Best firearm for a helicopter pilot?

[H Wally]

Sitting here with a helicopter pilot who wants a better bag gun for flights. He has a short shotgun with pistol grip front, but it gets some weird looks from other employees and customers, so he's looking for something less aggressive and more conventional.

His request is it's in a bear stopping caliber, and able to fit into a bag 26 inches long, smaller and lighter is better. He does not have his restricted liscence or else he would go for an ATC.

One idea is to put wood on his pump action shotgun.

Another is a takedown BLR in 450 Marlin.


Ideas?

 

[daveg01]

I would say something in a lever action. Easy to use and reliable. Comes in some heavy calibers. Short barrel and easy to point. Down side would be loading and unloading all the time because of the tube mag.

 

[thepitchedlink]

I carry a 45-70 guide gun that's been made into a take down....About as good as it gets as far as i'm concerned. Before I found this one I had a BLR in 358 win. For a take down gun, at that price they can't be beat.

 

[H Wally]

How does one get a guide gun made into a takedown? Price?

Is there an advantage in the guide gun takedown over the BLR takedown?

 

[bbartsch]

First instinct is to say to heck with what the others think and carry what he has. On the other hand a guide gun in .450 Marlin or even .45/70 would definitely fit the bill.

*edit* here is a good option. http://www.thearmsroom.com/id3.html

 

[Doc M]

I carry a 45-70 guide gun that's been made into a take down....About as good as it gets as far as i'm concerned. Before I found this one I had a BLR in 358 win. For a take down gun, at that price they can't be beat.

That's HOT.

I'd go with something like that, or a .444 Marlin... anything in the big lever calibers, takedown style, will rock your socks.

Or, as much of an abortion as it may look like, rig up a folding stock on a lever? Just PLEASE don't do it on a collectable Winchester!!! Think top-folder style stock, with lever action front...

-M

 

[Wendell]

How does one get a guide gun made into a takedown? Price?

http://www.realguns.com/archives/184.htm

 

[Can-down]

Always good to buy more guns but why does he get strange looks if his shotgun is stored in a 26" long bag?

The short CanAmmo shotguns in 12.5 or 8.5 and the incoming Grizzly Mag in 8.5 would be good but they may also be to scary....

 

[manbearpig]

http://www.realguns.com/archives/184.htm

$3000 for a glorified Marlin levergun?

why not just buy a BLR takedown for a quarter of the price?

 

[H Wally]

Anyone know of a gunsmith in Canada who does the takedown marlins? He quite likes the look of the takedown marlin, but doesn't want to spend the money outside Canada.

 

[Rebel Rouser]

How does one get a guide gun made into a takedown? Price?

Is there an advantage in the guide gun takedown over the BLR takedown?

Bruce at Lock&Load in Edmonton could probably build you one. He built a take down Lee Enfield, which was a work of art.

 

[scanner]

Browning makes a lever action take down in 450 caliber (and others). It's light weight which is good for a pilot's payload, it has a detachable mag which is always nice, and it has a scope system that looks pretty neat like a shotgun slug barrel would have.

Here's the link.,

http://www.browning.com/products/ca...ontent=blr-lightweight-’81-takedown--firearms

 

[Can-down]

Can we at least see some pictures of his scary gun?

 

[Can-down]

Sitting here with a helicopter pilot who wants a better bag gun for flights. He has a short shotgun with pistol grip front, but it gets some weird looks from other employees and customers, so he's looking for something less aggressive and more conventional.

His request is it's in a bear stopping caliber, and able to fit into a bag 26 inches long, smaller and lighter is better. He does not have his restricted liscence or else he would go for an ATC.

One idea is to put wood on his pump action shotgun.

Another is a takedown BLR in 450 Marlin.


Ideas?

Hey Wally I'm just curious by nature,
What gun does he have right now?
What barrel length and how does he get it to fit in his 26" bag?

Does he have a budget?

Dlask advertised in the past a take down Winchester but I don't think theyve done Marlin's...

 

[manbearpig]

Anyone know of a gunsmith in Canada who does the takedown marlins? He quite likes the look of the takedown marlin, but doesn't want to spend the money outside Canada.

does he have anything against the BLR, which comes as a takedown to begin with? just seems silly to me to spend over 2 grand on a Marlin when the BLR comes with this functionality out of the box and is arguably a better rifle.

another option is an 8.5 Grizzly modded with Wilson Combat GR sights. hell be limited to closer shots, but it will be ready to go right out of the bag. if he puts a wood buttstock on it it should look almost 'cute', not scary.

What gun does he have right now?
What barrel length and how does he get it to fit in his 26" bag?

if its a PG pump, then an 18" barrel should bring it down to exactly 26" if he has a short LOP stock on it.

 

[Can-down]

if its a PG pump, then an 18" barrel should bring it down to exactly 26" if he has a short LOP stock on it.

Sounds like it has a pistol grip on the front, who knows what stock is on the rear...

An 18" barrel and a short length of pull stock is not fitting in a 26" bag.

 

[manbearpig]

if its a PG pump, then an 18" barrel should bring it down to exactly 26" if he has a short LOP stock on it.

Sounds like it has a pistol grip on the front, who knows what stock is on the rear...

An 18" barrel and a short length of pull stock is not fitting in a 26" bag.

oops, i dont know how the hell i typed that?
its late, been working all day and im tired.

i think what i meant to say is that with an 18" barrel, a pistol grip will take it down to 26".
an 8.5 with a short LOP stock will also be 26". with a wood stock i dont think it would be too 'scary' - and you can shorten the LOP of a wood stock as much as you are comfortable with.

visual reference (top is 870P 18" barrel, not 18.5"):

 

[H Wally]

rechecked - bag is more like 30. I was measuring by eye ;p

Got some good info here - sounds like the BLR is the gun for the deal.

 

[thepitchedlink]

The fella to talk to about a take down GG is Dave Jennings in Pritchard BC. He has a web site,..he's very well known for his muzzle breaks. I got a very good deal on mine, used. I think your looking at about 700-750 to have the gun cut, + the price of the gun...so maybe 1500 to have one made up. Quite a bit less then buying one from WilidWest in Alaska. I looked at one from them and it was about 2K, for a bare bones 45-70 take down. For the money, I'd buy another BLR, eventhough I like the GG better, I wouldn't pay the extra to get the GG. I only bought mine b/c I got a super deal on it. The BLR in 358 or 450 is the way to go for the money...and you get another hunting gun out of it too.

 

[kodiakjack]

He's a rotor-wing pilot?! Forget the bears - he's got enough trouble as is!

A helicopter is made up of 200,000 parts - none of which are traveling the same direction.

Helicopters don't fly. They're just so ugly that the earth repels them!

... and on the 8th day, God created fixed wing aircraft, and it was good...

Seriously though, poor choices in aviation aside, he might consider a 12 ga CIL Model 402 (sometimes called a Brazil 402). It breaks down into 3 separate pieces, and instead of twisting onto the barrel it snaps together. With practice you can assemble and load it in less than 5 seconds. It's hard to explain how it snaps together... I've got one I'm willing to let go (It's got a chunk of wood missing from the stock but otherwise is in good shape) It has front and rear sights for slugs too. I Can't find the pics on the camera to show you

Oh well, good luck with the search.

One last one: How do you know something's about to break on your helicopter? Beacause it's a HELICOPTER for crying out loud!! Ha p

cheers!