survival Longarm battery

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

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Mar 22, 2006
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I was reading the controversial forearms thread..and it got me thinking about a long arm battery..I'm not "Captain firearms" by any means....but it would seem to me you'd do allright...I'm not really considering a battling hordes of zombies type scenario..as much as a longterm wilderness living battery.

with henry lever action .22
Mossberg 500 in 12 gauge
marlin 30/30
and maybe a ruger mini .14

this fills the pot on pretty much every level
no abstract ammo all can be found in most stores
won't break the bank


what are your thoughts and your choices?
 
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A decent .22, the shotgun (with various loads) and 30/30 would fill all your needs nicely.
One of my .22's, an old Cooey single shot, would make a great "survival gun" as it is rather crude.. but amazingly accurate.
I also own a 500, again a very reliable firearm and with the appropriate load, will harvest any game you care to take.
A 30/30, .308, 30-06 or up here a .303 Brit. are all very common calibers which will complete your round up.
I guess in a SHTF scenario, a Mini 14 would really be nice, but certainly doesn't do anything these other ones can't. JMO
 
I could also do without the mini14 but put it up there for the slight possibility of marauding zombies..(cant be to sure)
 
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I'd say go with a .22 LR, a 12 ga., and the 30-30 lever gun. Those three should cover nearly any North American game animal and with the shotgun and lever gun self defense would be well covered.

For the .22 I don't have any experience with the Henry but havne't heard anything bad about them. I personally like the Ruger 10-22 because it is fairly simple to work on and parts are widely available.

On the shotgun, there are a lot of very good choices. I like the Rem. 870 or Mossberg 500 or 590. I have had good experience with them both and they are workhorses. There are a lot of other really good choices but those two are solid.

A 12 ga. will offer game getting ability for small game and birds with birdshot, and larger game with slugs. Buckshot will provide plenty of power for self defense.

The 30-30 has been a great cartridge for deer size game and smaller for a lot of years. With the new polymer tipped bullets available much better balistics are possible. The range is increased and ballistics are just overall better. With reloads you can load the bullets down for use on smaller game, all the way down to squirrels if your so inclined.

I don't really see the need for the Mini-14 in a BASIC long gun arsenal. If you want one go for it, but I wouldn't say it fills a need here. The .223 is marginal for deer sized game. Shot placement is obviously critical but that's a discussion for another thread.

I heard a quote once that I have always tried to remember......

"Fear the man who owns but one gun. For he likely knows how to use it."

Whatever you end up with, learn to maintain it, clean it and learn how to shoot it well.

SDS
 
A .22 is a given. Just depends on which model that I would want. I suppose I would go with my dads marlin (I think?) semi-auto, just because I have the most experience with it.

.30-30 Is also the best all around cartridge for deer sized game (In my opinion) Back in 1985 my dad shot a black bear with one and it dropped on the spot.

As for shotguns, I would go with a Browning Sweet 16. Mainly because it is the shotgun I shoot best with. Especially because it has no kick at all. The only problem here is that the ammo is a little harder to come by.
 
All good choices... although I'd recommend the Remington 870 over the Mossberg. I have owned both, and I can tell you that IMO the 870 is worth the extra $$$. Handle them both and you will see that the 870 is a much better built shotgun. Also consider a Ruger10-22. It is one of my favorite rifles to shoot. They are very accurate and I've never had one jam.
 
A .22 rifle, a 12 gauge shotgun, and a decent deer rifle would be the basics I would thing too. I like the 10-22, the 870, and a 30-30 of some sort. But nothing mows down zombies like an AR or AK. :D
 
I don't believe the 30/30 offers much more than could be achieved with the 870 12 ga. loaded with slugs. Maybe an extra 50-75 yards in effective distance. Follow up shots would be about the same speed.
Not knocking the 30/30 in general as I own one and they are great, they just wouldn't be my pick in this instance.

So mine would be 10/22, 870 12 ga. and a scoped Rem. 700 30/06
 
I also wouldn't bother with a 30-30 if there was a 12 ga. shotgun along. Dosen't offer anything more. A 12 ga. with a slug barrel will be good to 100 yards, offer lots more choice in projectiles. A good .22 rifle and a shotgun covers all your bases. If a third gun was to be added, I'd pick a good handgun to back up one of the long arms. I got by for over 25 years with just a Remy 870 and a Remy .22 speedmaster. I ended up selling off my Marlin 336 in 30-30.
 
RescueRiley said:
with henry lever action .22
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I prefer a scoped bolt action (Savage Mk II in my case) but this will do.

Mossberg 500 in 12 gauge
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Nothing wrong here. I think the Mossberrg 500 and Remington 870 are probably a toss-up for the best choice in multi-purpose pumps.

marlin 30/30
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If your only "large game" hunting opportunities are modest sized deer in heavy cover, this is going to work fine. I prefer something with a bit more accuracy and range, and would go with a scoped bolt-action in .270 to 30-06 range.

and maybe a ruger mini .14
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I would prefer a military-grade semiauto, but the Ruger is a lot less expensive and proibably would be perfectly suitable in most scenarios.

Personally, if you were to be just starting out, I think the first two are a must for a basic survival battery. A medium caliber game/sniping rifle would be my next aquisition, rounded out with a light caliber varmint/fighting rifle (although it could be argued that with the possibility of future bans/restirctions, it might be best to get the fighting rifle (aka "assault rifle") first (while you still can).

Just my 2¢ ;)
 
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One thing I have found in long term woods living situation, (ie staying out a week or so) is that a lever rifle requires more cleaning and is a little more difficult to clean. To me the absolute best configuration for a woods rifle is a bolt action with a removable magazine. Although, I'll add that the rifles with the "drop out" magazine well are pretty easy to disasemble and clean as well. For anyone who doesn't know the drop out magazine configuration is where you can work a latch on the bottom of the magazine well and it opens to drop out the rounds.

The next easiest to keep clean and operating is a 10/22 or mini 14. Even though they are both semi auto the design comes from the WWII 30 caliber carbine and a lot of thought was put into field maintenance and durability. Therefore, with a little practice they are relatively easy to disasemble and maintain ( I recommend a tent for this though as there are more parts to keep up with than a bolt action rifle).

Actually, I have to correct myself, the AR type rifles are more simple to disassemble and clean than the 10/22 or mini 14 but they are less suited to woods living IMO.

I have a model 1892 Navy Arms lever action that I occasionally take to the woods but it has proven to be the most dificult to keep clean over long periods and requires the largest cleaning kit of any of my rifles. I will say though, I am extremely anal retentive when it comes to keeping my guns clean so if you're the kind who only worries about " will it go bang when I pull the trigger?" this may not be an issue.

Just thought I'd bring it up as, to me, it's an important consideration in a rifle. Especially, if my life may depend on that rifle.

David
 
I agree that the .22LR rifle (any flavor) and a good 12 gauge with a cylinder bore barrel (18" or so) and a longer fowl barrel could be considered mandatory additions to any battery...

As to the rifle, it really depends on your location. A 30/30 would handle most situations, but I personally would prefer a better long range cartridge such as a .270 or .308. My father used to take elk with his .270 every year and I've bagged a few with .308 enough to know they it is more than enough for anything in the lower 48 minus that 10 yard charging brown bear.

Those three would cover 99% of any survival situation outside of zombies or civil unrest. For a good knock-around carbine, I still think the SKS is a good choice with 30/30 like ballistics and a respectable capacity to both hunt and defend with. I have two SKS's, but if this was my selection, I would opt for one of my AR's, but the price now days is making them beyond reach for most budget minded people.

ROCK6
 
RescueRiley said:
I was reading the controversial forearms thread..and it got me thinking about a long arm battery..I'm not "Captain firearms" by any means....but it would seem to me you'd do allright...I'm not really considering a battling hordes of zombies type scenario..as much as a longterm wilderness living battery.

with henry lever action .22
Mossberg 500 in 12 gauge
marlin 30/30
and maybe a ruger mini .14

this fills the pot on pretty much every level
no abstract ammo all can be found in most stores
won't break the bank


what are your thoughts and your choices?
Click to expand...

You wouldn't have to keep the marlin and ruger...in all honesty you can hunt/defend yourself from most 2 and 4 legged creatures with the .22 and the 12 guage. I honestly think that if you could only choose one, then I would take the shotgun with a bunch of different loads (birdshot to slug). You wouldnt want to hit Bugs super close in a survival situation, but if I could only have one gun in the bush it would be a shotgun. YMMV
 
great thread John...:thumbup: being an avid traditional archer, i haven't had much use for guns over the past few years, i actually only own 1...:o and have been thinking about this a lot lately... i really need to invest in a few more, especially from a SHTF point of view...

there's mot much you can't handle with a:
- good .22
- lever action 30-30
- and a nice 12 guage...
 
I pick these as they are what I own!

Wichester 320 .22lr - Scoped
Remington 870 - 12 G
Marlin 45-70 Govt Guide Gun - open sights
 
For .22 rifle,my Marlin 39A,manually operated so it shoot anything it can feed. Also has option for peep sight or scope.

Centerfire for hunting would be my Marlin 1984 in .44 mag.

Anti-zombie would be Ar-15

Shotgun-Mossberg 500

Bear in mind I'm in Florida,not much big game here.
 
If I don't have to worry about anything on two legs, I would go with my mossy 500 and my 10/22. I see all the bases being more or less covered by those, especially here in Michigan. If I was to also add a centerfire rifle, it would most likely be a mosin. A simple rugged rifle that is still a favorite for big game in Russia, one downside is the ammo isn't extremely easy to come by.

If I need to deal with two legged predators my SKS would replace the mosin, but if they were zombies I think my 10/22 would be able to handle things, with zombies it's head shots that count and .22 ammo is light enough that I could carry a ton of it, and it's much less noisy.

Another combination I've thought about would be my encore with my .308 win barrel and a 12 gauge barrel, and then a .22 pistol. The single shot nature of the long gun would be disadvantageous for any sort of SHTF scenario though.
 
Marlin 39 for a .22
Remington 870 12ga

You could survive well with those two.
 
mossberg 500
M14 with acog-aimpoint imho eliminates need for binocs.
1911
ruger mini 14

if i ever bail im probably goin to have my girlfriend or a close personal friend with me. id give them the shoty and the .22 and keep the much heavier M14 myself as well as the 1911

just my .2 cents of course :)
 
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