[Estela216]

If you click on the link below, you will see what firearms this E&E school recommends for survival. Note the pistols have red dot sights and some sort of flashlight.

http://www.us-rsog.org/USRSOG-Firearm.htm

My charge to you guys is to post a picture of your .22 survival pistol or any survival firearm with all the goodies (i.e. ruger mark II with crimson trace grips, ultradot and flashlight). Lets see how tricked out some handguns can become.

[MrTuffPaws]

Why the heck would anyone put battery opperated devices on a "Survival Gun". That has to be one of the dumber things I have seen in a long time.

[tlhelmer]

KISS, is a great motto for a survival gun of any sort.

[LiquidTension]

Seriously..."survival" implies that it needs to be rugged and simple. Putting a bunch of crap on a pistol usually makes it less rugged (optics get bumped = SOL since you can't see the irons most of the time when there's a red dot mounted). A flashlight on a .22? Why? I can see having a .22 rifle as a survival gun, but a pistol? I'd rather have a reliable handgun in a larger caliber.

[Estela216]

I'm don't agree or disagree with the guys that host this site, I just want to see some photos along the same lines of guns that are over accessorized if you will. I am a K.I.S.S. guy myself, but for entertainment's sake, lets see some monsters here.

[MrBigStuff]

That gun looks like one a James Bond, Soldier of Fortune reading,day dreamming wannabe would fantasize about as his " survival gun". All that Mission Impossible gun is missing is a fork, spoon and bottle opener.

[Black Snowman]

I wouldn't call it over-accessorized but here's my Buckmark used for the stopping of hostile bowling pins. :)

http://home.kc.rr.com/bsmith1952/img/Guns/BSBuckMark.jpg

[SpookyPistolero]

I should have stopped sooner, but when I read, "...every mammal on the planet has been taken with a .22 at one time or another," I knew it was time to give up.

Keep it simple.

-Spooky

[trickyasafox]

i dont think a 22 for a survival weapon is a bad idea, tough to carry as much ammo in a small package, no its not ideal for serious game, but thats not its purpose, its purpose is to keep you alive. if your lost in the woods trying to stay alive, you really got to be put into a pretty rare situation to defend yourself from anygame that a 22 wont stop.

is it ideal? no is the one that guy set up ideal? definatly not. but i think its an attractive option because of how cheap 22's are to buy! you cant get a used 22 pistol for well under 200 dollars, so a lot of people are a little more able to afford buying one just for survival purposes and putting it in a pack and leaving it there till needed.

good idea, poor execution

[Dienekes]

Murphy was an optomist.

I would like to have a nickel for every clever gadget foisted off on us that did not work in the crunch. The list would be endless.

A few years back I rehabilitated a weary Ruger Standard Auto .22. Given a trigger job and properly zeroed, it will do everything that I can reasonably expect of it. It is a joy to shoot and I doubt I have a hundred bucks in it.

Keep it simple. Repeat as necessary.

[shoot870p]

got to agree- keep it simple, no batteries, lens, switches, etc.

[armoredman]

Revenge of Gunkid?

[Mulliga]

I'd go with a .22 revolver, personally. It's pretty common for a .22 LR casing to get stuck in the chamber of an autoloader.

[crawfordew]

Mulliga wrote: "I'd go with a .22 revolver, personally. It's pretty common for a .22 LR casing to get stuck in the chamber of an autoloader."

What are you shooting? I've shot a variety of .22 autoloaders over the last 40 years and NEVER had a casing get stuck in the chamber. I have had a revolver (Taurus 94) stick to the point that I had to rap the ejector rod with a brass hammer to eject the empties. Just my experience not necessarily a "law of nature".
Gene :)

[Rabid Rabbit]

He's talking about two different things and gun for escape and evasion would be somethng I can kill somebody with and is reliable. A survival gun is a .22 rimfire, or a drilling rifle. If I'm escaping I don't have time to hunt and advertise my position to bad guys. I haven't had to shoot many golfballs at 35 yds, but I do know that many animals will let me come within 10-15 feet of them or closer if you sit still. I guess a red dot is nice but I think I'd rather carry extra ammo instead.

[Kamicosmos]

Yes, a Survival gun needs to be simple and utterly reliable. A Mark II would be a good choice. Back that up with like a Marlin 60 or a 10/22 for more serious hunting. No scopes, red dots, Holosights, weapon mounted lights, etc.

Depending on the situation though, a 22 would be one of my choices, more for easy and cheap ammo, hunting rabbits, etc. In a SHTF Out in BFE for an undetermined time, my AK and/or my Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag would make me feel much better about things.

[Rembrandt]

If survival were the name of the game, I'd rather have a good knife than a gun.

What do you do with a gun after the ammo's been expended? The implication that a "Swiss Army Knife" handgun is more useful has some merit. Perhaps there's an element of truth in this...if one were to carry the concept a bit further it might look like this....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v405/Rembrandt51/hellglock.jpg

[albanian]

About the only thing I actually agree with the writer of that web page on was that a good .22lr pistol can replace a .22lr rifle if needed. It may not be 100% as accurate but it can get you pretty close to rifle like accuracy. My Ruger MKII with 5.5" bull bbl can shoot as well as most semi-auto rifles with iron sights. A good Ruger MKII doesn't give up much against a Ruger 10/22 or Rem auto with irons. With a scoped rifle, you can get much better accuracy but with irons, it is not much of a difference.

A scoped handgun makes a lot of sense in a survival gun only because it can give you rifle like accuracy in a small package. I don't know if I would do it because I like the K.I.S.S. idea as well. I can see the logic but I don't think it works as well in real life. I have left my red dots on and run down the batteries more times than I care to share with you peole. ;)

[Sir Aardvark]

This one time, at gun camp.........

my friend and I shot an elephant with a 22LR derringer, 100 yards away, it was charging right towards us. It was a lucky shot that exploded its head like a melon.

Also, this other time , at gun camp........

This really pissed off polar bear tried to eat me, but I had my 22 LR derringer, and I shot it from across the river, and its head exploded like a melon.

Let's see......what other 1000 pound plus mammals are there to shoot and kill with my 22LR???. I read somewhere that EVERY mammal has been taken by a 22LR, so it must be true!!!.

I always go moose hunting with my trusty 22LR - I took a moose once at 200 yards with a 35 mile-an-hour crosswind with my 22LR. Its head exploded like a melon........

[albanian]

Sir Aardvark,
I wouldn't laugh too much about people killing large animals with .22lr firearms. I knew a farmer that killed his steers with an old rusty single shot .22lr rifle. The muzzle was pressed against the ear but it still dropped them like a bag of dirt.

I have no doubt that a well placed .22lr could bring down just about anything that walks the earth. I am not saying that just because it can and probably has happened that it means it should be used for these type of activities. I dropped more rabbits with well placed head shots from a Benjamin .177 pump air pistol than you would believe. There is almost no energy in a .177 cal 7 grain pellet traveling at about 400fps. A .22lr looks like a 12ga slug next to that.

[Sir Aardvark]

Albanian,

K.I.S.S.

When my survival depends upon me preying on domesticated livestock, I believe a large sledgehammer would suffice.

Then, I'd have no worries about running out of 22LR ammo.

[Dionysusigma]

SpookyPistolero: I should have stopped sooner, but when I read, "...every mammal on the planet has been taken with a .22 at one time or another," I knew it was time to give up.

Me too. Blue whales are mammals, right? :scrutiny:

I have no doubt that a well placed .22lr could bring down just about anything that walks the earth.
A .22 will kill a lot of things, yes, but not many. I very much doubt that an angry bull elephant will let you put the muzzle of a .22 in its ear... much less, say, a charging rhino. ;)

[albanian]

I didn't say that a .22lr WOULD kill any animal, just that it COULD. Of course you would never choose a .22lr for an animal larger than the size of about a Racoon. A .22lr is probably not enough for a coon but it could take them I am sure if needed.

I am not suggesting that a .22lr is the best cal to use in hunting larger game but it may be the best all around cal to use in a survival situation because of it's ability to take reasonable sized animals with well placed shots. It would not be impossible to take deer with a .22lr pistol if you had no other choice. I think that is what a survival tool is all about. It is not ideal but it has the ability to do many things (poorly).

If you knew exactly what game or dangers you were going to face, you could take a pistol that was perfectly suited to that role. As this is never the case, you end up packing a gun that can fill a wide range of uses. No other handgun is as usefull in a survival situation than an accurate .22lr pistol.

If I were able to pack a long gun into a survival type situation, it would be a 12ga pump. Moss or Rem, it don't matter. A good 12ga pump with a short bbl like 18"-20" would be a true survival gun. It could actually take game you wanted to eat, i.e. great tasting birds instead of tree rats and turtles. :barf: With slugs, it could be a medium range rifle and take deer or poeple if you were in a situation like that. You could easily hit a torso out to 100 yards with a slug. Yes. The true survival or outdoorsman gun is the shotgun not the rifle or pistol.

[lycanthrope]

Optics are a good thing. A trijicon Reflex co witnessed with the irons would help. No batteries, works at night, combat tested and helps you hit what you're aiming at. Simply ditch it if it goes bad. Have your cake and eat it too!

[Mulliga]

What are you shooting? I've shot a variety of .22 autoloaders over the last 40 years and NEVER had a casing get stuck in the chamber.

I've personally seen a Mark II jam where the extractor slipped off the case as it was being ejected. Also, during an extended session with my Marlin 60, sometimes the cases get stuck in the chamber.

The jamming isn't even the biggest problem. .22 LR primers are pretty unreliable (in a box of 550, you usually get a few duds), and if you use a .22 autoloader as a survival pistol, you have to cycle the slide manually in order to get another shot off. That may not matter much at the range, but it certainly matters when you're trying to get the drop on a rabbit or a coon in order to get food to survive.

[kikilee]

When my survival depends upon me preying on domesticated livestock, I believe a large sledgehammer would suffice.

Yeah but when that sledgehammer jams then what are you going to do?

[bad LT]

I am going to have to disagree with everyone here. :neener: I don't have a problem hanging extra stuff on a "survival" pistol - as long as it aids in hitting (and can be removed in the field). Remember the purpose of shooting (espically in this case) is hiting - hense anything that aids in hitting is a good thing.

[Pappy John]

Well Estela, since its just for entertainment's sake, I figured I could stretch the limitations to include a long gun. This will be a blast from the past for some long time members.
http://home.comcast.net/~jnicholas/swissarmygun.jpg

[Outbacker]

Pappy,

That's classic! :D

[JustsayMo]

Assuming that any gun is better than no gun... I'd be happy with an accurate 22 pistol.

Compactness means you are more likely to have it. The ammo is also light and compact so you'll likely have more of it. 22's are easy to shoot and cheap to practice with. Chances are you'll be more familiar with it than your battle rifle (my case anyway).

A Single Six with the 22lr & 22 WMR cylinders and a few boxes of ammo and I'm still lighter and smaller than a rifle empty. If I go with a centerfire pistol I'd have to compromise and take on more weight and bulk or do with less ammo.

Given the choice I'd rather pick the right gun for the job. How likely is it that I'll have my MBR on a backpacking trip? NOT likely. How likely am I to have my Single Six when Hiking camping or fishing? Very likely.