Choosing Your Truck Gun

Today, we’re talking about truck guns or vehicle guns, and I’ve got four options I want to explore.  Three of these have been my truck gun in the past; however, now I’ve whittled things down to what I think is the best option which I’m excited to share with you today.  And it may surprise you.  But before I introduce our beauty pageant contestants, I’ll talk about capability, pros and cons, and all that snazzy jazz.

Considerations

The major practical considerations for me are size and shape.  We all need certain accessories on our rifles to fight effectively in most situations; those being an optic, a sling, and a weapon-mounted light.  Eighty percent of all violent encounters occur during hours of limited visibility, so having some way to see in the dark is necessary.  If you have Night Vision, you’re probably not throwing that on while being accosted and mugged in the Walmart parking lot.  

When we add these needed accessories to our long guns, they can get heavy and bulky pretty fast.  For a truck gun, I want a weapon that is as flush as possible while giving me the maximum capability to fight at range and in the dark.  If my gun is snagging on seatbelts and consoles, that’s a problem.  

The type of vehicle I drive also matters when selecting your truck gun because I struggle with the moral dilemma of arming bad guys if they break into my truck and steal my gun.  If you drive a Prius, no bad guy is likely to think you have a $6,000 truck gun in there.  Any criminal breaking into a Prius is probably looking for your fidget spinner, your vape, or your Little River CDs.  

But seriously, a nondescript vehicle may give you that added soft security over a lifted, cool-guy truck.  We have to ask ourselves if we should leave a long gun in an unoccupied vehicle to begin with, and there are many factors to that.

This is a moral issue I always wrestle with.  Now, I’ve never had a firearm stolen from my vehicle, but if I had a security apparatus that allowed me to maintain the needed room in my vehicle and did not delay me from retrieving the weapon when I needed it, it might sway my moral wrestling in a more comfortable direction.  

The moral quandary, however, persists.  One, I don’t want to arm a bad guy who has broken into my vehicle and stolen my firearm, but two, I want the long gun in case I need the added capability to rescue people in a very bad situation. 

Now, on to the guns!

The BCM LPVO 14.5

This gun was put together as a response to the Vegas shooting a few years back, where the thought of having to deliver accurate fire at range might be something I have to face — now I recognize that with the wind and distance, there was likely nothing I could have done to stop the Vegas shooter, but it got me thinking.  

My eyes aren’t great at distance so being able to leverage a Vortex Razor low-powered variable optic to positively identify the threat and put accurate rounds on target is a big win for me.  

The Cheapo PSA AR Pistol

Palmetto State Armory makes some pretty good entry-level rifles.  You can usually get them on sale, and this one is a 12.5 AR pistol with a stabilizing brace.  It’s got an affordable red dot sight and light, so it’s not a big deal if it gets stolen other than the aforementioned ethical issue.  It still delivers accurate shots on target while being far cheaper than just the optic on the BCM, and that gives me some financial comfort as I consider the risks.

Daniel Defense PDW

Third, we have the Daniel Defense PDW chambered in .300 Blackout.  This is a sweet gun.  It's got a Huxwrx can, a Surefire light, and a Holosun AEMS, making it a much more expensive setup than the other two we’ve discussed so far, and I get more options in a smaller package.  I can choose between subsonic rounds for a quiet and discrete setup or supersonic rounds to punch out at distance and deliver a higher terminal velocity.  As a bonus, I can take off the can and shorten it up even more.  

Flux Raider

The Flux Raider is a cool gadget gun.  It’s super streamlined with no snagging since the light and optic and everything is in line with the slide and frame, but the issue I have is that it’s chambered in 9mm.  Though it has more capacity and stability than my EDC pistol and I get two magazines on the gun giving more capacity in total than the rifle options, it’s not going to deliver the terminal performance I would like to have in a truck
gun.

There are certainly some positives.  I can keep this gun closer to me in the vehicle and not have to keep it in the back or behind me like with a longer rifle.  However, at 25 yards, I didn’t see much difference between this and my pistol; I even performed better with my pistol, but at 50 yards, the edge does go to the Flux Raider, but if I have to engage targets at 50 yards, I want a rifle anyway.  Your mileage may vary.  Is this a solution seeking a problem?  You decide.

Conclusion

You might not have guessed this, but my go-to is the PSA AR Pistol.  It’s not the coolest of the options, I’ll admit, but I just can’t leave something super expensive in my vehicle.  

Now, if you’re able to secure your truck gun to a greater degree with safes and locks and all that stuff, then you might want to keep a nicer gun, but I don’t want to have to fiddle with stuff when seconds count.  Now, if I had and was comfortable with that type of security, I would go with the Daniel Defense PDW.  It’s just too cool and too awesome, but until I have that type of security in my truck, cheaper is the name of the game for me. 

Remember, Train Hard. Train Smart.  And pick a good truck gun.