I have to agree .

frankly speaking , so far I agree with everything I am hearing .
rabbit or 'deer' are not the problem for me... its the "dear'' that shoot back I have a problem with .

survival in the real world , I can go camping in the wood and have a good time .

I can and have dress'd a deer ( never shot one ) and know how to gut , skin and clean a deer .

the rifle I talk about is not a hunting rifle... it is worthless hunting anything but praire dogs , and oranges , lemons and mellons ...

personal is the .375 , nearly everything else is a shot gun .
who I am is defined but my heavy sniper rifle .

who you are is defined by what you carry with you .

not good or bad ... grass is green , sky is blue... not good or bad ... it is just what it is...

every one is where they stand , I am not going to try to second guess you .

I agree that being prepared is important , what I was trying to say is... civil unrest and riots , very often catch to proffessionals by surprise ... if the police don't see it comming , I feel it a bit humbling , and imagin I would not see it any better than they might .

No two folks will likely agree on firearms as each person has their own needs, abilities, skills, and limitations, which are individual.

So there is no best firearm.

In all human history, firearms are very recent practical developments.

Even in SF, there was a plethora of firearms used, as everyone had their favorites.

The non-firearm weapons we were issued for combat was a choice of two special knives, and a specially designed hatchet. On one side was the blade, and on the back side was a spike.

One might snicker at the hatchet in this modern world of firearms. Yet every culture through history had a variant.

It's a chopping tool, the pick is a digging tool, and of course, the entire thing is one hell of a weapon. It never misfires, no stovepipes, no broken firing pins, it's not affected adversely by dirt or even getting wet, and will be one of the most versatile, important tools one can obtain.

Lagana VTAC, Cold Steel VTAC, MFG LLC VTAC, American Tomahawk VTAC, and the spin-off SOG Fusion are all variations of the extremely effective, very versatile Vietnam Tactical Tomahawk.

This tomahawk is taken from a thirteenth century Horseman's axe, with the back spike handy for punching through armor. The VTAC back spike can blow right through the old steel helmet, or even the new Kevlar helmet - if need be.

Full tang knives of good quality carbon steel or even some stainless steels are another necessity. For the curious, go to SOG knives, and view the SOG Bowie, and the black Agency. This will give you a good idea of a fine, lifetime fighting knife, and then you can go to other manufacturers for comparisons.

A lot of the larger fighting knives are difficult to skin and dress game with, so one might want to include a good drop point knife for these more delicate tasks.

The Hollywood knives and fantasy designs are crap.

One other thought that is very cheap is a US machete. Get the longer machete as you will wear your ass out using the shorter ones. The longer machete provides more leverage, more mass, greater efficiency, and a greater reach.

The machete can be used for gathering wood, making shelter, clearing a bedding area, or for fighting.

I much rather have a tomahawk, knife, and machete than a firearm if that was the only choice. My firearm may let me down.

The steel tomahawk, knife, and machete tools won't.

Excellent Thread!

This is certainly a personal topic but at the top of my own inventory list is -Common Sense
-Knowledge
-Springfield XD 9mm
-Remington 870 with mag. extension and a variety of shells from 00 Buckshot to #7 Bird.
-My trusty Browning Semi Auto .22 and a Bucket full of Thunderbolts. The barrel detaches in a matter of seconds for easy and light packing. I have a 10/22 also but I love how the Browning packs down so easily.
-My handy Leatherman Wave and or SOG Power Plier
-I never hit the bush without my Rat Cutlery RC-4. It is a do it all work horse of a knife in a great easy to carry package.

When you talk about a survival weapon, do you mean, just dealing with feeding the family with it and staying alive? If that is what we are talking about, and I had to pick one weapon it would be a ruger 10/22.

When you throw 2 legged predators in there things get complicated. In my opinon if I had to pick one gun period for survival, and defense/offense against people it would be the AK-47.
AK's are equal to the 30-30, in terms of stopping power, and nearly as accurate. It matters not whether it is freezing cold, raining, or blowing sand, when you pull the trigger it goes boom.

Urban settings usually are cleaner than rural settings. The AR is more accurate, and in my opinion I am better with it. I do a lot of IPSC, IDPA, and 3-gun matches. I have competed against my self by shooting the same course with the AR, and AK. Mind you neither are stock, but the AK is pretty close to stock. I have about 2500$ in my ar. It has a jewel trigger, and a bunch of other goodies. One time I won a tac carbine match with the AR, and the closest other dude was 13 seconds back. Me and the AK were 19 seconds off my AR time. So I like my AR better.

AK has more knock down power which is really important if you are shooting an elk or big mean bear.

But since we don't have to pick just one, guns are like golf clubs, and you might as well have the whole bag and way too many balls while you are at it.

Disclaimer: I'm a theist but not of the Abrahamic faiths. I have minor biblical scholar and scriptural skills. Also I am not a scientific/legal or medical expert in any field. Beware of my Contagious Memes! & watch out that you don't get cut on my Occams razor.All of this is my personal conjecture and should not be considered the absolute or most definitive state of things as they really are. Use this information at your own risk! I accept no liability if your ideology comes crashing down around you with accompanying consequences!

Explanation: S&F!

I have made my personal opinion on these matters very clear on previous threads RE: .22 rifles [bolt action and no scope prefered] and any medium calibre revolvers and any shot gun would suit me fine although a .303 rifle [battle and survival tested everywhere!] is my prefered weapon of choice!

1stly I have some inquiries concerning Ammo. How much does one actually need to carry? [I'm talking either No#'s of individual rounds of any calibre! or, if this not a fair measure then please reveal the mass in lbs or kilos!] I personally would want to be pretty light and mobile [even when sniping] and would therefor limit myself to about 4x full magazines/clips for the rifle or the shotgun and I would probably only carry 1 x two-handed weapon at any one time. I would also probably limit myself to carry only a couple of extra quickloads for the revolver! Please Note my previously stated position [on other threads] on recycling and manufacturing ones own calibre's! Any advice would be much appreciated.

2ndly Being an Australian and living in the urban environment and as a Disability Support pensioner with mental health issues, I 1] have no need for possessing any gun of any kind and 2] I'm not allowed anyway!
But thankfully my father and his father [both rural and military trained and skilled] both rigourously drilled me in there uses, maintenance,abilities and especially in the OH&S protocols. The only gun I have repeatedly fired and become used to firing in a combat scenerio is a semi-auto 300psi paintballgun [hired at the range] with a long barrel. This close combat training has learned me that massive casualties in any large sustained firefight is guaranteed in a short amount of time! [even with 90% using "slow" pump action weapons!!! ]
I am seeking advice as to whether even entertaining trying to hold any ground in a SHTF SitX is really a survival attitude and also any advice concerning the effectiveness of airpowered and flare guns!

Personal Disclosure: Its seems to me that all the small animals will quickly get killed and consumed in a SHTF SitX unless we restrain ourselves and it is my contention that it is a waste of ammo on these small game which can be trapped and snared! This is why I contend that a large calibre rifle is extremely useful as it can seriuosly handle medium and large game! What would you rather do...shoot 30 rabbits/birds etc. or shoot 1 cow/kangaroo/pig etc per month??? [salt and smoke are you preserving food friends! ]

P.S. Totally looking forward to semperfortis's thread on Bows etc.

After going back through this thread, I realized that I forgot to mention one especially nice feature of my Browning .22. The rifle ejects spent casings from the bottom. This is especially nice when/if my left handed wife takes a few shots. She's not as comfortable with firearms as I am but, she likes to shoot the Browning because of that one little feature. Just my two cents on a rifle that gets little attention. Cheers.