M6 Survival Rifle

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SmeeAgain

SmeeAgain

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When I got to Vietnam I "inherited " from the guy I replaced what I seem to remember being an "M6 Survival Rifle."
It was pretty strange looking. It was an over & under .22 Hornet / .410 shotgun. Ammo was impossible to come by other than the limited supply that came with it. So... I never even tested it.
I hadn't heard of it before or since. To be honest... I'm not even sure if I got the name right.
While I don't recall what company made it, I distinctly recall it was a popular American arms manufacturer and it was marked U.S. Property etc. And I do know I got the calibers right.
The few I have mentioned it to insist that it had to be an AR-7... I know it wasn't even close.
Has anyone ever heard of it or am I senile?
 
OcelotZ3 said:
A simple Google search would have brought you all the info you could stomach.

Ithaca and Springfield made them. I have a Springfield, but it's the 22lr/410 version vs. 22 Hornet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M6_Aircrew_Survival_Weapon
Click to expand...
Wow! I was seriously doubting my memory! As for "a simple internet search" it's not so simple here. I'm in the middle of nowhere & my only access is my phone.
I'd be better off with dial-up. Really.
 
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OK I saw the pic... finally. Yes! That's it exactly but mine also folded in half. A small amount of ammo was in the stock.
There was a bracket under the seat for it. It was so basic that it had to work, even in extreme conditions.
 
I have one of the Springfield M6 Scout survival weapons (.22 LR/.410 3") civilian copies.
Biggest difference between the USAF version is barrel length is 18 inches rather than 14 inches for the original Ithaca M6 aircrew survival weapon.
m6_scout_cnb.jpg
I removed the added trigger guard on my own recognizance; in my opinion it make the gun less utilitarian and more unsafe.
 
Aircrew Survival Weapons, US Army Airforce, WWII, packed in survival kits, included Savage 24 .22 LR/.410 combination gun with Tennite plastic stock or an M1 Carbine. The kits ranged in size depending on size of aircraft.

Then came the .22 Hornet M4 bolt action rifle, detachable magazine fed, wire stock, removable 14" barrel intended with in the space under a jet fighter ejection seat.

Then came the Ithaca M6 .22 Hornet / .410 folding combination gun.

Then the ArmaLite .22 Hornet AR-5 bolt action rifle, detachable magazine fed, removable 14" barrel. The action, barrel, magazine packed into its floatable plastic stock. Armalite developed the AR-5 as the aircrew survival weapon for the USAF supersonic XB-70 bomber. Presumably all extant M4 and M6 were allocated to existing aircraft. USAF adopted the AR-5 as the MA-1. After about 12 XB-70 were built, the Soviet air defenses had developed to make high-altitude supersonic bombers like the B-70 and B-58 vulnerable to surfac-to-air missiles and the B-70 fleet was canceled.

Armalite applied the tech developed for the AR-5 to develop a civilian survival rifle, the .22 LR AR-7, semi-auto, 16" barrel. The Israeli Air Force bought a few hundred AR-7s and heavily modified them as air crew survival weapons for their fighter planes.
 
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Carl N. Brown said:
.
Click to expand...
Far more common than I imagined. Over the years I was thinking maybe I had the only one or it was only in my mind.
I wish now I had paid more attention to it.
FYI... This wasn't in a "fighter jet" it was adapted to a Cessna 02 "Skymaster". Which btw didn't have an ejection seat.
To be honest, it didn't impress me much. Thinking if forced to defend myself with it, all I'm going to do is make lots of noise & piss off the VC.
I don't have a clue where it originally came from. I know it wasn't officially issued to anyone I knew.
That doesn't mean much. Things weren't very organized.
 
Carl N. Brown said:
It was intended for foraging wild game for food.
Miss a game animal, it disappears in the underbrush.
Miss an enemy combatant, he returns fire.
Click to expand...
Granted anything in such a situation would be quite welcome, but... in a perfect world, something with a huge suppressor & possibly sub-sonic ammo would be better.
 
Carl N. Brown said:
It was intended for foraging wild game for food.
Miss a game animal, it disappears in the underbrush.
Miss an enemy combatant, he returns fire.
Click to expand...

The point, made.

It was a survival rifle, not a combat weapon. The warning on the Hornet ammo above offers complete clarity. It was conceived for use by air crew downed in remote areas to survive while waiting for rescue. It did not have a combat role.
 
Roverguy said:
The point, made.

It was a survival rifle, not a combat weapon. The warning on the Hornet ammo above offers complete clarity. It was conceived for use by air crew downed in remote areas to survive while waiting for rescue. It did not have a combat role.
Click to expand...
Maybe not, but a soft point 22 Hornet at 50yds sounds better than an fmj 38spl at 50ft.
 
SmeeAgain said:
When I got to Vietnam I "inherited " from the guy I replaced what I seem to remember being an "M6 Survival Rifle."
It was pretty strange looking. ...
Click to expand...

If your rifle is the real military deal as opposed to a version produced for the civilian market, it could well have a 14 inch barrel. That makes it a short barrel rifle within the purview of the National Firearms Act.

If that is the case, and you don't have the required tax stamp, promptly consulting a lawyer regarding disposition of the gun would be a good idea.
 
Frank Ettin said:
If your rifle is the real military deal as opposed to a version produced for the civilian market, it could well have a 14 inch barrel. That makes it a short barrel rifle within the purview of the National Firearms Act.

If that is the case, and you don't have the required tax stamp, promptly consulting a lawyer regarding disposition of the gun would be a good idea.
Click to expand...
That would be applicable only if I was somehow able to bring it back to the U.S..
It stayed with the aircraft... I have no idea what happened to any of that stuff after I left.
Don't really care either... sure as heck not going back for anything.
 
Carl N. Brown said:
I have one of the Springfield M6 Scout survival weapons (.22 LR/.410 3") civilian copies.
Biggest difference between the USAF version is barrel length is 18 inches rather than 14 inches for the original Ithaca M6 aircrew survival weapon.
View attachment 1059816
I removed the added trigger guard on my own recognizance; in my opinion it make the gun less utilitarian and more unsafe.
Click to expand...
Are the blue shells flares?
 
The blue shells are CCI .45 Colt shotshells for pests around the campsite when .410 2.5" or 3" would be a bit much.

I've read the military had .410 flares, but I have never seen any. I have also read the military issue M6 had a cylinder bore but my civilian model has a choke, so I wouldn't try a .410 flare if I found one.
__________
(.45 Colt ball ammo is out of the question; the M6 shotgun barrel is true .410. Mine has a choke)
 
Roverguy said:
The M6 aircrew survival rifle:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M6_Aircrew_Survival_Weapon

They are a bit scarce these days and quite pricey.

Should you want something similar today, you can dig up an old Savage M24, 22lr over 410, for example, or Henry makes the AR7 22lr only. The Savage has never been very accurate but has its fans.
Click to expand...

Savage models may not be accurate, but my Stevens 22-410 shoots POA with both barrels and has taken more squirrel and rabbits than i can remember. It still sports its Tenite stock.
 
You are not missing out on anything. I have one at the back of a safe, I have yanked cords on cannons that had better triggers. Never tested both but I wouldn’t ruled out them for accuracy too.

I think they are more of a “neat” thing like a bayonet, than something really practical.

They are worth a lot because there are few of them, because no one makes them anymore. If they were something great like a 1911, AR or a Glock, everyone and their brother would be selling their version. Yet, they remain one of the few mitten friendly firearms in existence…
 
Roverguy said:
The point, made.

It was a survival rifle, not a combat weapon. The warning on the Hornet ammo above offers complete clarity. It was conceived for use by air crew downed in remote areas to survive while waiting for rescue. It did not have a combat role.
Click to expand...


the warning not to shoot at enemy forces is because soft point ammo is a Geneva convention violation , and a war crime . take a shot at the enemy and get captured and you are subject to summary execution .
 
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