SHTF gun whats your ideal gun?

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

Always a good question, I myself will be entering the teotwawki/shtf/doomsday endtimes fray with a 9mm pistol, 22 rifle, 12 gauge shottie and 30-06 rifle w/enough ammo to last several years. As far as more weapons and ammo I imagine that there will be access to more for a while considering that if its a true full bore teotwawki there will be plenty of factions going at it and out of that there should be weapons that the losers do not need anymore.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

Plasma rifle in da foty watt range.

M4's and .45s, but like Quig I am looking hard at the SOCOM. My only problem with it is the weight of the rifle and the weight of the ammo. It's not an issue for me, but I have a wife and three daughters. The AR is a lot lighter as is the ammo. The oldest daughter has no problem shooting ARs, neither does the wife. Not having the ability to swap mags and ammo with them could be problematic. I like to keep things simple.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

Living in the city with no country place to go, I think I would just load all of them up and hold my position. I hate defence, but you do what you have to.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

That is funny, my kids love the AR platform. They each have "their own" AR's now. You definitely don't want to come within 150 yards of this one. He can ring a 10" gong until we're out of ammo at that distance.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

The AK is what I am comfortable with, hence my choice. I don't mind the M4 platform and realistically used in a SHTF situation should be fine. It isn't like we really would want to seek out fire fights, lol. BUT, under heavy extended usage, I like the AK ruggedness better. The really cool thing is (and this does vary by country of orgin) even different caliber AK's have a high parts interchangeability percentage. So I could strip a 30cal bolt and in theory (probably with a little tuning) use those parts to fix a .223 bolt.

I know a good number of AR parts will typically drop in from gun to gun, BUT, I look at the AR field replacement parts kit with all of the gaskets, springs and pins and shake my head. They don't make that for the AK for a reason About the only spring I have ever seen worn out on an AK is the recoil spring and there are no gaskets

I also like the idea of a standardized caliber, that is easily replenish-able. I love my 5.45 and 7.62 AKs, and would use all of them to get out of dodge, but the .223 is the one that will stay with me.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

I agree with most of what you said in this post and the one above with the exception of ammo availability. IMO there's enough 7.62 x 39 out there that it will still be readily available post shtf.

Only problem I have with the 223 AK is mag availability. I had a 223 arsenal a few years ago. Loved the gun but I ended up trading it for a 7.62 arsenal because I couldn't find additional mags for it for less than 50 bucks each.

From what I remember the AK 223 mags are very country of origin specific and the 5.45 conversions weren't reliable. I just did a quick check on gb and the 223 ak mags are even higher than they were a few years ago. Hopefully you've got a good supply of mags and replacement parts.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

223 mags are very country specific. That being said NEVER go by Gun Broker to judge going prices, those ppl are ****in ridiculous for the most part. Sure Bulgarian 223 mags aren't $5, but $25 and under RETAIL.

Realistically, how many times have you heard of any (mil spec) AK mag wearing out?

On ammo, other than like minded folks and the occasional Bubba, I don't think 7.62 will be around. Uniformed baddies will certainly not be carrying it.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

well, my opinion on the matter is. in a real situation where you have to defend you and yours. any size fire arm (that is reliable) is better than nothing. even a 22lr or 410 will help out in a shtf situation.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

Just throwing my 2 cents in the pot here. I have quite a collection of firearms. Too many to list here, nor would I want to. I am rather well stocked for whatever will be. I figure as a basic direction to lean to in all this is the most popular calibers, whether they be police, military, or civilian in nature. They are popular for a variety of reasons, and we could argue about which is best until hell freezes over. 12 and 20 gauge shotguns certainly. I have several in those gauges and lean towards Remington 870 pump actions. .223 and .308 caliber in autoloaders and bolt action. I am not a big fan of the 7.62x39, but I understand the appeal to some, and it has merit on several levels. .22 LR by all means for everyone out there, along with a pallet load of ammo. I will raise the ire of a few when I say this, but "if you do not own a 22 LR and you consider yourself a prepper/survivalist, then you are an idiot!" I have more ammo for many obvious reasons for this caliber than any other. I have enough that I could fire 22 ammo every day for the rest of my life and not run out. Oh, forgot pistols.... 22LR (ruger target models for me) 9mm and 45acp in whatever configuration that suits you. JMHO of course.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

My considerations for a true SHTF weapon, if I could carry only one:
1) Knock down power and enough range for basic defense.
2) Wide capability for hunting - small game to at least deer-sized game. Depending on ammo selection.
3) Ammo logistics - can I get it from widely variable sources? No exotic stuff no local store carries and no trooper carries.
4) Portability - Weapon light enough to not overload me if on foot, and able to carry enough ammo for a good BO or 'scrounging mission'.
5) Simple enough to repair myself with regular hand tools.

The basic 12 gauge shotgun meets these requirements admirably!
Of course, I hope to be able to have a good mix of weapons and ammo available to me, depending on whether I can remain 'bugged in' or at least traveling by truck.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

THAT is the beauty of 22LR. Every time I see a box at a reasonable price I pick it up. Doing it this way, it's easy to accumulate tens of thousands of rounds for so little money that your budget wont' even feel the difference.

As far as lethality: I've seen it shoot cleanly through car fenders at 100yds.

GREAT for suppressive fire. A bullet coming at you is a bullet coming at you. A bunch of them will impede any unarmored assault.

Easy to silence too.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

I haven't. If you have plenty of 223 mags and replacement springs you're in great shape.

Here's the big BUT. In a true shtf situation, what if you have to leave before you can gather all your mags or you have defend yourself on the run and drop some mags reloading that you can't retrieve.

I would wager the chances of finding more mags for your specific 223 ak are a lot worse than me finding 7.62 ammo.

Like I said before it's a great gun and if you have plenty of mags it's a great choice, I just chose to go a different route with my ak's.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

I respect your choice, and to each their own. I'm not worried about replacement springs for my mags.

 

The one that I have in my hand when I need it.

 

Re: SHTF gun, whats your ideal gun?

pcc has brought up some good points about commonality. In any SHTF gun, foraging or defensive, having a model that you can pull spare parts, ammo, or mags from other guns is a good consideration. There are some guns that are just too popular to overlook for the more "exotic" guns.

For example, how many of you have one or more of the following:
7.62x39 AK, 5.56 AR15, 1911, Mossberg 12 ga, Remington 870, Ruger 10/22.

There are probably more. I am willing to bed that anyone on this site with a sizeable gun collection has at least two or more of the above models. Same could be said about caliber: .45, 5.56, 7.62x51, 7.62x39, 9mm, .22 LR. You will find those caliber more that you will others. Any of those calibers are great barter material.

You can pick a Steyr AUG if you want... just don't plan on finding spares. If the latest .458 SOCOM or 6.8 Grenedel tickles you... you may want to anticipate buying 10 years worth of ammo...

Also, when it comes to long term.... ammo will run out. So will smokeless powder/ primers. Do you know how to make blackpowder? It can be done. Do you raise chickens? If so, you are already part of the way there. A muzzleloading smooth bore can shoot solid projectiles or shot. Both can be made from scavenged lead pipe or otherwise. Lead can be free (wheel weights). When it comes to "survivalism" I don't like to think in strictly "what can I hoard from the modern world". I like to think in terms of "what can I maintain through the post apocalyptic world". With that in mind, bows, bow and arrow making, blackpowder weapons all seem like better alternatives for longer term situations. I think making the transition now would be better than having to make it later. What I mean is that the more weapons tech that comes out, the more I tend to regress I am now using iron sights on everything and I continue to eyball blackpowder weapons... like older stuff, not the modern stuff we use for deer hunting. Start collecting lead. Experiment with your own blackpowder. Hunt with it all one season. Find out what the more primitive people or pioneers used in your area.

 

Interesting point, Speedy. I made a powder mill out of one of the Harborfreight double-drum rock tumblers. It cost about thirty=five bucks. I cast a bunch of .44, .50 lead balls to use as media (not sparks). I am sure that I could run the tumbler on a bicycle, if my electricity ever really runs out. I also reloaded a bunch of primers just to prove that I can and am thinking about investing in a cap making rig. There are a number of compounds that can be made into velocity sensitive primer compounds, though most of them are faiirly corrosive. I finally found a BP load (with reloaded primers too) that will function in my 1911 with a really light recoil spring.

 

Cool. The .45 ACP is a great candidate for BP experimentation considering it's low velocity.

Interesting point on the cap making. My only concern would be finding those compounds. Are they common?? I would love to see a how-to on cap making. I had pretty much given up on caps for the most part and decided that flintlock was the only viable option. I would love to see your powder mill as well. (Maybe we should start a new thread for this discussion)

Of course there is this (I found it in another thread here):
Forster Tap-O-Cap #11 Percusion Cap Maker - MidwayUSA

Caps (as in cap gun caps) are fairly common. No one else would think to use them in shtf. A better made alternative that functions with cartridges sounds even more appealing.

Anyone else experimented with BP in modern guns/ calibers? Remember that a lot of common early cartridges were loaded with BP before the widespread use of smoekless. 30-30, for example, is one caliber that is extremely common and would be good for experimentation. 30 grains of BP with a 30 cal bullet....

 

Like some here I have a number of rifles to call upon in a SHTF scenario. My primary AO is suburban, so my choices for short range would be a 12GA shot gun supplemented by .45 and 9mm pistols. Medium range would be my USGI M1 carbines and SKS's. In the off chance I may need a longer reach I have my Enfield Number 1 MKlll and Swedish 1896/38. You can't beat a .22LR when it comes to marksmanship practice and putting meat in the pot so I have a number of them in various configurations. This situation is like golfing, you can't make do with one club in your bag.