SHTF question

skeets

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I was jawin with a fella I know and somehow this morning he got off on something he read about big brother and yadayadayada,, so anyways he starts telling me about this gun and that and how he had all of them ready to take to his,,,,UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, ,,,, yeah a real wack job on somethings. And coming home I started thinking about the "WHAT IF", is there any that I would grab over any others. SO I started thinking about which 3.
I figured the 9 or 45 ammo would be fairly easy to find.
Then a shotgun 12ga,,that speaks for itself. Problem is which one, an 18 1/2 bbl pump I think
Now here is where I stumble on my thoughts. A 22 rifle yeah thats good, or maybe better, the 30.06 or the SKS 7.62x39, again ammo should be easy to find.
I know there are lots of guy that have hard core ides about this, but lets just say the average Joe that has a couple, which one would you take and why?
 

85Hokie

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well skeets .....
that a hellva question!

Now ....the real answer lies in WHAT you are shooting !

If the "what if" comes along......the gun that is easiest to handle and has the most ammo to carry......gonna be hard to carry 500 rounds of 45 acp.....but 500 rounds of 22 LR is possible.

Now if you are looking to have food.....the 22 might win out, if large game is needing to be "slowed down" then the 22 will do it, but gonna need a lot more ammo!

As for shotgun.....shorter, easy to carry, semi auto with plug removed - so 5 shots.....unless you got a street sweeper there too!!!

3 ammo's to carry too.......shells / rounds.....all that crap would weigh you down!!! The "jacket" that one might wear to carry all of this might be more important than whats in the pockets!!!!

hope we never see a day where one has to pick.....
 

Stmar

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My 3 would be .223/556, 9MM and 22/20 over under. Main reason is ammo availability and versatility, figure I can take down most anything with that combo. The over under is a great small game and bird weapon and is my favorite around the place.
 

CaveCreekRay

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I agree with the suggested weapons. 22LR is small and its easy to carry 3000 rounds in your car. A 12 ga. bird gun will put food on the table and provide limited longer range defense using 00 or slugs. A 556/.223 will deter looters, sending them elsewhere. A hunting rifle doubles as a "reach out and touch" tool.

But, that said, the whole idea of bugging out never made sense to me, unless you lived in a large metro area. In this situation, having a pre-stocked location is a must but the travel to that location is highly perilous. Most will never make it. If you don't like where you live, move. For bugging out to work, you have to beat the herd. Will you?

Think about it: You are on a cruise ship staring down an approaching hurricane. Are you really going to get in a tiny lifeboat and try to make it with all you can carry to an island 30 miles away, leaving loads of important stuff behind???

:)
 

Ramos

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Like CCR, I would hunker down (given a choice), rather than bug-out. This decision is based on our location and the available resources.

My minimum list of small arms would be four. One each: a semi auto 9mm handgun, a shotgun, a CF rifle and a RF rifle.

Now, if you are on the fly, it's not all that practical carry multiple long guns and the respective ammo. So, you are down to one long and a handgun or two.
 

PHPaul

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.22LR, 5.56 for a centerfire rifle, 12ga pump. If there's room left over for a handgun, 9mm.

All commonly available, enough variety to provide defense, small game and large-ish (deer) game.

Also agree with the "shelter in place" scenario, but then the biggest city in the state is only about 67K people. Nearest population center big enough to call a city is 65 miles away and tops out at 33K.

Then there's the fact that I'm pushing 70. Not at all sure I WANT to survive in a post-apocalyptic situation.
 

CaveCreekRay

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PHPAUL,

Us old folks will be the "keepers of knowledge."

:)
 

skeets

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Interesting answers, as I no longer have any firearms. shelter in place seems to be the best idea
 

Beaudeane

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Easiest to carry or find a large amount of ammo for probably a 223/556 for rifle.9mm is what I have most stock of for a side arm though l have a smaller amount of 40 & 45 so would go with 9mm side arm for that reason. A scoped ar15 would be my “pick one gun” , for ease of ammo acquisition & parts if needed. I do have an ar10 & some long range bolt guns but a head shot on game out to several hundred yards & it’s supper with a 223. Man sized targets in SHTF situation I’d want a 30 round mag because u never know if it would be close quarters or distance type situations that might go bad
 

85Hokie

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Interesting answers, as I no longer have any firearms. shelter in place seems to be the best idea
the hell you say!!!!!!!!

I am with Sheep ......whats up?

Skeets.....spill the beans:D
 

David Page

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I agree with sheep farmer, ? What. Common ammo is a plus. I'm not looking for or wanting any trouble, but as far as bugging out a lot of people that own tractors probably are in a good place already. When the woods behind us came up for sale we figured having a house down hill from firewood and the garden wasn't a bad idea.
 

skeets

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Whats up,, nada ,, was just a question posed in my mind. And in reality I doubt anything like this would ever happen. But was nothing more than an exercise, in thinking nothing more. Nope I lost everything I ever had when my boat overturned in the Ohio river. The only thing I have is a corn broom. :D

I did in fact ponder this very thing much closer yesterday afternoon. What happens when there is an emergency? Storms,floods, natural disasters, loss of services,whatever. We lost power yesterday, was only down for about 4 hours, and though I have the old gen set, how long could we live a half normal life, how long would fuel be available, food and medical care, and so on. How long might it be before the city masses begin to move out to the surrounding countryside. Lets face it FEMA has dropped the ball every time they have gotten involved in any kind of disaster, so we as a people out in the hinterlands would be pretty much on our own.
So this was nothing more than and thought exercise in place.
 

sdk1968

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we have lots of preppers & shtf types on our WG site.....


the 3 gun questions is pretty common, but the real issue is why would you tote 3 guns around?

easy answer:

12 gauge, pistol, rifle.

then you have to get into the caliber of rifle/pistol combo.

do you go the same caliber for convenience in the 2?

do you go with common stuff?

do you go with all purpose stuff?

kinda depends on your set up.

if you got a stocked, locked, fortified bunker? then you go with plenty of each & can be more purpose/detail/task oriented.

if you are just trying to "wait it out"? then you are down to the minimums of need.

if you are "on the move"? cave to cave... you want light, fast & ammo that works in both pistol & firearms while still portable... you need a BOB!

pick a scenario & narrow it down...


HINT: if you have to THINK about any of this? You are not a prepper & arent ready. LMFAO....



NO im not a prepper. YES my stuff is good to go.
 

bearskinner

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Just like anything in life, knowledge and being prepared is always a good thing. The most common ammunition by far is 22LR. It stands to reason you should stay with common and easy to acquire ammunition. 9mm, 223/556, 45acp, 40. I dont really think there will be a total collapse of society, or a zombie apocalypse, but a solar flare or extreme weather that knocks out services for days or weeks is very possible. You should also realize that availability of firearms and ammunition at this time is very good, and prices have stabilized. Keep plenty of common ammunition on hand.
 

CaveCreekRay

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My brother in SoCal liked the show "Rifleman" when he was a kid. He has a Smith & Wesson .357 and a Rossi stainless lever action chambered in .357. Two guns, same ammo. Just like the guys did in the west years ago.

You can shoot /38 spl in either so you don't have to break the bank -or make as much noise. At 50 yds, the rifle was blowing out the black with simple iron sights. That's a handy distance.
 

Lil Foot

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My brother in SoCal liked the show "Rifleman" when he was a kid. He has a Smith & Wesson .357 and a Rossi stainless lever action chambered in .357. Two guns, same ammo. Just like the guys did in the west years ago.
You can shoot /38 spl in either so you don't have to break the bank -or make as much noise. At 50 yds, the rifle was blowing out the black with simple iron sights. That's a handy distance.
I was kinda in the same frame of mind in my younger days, before all mine went to the bottom of the Ohio river.
 

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North Idaho Wolfman

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I was kinda in the same frame of mind in my younger days, before all mine went to the bottom of the Ohio river.
The guns or your mind ended up at the bottom of the Ohio river? :p
And I wanna hear that story!

I think along the same lines 38/357 pistol and 38/357 rifle, make for a nice pair
of course gotta back them up with a 12 Gauge, 450 marlin, 223, and plenty of 22's.
 

sdk1968

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I was kinda in the same frame of mind in my younger days, before all mine went to the bottom of the Ohio river.

yeah i wanna hear it too! cause i live on the Ohio river & might go look for your Tommy for you! :D