SHTF Rifle of Choice

I would think some kind of AR variant would be a no brainer,but , you know what they say.......opinions are like...As for mounting a light duct tape is your friend dont like silver?they make green, spray paint and magic markers are also your friend.Ive bow hunted hogs at nite and I just tie a sure fire lite to the limbsaver stabilizer with 550 cord works very well ---------I guess my point is in a SHTF scenario improvisation is going to be your BFF
 
I have to put myself in the 7.62x39 rifle/9x19 handgun camp. If given the option for a third it would have to be a target-grade .22LR pistol, preferably with an optic (2x scope or RDS).

rifle - AK variant or vz58
handgun - Glock 19
.22 pistol - Ruger MK1 with ProPoint

If I had to narrow it down to 1 firearm it would have to be the G19 as you can have it with you always, including a relatively non-permissive environment - kinda hard to do that with an AK...
 
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never a .223 at least a 308 like my Steyr
 
How has the SHTF?
Where do you live?
What is the population density.
Is the Golden Horde coming to you?
How much wild food can you rely upon?
Has civilization ended? For how long?


Rifles are like golf clubs. No one rifle will do it all.
A pellet rifle would be an excellent thing to have for food collection. A .308 would be excellent for bodies hitting the floor.
If you think that your one rifle will fit all bills, you have either trained more than 99.9% of everyone else and keep up with your training or you are delusional. That is my opinion.
Oh, FA'Ls are the best rifles ever built...
 
Captain Spaulding said:
Looks like in that comparison the .223 is more devastating. Larger and longer wound channel and the fragmentation is nastier. I guess that would be more a funtion of ammo type than caliber...correct?
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Function mainly of a small bullet traveling at high velocities. The 357 for sure is a heck of a round but the 5.56 is devastating within 200 yards and yet still a nothing to sneeze at within 500. Of course the 308 is going to be more powerful no one is arguing that. But I haven't seen many situations that the 5.56 can't handle. I prefer soft points as they expand well and do nasty things when they hit the target. But AP rounds are good too if your shooting at something kinda dense like maybe a bears skull.

The 357 projectile just doesn't fit in the arena of long range combat rounds. At 100 yards out of a rifle it's nasty. But it's gonna start dropping quickly compared to a long range projectile like the 5.56. Personally I don't think their are many critters that can handle a 30 round mag of 5.56 if you're aiming at the head.

And for most cases 500+ yard shots are going to be rare if even applicable. 500+ yards is more in the area of you bringing the attack. 500+ Defense situations would really only happen in a combat type situtaion I would think. For regular people making their way in a SHTF scenario I don't think these types of shots are applicable.
 
Just get something you're comfortable and become proficient with it. I would stay with something commonly available. 12ga, .223, 7.62X39, .22lr, .308 are all good choices but there are lots more.

FYI, there are some .22lr rounds with as much FPE as a .380
Many .22 pellet rifles can easily put out over 15 FPE which is more than enough to kill a human with a shot to the noggin. Granted the range is short, just sharing my thoughts.
 
nemoaz said:
Nothing to sneeze at folks. It compares pretty well with this, the mythical best manstopper in history-- 45 ACP FMJ-- according to internet knowitalls.
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The problem is that cavity size isn't the only, or even major factor in "stopping" someone. There is a very big difference between hit by a 37gr bullet and a 230gr one. I don't have the energy difference between the two, but believe me you'd notice.



Admitedly there is NO comparison to a 45ACP hollowpoint.
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Or a 45acp lead round nose for that matter.
 
I'm working on a round with a buddy of mine. We want to take 50AE brass and neck it down to 44mag for the Desert Eagle. I'd love to see if we could get some 460 magnum velocities in an auto loader. Gotta get a thompson or something and have it chambered to do some testing though.
 
Infi-del said:
I'm working on a round with a buddy of mine. We want to take 50AE brass and neck it down to 44mag for the Desert Eagle. I'd love to see if we could get some 460 magnum velocities in an auto loader. Gotta get a thompson or something and have it chambered to do some testing though.
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That would be uber-cool!
 
Charlie Mike said:
That would be uber-cool!
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Don't know if anyone has ever done it before. I'm sure if not, and it became popular, I'd never get the credit, but I was looking at my 50AE the other night and at a 357sig round and said... Hmmmmmmmmmm. Since there is a Desert Eagle in 44mag anyway, all I'd have to do is buy that barrel and have the chamber opened up. The rifling would work perfectly. Can you imagine an 8 shot auto loading 44mag that was chunking out 300 grain projectiles at 2000 fps? That's a zombie gun. We were gonna call it the 44HOD (Hammer of Doom) or 44ZIP (Zombie Incinerator Pistol).
 
Shit like that makes me wish I never broke into that car back in 06... :sad:
 
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