Survival Gun
 

Which one of your guns is a "must take" as a survival weapon
if you were to be in the wild for an extended period of time?
WHY?

My Rossi/Puma 92 in .44 mag. It has a 16 inch barrel,
large loop lever for comfort due to hand size, and with
the right ammo can take down almost any threat.

Kindly,
Boltaction

Ruger 10/22.

Tom

A 12 gauge shotgun will get you thru almost any type of survival situation.

I would prefer a shotgun...However, shotgun ammo is heavy and bulky..

I'd have to say a light .22 rifle would be my choice..

.243/20 guage.

My .22 Hornet.
birds, rabbitts, all the way to polar bear.
I can fit a 100 rounds in my pocket
500 rounds in a small jar, and we will eat gooooood.

A shot gun would be more versatile however as mentioned the shells are bulky and you simply can't carry enough to make it through an extended period of time.

A .22 is your best bet for a survival weapon. They are light, accurate and capable of taking down game from small birds to deer, with a good shot. I wouldn't recommend shooting a deer with a .22 but in a survival situation if the shot presented itself you could certainly take down a small doe or fawn with the .22. The ammo is also light and you can pack thousands of rounds with ease if needed.

I know a .22 is pretty much useless against big dangerous gritters but the odds of being attacked by one (even in big bear territory) is very slim. I'd rather have a gun that serves better for my survival than protection.

.22 rifle.

!2 gauge with slugs and bird shot.

id go with my semi auto 223

I would want my 22 lr

X2 Could kill anything and could protect you from anything.

The same gun I use for turkey. A youth model 870 20 gauge. Along with an accompanyment of both 7 1/2 shot and a couple slugs. It is light and easy to carry.

Mario, if anybody could pull off killing a polar bear with a hornet, it would be you. :eek2:

As for me, I'd probably take my Marlin 917, the 17 hmr might not be able to kill a polar bear but I think that a moose would be reasonable.

Savage 24F in one of the many configurations would be nice, but still a bit heavy.

A 22LR in semi-auto with maybe just a couple high capacity mags along with the regular capacity mags would probably be the best choice.

I would use a 12 gauge shotgun. It will take down just about anything.

My Savage 24V......... .30-30 over 3" 20ga..

my danwesson 357 8 inch barrel.my hunting pistole.

as far as versatile, a shotgun can do a whole lot..are you fighting for your life? like being attacked by moose and bear, or lions...you might want somethin different..but shoty does bird - deer -bear...and the wabbits and stuff , and with proper ammo comes less damage. imo bulky..yeah, but you are in the wild, you'll need shelter, can leave em there and take a handfull of different loads when ya go hunting.

I like my 357's. Marlin 1894 18"bbl. Enough for the Ca black/brown bears and lions and bad people. Light enough to pack. I could put 200 rnds in my bdu's. Big enough cases to feed it black if things go bad for a long time.

i would have to say a .22LR in semi auto with at least 10 rounds in the mag. The reason would be that you can carry so many rounds in your front pocket. And being semi auto you could get off a huge number of shots to protect yourself and be pretty accurate due to low recoil. Plus you have some range. you could take a squirrel at 50 yards no problem and still carry 500 rounds in your pack.

A shotgun would be great, but really how are you going to carry more than 50 rounds plus anything else you think you may need.

i think a Remy 597 VTR (ar style) with a 30 round clip would suffice.

Scoped .22 Marlin model 60

My Ruger 22mag lever action

Interesting question... although I hve nd love shooting both my puma 92 in 38/357 and my Marlin 1894 they're ammo in my opinion still too bulky to be backed in a survival situation. I'd probably go with one of my 22s because of the following reasons
1. You could easily carry a thousand rounds with out weight and bulk being too much of an issue.
2. Yes, at close ranges a 22lr will kill a deer, dog, or coyote but I'd be more interested in the loss of meat on smaller more easily found game such as squirrels, birds, rabbits, chipmunks, etc.
3. As far as defense goes, its not an optimum choice however it will kill dogs and even people if it came to it. Having camped around blackbears frequently though out my life, I'd be more interested in a loud crack from the gun scaring a wondering bear or moose than a bullet killing it. Even with a larger gun if you are unlucky enough to encounter a brown bear or other large animal no gun is likely to be much of a help in most cases. Just my opinion though.
4. Confidence in accuracy. I shoot more with a 22 than any thing else. With extended use comes more confidence.
Based on those alone, I'd go for a 22 in a survival situation.

when I go hiking I take my Henry Survival rifle or the 20 gauge

AR-15 Beowolf

Ruger all weather bolt action 22 mag, toughest little gun ive ever handled, put 1000s of cci solid points through one never a dud. Its still small like the 22 lr but has enough oomph for anything up to beef and water buffalo.

survival
 

I have thought about this more than once. Actually, I'd take two guns - a .22 pistol and a shotgun. I'm inclined to take a 20 ga. shotgun because I could pack a bit more ammo for the same weight. Shot mostly but a couple of boxes of slugs and buckshot.
A brick or two of .22s.
Pete

Ruger M77 laminate stainless compact in .223 with a 1.25-4 power Trijicon AccuPoint scope with green triangle post reticle.

I'm buying a Browning takedown SA-22 at the end of this week. Why? Because I've always wanted one :)*and because it fills the hole in my inventory this OP addresses.


I own 7 shotguns, love 'em all, but they are too heavy and especially bulky for a survival gun. My .45-70 will take more large game, but again too bulky. My .41 Rem Mag Blackhawk is what I carry for bear defense, but then again the .22 will put more food on the table. I've got other guns, semi auto handguns and hunting rifles, all too heavy and bulky for always having with me should I get stranded for a few days.


Marlin makes a takedown .22lr, and the Henry mentioned above is nice. But since I want genuine John Moses Browning design....plus I found it new for less than $500 which is a real good deal. I used to own a Marlin Mod 60 and Ruger 10/22. They are great guns but again too bulky for me.


I'll get a nice small case for it broken down with a few hundred rounds (something like below), and throw it into the Jeep when I go offroad into the mountains fishing and camping.

My S&W 657 41mag would be all I'd ever need. Add my marlin 1894 41mag in the mix and I'd be content. But you didn't specify staying in the woods the rest of our lives. lol. Then I might opt for a long range rifle.

my old markII .22 and yup my dad killed a few deer with it