Pick one gun for woods survival

[tyrajam]

So you are going to be wandering the woods carrying only one gun. If you want food you need something that can bring down bear or elk but also shoot squirrels without blowing them up. You might need self defense against 2 or 4 legged varmints. One do all gun...what do you pick and why?

I'll go first: My savage 99 .358, squib loads with cast pistol bullets for small game and full power for big game. Second choice Savage 24 shotgun/.22mag over under with 20 gauge slugs and bird shot

 

[Kutnupe14]

AR15, with a .22 swapout

 

[MohawkSlim]

12ga pump. Buckshot, birdshot, slugs will kill anything in the woods.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

Thompson center contender with 3 barrels. 22lr, 12 guage, 308. Hey its till one gun!

 

[sloughfoot]

Ruger 10-22

 

[9mmfan]

If in Indiana I would say a 12 guage with both shot and slugs.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

AR15, with a .22 swapout

What Kut said, also a suppressor would be nice, so would a good mounted light. Not ideal but pretty good for hunting most anything around here except bird on the wing. Plus I have more experience with the platform now than any of my other long guns.

 

[MCgrease08]

12ga pump. Buckshot, birdshot, slugs will kill anything in the woods.

Ditto

 

[jd4320t]

What Kut said, also a suppressor would be nice, so would a good mounted light. Not ideal but pretty good for hunting most anything around here except bird on the wing. Plus I have more experience with the platform now than any of my other long guns.

I don't think the 22lr conversions are accurate enough for hunting and definitely shouldn't be used with a suppressor.

 

[jhparsons78]

Ditto

Another vote for the 12 gauge. Will handle anything in Indiana you can throw at it. Plus, ammo is easy to get your hands on.

 

[RustyHornet]

M1A, why not?

 

[17 squirrel]

My brother has a OU Valmet... 12 ga over . 243

 

[redpitbull44]

Some of you guys aren't playing by the rules. He specifically stated must bring down bear or elk. Sounds like we're talking lethal on anything with a heartbeat in the lower 48 while still keeping small game edible. I'm going to say my knee jerk is a pump action 12ga with a 3.5" chamber. 3.5" magnum slugs are formidable to say the least. I'd trust it against anything in North America. 2" small game loads are light enough for squirrel too. At worst you'd want a couple barrels (rifled barrel w/ integrated cantilever scope mount and smooth bore with adjustable choke).

However, I'm inclined to lean towards something more... custom? And logistically more troublesome. I'd think an AR10 with the DRD quick change barrel upper would be awesome in .45 Raptor and 6.5 Creedmoor. You could load .45 Raptor to whatever power factor you need, from Moose/Bear load down to .45acp type loadings for small game. Heck, you could even do small-game shot loads like that.
Lots of different ammo to choose from (and carry) either way. That being said, you could carry more of it because it's not nearly as large as 12ga. But, if I can resupply from my own stock (or a store's) it'd be a moot point.

Creedmoor is capable and really phenomenal at medium to long range. Mounting an optic that'd work with both calibers would be a challenge almost worth doing two uppers or saying forget it and just sticking with .45 Raptor with an adjustable gas block and having a really solid grasp on ballistic differences of your loads. It'd be simple to have color coded mags, for say; full power big game loads, light small game loads and small game shot loads.

A double barreled rifle/shotgun setup would be OK but I'm ALWAYS worried about fast follow-up shots.

 

[oldpink]

As long as you can get all the ammo you want and don't mind carrying the extra weight, 12 gauge pump gun.
Whether you're hunting birds, small game, or big game, you're covered all the way around, number 7-1/2 shot, number 4 shot, and slugs,
A .22 LR would be nice because it would be a lighter gun, with much lighter and more compact ammo, but you would only be able to hunt birds (assuming a survival situation where game laws aren't be observed here, mind you) when they land, and you wouldn't have a gun that you could use to dependably drop big game, i.e. deer or larger.

 

[tradertator]

12ga pump. Buckshot, birdshot, slugs will kill anything in the woods.

Bingo

 

[Kutnupe14]

Bingo

I guess it all depends on how long this experiment is going to last. Long term, no way I'm carrying a shotgun. Ammo weight alone would steer me clear.

 

[Hoosier45]

12 ga is probably the right choice, but I really want to say either my Marlin 1894c with various .357 and .38 loads, or my 1894 with various 44mag and 44spcl loads.

 

[Spear Dane]

There is no better all around gun then a shotgun and that is my choice.

 

[KJQ6945]

I'm going with an AR15, and here's why.
Its light, it's very accurate, and you could carry lots of ammo compared to a shotgun.
If this is a true survival situation, hunting regs no longer apply. The only thing a shotgun can do better than a rifle is shooting birds on the wing, and in a survival situation, I'm not hunting for doves, or anything else flying. The AR is far superior in distance, and accuracy.
We hunt with shotguns because of the regulations, safety, and hunting ethics. Those are all gone in a survival situation. I can shoot squirrels out of trees, because I don't care where the bullet lands, since there's no one around. I could shoot rabbits while they're sitting, pheasants on the ground, because the ethics are gone......And do it from 100 yards out.
Larger game? Name your distance. Most deer hunters see deer, but they aren't necessarily in range of a shotgun. They are in range of a rifle.

There really is no comparison. Weight of the gun, weight and space of the ammo, accuracy, firepower.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I guess it all depends on how long this experiment is going to last. Long term, no way I'm carrying a shotgun. Ammo weight alone would steer me clear.

Do you think the weight savings would be enough to let you outrun a ticked off wounded bear?