery lasts something like 4yrs, continuously on.
kensington posting above mentions the Streamlight, again another good choice.
Not sure which brand of carbine you’re using, but don’t be afraid of looking at a pistol light, like the Surefire X300, for a smaller carbine, and to keep things light.I’m new to the Carbine world, but I’ve been doing a lot of reading. I’m confident in my choices of stuff but not the actual models….
Sling with some quick detach method. I’m quickly becoming a fan of something like single point (one on stock, one on back of receiver) so it hangs like a single but is easy to get on and off.
I really like my vortex spitfire 3x. It’s heavy and uses a battery, but costs about 1/4 of an ACOG, which was my actual 1st choice. The reticle works well with the cross hitting on at 25y, and the bottom of the post at about 5y. I haven’t shot much farther than that yet, and I based my decisions on .223 ballistics charts. It should just shoot a little high out to as far as I’d go by choice…which is the same way I have my pistol dot zeroed.
If money is no issue, I’d put a red dot at 45 degrees. I haven’t noticed myself being that much slower than people who shoot true 1x, though. When I hesitate, it’s been because I’m trying to estimate distance and figure out where on the vertical line the target needs to be for super close shots. Whenever I do it, it’ll be a 1 MOA RMR with a sealing plate and zeroed to 7y.
And a weapon light. I’d actually aim for fairly dim by today’s standards to avoid blowing my night vision. My thought is that needing 200 lumens to ID a target means I should probably be moving instead of shooting. No idea if that’s right or not, but that’s how I think. At any rate, I’d want it as far forward as possible and with the button on the back of it as close to where my thumb falls as possible.
No BUIS, at least not in line with the optic. Why? Both the spitfire and the ACOG have etched reticles. If the illumination goes down, they still work. If the glass breaks, I’d have to take it off to use BUIS anyway, which isn’t super easy with how I mounted it. I should probably order a set of offset sights just to have, but I’d rather spend that money on other things.
For me it’s a SureFire scout light, an AimPoint micro on an ultimatak rail. I would also say back up irons are a great thing to have. For me, they are built in. (I use an AK). I also use just the combloc canvas sling along with a tourniquet attached to it.
my 870 with light is my on call long gun, and the carbines are in the safe….I have several optic choices for my 5.56 carbines, but find that due to the vision requirements of my 68 year old eyes, and the length to the front sight on my 10.3″ SBR, I actually pick up the traditional front sight quicker on it than with the reflex ACOG or 1.5x ACOG…if outside, I’d take the game gun I’m most familiar with, a 16″ mid with a TA31F on it…I have a Surefire Scout light from the prize table at Ft Benning that can be attached, but only the SBR has an older Surefire with upgraded LED module permanently attached… it is on the left side now so it can be activated by my thumb
I run a CAA compact fore-grip behind a Surefire GX2 light, mounted using a 1″ weaver-style scope ring.
With this setup, I can use the back of my index finger to press the button on the light… works well for me.
Vortex Spitfire 1x illuminated sight on top, (can use without power too), with back-up sights from ARMS. Side mount sling with a YHM sling loop on the rail (no pic).
A light and pressure switch you can manipulate without changing your grip should be required for any defensive long gun. You’ve got to be sure of your target. If you’ve got the money sure fire, if you don’t a stream light will work, just count on eventually buying a sure fire. I’ve got stream lights right now.
A sling is also a good idea. I’ve got a SOE bungee on my shot gun and a magpul MS whatever convertible sling on my AR.
Sights/optics are very gun/user specific. I got a good deal on a trijicon fiber optic reflex type sight and that’s on my AR right now. When I find a good deal I’ll buy an Aimpoint, try both of them out and then put each on whichever upper they work better on (have a A2 fixed and a flattop).
For a bolt gun, a sling and scope are the minimum, a bipod depending on your application is nice.
For my HD gun, a light/sling/optic are nice.
For a bolt gun, a sling and scope are the minimum, a bipod depending on your application is nice.
For my HD gun, a light/sling/optic are nice.
A quality red dot (optional), quality light and a simple sling.
I like and use an Aimpoint T1, Surefire Scout light and Proctor 2-point sling.Check out Way of the Gun’s website for a nice, simple, adjustable sling and low profile/cost efficient light & mount. Good optics can usually be found on sale on Brownells, Midway, etc. Then save the rest of your money, buy ammo and take a carbine class. Theyre fun and you’ll learn a lot about what you need and don’t need on your rifle.
For me, all I really need is a sling and ammo. The only rifles I own are an SKS (will be adding Tech Sights), a Winchester 94 with peep sights, a 10/22 with Tech Sights and a Henry 001 with factory sights.
All of them would benefit from decent optics, but they manage to do what I need to do when the time comes.
One of these days I may pick up one of those evil black rifles everyone is talking about, but I don’t really want to get into another caliber.
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