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Firearms

5 Dependable Truck Gun Options

What’s a “Truck Gun,” and why would you want one? This topic has been bandied about quite a little bit in recent times. How many of us can remember gun racks in the rear window of pickup trucks being driven around in rural areas? Heck, I used to see them in the parking lot of my high school back in the day.

In rural America, it was pretty common for folks to have a long gun in their truck. But I’m stereotyping a little bit here since not everyone owns a truck. Sometimes, people kept them in their car or the car’s trunk. These days, the prices that trucks are fetching are higher than the mortgage of my first house, so I don’t currently own a truck. Mine is more of a “trunk gun.”

What is a truck gun used for?

For those living on farms or ranches, one of the chief uses is likely to defend livestock by dispatching predators—possibly even livestock that has to be put down. For others, it’s about protection from two-legged predators. Many of us carry a handgun on our person, but we feel more comfortable when we have a long gun nearby in our vehicle, just in case.

Civil unrest, mass shootings, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other maladies have convinced many people to be more prepared these days. Having a long gun in the vehicle can definitely help us be more prepared. Personally, I often take a long gun with me when I’m going on a long trip far away from home. It’s a comfort and lends reassurance that I’m ready for just about anything.

Any time we have a firearm (or anything else, really) in our vehicle, we have to accept that some thief might steal it. This begs the question: How much of an investment are you willing to put at risk? I don’t know about you, but I’m not prepared to risk a firearm worth a few thousand bucks. It all boils down to your comfort level.

Dents, Dings, and Scratches

Few people are likely to keep their truck guns in their vehicles 24/7. Most whom I know take the firearm into their home at the end of the day when they’re done with their vehicle. Why let the gun sit outside overnight, subject to the thievery that I mentioned before?

That said, taking it in and out of the vehicle repeatedly is going to give the gun some character marks. Read that as dents, dings, and scratches. On a working person’s gun, that’s not the end of the world. And as long as we head into the project with the knowledge that our firearm will be marred, it’s not a shock when it happens.

Have you ever seen a shotgun or rifle that’s been used on duty? Those things have all sorts of dings in them. It makes sense; you’re heading on or off duty, your arms are full of all manner of duty gear, and you’re lugging the long gun along with you. It’s going to make contact with doors, door jambs, the edges of windows, the edges of the trunk, etc. Sometimes, the firearm might even be dropped. All this contact is going to take a cosmetic toll.

Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS)

Some wonder whether to use optics or keep it more simple with iron sights. Considering that the firearm will be involved in wild temperature extremes, one might want to consider iron sights. Scopes and electronic sights can be susceptible to temperature fluctuations, especially if they are powered by batteries. Going from cold to warm in winter will often fog up lenses. In the summer, vehicles will be well above 100 degrees in many places during the daylight hours and far hotter if they’re setting in the sun.

And then there’s the abuse that the gun will take going in and out of the vehicle, which I mentioned earlier. All of this is not friendly to optics.

Options. So many options.

There seems to be no limit as to which platform we can use as a truck/trunk gun. Basically, anything that works for you is a good selection. You’ll take into account what mission it is that you’re trying to fulfill with the weapon you choose and plan accordingly. Weight isn’t a huge consideration because you’ll be transporting it in a vehicle and probably doing very little on foot.

That said, I’ve put together a list of a few options to consider.

.22 Rifle

Although the .22 is a bit light for dispatching certain predators, let’s not overlook the .22 rifle. With surgical shot placement (such as an eye socket), most creatures are vulnerable to the .22 LR cartridge. Do I advocate it to go up against a Grizzly bear? Heck no, I’m not that crazy (just slightly unbalanced)!

But the quiet report of the .22, coupled with its low recoil and ability to carry a bunch of ammo, does give some points to this lightweight. Many of them are small enough to easily tuck into small areas of a car or truck, especially those rifles with a folding stock. I know quite a few people who keep a .22 close by for various jobs, and it has served them well.

Ruger’s 10/22 (top) is a wise choice for those wishing for a .22 caliber rifle as their truck gun. Here, the 10/22 and Mini-14 are both seen wearing Samson folding stocks, which make them very compact. For that matter, the Mini-14 in 5.56mm would make a great truck gun as well. (Photo: Jim Davis)

For the most part, the Ruger 10/22 seems to dominate this class of firearms, and for good reason. It’s about as reliable as you can get in a semi-auto .22 rifle and plenty accurate. There are aftermarket accessories galore, so it can be customized however you’d like. Spare magazines are both cheap and plentiful. It’s also priced modestly, so you don’t have to go broke buying one.

Lever-Action Rifle

Marlin, Winchester, Ruger, Henry—take your pick. They’re all excellent manufacturers who produce quality products. The lever gun has worked admirably since the 1800s, and it’s still steaming right along today.

The action is fast to work, and they can be had in a variety of calibers. The .30-30 Winchester is very popular where I live in the northeast. Some folks like the formidable .45-70 Government round for heavy-duty tasks.

Marlin .30-30 lever action.
A good lever-action rifle is hard to beat. This Marlin in .30-30 is light and compact enough to store easily behind a truck seat. (Photo: Jim Davis)

Many lever guns come in a compact package and are fairly light in weight. Being able to have one in pistol calibers such as .357 Magnum or .44 Magnum, in addition to the rifle calibers, makes them versatile and able to cover most of the bases that people would require. They can even be found in .22 Long Rifle.

AR-15

It’s no wonder that the AR-15 is one of the most popular choices for not only a truck gun but a myriad of other tasks as well. These days, a good AR-15 isn’t terribly expensive. They’re modular, so users can attach any imaginable accessories, such as lights, lasers, optics, bipods, etc, easily. Most rifles are extremely reliable. Further, the AR-15 is now available in an array of calibers, from the original 5.56mm up through .300 AAC Blackout, a few varieties of .358, and .50 SOCOM. Or, for those preferring pistol calibers, the 9mm and 10mm are a couple more options. And believe me, this list is nowhere near being complete.

Several AR-15 rifles and a pistol.
AR-15s come in many flavors. Left to right, Ruger carbine, custom pistol, Palmetto State Armory 20-inch A2-style, and a Stag Arms M4-style carbine. The shorter ARs would be easy to stow away inside a vehicle. Even the full-size PSA rifle isn’t difficult to store in a vehicle. (Photo: Jim Davis)

With the AR platform, the sky is the limit in terms of stocks, barrel lengths, and other accessories. It’s probably the most accessorized platform on the planet, so if you can dream it up, it’s probably being made to mount on an AR-15. Personally, I run mine fairly Plain Jane; sometimes, I’ll run an optic, but for a truck gun, I’d likely run iron sights for the reasons mentioned earlier.

Magazines are plentiful and cheap, which is a huge selling point. The rifle itself is normally light and maneuverable. Coupled with all the attributes that we mentioned, it’s a wildly popular combination.

Shotgun

The shotgun is unequaled for close-range power. The main downside is that the power is limited to short range. Yes, you can load slugs into the shotgun and try to turn it into a rifle, but it’s a poor substitute for a rifle. The punishing recoil with slugs is not pleasant, and it’s not going to be as accurate as a rifle. So it’s better to simply use a rifle if that’s what you’re after.

Two 12 gauge shotguns and a Marlin lever action.
A Remington 870 and Mossberg Shockwave (both in 12-gauge) flank a Marlin .30-30 on the back seat inside a truck. All can be stored readily inside a vehicle interior.

However, loaded with buckshot (or any one of the many shot sizes available), it becomes something to contend with for defensive use. It can also be used for hunting when loaded with appropriate ammo. For a truck gun, the shotgun is versatile as long as you don’t need long-range accuracy.

I mostly focus on the 12-gauge because of its power and availability. However, the 20-gauge and .410 are also popular in some applications and offer less recoil than the 12-gauge.

It’s served police, the military, and hunters for decades and will continue to serve for the foreseeable future.

AK-47

The AK-47 and its variants have a lot going for them. They’re short and maneuverable, and they can fire a .30 caliber round (7.62x39mm) and lighter calibers. The round roughly approximates the .30-30 Winchester. Of course, the legendary reliability and robust build don’t hurt the cause, either.

AK-63D underfolder.
An AK underfolder (here, an AK-63D) is extremely compact when the stock is folded. The magazines here are excellent Bulgarian steel-reinforced polymer mags. (Photo: Jim Davis)

The AK’s long-range accuracy potential is typically not as good as that of many other rifles, but then again, depending on your mission, it might not be required. It is also not as easy to mount optics and other accessories on most AK-47s because they are not as modular as some rifles. However, if you’re going to keep things simple, this isn’t much of an issue.

One massive advantage of this platform is that magazines are widely available and for great prices. The Bulgarian polymer 30-round magazines are really stellar, as are the AK mags from Magpul.

Closing Thoughts

Of course, the sky is the limit when selecting a Truck/Trunk Gun. There’s nothing that says you have to go with our picks. Maybe you’ll go with a bolt action hunting rifle, or perhaps it might be an FN FAL or a Galil. Whatever you choose, you’ve obviously given it some thought and made an informed choice, which can be difficult because there are so many excellent potential truck guns on the market.

Remember, you don’t have to spend a ton of money on the firearm; in fact, it’s better not to if you plan to leave it unattended in your vehicle for any length of time. Theft becomes a real consideration, not to mention the toll that the elements can take. Of course, the wear and tear of taking the gun in and out of the vehicle, along with the jostling that it receives during transit, also takes a toll.

Deciding which firearm to use as a truck gun can be a fun project. And once you’ve made a selection, you’ll have the enjoyment of using your chosen gun often. Good luck in your hunt!

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