Rifle Options

[Sigmund Wolfe]

Hi there. I'm asking this for my wife: I'm looking to acquire a rifle for her and am debating between getting a bullpop or a 16" AR15. She has trouble shouldering rifles properly and so I was thinking that a bullpup design might be make it easier for her to do so. She's about 5'5". What are your experiences? Any advice on this front?

[jamie404]

Get her an AR15 and collapse the stock all the way? Would that help? As far as bullpups go, I'd stick with the tried and true AR15 but desertech and keltech make readily available bullpups. The desertech will end up weighing about 1-2 pounds more than an AR, but with that weight in the back, I am not sure how much it matters. Keltech's weight is closer to the AR and also cheaper.

Good luck.

[Sigmund Wolfe]

Get her an AR15 and collapse the stock all the way? Would that help? As far as bullpups go, I'd stick with the tried and true AR15 but desertech and keltech make readily available bullpups. The desertech will end up weighing about 1-2 pounds more than an AR, but with that weight in the back, I am not sure how much it matters. Keltech's weight is closer to the AR and also cheaper.

Good luck.

I know she's tried my 18" AR15 and still had a bit of difficulty getting the sights quite right, even with an adjustable stock. I'm going to see if perhaps a 16" or shorter barrel might help at all. I was actually looking at Keltec's RDB, as the price point is absurdly reasonable. We'll see, though.

[Dutch3]

A shorter barrel AR with a short stock might help. Fixed-length A2 stocks are available. Might help with featureless/AW issues.

[bigmike82]

Plus 1 to a short stock. Try to get as light of an upper as you can.

For her sight picture, is the problem that the sight is too high? You can fix that pretty easily. Risers come in various heights for stuff like aimpoints. If you put one directly on the rail without a riser, it may work too.

[Barang]

take her to lgs and let her test drive those that you mentioned. what matters is what she likes, she will not shoot what she doesn't. ask me how i know.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I'd scratch the bullpup idea. Some people are into those, but to me it is just a gimmick.

I'd vote for a featureless AR with the buttstock as far forward as possible, pinned and finned with flash hider for compliance. A shorter length A2 stock and MMG is a good option too. A 16" AR is very light and handy unless you strap a bunch of ninja gear to it.

[elSquid]

- AR with a pencil barrel carbine upper and a short stock

- Keltec SU16 series rifles are pretty light

- M1 carbine

- 357Mag lever gun

-- Michael

[baih777]

You need to get an AR that has a pinned adjustable stock.
When you get it home. Remove the pin keeping the stock in place. Then shorten the LOP by two notches to start.

[rdtompki]

Consider a 9mm PCC. You can buy barrels that meet the legal requirement but are basically a 5.5" barrel with a permanently attached lightweight tube. All the weight is just forward of the receiver. A proper setup with, for example, a Taccom bolt and 3-stage buffer tube has very little recoil. Having moved out of CA I'm not sure what would comprise a legal configuration, but a Glock lower would feature inexpensive, reliable mags.

[steelrain82]

spend the dough and get a Steyr AUG. It super easy to shoot one handed as all the weight is in the rear. So this should help her to shoulder it. Just get her the Standard version not the NATO version. it has a bolt release unlike the NATo version.

[Plant_Goddess]

I'm 5'4" and love my Saint.

For what it's worth, I'm 5'4," and a lefty with T-rex arms. I recently bought a Springfield Saint. We (and by "we" I really mean my hubby. I watched.) changed out the fin grip to a Resurgent Arms featureless, extended the safety and mag release, and replaced the ugly MOE fixed stock to an Aimpoint minimalist stock that I could adjust and pin.

For me it's very light weight, not too long, easy to aim and shoot. I really love it with the modifications.

[The War Wagon]

take her to lgs and let her test drive those that you mentioned. what matters is what she likes, she will not shoot what she doesn't. ask me how i know.

Yep. HER gun, HER decisions.

[bigmike82]

OH, final point. Depending on where you are geographically, I'm sure some people will be happy to go with you to the range and let you try out different options.