Weapons for Survival Part 1

So many interesting points brought up. I'm limited to what I already own, and know how to use. Whatever you choose, practice is the key though.

My survival weapons include:

Marlin 30-30 with open sights for deer. Light weight, and excellent for shooting through brush.

Ruger P345 .45 auto that I picked up for a song. Fits my hand like a glove. Plus I love all the safety features. I sold a Glock 21 to my brother. Glocks scare me. They just don't feel very safe to me.

I also have a Remington 700 .280 with a scope for deer hunting. I used that for many years. Excellent gun, but gets pretty heavy after walking a long time. Also takes me a second or two longer to get a cross-hair on a deer if you spook one up.

My dad also has lots of other fun toys if I need to head to the hills!

.22LR for your longarm . . . hard to argue against that one IMO . . . i've seen plenty of people lobby for it, but few who recco a .22 handgun to partner up with it

i know the arguments against the .22 as a longarm go likewise against the double-deuce as a handgun, maybe moreso . . . but let's just suppose one wanted to have to carry only a single caliber of ammo

1) what handgun do you like in .22

2) ok, what *other* caliber mates up in both longarms and handguns?

reply to post by SecretGoldfish


There's many rifle/handgun ammo's out there. There's definitely some merit to this strategy. 9mm, .44, .45, 357mag, 45-70, all have rifle and pistol's made to shoot these caliber's. The 45-70 revolver is quite frankly a cannon. The cylinder is the size of a coke can.

Other than cost of ammo and the amount you can carry, I can't see any other reason to only carry .22 it's just too light imo.

those all have stopping power over the .22 no argument, but all come with drawbacks as well.

just a matter of what you plan to do i guess. if i ever did bug out, which is really really really unlikely, it would be with a .22 and a few bricks of aguila interceptors.

ideal? nope.

i suppose the question is, not for this thread, does it honestly makes sense for most people to plan to bug out at all?

reply to post by semperfortis


First, I like this thread, it is getting people to think critically about needs in a survival situation. I do agree that the .22LR is most likely the greatest survival cartridge ever made. It has more flexibility than almost anything else out there. If it isn't, then somebody please tell me why so many of the worlds military's have chosen it as the cartridge used in their "survival rifle?" At the risk of insulting some of the members who posted on this thread, concentrate less about gadgets and guns that you may never have the skill to use, concentrate more about getting trained by someone who is competent.

It seems to me that many of you are less interested in true survival and more interested in fulfilling some boyhood fantasy of playing soldier on the streets of your hometown. Unfortunately in the past I would have dismissed this, but know, regrettably, I almost wonder if we all may be faced with civil unrest in our lifetime. In no way am I advocating that people should be running around the streets trying to be a GI, but I think that it is only American to be prepared to protect your family and your property in times of distress and chaos. God knows that the police are not security guards. That being said, lets take a look at the following.

AK47/ Variants- 7.62x39- A great round for 300yds and under. Accuracy is less than desirable. The weapons have always got great reviews for reliability, but truth is.... they are no more reliable than anything else. Sometimes they are even worse. (Did he just say what I think he said?) Yes I did. This is most likely the worst rifle you can buy for survival, why? It isn't a NATO standard for one. Second, no body uses it anymore!!!! Unless you are worried about being invaded by the third world don't buy one. If you do, buy enough ammo to last the rest of your life, because when the container ships stop coming over, guess what. NO MORE 7.62x39! No ammo means your $500 bargain POS AK is now a paperweight.

AK74/ Variants- 5.45x39- Comparable to the 5.56x45 NATO. All of the above applies to this as well, except countries are using this round. For example Russia. So if you are worried about infamous "Red Dawn" scenario then buy a 74, but I am still gonna laugh.

In short AK's and SKS's are not the way to go in a collapse scenario.

Stick with battle proven, NATO standard weapons. For example.

HK91 or PTR91-Do not go and buy a CETME thinking it will work as good or some other cheap clone. (No gas system to fail!)

DS Arms FAL's- They didn't call the FAL the "right arm of freedom" for nothing. Buying a cheap clone will not do.

M1A Scout or SOCOM by Springfield Armory- Served the US well for many years, continues to serve. Nuff said.

AR10's-I am adding them, even though the Armalite 16" Carbines can have issues with the shortened gas systems. There are so many different manufacturers out there, they are here to stay. My favorite is the Rock River LAR-8's due to use of FAL mags, instead of the other things some of the other companies use.

AR15's- If you must drop down to the 5.56x45 or 223 rem round then so be it. Just remember there isn't anything that you can do with a 223 that you can't do with a 308 win. I am not a big fan of every AR out there, but Bushmaster, Rock River and other mainstream manufacturers work well. This could be an entire discussion in itself. Be weary of piston driven AR's, they haven't really proven themselves yet, as the piston gas system was meant to work with bolts on rails, like AK's and FALs, not bolt and carrier assembly's found in AR's. Even the HK416 didn't do so hot in some tests.

If you can't afford a semi auto, buy a good quality bolt gun in 223 rem or 308 win. Stick with the standard. If you think 308 is too big for you to handle, grow stronger, it will always have a ballistic advantage over the 223

[edit on 1-10-2009 by lr308]