One survival rifle, count it only 1, yes just one thats it

reply to post by sanchoearlyjones


We have squirrels and rabbits. Deer too, but the squirrels are the real vicious ones. They will climb right into your golf cart and steal your lunch. And they taste just like chicken! I would agree with you on the cougar/bear scenario. A 22 would kind of piss them off, and I don't think running would be an option.
I would say it depends on your environment.

reply to post by network dude


So a 22 has the problem of not being able to fend off large game, what about an over under like springfield m6, its got a 22 ontop of a .410.

How are peoples experience with .410 rounds?

reply to post by Desolate Cancer


You can get slugs for those, but I just don't know. There are many critter's that've turned violent in the past. Heck there are a few Youtube videos circulating of Deer attacking people.

That m6 you mentioned would probably be fairly good. Just gotta make sure your 1 shot of each count.

This is a real easy choice for me. One rifle? My ol' Remington pump .22. Overall, the most reliable firearm I've ever owned, including my AK-47. Ammo lightweight, and as an added bonus in a Sit-X, not a very loud round to fire (assuming you're using subsonic rounds). Fully capable of reasonably long shots, fully capable of defending your life, killing your food, easy to break down. Currently less than USD $50 for a brick of 500 in .22LR.

To me the primary drawback of .22 is only if a person is a handloader/reloader and has a BUNCH of supplies for same.

If the anticipated time for needing the firearm was forever, then I'd have to tend toward my Hawkin .50 black powder, because I could presumably find lead to melt for balls, and I know I can make black power much easier than modern powders.

reply to post by network dude


Agree with you regarding .22 vs. bear/cougar/pissed off moose. No contest. Might as well hit them with the gun.

However, I grew up in Idaho, walked and rode on horseback all over the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area. Then, as a young man, spent a lot of time in some remote areas of Canada. I've seen a LOT of bear. I've seen cougar, lynx, wolverine, wolf or two, and, as mentioned, a few really pissed off bull moose.

I've never had occasion to shoot at any of them. They are superior predators (except the pissed-off bull moose, which is just a stellar killer and not a predator) and I always found a way to skirt their path, get away from them. At that time, I usually carried a .44 Winchester lever action, and a .357 revolver. Never have been threatened enough to shoot at the big boys. Maybe I was just lucky.

reply to post by Desolate Cancer


I think of .410 as a semi-decent defensive round against people, and good for birds and small game. For me, the .22 does that and cheaper, lighter. Myself, I'd have no use for a .22/.410.

To me, a survival rifle should be reliable, accurate, versatile, efficient, effective, and accurate.

A .22 is better than nothing, but not versatile or effective.

There is a reason the military changed to the .308. It's about the most EFFICIENT round in existence. For the size of the cartridge, it packs a wallop, is an effective, proven man-stopper, with many loads available it's versatile, and the .308 is accurate beyond most shooters abilities.

PLUS, with the military using the .308, it's going to be one hell of a lot easier to find .308 than it will be to find .264.

That's why whatever I grabbed, would fire a .308.

The weapon. Bolt actions are most accurate, but slow to fire and almost impossible to make quick follow-up shots. Semi-automatics are sometimes particular on what you feed them, more prone to failure when dirty, you tend to use far too much ammo, and just more crap to break.

Another poster mentioned the Remington 870 pump action shotgun as this is a proven action as reliable as the summer days are long.

But you asked for a rifle.

There is an option - especially for a survival weapon. It's cheap, it's reliable, it's accurate, it's versatile, it's efficient, it's effective, and it's accurate. You can make quick follow-up shots, and when you hit something or someone - it's not like it doesn't get noticed.

Look at the Remington 7600 synthetic. It's a rifle based on the absolutely reliable 870 Remington action. It will last through you, your son, and likely, your grandson and his son.

Won't jam, works when dirty, and there are some aftermarket parts to "juice it up," and you can get spare magazines.

Certainly not a romantic weapon. Not a weapon of beauty nor does it have nostalgic lines that just appeal to our sense of aesthetics.

This is a serious, all business too, using the most efficient round known to man.

reply to post by dooper


Ahhhhhh, but can you pack 1000 rounds in your vest? Just, kidding, mon. You make excellent points, and I can't disagree with your analysis. Not my round of choice, but then, I'm quirkey that way.

When shtf and lets just say for arguments sake you can only grab one gun and it has to be a rifle or shotgun, (ie no pistols, crossbows etc) what would you want to grab? Remember you can only take one, not 3 different guns for different purposes, just one.

From the OP. Dooper your right about a .308 Not knocking it. However, a shotgun was included in the OP, as a choice. Does that change your mind? Just curious.

As far as a military round 12 gauge shotguns are still heavily employed in the military. The Russians have their Saiga 12, and the US has their AA-12. All in all means there's gonna be 12 gauge ammo.

Now, had the OP just said rifles I'd still have picked an 870, but with a rifled barrel w/slugs.

The reason I'm sold on the shotgun is because of home defense. I've seen what happens when a .308 goes off in house, or building.......it's not easily stopped. With the shotgun, and right ***available**** load it won't go through, but maybe a couple walls. IMO much safer.

Google Video Link

[edit on 3-8-2009 by sanchoearlyjones]

reply to post by argentus

The only reason you need to carry around 400 rounds of .223 is because the .223 doesn't stop men - at distance - worth a crap.

Now if you're an Annie Oakley, have a good rest, and you're an excellent shot, yes, your first shot kill ratio will be high with a .223 out to about 400 yards. Beyond that, it's a crapshoot.

So with the .223, you have to shoot the guy, and shoot him some more, and keep shooting off pieces with the mass of about two fingers at a time, to finally get a kill. It's an exhausting process, it's a disgusting practice, and a waste of time.

Seriously, the effectiveness of the .223 is somewhat questionable beyond 200 meters. My longest shot on a man was a running shot and he went down on the third shot at 400 yards. I know the .223 will kill out at distance, but not every time.

Ask our soldiers. They've been outgunned at distance when using the .223. It just doesn't have a lot of grunt at distance. And I don't care if it's a 240, grunt is grunt.

You carry the .308, and you don't need many rounds, if you make hits. Because they will fold instantly with a halfway decent shot.

Besides, a survival rifle is just that. Might need to shoot a wild dog, bear or something that you run across, and that little .223 will just piss him off.

All around, a .308. Most versatile SURVIVAL rifle would be something like the 7600.

I bought all three of my kids one last Christmas. Of course I got one too, in spite of some very expensive, very fine, accurate rifles in other calibers.

This one goes in the Bug-out-bag.

And I don't have to worry about scratching it.




[edit on 3-8-2009 by dooper]

M1 Garand in .308 with bayonet. .308 navy conversion
With the Garand if you empty it you still have the bayonet or you can beat someone to death with the gun and won't break it.
www.shootingtimes.com...

www.amegaranges.com...

I have a section in my coming survival thread that will interest you.

Personally I am a sniper I like bolt-action rifles, besides you can always shoot an enemy from far back and then take his weapon, if you need it.

Assault rifles are always for the wannabe rambos most people do not realise how limited their use is. Automatic is overrated and very inaccurate.

Of course if you want the median go for a semi-automatic 'marksman' type rifle. Then you can use it in urban environment too. When you breach a door you have the follow-up shot, unlike with a bolt, but they also have good accuracy and range. If you get a bolt go for the .338 Finnish (AWM, Sako-42, Timberwolf), such an amazing round. If you go for a semi go for a 7.62 (HK417, M14, SR-99, MSG-90).

reply to post by Desolate Cancer


I don't know much about guns at all but I know whatever it was, I'd put a scope on in for sure....

You can see the enemy ( if there is any ) from a further distance and hopefully before he can see you..

Also same for hunting animals for food....

Something with a huge mag or wait a rifle wouldn't have one would it?

Aren't there like old west rifles that carry 8 shots ?

The option to throw in different size caliber bullets would seem like a nice trait to have in case you ever run out of a certain kind of ammo...


The most effective gun would be a gun that could shoot almost anything you stuff into it , like very dense rocks or metal pieces in case you run out of ammo.....


Another cool thing and I don't think they make these but a gun that can fire live rounds and like poison dart/bullet things that won't kill but will put anything down, in case you don't want to kill but need to protect yourself...


That is just my 2 cents...I don't own a gun though and know almost nothing about the specifics of them I know I have good aim in online games.

.45 long colt is hard to beat in a bad situation.
You can reload your old brass with black powder, pour your own lead.
It will shoot .410 shot shells and has enough knockdown with the standard 250 grain ammo to take large game.
It is a slow round and has limited range, mine out past 150 yards loses its steam real fast, but out to 150 yds there is not many things I know of it won't drop..
But chose one and only one gun....I'll stick with my single shot model 112 remington targetmaster .22 using ELEY subsonic hollow point ammo
3/8 groups @100 yds and with a little practice and using the clicker on your scope its very acurate and very deadly out to 200 yds...I don't believe knockdown matters to much if you are shooting they're eyes out

I'd go for a customized scout rifle. 5.56 maybe. It has to be semi-auto, pull-out stock and pistol scope. Rifling for a supressor might be ok also and rails for flash lights and/or laser sights. Whole design so that it is good for longer range and indoor use.

I may have missed the point of the original question... or I'm just more pessimistic than some, but here's my two cents worth...

Personally, I would look to either a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch model... for the following reasons:

Ammo-Again, pessimistic me, is assuming that the reason for this rifle is post crash. There are literally hundreds of thousands of government/military rifles out there that shoot 5.56/.223 ammo... so I'll have a ton of it to draw off of.

Accuracy-In my younger days (hence the reason for the Ranch model... it gets a nice 3x-9x scope) I could reliably hit a 3lb. coffee can at 300 yards with open sights. That's head shots at that range folks. No need for uber power or anything. I'm 99.999+% sure than if I plant a 5.56 round in someone's or something's head (short of large bear, etc. to which I say if it's 300 yards off, just leave it the heck alone!) it's going down...

Weight-Less than 8 pounds, with scope and a full 30rd mag.

Recoil-Recoil? Yeh, that's funny... this thing can be fired by anyone capable of shouldering it, without worry about recoil. That means that your 8 year old kid or your 80 year old great grandmother can shoot it.

The alternative to this, if you're planning on staying in a large city, and surviving off of what's there (Wal-Marts that have been abandoned, etc.) then would go with a Mossberg 12ga. Preferably a 590, (the current model that the military is using so much of that they're hard to get on the open market) but any of the 500 series would do fine. For those that love the Remington pumps, personally, I have a jamming problem with them. How? Call me weird if you like, but I have been known to pump them too fast, causing the live shell to impact on the top of the chamber face. Bad JuJu in a firefight. I have NEVER had this problem with a Mossberg, because of the feed angle. If you look at a friend's Mossberg pump (can't readily do this at a shop... they'll have a fit) while you slowly jack a live round or at least a snap cap into the chamber, you will see that the round comes in at a nearly flat angle, like loading an artillery piece. Again though... personal preference.

I know I get long winded, but guns have been one of my passions for over 35 years...

[edit on 4-8-2009 by Stone2065]

Some excellent posts here. We have some very experienced shooters on ATS!
For woodland survival I would pick the Ruger 10/22 with a Kimber .45 as my backup. One can easily carry 1,000 founds of 22 ammo.
For home defense I would choose the Saiga 12 shotgun. For a battle rifle I'd take an Ak/47,ruger mini 30 (7.62x39) or the AR 15 or Ruger mini 14 (.223 nato round).
All of the above are some of the most reliable guns available and I have shot them all countless times at the range.
If you're thinking of a bugout weapon it would definitely NOT be a shotgun since the rounds are too heavy and bulky.
I would add that the SKS is a great rifle for women and children since it has a very short stock. It's also the most affordable rifle on the market. If you get one make sure it's a model that accepts the AK clips otherwise you'll be loading it with stripper clips which are clumsy.
Whatever gun(s) you choose make sure you know how to break them down and clean them. Also make sure you have a few spare parts for them like a firing pin and extractor. Lastly, get out there and practice, practice, practice until that gun becomes an extension of you. Then you will be ready for whatever comes your way.

I have narrowed my arsenal down to a hi-cap 9mm (FNP-9) and my SKS.

I would LOVE to have a lever .357 carbine or camp gun. Short, tough as nails, and will kill BIG zombies without too much recoil.

Hornady has come out with some new LeverEvolution rounds in .30-'30 and .338 for lever guns. I just think a lever scout gun would be awesome.

Now THIS is what I'm talkin' about:

Marlin 450

Lee Enfield Mk1 III in 303 british, kicks like a mule, loud as hell and good at taking down anything at close to medium ranges. Ammo is a pain to find, except at walmart evidently.