Need a boat gun.

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RiverwinoIA

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Ive recently decided i want a gun with me while im out fishing. I do all of my fishing in a boat or canoe, outside of city limits, on rivers adjacent to wooded private property. Never ran into trouble yet, but i regularly see people who just dont look right... if you know what i mean. Sometimes i swear i can hear a banjo playing softly back in the woods... :uhoh: ;)

Im pretty sure i want an auto loading rifle for this purpose. i dont own and have never shot a handgun, so i dont want to depend on one, even with future training. Shotguns dont really appeal to me either.

Im thinking an SKS would be a good choice. I need something rugged, reliable, cheap (might get it wet/lose it), and would really prefer a "PC" look (no EBR, no pistol grips). I dont need the DNR guy gettin all worked up when he checks my licenses.
Can the barrel of the SKS be cut down to say, 16 inches? i handled a yugo sks at a gun store the other day, i liked it, except for how long it was.
Thanks for any advice/first hand experience with this.
 
At first I thought you said "Need a Gun Boat," and I thought now there is a guy who is getting prepared! :)
 
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heh, i suppose i could fab up a tripod for the bow, then id just need to break into the nat. gaurd armory next door and snag a m249. :D
 
Didn't Marlin offer a stainless lever action rifle a while back? That wouls seem perfect, even better than an SKS in that it would look even more PC, and probably require less maintainance.
 
Stainless Ruger Mini 14 Ranch model.

AR-7 (hey it floats!) and it stows easily.

Thing about boating/canoeing is ...well you get wet. And stuff... even stuff that's tied down, can end up in the river. A pistol with a lanyard, or otherwise secured to you is better and handier than a rifle tied to your boat.
 
Yep, that's a good suggestion, CAS700850.
Mine is a stainless Mini-14 (wood stock), looks totally PC (yeah, I know it's a Mini-14, but I'm not sentimental about it like the AR) ...
 
i realize a pistol would be handier, but i dont like the idea of using a pistol in a outdoors situation. If i need to use a gun, it will probably be in response to another gun being aimed/threatend against me. I cant see anyone getting close enough to use their hands or non-projectile weapons on me (as im in a boat, and can motor away from rowdy/angry people).
Unless...... they entrap me, by feigning motor trouble or other "help" needing situations. in those situations a pistol would be superior, as a rifle would require me to bend over, grab it, then bring it to shoulder, while the pistol could be out and on target in a snap.

any other people carry or plan for similar situations? If i was on lakes or wasnt so far away from access roads i wouldnt even worry about this. But since police response time could be ridiculously long out there, i feel i should be more prepared (especially when im with the girlfriend)
 
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With water/rust, space and recoil considerations being a premium in a canoe I would think that you'd be motivated to pick a polymer pistol for it's handiness and capacity.

Take a look at the KelTec SU2000 or the SU16C. Both are compact, inexpensive, have high capacity capabilities and minimul recoil.
 
Might be the only time I recommend a shorty M1A SOCOM. Small, robust, powerful, and accurate. Costs a lot, though.

Either that or a Benelli H2O.

However, having now read your posts in full :eek: , the Yugo SKS sounds best. I don't know about shortening the barrel (it might affect the gas system), but if you replace the wood with a decent Hogue stock, you'd have what you're looking for. Rugged, reliable, inexpensive, relatively impervious to long-term contact with freshwater, and as close to PC as you're gonna get.
 
RiverwinoIA

Fellow Iowegian here, I would recommend a stainless revolver (you choose the brand) and keep loaded in your tackle box. I hope you live in a county where you can easily obtain a concealed carry permit. If not you are going to have to open carry in areas where you are permited to have a firearm. Gotta love Iowa Law. I am not sure how the laws are set in a boat under power with a loaded firearm.

You ought to check out www.iowacarry.org

Charby
 
I'm pretty sure it's illegal to have a gun on a boat in OH. This is OHIO we're talking about, though.
 
my vote is a marine shotgun. rem 870 nickel or stainless 12 ga.

load it candy stripe, buck/slug/buck/etc

at the ranges that you are likely to face someone, it will really turn their heads.
 
i'd take a look at the new rifle from remington. its a 223, pump action that takes m16 style mags
throw a 10 rounder in there for pc and keep a 30 rounder on the side. i think its the 7 something or other series. just a thought
 
Don't worry to much about rust and recoil. I regularily hunt with both a benelli nova and a marlin 'goosegun', both 12 ga, from a kayak and even while soothing sideways with 66 gram loads the recoil does nothing to the stability of the 'boat'. Powerful rifles could be a problem, but they would be of limited use anyway. As for stainless guns, they are probably not worth the extra cost, as even in saltwater a well maintained gun will get only minor suface rust. And the small parts, like springs and all the small stuff in the trigger machanism, usualy are made of black-steel anyway, and it is those parts that will fail if not maintained properly.

While hunting my guns are usually soaked in saltwater several times a day, but as long as I oil them regularily (during the day) and clean them in hot/boiling water when i get home, rust is kept to a acceptable minimum.

Things to remember is
* Your gun will get soaked in water
* It will rust, stainless or not
* Oil+sand+guns=bad
* Gun handling in a small boat is difficoult and dangerous.
 
I think a 12 gauge would be a better bet than a rifle. Mossberg makes a stainless pump-action 500 and 590. If you're on a boat, bobbing up and down, trying to shoot some other guy on a boat, also bobbing up and down, the spread of the shot might help. Or you could use slugs and shoot for the waterline of the other guy's boat, and sink 'im! :D And depending on the area, a shotgun may be easier to justify on a boat, if you put some clay birds and a thrower thingie next to it.
 
heh, the rivers i fish are quite small and tree shielded, so i wont be doing any bobbing in the waves. I suspect most situations that will arise will be when im sitting on a sandbar or anchored up. Cant imagine any run and gun stuff going on...
The more i think about it, the more im leaning toward a pistol. Ive sort of been wanting one for the night stand... going that route would take two birds with one stone. Sure would be nice to have a CC license... as i would look like nutcase with a evil black pistol on my hip out fishing... in fact it would probably be more of a instigator of conflict if seen by the wrong people.
 
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