Best survival gun, caliber, and action????

[JPD]

Just curious folks. If you had to survive off the land from today on and you could only have one gun to do it with, what would it be?

My choice????..........(Thinking)..........

Rifle.........
Lever action..........
Caliber.... .22 Magnum

[savage170]

savage model 24
overunder combination
22/20ga

[Alpo]

A little more, I think, needs to be in the information.

Ammo. How much will you have? An unlimited supply? So many rounds? So many Pounds?

Me, personally, I've never seen the use for a 22 magnum. Whatever it can do, I can do probably better, and certainly cheaper, with a reloadable centerfire.

In a "the world's gone to hell, survive for the rest of your life" kind of thing, and I had a 32 H&R Marlin lever gun, and I came across a box of 38 specials, if I had reloading and casting ability I could make 32s out of those 38s. Rimfire cartridge, though, can't be reloaded, so scrounging components would be a waste of time.

[carver]

I think the 20ga/.22LR would be a good choice, but it is a single action, no quick follow up shots. I can build snares, and traps for small game, so I'm leaning towards something like the old stand by 30/30 lever gun.

[stumper1300]

Depends on the situation. If the stuff hit the fan today.I have enough. 22 rimfire ammo to feed my self and family for the rest of my life.so I would say 10/22 take down would be my choice.

[25yretcoastie]

Are we living off the land or defending it also

[jedwil]

Originally Posted by 25yretcoastie

Are we living off the land or defending it also

That is the right question here. The .223 over 12 or 20gauge would be great for subsistence hunting, but I'd want a bit more firepower if marauding masses are in the equation. If defense is also a consideration, I would probably go with an AR platform in 6.8 or 5.56.

[1LoneWolf75]

My Marlin .30-30, a Lee classic loader, and all the brass, powder, primers, and shot I could get my scroungy hands on.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by JPD

Just curious folks. If you had to survive off the land from today on and you could only have one gun to do it with, what would it be?

My choice????..........(Thinking)..........

Rifle.........
Lever action..........
Caliber.... .22 Magnum

For the sake of this conversation lets just say it's for the use of feeding yourself and family and leave the end of world/human defense stuff for another conversation.
I chose the lever action because I felt that it's in between a bolt action and a semi auto when it comes to the number of parts that could wear out, get lost, become misaligned, or just fail. Less parts = a lower probability of failure. Rate of fire would also be in between.
I chose the .22 Magnum caliber because it is large/powerful enough to take down a deer with a lung or head shot at one end of the spectrum but it won't totally destroy a rabbit/squirrel/ small game sized animal at the other end. That's a fairly wide range of critters that could be et.

[Old Grump]

Live off the land and not fighting boogermen, easy choice. Savage single shot bolt action 22 rifle I bought in 1964. It still shoots better than I can at 50 yards. I made a mistake a few years ago and scoped it, I regained my sanity, ditched the scope and replaced the iron sights.

[Guts3d]

I'd choose my SKS, as I have plenty of ammo, the scope is dead on, and it is a powerful cartridge. 7.69 x 39 ammo is common as well.

[Zhurh]

Except for long range shots up on our summit, I hunt with the 6.8 spc AR more than any other gun. Light, clip, cheap to shoot. Kinda like a 308 with 110 grain bullet coming outta the barrel at 2600. We have killed bear & caribou with that gun and have it with us all the time. I also like my 338 fed AR-10 but it has 210 grain nosler partition.


Pittsburgh has it right too, when I lived back there I bought 5 sks's for 90 bucks apiece, shot the heck outta that gun and here in ALaska, people out in the sticks use sks's all the time.

[whirley]

Availability of ammo should be first consideration. So .22 long rifle and 12 gauge shells. both are readily available and comparatively cheap. Shot shells are easy to reload. Get close enough and a .22 will kill a deer, quietly. Further there are thousands of single shot guns out there on the market. Simple, economical, and little training necessary, so anyone in your family should be able to use them. During WW2 the Philipinoes made shotguns out of malleable iron pipe. Only had to work once on a Japanese sentry. Then you had his rifle and ammo. Four men with rifles could capture a machine gun. It worked then, it will work in the future.

[Appliancedude]

Originally Posted by Old Grump

Live off the land and not fighting boogermen, easy choice. Savage single shot bolt action 22 rifle I bought in 1964. It still shoots better than I can at 50 yards. I made a mistake a few years ago and scoped it, I regained my sanity, ditched the scope and replaced the iron sights.

Yep. I have a single shot too. Can't remember the manufacturer. Iron sights. and dead on. Took it out about 6 years ago to shoot. Hadn't shot it in probably the 6 years before that. Was a little stiff from the old oil. But after about 5 shots, I was bullseyeing targets at 25 yards off hand. Really need to get it out and shoot it again.

My choice would probably be the 12 gauge. Out of my limited choices its the most versatile. I can take small game, and I can shoot 00 for big game.

[jlloyd73]

AR15 chambered in 5.56.................

[carver]

Originally Posted by JPD

Just curious folks. If you had to survive off the land from today on and you could only have one gun to do it with, what would it be?

My choice????..........(Thinking)..........

Rifle.........
Lever action..........
Caliber.... .22 Magnum

Since I misread JPD's post I have to change my answer! If I could only have one gun for living off the land it would be a 12ga. shotgun. With it you can bag any thing you want to!

[ka64]

YOU'RE ALL WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[whirley]

You Win!!!!!!

[Old Grump]

Originally Posted by whirley

You Win!!!!!!

No he doesn't, by the time he gets done setting that up the squirrels, rabbits and deer will have laughed themselves to death and the crows, coyotes and maggots will have eaten all the best parts.

[graehaven]

Originally Posted by Guts3d

I'd choose my SKS, as I have plenty of ammo, the scope is dead on, and it is a powerful cartridge. 7.69 x 39 ammo is common as well.

Hey, what's your scope set up on that?

I have an sks, and it has a "scope mount" - it's very narrow, all metal.

[aa1911]

M1A for me, grew up with that rifle and it is always accurate and 100% reliable. Easy to find ammo too!

I hunt with mine also, Nosler ballistic tips for deer and mountain kitties, nosler accubond for elk and bear. Got a grouse with my M1A last year also! got a clean neck shot so I still had all the meat.

[hstout1143]

I would say a 12ga over/under, I've never owned one but it seems like it would have the fewest moving parts so fewer problems and a bow, since you didn't say we couldn't have one.

[cpttango30]

The one in your HAND when the SHTF.

[Rockyja]

JDP,

When you say, survive from today and on, I assume you do mean in a wilderness environment? In that situation, I would be thinking of feasting off big game, so a large weapon wouldn’t be a priority for me. I’d concentrate on something light, that I could carry in my backpack.

My Thompson Contender with my 22mag, 357mag, and 375jdj barrels, would be enough against any large game. Hopefully that wouldn’t be to often. My 375jdj will drop a grizzly, if I needed a coat. LOL

For daily meals, I’d concentrate on small game. Anything I could get to, within 50 feet. Then I’d save on ammo, by using my blowgun. Don’t laugh, unless you’ve used one.

Perfect for shoot small birds, eating off the land. The kill is quiet, so the other birds eating wont be scared off. Four, six would be enough to carry me through the day.

Rifles are too heavy, but my Contender is light, single shot, and with a 375jdj, accurate within 400 yards. One shot, one kill.

Oh yes, a good survival knife and a compass is a must.

Rocky

[Rockyja]

However, If we keep on trashing the earth the way we're doing now, God bless us all, mother nature dosen't discriminate, she’ll drop us all in a heartbeat and your favorite firearm wont make a difference.