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We’ve talked about individual weapons for the citizen in a Scenario X situation. My suggestion for the hierarchy of weapons starts with a full/mid size handgun that you can carry concealed. For a size comparison think Glock 17 or Glock 19. Get used to carrying whatever gun you choose. Practice carrying it concealed when you don’t think you’ll need it, so that you’ll feel comfortable when you DO need it.
The concealed handgun will almost always be your first and only option BEFORE Scenario X. Always carry at least one spare mag. When troubles are rapidly approaching consider carrying a second spare mag.

A better step up from your concealed pistol is something in the PDW range. Think something that can still be concealed, perhaps not to the same Pre-Scenario X standards, but less overt. This is where I personally opt for a SMG/PCC, especially the smaller versions; but you may want an AR Pistol.
Adding the Rifle
Only after you have become comfortable with your handgun would I invest in a rifle. Your rifle will most likely be an AR15 of some sort. Chances are if you are reading this you already have BOTH; but I caution that even during a full blown Scenario X, openly carrying a rifle brings its own issues.
A rifle is best as a TEAM weapon. A single citizen walking around his yard or neighborhood with a AR15 or any other rifle presents an image more of a threat than a friend.
Ultimately you should be thinking and working on establishing a “team” from your neighborhood. Friends from across town are great; but will they be with you when the looters arrive at YOUR neighborhood. Once you have your neighborhood TEAM and everyone agrees that the neighborhood should be secured, only then should you all consider openly displaying rifles.
Adding the Team
I would also suggest that ALL the neighbors in your community be notified and welcomed to join. You want them to know and feel welcomed so they won’t see YOU as a threat. No doubt you have many neighbors who never planned for a situation like Scenario X, nor are they equipped OR able to actively patrol. Thats not a problem, they may have skills as medics or farming/gardening or teaching or mechanics or something else. Even if they lack any useful skills, they can still be useful as observers.
Once your TEAM of “Shooters” is established BEFORE Scenairo X, consider how they are equipped. Chances are in a free state, 7 out of 10 homes have an AR of some sort and if not an AR, then at least a hunting rifle or shotgun. On the road to Scenairo X many homes lacking a self defense gun will add one and hopefully enough mags and ammo.

Chances are you will have a “Gun Guy” amongst your TEAM. He may fancy himself a sharpshooter or a military style gun collector. If you do GREAT. He’s the guy you should encourage to fine tune his skills and make sure he understands his new targets won’t be paper nor will they be standing still. Perhaps you’ve got older vets in your neighborhood. They may not be “Door Kickers” any more; but they just might be perfect in a support weapons role.
Enter the Automatic Rifleman
Every FIRE TEAM needs a weapons element for suppressive fire while the rest of the team moves.
Back in the day it might have been a BAR or M60. Today it might be a M240 MG or M249 SAW. Recently the Marines adopted the M27 IAR. The original Individual Automatic Rifle is nothing more than a heavy-barreled M16 with an optic. For the purposes of Scenario X, you can use any AR for the role; but a well thought out build with a heavy barrel and bipod (and binary trigger), is a great next step.
Going further might be a similar build in 308. Picture a AR10 with a 18-20 inch HBAR and bipod. Think of it as a Battle Rifle from the days when FALs and G3s competed alongside M16s against AKs for world domination.
Civilian Belt Feds
***If you are really lucky you may have a guy in your group with a Belt Fed. Until recently semi auto Belt Feds were largely limited to 1919s and MG34/42s of WW2 fame. Neither is something I would pass on if they were available to you; but chances are your TEAM isn’t geared around 8mm or 30-06. There are also semi “clones” of the M240 and M249;($10K+) but as with the WW2 guns spare parts will eventually be an issue. This brings us back to the IAR builds.
ARs are ARs are ARs, some may have better parts, better triggers, better barrels, and better optics BUT all the parts are interchangeable.
There IS a AR belt-fed option. Fightlite makes an upper that turns your AR lower into a Belt Fed. Its NOT cheap ($3000-5000) but it’s an option. You don’t need a whole new gun and should something fail you still have a working AR lower.
So let’s go back to your guys that aren’t up to the long range patrols. Can they man a roadblock with a SAW or Belt Fed or even a shotgun? Can they shoot a dime at half a mile with their bench rest rifle that has a scope that they can see the pimples on the man in the moon? Maybe they have that silly 37mm launcher they bought for fireworks on the 4th of July, and maybe they bought some smoke or pepper rounds for animal control. Maybe they bought the Can Cannon to launch soda and beer cans and now its like dropping Thor’s Hammer on a mob.
Wrapping Up
A good Team Leader finds each member’s best abilities and uses those abilities. Don’t send the fat guy to run a note to the team a mile away because the fast guys did it last time. Maybe the fat guy can cover the runner with accurate fire.
USE WHAT YOU HAVE THE BEST WAY YOU CAN.
An Addendum From Matt
Pieter’s post got me thinking about a conversation I had a while back with Brent0331, Les Winner, and Doc Larsen about building a team. The topic of an automatic rifleman role came up. We’re going to keep digging in on this topic and provide a new build template to work with. Stay tuned.
Interesting insights, however I’m not convinced the SAW is ideal for a scenario X role. While it is most definitely true that volume of fire almost always wins the fight, where it gets sticky is the problem of logistics. The SAW is a fantastic tool when backed up by the big army supply train. In the case of a small civilian team, you’re going to chew through valuable ammunition reserves very quickly. Additionally, civilian belt feds are usually heavier and less accurate than an equivalent GPR without offering much greater potential for volume of fire (unless you somehow have a super expensive NFA piece with the naughty trigger pack, but then that compounds the ammo sustainability problem). Given the light infantry role that any team is going to forced into due to the circumstances, a lighter rifle that’s easy to shoot and more importantly carry is going to be the ideal for the less physically capable on team. In the case of an extremely rare worst-case scenario against a determined enemy, this is where I think an SPR or even Recce setup would substitute nicely as a serious support weapon. Accurate, semi-automatic fire from a reasonably skilled marksman in overwatch would likely suppress and tie up targets just as well if not better than any semi-auto SAW, with minimal ammo expenditure. When I think of a likely contact scenario in “Scenario-X”, I think less “protracted firefight” and more just two groups hucking a mag at one another until someone takes… Read more »
We obviously come at this with different backgrounds and different experiences. You are certainly welcome to your opinions; but I most definitely disagree, again based on my life events. FIRST when I use the term SAW, I refer to beltfeds and what I’ll call a HBAR AR operated from a bipod (think the 21st century version of the 1918 BAR -Browning Automatic Rifle). The Marines adopted just such a weapon in the form of the M27 IAR. As for a beltfed, Ares Defense/Flightlie makes a beltfed upper for a AR lower. The Ares has a quick change barrel available in 20, 16, and 11 inch versions. I see little value in a pistol length barrel, and believe the 20 inversion is the best. Using a standard lower, AR mags can also be used BUT a lower is also available with no magwell, which keeps the gun more trim and allows the gun/shooter to be lower to the ground. These uppers use standard M249 links which are supper cheap and can be “linked” by hand, however a linker is available for about $150, which speeds up the process.. Nut sacks (belt bags) are available in 100 and 200 round size as well as the “Tupperware” style “boxes” The beltfed upper does not come with a bipod, so the user is able to chose their favorite design. I opted for a two piece version with a left and right legs, that attach separately. TacCon makes a legal trigger that is very fast… Read more »
Wow – I guess my concept of ‘Scenario X’ is waaaay different from other people’s. Although I am ALL 7 out of 10 households with AR15s – I have yet to settle on a ‘realistic’ Scenario X (in my small world) where a pistol and a 12ga. pump can’t get it done. If my ‘Scenario X’ included CCP RED paratroopers falling from the skies like rain or entire Mexican drug cartels surrounding my Arizona ranch (see latest Rambo movie) then yeah – I might look into a machine gun – like an M60 or M2 .50BMG. Who would care about being ‘legal’ in those situations? Meanwhile I’ll stick with my well used and comfortable XD40, a couple of mags and some common sense. Obviously ‘Tu casa no es mi casa’. However – from a pure firearms perspective involving no attempt at rationalization – a belt fed AR sounds ‘hella-fun’!
No doubt a pistol and a shotgun can handle most situations in a “normal” world and maybe they can handle YOUR version of Scenario X. We all come to conclusions from our own personal histories. As for me, I grew up through the riots of the 60s and remember it didnt stop when local police deployed riot squads and stood outside the PD HQ with Thompson SMGs. It didnt stop when National Guard troops were deployed with empty weapons. What finally stopped it was the 82 Airborne patrolling with M60 Gun Jeeps and returning fire with bursts from those M60s. I learned that forced bussing of high school students, was like stocking a pond with new victims for the armed robbery season. I lived through the Freddie Gray riots in Baltimore; and again through the recent “mostly peaceful” BLM riots. Ive seen riots and political terror in Southern Afrika and fighting in the Middle East…and Ive seen the aftermath of home invasions from one drug gang seeking retribution thinking they were getting even with another gang but got the address wrong. .My biggest takeaway from all that is a single guy with a shotgun and a pistol is rarely enough against an even semi organized group. YES a shotgun is a great tool and I think you should consider owning one…and maybe it will be enough for you. I hope that its set up for hunting TWO LEGGED animals and has extra ammo mounted on the gun. I hope that… Read more »
Hey Pieter – Sounds like you’ve had quite a few experiences! I grew up out here in the southwest and the culture and people are quite different than in big cities in the east or west coast of the US. Owning, shooting and carrying firearms is not an uncommon practice here. I also did a stint in the Marine Corps though not in the infantry and was never deployed. I’ve been shooting and hunting most of my life and have access to a large variety of firearms (except Class 3) and an adequate stash of ammunition. I have taken a few tactical training classes and have competed in local club shoots. I did mention supporting the ‘team’ concept for community and neighborhood safety and support. My ‘Scenario X’ is rooted in the fact that after every natural disaster, pandemic, riot, uprising or war some form of law and order was eventually restored. Sure – people die – one’s intent should be to ‘survive’ the always ‘temporary’ (so far) ordeal. Should a continuous long term breakdown of civility and law and order happen – all the rules change – it’s chaos. It’s about survival and how hard one needs to be to endure. Until that point is reached we need to ‘color within the lines’, be an asset to our communities and loved ones, be able to read when ‘all hell’ is about to break and be ready when it does. God Speed Pieter!
Paul, thanks for your thoughts. I do agree that some level of “Law” will (re)establish. How much “Order” it bring is quite another issue. You are correct that so far here in the U.S. Law and Order has always returned and quickly (if it really ever left). When it does return, there may well be questions; however I suspect there will be enough victims that anything but the most egersis acts will be explainable. During Katrina “things happened”, “Roof top Koreans” dispensed their own form of stay away during the LA Riots and we never heard of them being prosecuted, despite TV footage. So I fall back on the legal pretense of “its not what happed. Its how you articulate it.
If/when long term chaos does descend upon us, I think your efforts to defend yourself, your family, and your home; will be less about how you did it or what weapons you used, than how you can explain it (assuming you are ever tasked to explain). As long as you can articulate a reasonable version of the event, it wont matter if you used a flintlock or a cannon.
Best
Pieter