Binelli shotgun or brownings are very nice
and the British have some fine ones also if you have unlimited funds
I came across the Mossberg 9200 semi auto, I Found it to be as good as those for cheaper
So I bought that and Also bought a mossberg 835 pump for good measure

I have 2 308 calbers semi auto loader and a lever action
and a a collection of others

my main workhorses are the semi autoloaders 308 and 12 gauge
both light weight minimum recoil and deadly

Sig's have always been top of the line in the handgun department. I have never owned one personally but I know people who swear by them. Obviously high price tag does not equate to quality always, but they have an outstanding reputation based on everything that I have ever heard or read.

I have carried the same side arm for the last five years exclusively, a S&W .40. Best purchase I ever made, I have put well over 1,000 rounds through it and it has never missed a beat.

you all know more then me, I am still very new to this. If I had to choose one it would have to be the mini 14. With my limited knowledge there is two reasons why. First. I shoot one all the time. It belongs to my wife. It was a gift from her father. Second reason is. I live in America and it is my belief that there are more of these around then the AR's or AK's Not basing that on hard numbers but What I consider common sense. The Mini 14 has been around a lot longer then the AR style guns so they have had longer to saturate the market. The AK style guns are not native to America so to speak. Harder to get a hold of and rather expensive especially when TSHTF. Repair parts are gonna disappear quickly.

It makes sense to me any way. I am more then likely off on this but it does make sense if ya think about it.

The .223 Winchester is simply too small a bullet to use on any game larger than a whitetail deer at distances beyond maybe 150 yards. The only AR-15 platform guns that could possibly make a head shot past 300 yards would have to use a heavier barrel and bullets of at least 69 grains which means custom ammo adding to the already overpriced AR-15 weapons system. Standard weight barrels AR-15 lose accuracy very quickly once they are fired. They often shoot no better than AK after about 5 rounds. It takes a custom AR-15 with a heavy barrel and match trigger to produce sub 1", 5-shot groups with match ammo. An issue M-16 rifle will shoot 2.5-3.0" averaged sized groups at 100 yards with open sights. Issue M4's have even worse accuracy than M-16 rifles and have a 200 fps velocity loss over the rifle. I would prefer a .45 ACP upper on an AR than the .223 in CQB. A 230 grain,.45 caliber bullet moving at 11-1200 fps will inflict a lot more bodily damage than at ranges up to 200 yards a 62 or 69 grain .223 bullet moving at 2600 fps.

The 7.62x39mm SKS/AK-47 round has superior knock power than even the hottest hand loaded .223 with the heaviest practical bullet of about 77 grains that will still cycle in an AR-15. I know quite a few elk,cariboo and at least one moose that has been taken with a single shot from an SKS firing it's 123 grain bullets at a very modest 2400 fps.

If you're dead set on the AR-15 or Ruger Mini, get them in 7.62x39mm rather 5.56 NATO. Russian Silver Bear ammo is loaded with 155 grain soft point bullets that are half the price of standard .223 ammo and will be infinitely more effective on larger game that laugh at .223 when hit by them.

The ultimate in accuracy for the AR-15 platform appears to be the 6.5mm Grendel which is true sniper's cartridge effective out to 1200 yards. The cartridge uses the standard SKS round bolt face and will work in an unmodified AR-15 lower receiver and magazines with a follower change. It's more than capable of taking big game out past 400 yards with 140 grain bullets and Wolf is now making the ammo. Rumor mill is that Russians are seriously eyeballing the round for its special forces eliminating the need for the Dragunov and it seperate ammo requirement.

Absolute survival only
I would pull my breaktop .410/.22 out of the closet and expect generations of my descendants to use it well for food and protection.
No other action is so reliable nor easy to fix.
When the .410 extractor wore through from 2 generations of use, I welded a carriage bolt to a washer and filed it down to become my "new" extractor.

The only semi-auto I could possibly make myself without power tools would be a sten. (assuming I could make a working disconnecter to make it "semi"
Prison workshops have made blowback operated 9mm.
ATF used to have one on display

* I have successfully welded with jumper cables using 5p/6010 coated rod*, and have experimented with welding using bare "coathanger" in a box evacuated by burning to eliminate oxygen, just in case we lose all current technology sometime.

I refer here to absolute 'no tech' DIY survival.
Stone knives and bearskins...

A breaktop can even be converted to black powder paper cartridges

*emergency vehicle repair in AZ desert, still holding years and 50k miles+ later.










[edit on 30-7-2008 by himself]

Originally posted by himself
Absolute survival only
I would pull my breaktop .410/.22 out of the closet and expect generations of my descendants to use it well for food and protection.

I have a .22 MAG / .20 gauge over/under, and I'm the 3rd generation in my family to have it. It'll go another couple generations before it needs an overhaul. That rifle can take game up to small deer, thought its been 25 years since it was used to take down a white-tail.