First, no one ever suggested going it alone. But individuals that can actually assist in this kind of endeavor will not be commonplace.
Mr. Flory asked about BG’s.
BG’s can be singles, travel in pairs or greater, up to and including that proverbial outlaw MC gang. They may be gang members, or just long-term disenfranchised individuals with poor attitudes from places that didn’t have nearly as many supplies as yours, and they combined “forcesâ€, and then took undue notice of
your supplies.
Make no mistake here. The real criminal BG believes you and I to be merely sheep when compared to his wolf persona. He thinks (and is correct) that he can accomplish things like a home invasion with little more than his loud voice and gruff manner. Chances are that he won’t find one of US at home (we are seldom that lucky). He WILL find some of those nicer and more mild mannered folks mention earlier. Usually these types will strive to avoid doing anything that upsets him. Those sorts of things would be cancers of the worst kind if it were taking place anywhere near your location. Then just multiply this (and him) times 2 or 5 or 10 (or more) to gauge things for any response that you're planning on making, and which rifle you'd like to have in your hands.
You’ll probably find a BG possessing all manner of small, medium and large handguns, shotguns, pistol carbines and the occasional AR, AK or SKS. Seldom (but maybe) will you find any bigger stuff.
If and when it’s time to clean house, we’ll need, among other things, weapons that have superior range, superior barrier penetration and follow-ups and
superior terminal ballistics after barrier penetration to his. We’ll need to know that nearly whatever he chooses to hide behind, we will come out ahead. Rest assured (if we have some luck) that he’ll quickly understand our position by all those 2600+ fps/nearly 150 grain/.30 caliber bullets that somehow keep finding him.
It won’t matter if it’s 20 yards or 200; if it's a home invader or something else. Any proven deadly threat to you and yours (under such circumstances) simply has to go, and YOU need to possess the means to do that before he has any chance to do anything at all.
Of course, this would be under SHTF conditions.