survival firearm??????????????

ras said:
If you've never heard one of the .357 Mag carbines, stand by. Definitely wear hearing protection, preferably foam plugs and ear muffs. These are really loud. .44 Mag carbine is only necessary if you're into overkill.
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Much less than a pistol of the same cartridge/load. My current rifle in my truck at this very moment is a .44 Mag Marlin lever. Excellent versitility for such a light rifle. Hard hitting, and only 17" drop with my loads at 200m. So decently workable at range. But still no where the energy of a .308 or real rifle cartridge. The major plus is the versitility of the round. It can be loaded real soft and real hard! Kind of like the 45-70...another favorite of mine.
 
I'm in the .357 camp, as well. But why hasn't anyone mentioned shot rounds in the wheelsguns or lever actions? Back in Arizona, odds were that if you ran into someone carrying a .357 or .44, the first round up was loaded with #10 shot. (snakes)

I do like the versatility of the revolvers and carbine combinations- you can carry a 5 shot featherweight .357 easily, or use the 8 inch barrel full frame, or add the carbine on top of either one. Depends on the situation.

The only reason I'd move up to a .44 magnum is if the environment is known to support cougars, large bears, etc. And even then I might have a handgun and a carbine load.

For ultralight one gun, or gun in the trunk/kit, best bet is a .410 single shot 18 inch slug bore with a screw on choke, preferably take down stock. (I'd also add iron sights). The .410/.22 combos make little to no sense to me- why on earth in a survival situation would you choose a .22lr over .410 #4 shot against small game? .22 is more compact to carry, but a 25 round assortment of .410 will fit in with a cleaning kit on sling pouches.
 
runningboar said:
Great story Mac, here is another.

> By Jim Mann
> The Daily Inter Lake
>
>
>Two aggressive grizzly bears have been shot, one by a hunter and one by a
>Fortine homeowner.
>
>A Kalispell man shot a stalking grizzly bear in the Swan Mountains and a
>Fortine man shot a grizzly at close range, narrowly escaping as the bear
>charged from a chicken coop.
>
>James Beeman picked up a .410-gauge shotgun when he went outside his
>Fortine-area home to investigate a commotion from his chicken coop around
>4 a.m. Sunday.
>
>Wearing a headlamp and expecting a skunk, Beeman saw two bear cubs run
>from the damaged door of the chicken coop. Then an adult grizzly bear
>emerged with a chicken in its mouth.
>
>The bear dropped the chicken and charged from 15 feet. Beeman fired, with
>the muzzle of the gun roughly three feet from the bear, which crumpled to
>ground, dead at Beeman's feet.
>
>It turned out to be an astounding shot, considering a .410 is a light gun
>and the shell contained a light load typically used for quail hunting.
>
>But it hit the bear squarely in the nose, the only soft, vulnerable place
>on a grizzly skull. Pellets likely penetrated the length of the nasal
>cavity to the brain. The wad from the shell was imbedded in the bear's
>nose.
>
>"What's the likelihood of that?" said Ed Kelly, Montana Fish, Wildlife and
>Parks warden captain in Kalispell. "I know guys with .375s who couldn't
>have made a kill like that. He's just a lucky, lucky guy."
>
>Kelly said the shooting was a "justifiable case of self defense."
>
>The bear was a 350-pound female.
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I am a neighbor of Jim Beeman. He was one lucky man that night.
 
North61 said:
I have a bunch of guns that I consider survival specialists



The class of the field is the Savage 24C 22LR/ 20 Gauge. It shoots 20 Gauge into 3" groups at 70 yards and the 22 is very accurate.

The M6 is also very good though the 410 is a bit limited. I load 50 grain bullets in the Hornet barrel and I figure I could take a moose/caribou at 100 yards if need be.

The little chipmunk at top is light and accurate and my next vone will be in the 22Mag for added punch
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I like the Savage 24C also. I have 5 stents in my heart, so I no longer get to shoot heavy recoiling rifles and shotguns. 20 Ga. and 22LR work for me. I really prefer a 20Ga/.223 though, and a 22LR Ruger Standard.
It sounds like your M6 is accurate. I've heard that the M6's are quite, uh, hit and miss in that department.
 
runningboar said:
Trigger job and a Tactical Solutions upper that I had a combination adjustable sight/weaver rail installed. Maybe stretching "custom", besides the trigger job and drilling and tapping it is pretty much bolt on, but it sure as hell ain't stock. My largebores are true customs built by Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision, I am afraid I am one of those people that can't leave anything alone. :o Chris
Click to expand...

Runningboar- who did the work on your Ruger? I am looking to have some mods to mine.
Thanks
 
The Marlin 1894 in .357/.38 Spcl. is tough to beat as an all around rifle. Good for plinking, small game, deer hunting (under 100 yds.) and self defense. Set it up with a receiver sight, and white bead on the front and you have a fast sighting rifle.
 
From what I've read, what is often recommanded as an expedition gun in the boreal/artic region is a combination gun:
12 gauge + some large game caliber

"12 gauge" for bear defense (slugs), small game and birds (birdshot/buckshot), signaling (flare rounds), and possibly large game (slugs).

"large game caliber" for bear defense, and large game from a distance.

Those are often break action, which generally means improved reliability.
 
i carry a m1 carbine it fits in my pack with the stock removed . or lashed to my pack in the ski sleve. its light and easy to hit with.two 15 shot clips on the stock and iam ready to go
 
koyote said:
The .410/.22 combos make little to no sense to me- why on earth in a survival situation would you choose a .22lr over .410 #4 shot against small game? .22 is more compact to carry, but a 25 round assortment of .410 will fit in with a cleaning kit on sling pouches.
Click to expand...

Range perhaps? What if you can't get closer without scaring the game away? Hurt leg, bad hunter, etc. I have shot many squirrels with a scoped .22 that were out of range of 2 3/4" 20 ga. shells let alone .410.
 
Well, now that the
icon_pisser.gif
match has calmed down and this thread seems to have gotten back to an even keel.

I believe the origional poster was talking about outdoor / woods / something went wrong senarieos. I'm sticking to my guns , whatever I grab on my way out the door.

Top to bottom : .32 spec. .35 rem. , and .44 mag.

IMG_7935.jpg


These are interchangeable with a Win 88 in .308 or a Brownchester 1895 in 30-06.

That being said, If I had fair warning of an extended SHTF , A savage 24 in .22 mag / 20 ga. would be a good choice as well.
For indoor 2 legged stuff , my 870 12 ga with a slug barrel and large sized shot is my first choice ( or the deerslayer ) .
But the one I usually grab for a woods walk is the 1894 in .44 mag at the bottom of the pic, with the saddle ring sling.
911 is really not an option at our camp , cell reception is like an easter egg hunt , and response time is an hour or so if they make all the right turns to find the place.

Phil
 
To me, there are two kinds of survival issues going on here. some feel the woods are a scary place with lots of things with fangs and claws to be afraid of, some are looking at getting along in the woods for an extended period of time.

Using any centerfire for small game procurement pretty much guarantees a big mess and little food. killing deer or larger game for food in the woods is totally wasteful, in a survival situation unless it is winter. Otherwise, in a day or two that meat will spoil and likely make you wish you died if you eat it, killing a deer in august is just silly.

Small game is what you look for, there is far more of it, and it is a lot easier to kill. A good .22 will kill what ever you need, and it will kill a deer if you calm down and take your time. By a good .22 i mean one with iron sights, that will place all its shots under a quarter at 50 yards.

If you are heading even into the canadian wilderness, your most likely source of meat is going to be rabbits, squirrel, game birds and other like sized game. Getting game at the survival level means one shot, one kill, and shooting in the head. Head shots do not spread the bacteria from the gut into the meat area, and allows you to have cleaner, safer food.

Shotguns are for people who are forcing birds to fly. This is more sporting but in fact if you slow down, you can usually see the birds foraging on the ground and take them with a head shot. This is where the term Ground-spanking comes from. There is nothing sporting about survival, so lose the shotgun.

if your version of survival is SHTF or TEOTWAWKI then maybe a can or suppressor would be in your future, but the gun would remain the same. If you are fighting MZB's, then load up with what ever version of the EBR you like. but if its real survival, then get a good .22, learn to use it, and you will be much happier.
 
I have all kinds of big pistols and rifles but most are too heavy to carry. I mean if I was just dayhiking or car camping I could carry them, or hiking in my woods, but I usually don't encounter any danger there so there's no good reason.

Originally when I used to go backpacking I carried my .45. Damn it was heavy. Then I switched to a 9mm Makarov for a while. Then a .22 mag Charter Arms Pathfinder.

Over time not encountering any bad things in the woods (we don't have lions and most bears are scared of you) I could not totally give up having a gun but I wanted the lightest thing I could take and that wouldn't rust, so I got one of these:


gear1.jpg


It has adjustable sights and you can shoot .22 mag reg or shotshells in it.

I considered one of those .45/410 derringers but I wasn't sure about the recoil and if I could hit anything beyond point blank with it. This gun has adjustable sights and I can keep them in a pie plate off hand at 25y if I take my time. Shoots much better at 15 yds of course.
 
Guntotin_fool said:
By a good .22 i mean one with iron sights, that will place all its shots under a quarter at 50 yards.
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Now that is some damn good shooting, most people can't see a quarter at 50 yards much less hit it with iron sights. I shoot pretty good but unless you are talking about a benched rifle with peeps I don't think I can shoot that tight, I know I can't in the woods at game, with a scope no problem. Chris
 
Just a question here, not trying to be a smart a$$ in the least.

But has anyone here read, heard of, or experianced an outdoor survival situation (lost, bad weather, vehicle breakdown, ???) in that the presence of a firearm would have made a difference? Not counting animal attack.

The only thing that stands out in my mind is a preditor of some sort. In the couple of mountain loin attacks it was an attack from behind and not seen till it happened.

In most of the survival senerios I've seen in the news was the result of being stuck someplace because of bad weather, or going into an area totally unprepared to find ones way back out.
 
jackknife said:
But has anyone here read, heard of, or experianced an outdoor survival situation (lost, bad weather, vehicle breakdown, ???) in that the presence of a firearm would have made a difference? Not counting animal attack.
Click to expand...

I have experienced an outdoor survival situation, none that I needed a gun, except for a bad situation at a boat ramp one night with some drunk rednecks.
 
The main reason that I take a firearm to the woods is for defense against two-legged bad guys. Out in the woods, there's nobody but you to look out for your safety. Trolls can roam relatively uninhibited in those areas, and so I go armed.

I have little belief that I'll ever end up in a 'survival' situation where food procurement will become so dire a need that the firearm will be totally necessary. It would, however, make things a good bit easier sometimes!

This is why I don't often consider a .22 a good woods gun, but that is for my perceived needs, YMMV!
 
Rimfires- CZ 452 Scout, 10/22 Stainless/laminate

Liking the lever .357 idea.

Who says centerfires cannot take small game without destroying them?? I am VERY selective of shot but I have taken many squirrels, rabbits and grouse with a 308. I generally do not eat heads... I did say I was very selective about my shots- usually right around 25 yards, on the ground and a good bank for backstop. Not a survival sit with my being selective but I do not buy that centerfires are not capable of taking small game- if the situation warrants it.
2Door
 
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