# Long term SHTF, If you could only have 1 gun, whcih one?



## Notsoyoung

A slight variation of an active thread already posted. There has been a World-Wide collapse of society/governments. On your solar powered/hand cranked radio you hear an emergency broadcast that it may be ten to fifteen years at best before things start to get back to normal. You get to choose one weapon that you can use for that period of time. What would it be?

I have thought about a situation similar to this and my solution was multiple type of firearms. Magazine fed and bolt action center-fire rifles, shotguns, rim-fire weapons, and various types and caliber of pistols. Under the restrictions given above where I could have only 1 firearm, I would go with a magazine fed rifle in 7.62 x51 (NATO)(.308). My reasoning being that I would want something that would be good for personal defense and for hunting. I went with the .308 round because I would want something that I could use to take larger game, and as more people started hunting, your shots for that game will become longer and longer as the game becomes more cautious. I could take allot of small game using snares and traps. 

I believe that in the given situation cities would quickly disappear as supplies and infrastructure support disappears. No food, no water, sewers back up.... I don't think it would take all that long. The survivors will move out to the countryside. If they do I would want a rifle that I could use to engage people as far away from me as possible. So I would go with either a M1A or an AR-10.


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## nephilim

Straight up, I'd have a bow. Reason is as follows.

Ammo - can be made from almost ANY tree branch provided it is reasonably straight, even if it isn't, it can be heated and molded into straightness. Also, without any form of machinery, the average person can make between 2 and 3 an hour. May not sound like much, but if you think, you could task 5 people to it, you'd have 10 an hour, 90 in a working day. 
Kit - can be constructed from any hardwood and cordage which offers reasonable tensile strength. Vines can (and have) been used, same for hemp ropes and such like.
Stealth - It is much much quieter and thus, less likely to alert people to your presence.
Killing power - An arrow can drop most creatures, including bears with 1 hit, as the arrow can jiggle around in the wound causing much more pain. Bullets however, a bear can still come at you after having 5 or 6 put in him/her.


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## Notsoyoung

nephilim said:


> Straight up, I'd have a bow. Reason is as follows.
> 
> Ammo - can be made from almost ANY tree branch provided it is reasonably straight, even if it isn't, it can be heated and molded into straightness. Also, without any form of machinery, the average person can make between 2 and 3 an hour. May not sound like much, but if you think, you could task 5 people to it, you'd have 10 an hour, 90 in a working day.
> Kit - can be constructed from any hardwood and cordage which offers reasonable tensile strength. Vines can (and have) been used, same for hemp ropes and such like.
> Stealth - It is much much quieter and thus, less likely to alert people to your presence.
> Killing power - An arrow can drop most creatures, including bears with 1 hit, as the arrow can jiggle around in the wound causing much more pain. Bullets however, a bear can still come at you after having 5 or 6 put in him/her.


A bow wasn't one of the options, but on the other hand there wasn't anything that said you couldn't have a bow. I know that things are different in England then it is here, so as usual one of the main factors that you have to take into consideration is your location. As for which has the better killing power, an arrow or a bullet, I totally disagree with your opinion that somehow an arrow is better then a bullet. Your example is misleading at best. A bear can be killed from one bullet, 400 hundred yards away, and a bear can be hit with 20 arrows and still come after you. It depends on where you hit it.

Here we have allot of hunting shows every day. One thing that I have noticed is although I have seen allot of larger game drop in place when shot with a gun, I have never seen a larger animal drop in place when shot with an arrow, although I am sure that it occasionally happens, but it is rare. Most times they take off and then bleed out. IMO you are much more likely to have a bear being able to attack you after being hit in the center of it's chest with an arrow then it attacking you from the same distance after being hit in the same place with a high powered rifle.

If you want to say that bows have a big advantage because they are silent, I would concede the point, but to say that arrows are more deadly, no way. The transfer of kinetic energy from a center-fire rifle or even pistol round is so much greater then that of an arrow, and the penetration of a bullet through bone far exceeds that of an arrow.


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## Hemi45

I still have to side with the AR 15 due to its proliferation in the US and commonality of parts/ammo. Fifteen days, weeks, months or years doesn't change that for me.


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## pastornator

If you do not have one PRIOR to an event, the one you will have is the one you can find. You will not likely have an opportunity for choice at that point in time. Hopefully the one you find, whether by taking it from someone else or by scavaging the homes of people who did not make it, will also have a supply of ammo, but for most homes with guns, that means a partial box left over from hunting season.


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## csi-tech

Carrying a .308 battle rifle and ammo is not an option for me. Those things weigh a ton. I would stick with my M4 and the smaller .223. A .223 will kill anything. While it is not my choice for hunting in a perfect world it would work just fine in a post apocalyptic, Denteesque hell. I kill deer with a 30.06 but if I was forced to go to a .223 today I guarantee I could make it work. I can use it beyond 199 yards.


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## nephilim

Notsoyoung said:


> A bow is not one of the options.


You never said it couldn't be in your opening post. If that fails, I'll take a .22 as that is what is most abundant in terms of ammo here outside of the military bases.


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## Hemi45

nephilim said:


> You never said it couldn't be in your opening post. If that fails, I'll take a .22 as that is what is most abundant in terms of ammo here outside of the military bases.


God love the UK for an abundance of .22 ... that's about the most difficult to find here these days - lol!


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## kmussack

A .22 RF rifle with iron sights and a durable well mounted 4X scope.


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## rice paddy daddy

A world wide collapse lasting perhaps 15 years? Or more?
Your centerfire rifle may be out of ammo long before then. Or broken. Too many precision small parts to fail.
But with a smoothbore muzzle loading flintlock musket, as long as you had, or lived in an area where you could find, flint, you could last a long time. Home made black powder is easily made, especially if you have chickens (chicken crap is a basic ingedient). With a smooth bore you can even fire pieces of stone if that is all you had left.
The black powder muzzle loader is the ultimate long term survival weapon.


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## paraquack

Ok, I know I'm not following the spirit of this mental exercise. But again I feel that there is a tool for every job. That's why I own multiple tools and multiple battery packs. I do try to own tools that are capable of using a common battery pack. But again sometimes you must have and use the battery packs designed for a specific tool. Having a volt/ohm meter isn't going to do me much good if I want to drill a hole or light up my path in the dark of night. Just like using a hammer for hunting water fowl, or having a shotgun to reach out to 300 yards. By the way I own a lot of wrenches, screwdrivers and saw blades that are the same size.


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## nephilim

Hemi45 said:


> God love the UK for an abundance of .22 ... that's about the most difficult to find here these days - lol!


This is on the catalogue of my local supplier of ammo...AMERICAN EAGLE 22 RIM FIRE ammunition 40 Grain SOLID LEAD Boxs of 50. £40.00 PER 1000 (roughly $67 per 1000)


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## rice paddy daddy

nephilim said:


> This is on the catalogue of my local supplier of ammo...AMERICAN EAGLE 22 RIM FIRE ammunition 40 Grain SOLID LEAD Boxs of 50. £40.00 PER 1000 (roughly $67 per 1000)


That is not much more than it would cost in the States. If we could find any, that is.


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## nephilim

Well it was around £30 ($50 for 1000) this time last year so its going up.


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## Notsoyoung

rice paddy daddy said:


> A world wide collapse lasting perhaps 15 years? Or more?
> Your centerfire rifle may be out of ammo long before then. Or broken. Too many precision small parts to fail.
> But with a smoothbore muzzle loading flintlock musket, as long as you had, or lived in an area where you could find, flint, you could last a long time. Home made black powder is easily made, especially if you have chickens (chicken crap is a basic ingedient). With a smooth bore you can even fire pieces of stone if that is all you had left.
> The black powder muzzle loader is the ultimate long term survival weapon.


I am not sure how you came to the conclusion that it would be out of ammo within the 15 year time frame. It seems to me that one of the things that most preppers do is squirrel away enough ammo to last a while. As for the weapons breaking down, I just flat out disagree. I have some rifles that are over 80 years old and still function as designed. As a precaution I have spare firing pins and main springs for all of my center fire rifles, have done so for over 40 years, and haven't used one yet. I think sometimes people underestimate just how reliable most firearms are.

As for a smoothbore flintlock, I can see how attractive that might be. For a Christmas present a few years ago I bought my son a .75 caliber Brown Bess flintlock reproduction manufactured by Pedersoli, and did allot of research on it before purchasing it. He wanted a Brown Bess and I think that was the best reproduction made. I personally would not go that route, but he believes the same as you on the subject. I am sort of cheating on the subject since I will be using an AR since I do not own a semi-automatic (yet), but if I did I would go with the M1A with a wood stock (better for butt stroking if needed), my wife will have an 870, my oldest the Brown Bess, and my youngest a mini-thirty. That is of course if each of us could only have ONE firearm. In reality we would each have a shotgun, pistol, .22 rifle, a bolt action rifle, and a semi-automatic center fire rifle(except my wife who has a .357 mag lever action).

Trying to respond to 2 posts at once, I noticed that if Nephilim had to choose a rifle it would be a .22 since ammo for it is the easiest to get in England. Frankly when choosing which rifle I would want a good .22 was a very close 2nd to my selection, and I am still bouncing between it and a ..308 in my mind. Buying thousands of rounds for it would not break the bank, you can transport a thousand rounds with you without breaking your back, will take most of the game that you will be hunting for, and many a person has defended themselves from bad folks with one.

There is no one choice as far as I am concerned. I started the thread because I was curious what other people thought and why. The reason I specified a gun instead of your choice of weapon is because a gun is the one that I am most interested in. As far as a bow goes, I think that I am one of the few people in the world who if shooting at a target in front of me would have to worry about shooting myself in the ass. Yeah, I am that bad at it.


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## ordnance21xx

M1A rifle is my choice. already have it. 


MOLON LABE


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## rice paddy daddy

Notsoyoung said:


> I am not sure how you came to the conclusion that it would be out of ammo within the 15 year time frame. It seems to me that one of the things that most preppers do is squirrel away enough ammo to last a while. As for the weapons breaking down, I just flat out disagree. I have some rifles that are over 80 years old and still function as designed. As a precaution I have spare firing pins and main springs for all of my center fire rifles, have done so for over 40 years, and haven't used one yet. I think sometimes people underestimate just how reliable most firearms are.
> 
> As for a smoothbore flintlock, I can see how attractive that might be. For a Christmas present a few years ago I bought my son a .75 caliber Brown Bess flintlock reproduction manufactured by Pedersoli, and did allot of research on it before purchasing it. He wanted a Brown Bess and I think that was the best reproduction made. I personally would not go that route, but he believes the same as you on the subject. I am sort of cheating on the subject since I will be using an AR since I do not own a semi-automatic (yet), but if I did I would go with the M1A with a wood stock (better for butt stroking if needed), my wife will have an 870, my oldest the Brown Bess, and my youngest a mini-thirty. That is of course if each of us could only have ONE firearm. In reality we would each have a shotgun, pistol, .22 rifle, a bolt action rifle, and a semi-automatic center fire rifle(except my wife who has a .357 mag lever action).
> 
> Trying to respond to 2 posts at once, I noticed that if Nephilim had to choose a rifle it would be a .22 since ammo for it is the easiest to get in England. Frankly when choosing which rifle I would want a good .22 was a very close 2nd to my selection, and I am still bouncing between it and a ..308 in my mind. Buying thousands of rounds for it would not break the bank, you can transport a thousand rounds with you without breaking your back, will take most of the game that you will be hunting for, and many a person has defended themselves from bad folks with one.
> 
> There is no one choice as far as I am concerned. I started the thread because I was curious what other people thought and why. The reason I specified a gun instead of your choice of weapon is because a gun is the one that I am most interested in. As far as a bow goes, I think that I am one of the few people in the world who if shooting at a target in front of me would have to worry about shooting myself in the ass. Yeah, I am that bad at it.


Actually, I have ammo in 22 different calibers and gauges put away, and at least one firearm for each. In most cases, several each.
Some ammo quantities are measured in the thousands, some merely hundreds.
And I'm not "bugging out" so if one broke a spring or something I always have alternatives.
But I am also a several decade subscriber to The Backwoodsman Magazine, and enjoy the same mindset. That is why I can see the usefulness of a basic blackpowder firearm if the world ever "goes dark."
For anyone who has never heard of it, I highly recommend The Backwoodsman. Not to be confused with any other magazine with "backwoods" in the title. There is only one, accept no substitutes. All serious survivalists owe it a look. It is not a "fluff' mag put out to capitalize on the current prep craze.

Backwoodsman Magazine


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## Chipper

Anything Glock.


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## Rigged for Quiet

When you say, "One Gun", am I limited in how many of that one gun I can have!

If I have to make it 15 years I'd be tempted to go with a Remington 700 in .308. That is if I hadn't lost it in an avalanche while hikiing the Himalya's.


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## Notsoyoung

Chipper said:


> Anything Glock.


A handgun? May I ask why?


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## bigdogbuc

Choose One Weapon?

Why, the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator. What else?


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## SoCal92057

Notsoyoung said:


> A slight variation of an active thread already posted. There has been a World-Wide collapse of society/governments. On your solar powered/hand cranked radio you hear an emergency broadcast that it may be ten to fifteen years at best before things start to get back to normal. You get to choose one weapon that you can use for that period of time. What would it be?
> 
> I have thought about a situation similar to this and my solution was multiple type of firearms. Magazine fed and bolt action center-fire rifles, shotguns, rim-fire weapons, and various types and caliber of pistols. Under the restrictions given above where I could have only 1 firearm, I would go with a magazine fed rifle in 7.62 x51 (NATO)(.308). My reasoning being that I would want something that would be good for personal defense and for hunting. I went with the .308 round because I would want something that I could use to take larger game, and as more people started hunting, your shots for that game will become longer and longer as the game becomes more cautious. I could take allot of small game using snares and traps.
> 
> I believe that in the given situation cities would quickly disappear as supplies and infrastructure support disappears. No food, no water, sewers back up.... I don't think it would take all that long. The survivors will move out to the countryside. If they do I would want a rifle that I could use to engage people as far away from me as possible. So I would go with either a M1A or an AR-10.


I would select a 12 gauge pump shotgun with a variety of loads to include slugs. I would be able to use it for self defense and hunting across the spectrum to include fowl. The fact that it is a pump means fewer moving parts and less to break or fail.


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## Rigged for Quiet

bigdogbuc said:


> Choose One Weapon?
> 
> Why, the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator. What else?
> 
> View attachment 5297


Game over.


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## Notsoyoung

SoCal92057 said:


> I would select a 12 gauge pump shotgun with a variety of loads to include slugs. I would be able to use it for self defense and hunting across the spectrum to include fowl. The fact that it is a pump means fewer moving parts and less to break or fail.


This is another one that makes allot of sense to me. I have both a Remington 870 and 1100, both with the multiple choke system and I have rifled barrels for both. I do remember reading an article in "Guns and Ammo" years ago where the author proposed that the real gun that "Won the West" was a shotgun. According to him almost every farmer/settler had one in his home to hunt any kind of game that he may come in contact with and for defending the homestead.


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## 1skrewsloose

I waited to post here because I couldn't make up my mind whether to have more ammo per pound, or more firepower. Going with my M1a, would hate to say to myself, why didn't I bring more gun. Anything and more can be done with the 308, personally don't believe the same can be said of the 5.56. Love My colt ar, but would leave it at home for the 308. This was a one gun shtf thread right? I'll bear the extra weight.


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## Reptilicus

As I replied in a very similar thread, the AR-10! Already have it with both a 16" carbine upper rigged for CQB, and an 18" SASS upper rigged for long range! Takes mere seconds to swap out the uppers! So good to go for self defense and hunting. I'd much rather face down a charging grizzly with a 308 than a 5.56, I would want to kill it, not just piss it off more. I'll deal with the extra weight for the extra peace of mind. Also have 2 complete sets of spare parts for the uppers and lower.


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## redhawk

Rifle...reach out and touch something.


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## sarge1967

I already have the rifle that I would take. The Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle.
.308 Fire power. IMHO this is one of the most versatile rounds available. 
Bolt action reliability. Far fewer moving parts to break.
Box magazine feeding. 10,5 and 3 round mags available. Easy reloading of the weapon.
Forward mound for optic. I choose a low powered scout scope. It gives me the ability to shoot with both eyes open, does not require batteries.
GSR has iron sights. If optic fails my weapon is not useless. 
Rifle has 16" barrel so it is quite maneuverable. 

That is all I can think about at the moment. Ruger does market this rifle as " The rifle to have if you can only have one.". I can find no flaws in their logic.


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## Notsoyoung

sarge1967 said:


> I already have the rifle that I would take. The Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle.
> .308 Fire power. IMHO this is one of the most versatile rounds available.
> Bolt action reliability. Far fewer moving parts to break.
> Box magazine feeding. 10,5 and 3 round mags available. Easy reloading of the weapon.
> Forward mound for optic. I choose a low powered scout scope. It gives me the ability to shoot with both eyes open, does not require batteries.
> GSR has iron sights. If optic fails my weapon is not useless.
> Rifle has 16" barrel so it is quite maneuverable.
> 
> That is all I can think about at the moment. Ruger does market this rifle as " The rifle to have if you can only have one.". I can find no flaws in their logic.


This is just a personal question. I'm very interested in the Ruger Scout rifle. Do you have any criticisms of the rifle? I haven't found any reading around. I have been considering trying to buy one and am curioius.


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## sarge1967

None what so ever. Check out Scout Rifle Forums. There is a ton of great info on that site.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Outdoor Forums mobile app


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## Pir8fan

For me, it would be a .22. The reason? Simple, I have over 15,000 rounds (all bought well BEFORE Newtown, so don't rag on me about being a hoarder)


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## sarge1967

Notsoyoung said:


> This is just a personal question. I'm very interested in the Ruger Scout rifle. Do you have any criticisms of the rifle? I haven't found any reading around. I have been considering trying to buy one and am curioius.


Here is a link to the Scout Forum

ScoutRifle.org - The Scout Rifle Community - Index

Worth checking out. Fair warning though, these guys are not as "like minded" when it comes to SHTF stuff.


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## jbrooks19

Mine would be my Remington 870... 12ga is plentiful and would be easy to get in a post SHTF scenario IMHO


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