I’m amazed sometimes when I talk to fellow preppers how they prep for everything up to and including Armageddon. That’s great and I’m all about it, but then those same people don’t have a pair of jumper cables in their car. That’s a basic everyday “prep” for me since my battery could go dead any day. Then again, how many people have a small gas can in their vehicle? The tools to change a flat? A spare tire at all? What about a gun?
Yeah, I put a gun up there with all the necessary equipment I drive with. I’m much more likely to use a gun outside my home than anywhere, that’s why I carry concealed right? Well not all situations can be handled by my snub-nose .38 or my LC9, so I carry my truck gun.
I have known about the idea of a truck gun for as long as I can remember. I never called it a truck gun, however. To me, it was just the gun in the truck. My father, for as long as I can remember, kept a shotgun in his truck, especially during hunting season. His logic was that, God forbid, he be out doing something and run across a trophy buck without a gun. We lived in the middle of nowhere, so a gun in a gun rack in a truck was never a big deal. We had a lot of property with a lot of horses and more than once we got a call that our horses were being chased by dogs or even brave coyotes. That shotgun in the truck was enough to dispatch or at least frighten away the predators. I never thought about the other reasons to have a good truck gun until I was older.
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So why do I have my truck gun if I carry concealed already? Am I paranoid or something? You’re damn straight I am. Hey, it’s healthy though (although, not so much for my blood pressure, but I digress). I carry an additional weapon for a few reasons. In the Marines we are taught a pistol is for fighting your way back to a long gun. I never plan on being in a situation where my pistol can’t handle it, but what I plan and what happens is hardly ever the same. I don’t think of a pistol or any handgun as a truck gun.
I like having access to a long gun anywhere I am; you never know when the proverbial *&%$ will hit the fan. The long gun and a little bit of ammo can go a long way to helping you get to your main preps. In a defensive scenario, if you get the chance to get your long gun, why wouldn’t you? If you live in a very rural area like I do, you may run afoul of some nasty little critters. A load of birdshot does wonders for a rattlesnake. Where I came from, killing rattlesnakes on the back roads was a community service for your neighbors. Plus you never know when that trophy buck will cross your path.
Weapon choice
So what weapon should you be carrying in your truck? Well like always, it’s user preference, based on what you’re capable with, your environment, and of course the laws in your area. As I said before, it should be a long gun, capable of being shoulder fired. In my opinion, that pistol grip shotgun isn’t incredibly useful.
So what are you using it for—purely defense or SHFT? An AR is great if you live in the country. The weapon is perfect for medium range shots, especially for pest removal as well, and there’s no reason to get too close to coyotes. It can hunt as well, and it’s is more than capable of defensive purposes.
A shotgun or pistol caliber carbine is a great choice, and both are good for folks in more urban settings. The Kel Tec Sub 2000 is an awesome little rifle. It folds in half in front of the pistol grip for convenient storage. Chambered in 9mm or 40 S&W, the weapon accepts Glock, Beretta, and Smith and Wesson magazines. Throw in a .33 round Glock mag and you have some fire power for a rainy day. The weapon is very lightweight as well, easy to use no matter your size, woman or man. Older folks would appreciate the ease of use, light weight, and low recoil.
A shotgun is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. Shotguns work well for self-defense and hunting. Shotguns are capable of taking small and large game, as well as getting rid of pests without any worry of the rounds going astray. Slugs can extend the range quite a bit and deliver some serious knock down power.
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Bolt guns are excellent long-range weapons, dependable, and perfect for self-defense. Accuracy from a bolt gun doesn’t get much better. It’s perfect for taking game and I’ve said it before, you’re going to be hungry more than in combat in a SHTF situation. A bolt action complimented by a good handgun can be a formidable duo. An old Mosin is cheap enough to be beat around without worrying about it.
The .22 LR has its own category, be it bolt, semi-automatic, level, or whatever. The small caliber, lightweight weapon is similar to the shotgun in that it does a lot of things, but doesn’t do anything perfect. The small bullets mean you can carry a ton of them, and .22s are usually quite affordable. So it can be a beater without worry. A .22 can be used for defense and hunting, but there are calibers that do both better.
My truck gun is a Hatsan Escort shotgun. It was a cheap 12 gauge that works and handles amazingly. It is a solid shotgun that sits comfortably in a canvas case in my trunk or in the gun rack of my truck. I keep a variety of loads, a box of birdshot, some double-aught buckshot, and a dozen slugs. I’m prepped for fighting, hunting, and pest removal.
I like a shotgun for all the above reasons as well as my comfort with a shotgun. I was raised with a shotgun and the manual of arms is muscle memory to me. A shotgun also raises few questions if, for whatever reason, the police pull me over and ask about the gun in my rack. Shotguns are common for hunting and sporting purposes, enough that they don’t raise suspicion.
How to Carry a Truck gun
I pack my truck gun differently for each vehicle, as I mentioned. In the truck, it goes on the rack, and it gets locked to that rack and the rack is locked to my truck seats with pad and cable locks. Smashing my windows and trying to snatch my gun will get you nowhere besides a jail cell. The gun isn’t easy to access right away because that’s what my concealed is for.
In my car, the weapon is in a case and shoved all the way to the back of my trunk. I can access it through my car after pulling the seat down. Again, it’s slow, but I like being able to access it both inside and outside of my car.
I feel both of these ways of carrying are safe and responsible. The weapons stay clean and away from the normal gunk in my car and truck. They can’t be accessed without a key or combination. I do keep them loaded with an empty chamber. I never, ever, even for second, leave my kid in the truck with the gun in the rack—even if I’m just checking the mail. For ammo, I carry a bandolier of 20 buckshot and 12 slugs, and then a 25 round box of number 6 birdshot. The ammo usually sits in the trunk or behind my truck seat.
So the truck gun is an easy concept and a gun is probably carried by more people than jumper cables. I simply believe you should never leave home without a long gun if it can be helped.
