Survival Gun of last resort.

Steel-Junky

Steel-Junky

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So what do you consider a survival gun? Of course we'd all like to have a rifle with us but when you pack the bare minimum say... just enough to fit in a fanny pack or maybe like a maxpedition versipack... what kind of gun might you take along that is light, but useful. As I said we would all like to have a Rugger 10-22 or something similar. Maybe even an AR if your in country with big dangerous animals. But what is the minimum for you guys. I personally own one of these
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. It's not greatly accurate but I could [MAYBE] hit a rabbit or bird with it within 30 yards. Could definitely protect myself from a wild dog or something like that with it. And I've even started a fire with it by removing the slug from the cartridge. The one I have is 22 magnum and has the little folding handle with pocket clip. That and a box of 50 rounds takes up nearly no space and is far better than nothing. I consider it my emergency [OGWITH DID]"Oh God what in the hell do I do?" gun. What is your survival gun of last resort.

[edited to not sound like I'm 100% sure about hitting a bird with it]
 
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You can hit a bird with that at 30 yards?

I personally have a Browning Buckmark with 5.5" barrel that I keep in a custom-made flap holster that holds a spare magazine. This is my survival gun. I doubt that I'd ever try to take a bird at 30 yards with it, be wasting bullets.
 
I have a .22 Ram-Line Exactor :barf:. This handgun is a vile abomination, which I would never have gotten for myself (it was a gift long ago). :barf::barf:

However, it does have some favorable attributes for a last ditch, outdoors gun. It is a tupperware gun, which makes it weatherproof and light (20 oz.), it is pretty simple to take apart (one screw one pin), and it can function as a single shot if something were to happen to the magazine (which is likely because it is the crappiest part of the weapon, actually).
 
I have one of those NAA 22 magnums that I carry on me or in my daily carry bag, every day. I have never really shot it alot but I would agree on the better than nothing aspect of it. I have run off some bad dogs with it but honestly I cant hit over 10 to 15 yards with it. I keep it as my last resort gun and it works perfectly just for that. 22 magnum is a pretty powerful bullet also and its a well made gun. I love mine.
 
I've got one as well. It goes with me on hikes for Sankes, been thinking of sending it into NAA to get it fitted for the 22lr cylinder as well. Anyone done that?

Mike
 
A survival gun in my opinion, should be able to take large game, and protect you from people and critters who would do you harm.

If I were to use a .22 for survival, it would have to be a rifle.

I hike with my Ruger 22/45 (4in barrel) sometimes...I put after market fiber optic day-glow sights on it, but I wouldnt consider any small caliber handgun a survival tool.

I personally have an XD45 Tactical. 185gr+P Hornady will take a deer at 40-50 yards if I needed to...no bears in my area...the most dangerous animal is a human or a pack of coyotes.

.22 is great for taking small game and procuring food, but its pretty lack luster for anything else, especially in a handgun.
 
One thing for sure, is you can hit a bird or rabbit at 30 yards, you should be on a shooting team somewhere because that kind of shooting with that kind of gun is beyond fantastic. 25 feet maybe. It takes more than the average longer barreled handgun to group 2-3 inches at 25 yards shooting of sandbags. Many top quality handguns won't do it. My minimum would be my Browning Camper 22 pistol 4 inch barrel. I have a much smaller 25 auto but making noise is about all it is good for.
 
J_Curd said:
.22 is great for taking small game and procuring food, but its pretty lack luster for anything else, especially in a handgun.
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It may not be a .44 mag... but it's good enough to stop someone coming at you.

I'll give anyone $100 to get shot in the head with this gun. Then we'll see what they say about its power!
 
jawilder said:
It may not be a .44 mag... but it's good enough to stop someone coming at you.

I'll give anyone $100 to get shot in the head with this gun. Then we'll see what they say about its power!
Click to expand...

And I will give you 100 dollars in a root hog or die situation if you can hit someone in the head first shot.

IMO a 22 is a small game getter not personal protection, I agree it is better than nothing but I wouldn't want to stake my life on it.


30 yards with that gun...WOW!!!!!! The one I had, a pie plate at 7 feet was about all you could expect and every time I shot it it flipped up in my hand with the barrel pointed straight up, forget a fast follow up. I carry a ruger 22/45 with a tactical solutions upper for a meat getter, if we are talking about personal protection my minimum is a 38 special. Chris
 
This is W&S right?

Are we talking self-defense or outdoor survival?

Either case, I'd prefer a 12 ga. .

If we divide into SD & outdoors: for street carry, an M1911 in .45ACP but .22lr pistol for something you can throw into the wilderness or BOB. No derringers for me though.
 
I think the .22 is the best all around SHTF round where the primary concern would be procuring food. The main benefit is the the amount of ammo you can carry in the same space a box of 30-30's, for example, would take.

The NAA's are extremely hard to shoot well and the OP's claim of taking small game with one at 90' is BS. Still a decent little hide-out gun. The sheriff of Sacramento carried one off-duty back when I knew him (in the 80's). Personally, I carry a Beretta .25 950 in a pocket holster pretty much everywhere I go. It's by no means the best caliber for defense but it's suitable and has nine rounds. I'm an ex-LEO and a gun guy so I'm fairly versed in all the arguments about caliber, etc.

A better choice for SHTF will be something like a 10-22 but if you're going to carry a handgun, a .22 revolver would be my first choice and an autoloader from Ruger or Browning my second.

I have no plans on bugging out anywhere as I'm safer at home but an AR carbine or AK carbine would be pretty good choices to defend the home front along with a 12 gauge.
 
As far as a pistol goes how about the new Ruger LCP? It's chambered for .380 auto. Light and compact, too. I don't know much about firearms but I've been considering one of these little guys for my pack. Seems to have gotten good reviews, and is reportedly more reliable than the similar (and older) Keltec pistols like the p-32.
 
BTW, if you're talking about killing people a large bore rifle (.308, .30-06) is a much better choice as is a .357 magnum or .45 handgun. I assume that's not what we're talking about though.
 
I have personally settled on a revolver

I aquired a Ruger Security Six with adjustable sights Cost 200$
4" Barrel in .357

I keep the first chamber loaded with a Wad Cutter, which I can reliably hit a can with at 25-35 yards standing. A paper plate at 50 from rest.

The rest hot handloads for PP against animals and two leggeds.

I have shot a number of hogs and wild dogs with a .22. I wouldn't reliably recommend this caliber for personal protection. (Which I define as having the GREATEST probability for stopping an attack with one well placed round.)

I have carried one in the field for sustainment a number of times which obviously is the role it is best served in.
 
For all around survival (2 legged and 4 legged critters) its hard to beat a wheelgun in either .357 or .44. Another excellent choice is the glock 20. 10mm is a very very versatile round capable of taking medium sized game if you do your part.

That said, the only use for a handgun is to fight your way back to the rifle you shouldn't have put down in the first place. My personal favorite survival rifle is my enfield. The .303, while old, is a really nice round. It has a large capacity and is approaches levels of semi auto rate of fire with someone who knows what they're doing. And being made of wood, it doesn't look nearly as menacing as any of those evil black rifles.
 
J_Curd said:
A survival gun in my opinion, should be able to take large game, and protect you from people and critters who would do you harm.

If I were to use a .22 for survival, it would have to be a rifle.

I hike with my Ruger 22/45 (4in barrel) sometimes...I put after market fiber optic day-glow sights on it, but I wouldnt consider any small caliber handgun a survival tool.

I personally have an XD45 Tactical. 185gr+P Hornady will take a deer at 40-50 yards if I needed to...no bears in my area...the most dangerous animal is a human or a pack of coyotes.

.22 is great for taking small game and procuring food, but its pretty lack luster for anything else, especially in a handgun.
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I agree with everything in this post except that a .22 can't take large game. I wouldn't want to try it with the OP's pistol but I have seen deer taken with .22 mags and even with .22 lr rounds. I know several farmers who routinely kill their hogs each year with a single .22 round. I know that's not the same as hunting, but what I'm saying is that .22 is a perfectly acceptable survival round. In fact, it's prefered by some survivalist groups. I'll temper my post by saying that this round does require more patience, practice and skill on the part of the user to be able to compete with a larger caliber round in the woods but, I think it's acceptable.

David
 
"Survival Gun"

That term can cover a hell of a lot. When backpacking I usually take my Glock 23 (40 SW compact 13 rd mag), but I'm not trying to procure food. If I was going after small game with that gun, I'd procure an advantage arms 22 lr slide kit. Guns are much like knives in that the "one knife" ie "one gun" concept can rarely cover all bases well.

For long term woods rambling in Eastern North America I would take a mid sized handgun (40 SW, 357 sig, 45 acp, 357 mag) for self defense and one of the youth sized 22lr bolt action or single shot rifles for small game hunting.

Just because this is what I'd pick doesn't mean its the best, but for me it strikes the ideal balance of power, accuracy, and portability.

Brandon
 
udtjim said:
one thing for sure, is you can hit a bird or rabbit at 30 yards, you should be on a shooting team somewhere because that kind of shooting with that kind of gun is beyond fantastic. 25 feet maybe. It takes more than the average longer barreled handgun to group 2-3 inches at 25 yards shooting of sandbags. Many top quality handguns won't do it. My minimum would be my browning camper 22 pistol 4 inch barrel. I have a much smaller 25 auto but making noise is about all it is good for.
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---he is correct

no way in hell can you(or anyone else) hit a rabbit or bird at 30 yards-except by chance USING THAT GUN.

THAT GUN is not capable of that level of accuracy.
 
jawilder said:
It may not be a .44 mag... but it's good enough to stop someone coming at you.

I'll give anyone $100 to get shot in the head with this gun. Then we'll see what they say about its power!
Click to expand...

Having been shot twice in the torso with a .22 l.r, I disagree.--KV
 
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