Survival rifle?

Tthis post has been an interesting read.

So far I'm liking the recommendations for a 22 rimfire handgun and 45-70.

I wouldn't take a 22 semi-auto pistol into a wilderness situation, they tend to hang up and fail to feed sometimes.
Perhaps not a problem for small game use, but sometimes a quick 2nd shot is required.
The single actions fairly simple and dependable mechanism would be a better way to go imo.



As for the heavier calibers and their recoil . . . virtually no one notices recoil in a serious situation.

You may want to do some bullet research for the centerfire rifle regardless of caliber.
Barnes used to make some very sturdy bullets that were excellent for serious - serious like in big bear - use.
You'd have to reload to take advantage of them.
They're expensive, but once the sky is blanked out by bear, you won't care.

Once you choose the caliber/rifle you want you may want to ask folks about which bullet/load to use if you have to buy commercial.
Or what to use if you reload.

Sights are another - albeit - small thing.
Factory sights would probably be sufficient for the intended use, but you may want to take a shot at fairly long range and the factory sights may not do it.
By long range I mean within the reasonable limit of the calibers capabilities.

Once upon a time I had a nice 30-30 Winchester lever action.
It was a nice rifle, but was much improved by the addition of a Williams peep sight.

The really nice part about it was you could remove the screw in peep and use the threaded hole for the back sight.
Your eye automatically seeks out the region of strongest light and the big hole in the peeps threaded hole will give you good accuracy.
Set up like this makes for a quick handling quick to sight rifle, especially at close range.

The peep can be screwed back in for medium to long shots.

The Williams peep sight is a fairly sturdy unit and somewhat protected from damage when carried because it's near the balance point of the rifle and not prone to get knocked around.

It will be interesting to see what your final choice is.

You are absolutely correct about the peep sights.

My first experience with this was on a Mossberg 144S .22 caliber target rifle. I was astonished at how accurately this rifle was capable of shooting with iron peep sights. Mind you now ..this was a target grade bolt action rifle with a long bull barrel meaning a long sight radius ...but Wow!!! Was it ever accurate. Since this exposure and experience with good sights...I am always mindful what kind of sights come on a rifle or pistol. I even like my handguns to come with a decent set of sights...not some bare slot on the top of the gun. But thats just me.

You would want a fairly simple but rugged/tough peep sight on such a lever action rifle and there are many offerings in this accessory.

Yes it would be a substantial improvements for the longer range shots.

Keep in in the X ring,
Orangetom

bear defense a ruger 44 mag 8 inch barrel scoped or laser .maybe a colt anaconda also in 8 inch. rifle 7 mm is the way i would go you should be able to tke most large game with it. little creatures air pistol or 22 but you could try snare traps. have you considered fishing if you are going by lakes or steams. i have seen a fishing pool that breaks down too a 4 foot long walking stick for hiking just detach reel and put in back pack.

Not about guns, but perhaps it goes along with a long trek through the Alaskan wilderness.

Timbradwell's fishing pole comment reminded me of a friends take down fresh water fishing pole.

Made by Eagle - who used to make nice stuff - the pole was a four piece spinning rod with a Garcia 300 reel.
The reel went into it's own little pocket in the pack, the pole broke down into four segments about 18" or so, slipped into a fitted bag and went into the pack as well.

He was proud of it and it had served him well.
Right up to the day he cast a plug into a lake and the top two segments separated from the pole and went flying after the plug.

Funny stuff, but it could be critical to a hiker depending on small game and fish as part of his diet.

My pal was lucky and reeling the line back in brought the top half of the pole and the plug back.

He used a little more caution during assembly after that....

Getting back to the question at hand, I'm not sure what kind of buttstock pad Marlin puts on the 45-70, but there are magnum buttstock pads available.

One of these could help tame recoil to a great degree.

I have been shooting 45-70 for years. Your factory ammo is OK, I caanot speak on the stopping power for Grizzly. Fedral preimum Is better and I think Cor Bon makes some hot loads for it. Before making a final decission check on availability of ammo along your route. 45-70 is not that popular in the lower 48. The new 450 has been more popular which means the ammo may be more available.

A good 12 gauge pump is probably the best all around gun you can own. It is very versitile, from small game with bird shot to large game with slugs, And ammo is available for it most every where.

If you want to go REAL big bore try a 10 Gauge 3 1/2 inch magnum with a 1 1/2 ounce slug. Its deadly at both ends. NEF is the only maker that I know of and ammo Is HARD to find.

that news is like ten years old come up with some new items!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by nwomi
that news is like ten years old come up with some new items!!!!!!!!!

Do you have anything to add to this converstion Or do you just like to butt in?

out in my garage I have a fishing pole which consists of a piece of bamboo..cut off of a olde cane poll. It is about 22 inchs long..and very stiff. I have a small spinning reel on it with 25 pound test line. the eye on the end is off of a olde fishing pole..not the end but something in the middle..super glued on and then 25 lb test line wrapping it tightly to the bamboo...then superglued on top of that. The reel is attached with two hose clamps from the auto store. It is very compact and dependable. I have caught many fish off this really dumb looking rig. But it works and is portable. I am not out for trophys when I use this pole..I am out strictly for dinner and this rig has put many a fish on my dinner plate...where it counts to me.

The point here is that like firearms you can improvise so much in the way of customizing/portability if you think it through.

Thanks,
Orangetom

A 12 Cauge and 7.62x53R combo by Finclassic, shoud be enough to down a bear and versatile to allow you to hunt just about anything. (Slug and 7,62 Sako Hammerhead are enough for all animals i've met )

Stainless breech combined with quality stocks are pretty dependable in wilderness.

If you prefer bolt guns how about a Sako 75 (or 85) in .338 Lapua mag, kills anything from point blank to 1500m (alltough 75 might not be accurate enough to that range, caliber is) It's not as versatile as smaller calibers, but the sako rifle is available in plenty of other calibers inluding .223 .308 and 7mm RemMag

Stainless steel and laminated stock

for a .22 most european bolt action hunting rifles are very accurate (Voere for example shots 25mm groups from 100m)

If you go for Magnum revolver for Bear defence 4 inch barrel is good, accurate enough for deer at 100m and fast enough to handle against a charging bear (and the extra 4" in a 8" barrels weight quite a lot after a 80km trek)

If you want to "max out" with 45-70 loads for heavy or dangerous game, check out Buffalo Bore ammunition, I believe they use solid cast bullets loaded to maximum pressure for caliber - they will pretty much drill a .45 caliber hole through both sides of anything short of an Abrams tank.

I would have two guns. Get a ruger 10/22 with the folding stock and buy some CCI Stingers and CCI velocitors for bigger game.

For the big game you need a serious rifle - 30/06, 7mm or some other powerful center fire rifle. If you do get into an argument with a bear - you have to shoot it with something really powerful. Also if you want to take down a dear or antelope or some other big game you may only get within 200-300 yards.

I am not much of a shot with a pistol. At 50 feet I can hit squirrel - but at 300 feet I can hit a squirrel with my 10/22. In a pinch you can kill even a deer with a 10/22 if you can get a head shot and use the Velocitors. So I think you need two guns - and you can hunt about anything and protect yourself from a bear or unfriendly human - they are out there too!