Survival Gun

Infi-del

Infi-del

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Apr 6, 2009
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Tossed this around a few times in my head and wanted to see what some of you guys like to carry in the woods. In my head a survival gun needs to be small, light, reliable, and in a caliber(s) that are also easily packed. We'd all love to carry a 30-06, a 12ga, and 22lr with us but all those weapons and the ammo would require a mule to travel with. Looked into the Springfield M6 scouts, but they're just too expensive now for what they are. Looked into a Ruger 10-22... little heavy and big. Even looked at the little marlin break down 22lr... I think they call it that papoose or something. And I SERIOUSLY considered the Ruger Charger. But what I wound up going with (and I was lucky enough to find one locally) was the Ruger KMK10 Mark II Pistol. With the 10" barrel I should be able to get near rifle balistics, sight radius, with the compact nature of a handgun. I know they're reliable and accuarte. And very packable. I know 22lr isn't good for bear... I'm just talking about a general survival gun that can produce food and protection and doesn't require a lot of gear or heavy ammo to go with it. I would fear no wild dog or cat in my area with this baby, and could nail all small critters roaming around for food. as long as it doesn't get in the way of the sights I plan to wrap some 550 cord around the barrel as a heat shield so I can fire it more like a rifle. I think it'll make a great wilderness gun.

What are some of you favorite small caliber wilderness guns?

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The henry air force survival gun looks pretty cool, its a 10 shot semi, the barrel, reciever and magazine all pack into the stock which is water proof and floats. Ive always wanted one for a toy to play with. I think your pistol is great tho,

Ive researched the crap out of this and heres the list of 22 rifles I came up with

M6 scout
marlin model 60 wood stock(so you can modify the shape and size)
marlin papose
ruger 10/22
henry survival rifle

also I considered a 4/10 shotty or a 222 or a 17hmr,
 
I think 22lr and 22mag are probably gonna be the most useful just because you can carry 100 rounds and barely feel it.
 
Infi-del said:
I think 22lr and 22mag are probably gonna be the most useful just because you can carry 100 rounds and barely feel it.
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I agree with you I just wanted something that would take a larger animal, Ive seen deer dropped with 222's and the rounds arn't that big, For me I suppose it comes down trying to balance weight and stopping power,


have you had a look at the henry rifle?
 
Nice Ruger!! :thumbup:

I have the Mark II 678 myself.

Crappy pic but it's the only pic I have right now.

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The best bit of advise i can give you on the Ruger is to learn how to take it down then practice it. It can be a bit challenging compared to other .22 pistols If you've never dealt with one.
 
The henry "airforce survival rifle" is CRAP imo. Not accurate at all, plastic with metal lined barrel, and just unreliable.

It makes me laugh to see people claiming a .22 is the survival rifle of choice. In reality, No one in a survival situation wants to have to try to feed and sustain youself on measly squirrels or rabbits, aka 1 meal kills. I Like a .20g pump shotty.
 
I personaly always carry a big bore handgun on my hip ( Ruger super blackhawk 44 mag for woods,Glock 23 40 cal in the city).ll I carry a Ruger single six 22 mag with 100 rounds in my day pack. Very accurate and always with me. Just my two cents.



Mike
 
I own a Charter Arms AR-7 and the whole thing weighs about 3 lbs. It disassembles and fits in the stock. I think the Henry Survival Rifle is the same(?) Its light and packs relatively small, but it is the most inaccurate piece of crap I have ever touched.
 
nc527 said:
The henry "airforce survival rifle" is CRAP imo. Not accurate at all, plastic with metal lined barrel, and just unreliable.

It makes me laugh to see people claiming a .22 is the survival rifle of choice. In reality, No one in a survival situation wants to have to try to feed and sustain youself on measly squirrels or rabbits, aka 1 meal kills. I Like a .20g pump shotty.
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Ive never handled a henry I just liked the idea of it. I will be crossing that off the list then. In NZ we dont have many little critters in the bush its mostly deer and pigs thats why I settled on a 222, a 22 is just to small although I do own a couple for bunny busting
 
gytheran said:
Well you looked at the 10/22. Did you check out the Ruger Charger?
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Yeah, and seriously almost bought one. But this pistol has the same barrel length, iron sights, and has a shorter overall length which made is more packable. I have three packs, the shortest of the 3 is 17". My pistol will fit in there... the charger will not as it's like 20" overall. Comes down to the pistol being shorter because the mag well is in the grip.
 
If you can find one, a Savage 24F with 22lr over 20ga. You could hunt game with the .22 barrel, or even bird shot in the 20ga. If you ran into something bigger and less friendly, a slug or buckshot in the 20ga barrel is a decent persuader at close range.

SP
 
nc527 said:
The henry "airforce survival rifle" is CRAP imo. Not accurate at all, plastic with metal lined barrel, and just unreliable.

It makes me laugh to see people claiming a .22 is the survival rifle of choice. In reality, No one in a survival situation wants to have to try to feed and sustain youself on measly squirrels or rabbits, aka 1 meal kills. I Like a .20g pump shotty.
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I think I'd take what I could get in a survival situation.
 
nc527 said:
It makes me laugh to see people claiming a .22 is the survival rifle of choice. In reality, No one in a survival situation wants to have to try to feed and sustain youself on measly squirrels or rabbits, aka 1 meal kills. I Like a .20g pump shotty.
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I rather a .22, as both the gun itself and the ammo is lighter weight. If I needed to, I know a .22 could take a deer with proper shot placement. It may not be the best choice to take them with, but it can be done.
 
"Survival" is a funny thing, if you are saying the scenario is just surviving, walking the wastelands like Mad Max, the .22 is good for small game and to have as a deterrent to the greatest threat ever invented, people. All the fun stuff, the good stuff, has been addressed, loads of ammo, light weight and a go get it effect on small game out to 150(ish) yards.

With that said...

I will always and forever choose a Mossberg 590A1 as an only gun, regardless of if Browning 50's were falling off trucks, if 1911's went on clearance or any other firearm out there...the 590 is rock solid, mine has ghost sights so its ready to chuck real lead out to 150 on to man size targets, it stops BS with a rack of the slide, that sound is enough for the price of admission when the poop starts to fly. I can mount a bayonet, why? Intimidation of course, nothing tells a curious onlooker there is pain coming like a racked slide with hog sticker on it.

Plus it will stop everything, in its tracks with 50 yards to put food on the table. Ask most Alaskan guides, the ones I know don't even carry pistols, they carry a 12 Gauge.

SO if you are talkin' mere sustenance survival a .22 would do you well, if you keep that on your hip and take the 590 out, chances are your survival rate just went up.
 
Infi-del said:
I think I'd take what I could get in a survival situation.
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But you arnt "taking what you could get" like some post apoctalyptic yuppie trying to find a gun. YOu are preparing, and can pick any gun/caliber you want.

And to the guy who said a .22 could take a deer, I agree that it could, but I would much rather have a larger caliber, to increase my chance of success. Plus, I like to use the caliber best suited to the game size. Following that theory, you are saying you plan on feeding youself for what could be indefinately on rabbits and squirrels, which would require WAY more energy expended then energy gained, compared to a deer or hog.
 
nc527 said:
And to the guy who said a .22 could take a deer, I agree that it could, but I would much rather have a larger caliber, to increase my chance of success. Plus, I like to use the caliber best suited to the game size. Following that theory, you are saying you plan on feeding youself for what could be indefinately on rabbits and squirrels, which would require WAY more energy expended then energy gained, compared to a deer or hog.
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I'd also rather have a larger caliber. However, I am not willing to take around an overly heavy gun when I do not need to. I know a .22 can take what ever I would need it to, and have plenty of ammo extra if I needed it.

That said, most of the time I am in a place I could possibly get lost, I am hunting and have a more powerful gun on me anyway. :thumbup:
 
Yea the Ruger will work. Why try it out for a couple of weeks. Go out in the woods, just a few miles out of town so you could make it back if you had to, take some water but no food and give it a whirl. It's worth a try. If it doesn't work out well for you pack things up and go home. good luck.
 
Infi-del said:
But what I wound up going with (and I was lucky enough to find one locally) was the Ruger KMK10 Mark II Pistol.
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Great choice. If you read the survival book "six ways in twelve ways out" they recommend a long barreled 22 pistol for the same reasons you mentioned.

My choice as well.:thumbup:

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