pick one gun for the rest of your life.

One gun? Do all, be all, end all, you'd be talking about a 4" .44.

Load it up, down or otherwise, hunt, plink and social work, all in one.

Clear a room, hit a running animal at 100 yards and cartwheel it.

I'm not a one gun guy, but if I had to choose, that'd be the one.

Shotgun is too long to clear rooms, rifles - faggettaboutit, save for a shorty semi auto, but still, over penetration and let's face it, too long to clear rooms efficiently.

.22?! Not the caliber I want for game or goblins, sorry.

You can shoot a .44 special for goblins, home load a 240g special, they're really special and they do the job. Make it a magnum and you got something indeed.

I have a Savage 24 .30-30 upper 12 gauge 3" lower, and with an
improved cylinder choke tube it puts 12 gauge Win SuperX slugs in
the same group as .30-30 170gr Silvertip at sixty yards. Williams
FP sight without aperture disk becomes a ghost ring sight. So in a "take
one gun for most uses" situation, that would be it for me. With my
Marlin 39M broken down in my backpack.

1 gun, it would have to be a drilling.

I'd want one like I saw in Cabelas some years ago, side by side rifle barrels, 30/30 and 9.3 X 74, 16 ga shotgun under, with a .22 in the middle. Pretty pricey, they wanted $5,000 for the one I saw.

Man was it sweeeeeeeet!

I'd want one like I saw in Cabelas some years ago, side by side rifle barrels, 30/30 and 9.3 X 74, 16 ga shotgun under, with a .22 in the middle. Pretty pricey, they wanted $5,000 for the one I saw.

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That's a Vierling. (Four barrels. A Drilling has three.)

I'd take an SKS. Works every time.

If not a long gun, a three or four inch .357 Magnum K or L frame revolver

ECS

Glock 26

I'm not clear on this ? Is it ?I get to keep one of the ones I allready have ? I would keep my Ruger SRH 454 because my kids gave it to me!!

all purpose, shtf, all others unavailable? flintlock, infinite ammunition, can melt the lead out of any bullet and collect powder from them as well. Engineer one for breach loading and your golden.

A 45-70 in a Marlin 1895 Cowboy, with a Tang sight, functional classic assault weapon.

a Marlin 1894C in 357 is next on my shopping list for cowboy shooting. Good to see it recommended as a good practical weapon too. Another good point is it can fire 38 special which is less expensive and probably less damaging to smaller game. I've got a saiga 12 gauges and 7.62x39 each converted to pistol grip and folding stock which were also mentioned so I am feeling pretty well equipped.

So far I would stay with my saiga 12 guage, a ruggedly simple semi automatic with detachable magazines. Range of ammo from bird, buck, and slugs are hard to beat as far as all around goes. Yes shotguns are deficit at long range shooting but unless you are in open sky territory it is not much of a factor.

Since I don't hunt and my main interest in guns is self-defense and recreation, I'd pick a handgun over a long gun.

I'm mostly a revolver guy. Possibly a J frame S&W like my 642 because it's so small and handy. Or maybe the 3" S&W 66 .357 Magnum I just bought. Slightly harder to conceal, but doable, and the bigger caliber and adjustable sights are nice.

I'm also curious about a 3" S&W 60. It's a J frame so it's small and light (around 24 ounces or so), yet with adjustable sights and chambered in .357. Fixed sights are snag-free and foolproof, but on J frames they're hard to see. S&W's adjustable sights can snag and scratch, but are wonderfully easy to see.

S&W 686 4". I think this would be a good all-around for me.

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"Phydeaux, bad dog....no biscuit!"

Of all the guns I own none would be the perfect ‘only’ gun.

So I’ll take my Colt 1911 – it would certainly work for SD (provided the rounds I could carry); besides, I’d miss it.

An 870 is a pretty sensible choice when you think about it, but I'm more of a rifleman than a shotgunner, so I'd probably choose my Marlin .44 mag carbine.

I don't get the popularity of shotguns, but then I don't bird hunt.

For me, it would be my trusty M1A. It will kill any game in North American, is accurate, powerful and will do for HD.

givo08 said:

i'd rather have a handgun and be able to carry it everyday
than a long gun that would only be more useful in a SHTF situation that may never happen.

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That's a good point ... made me sit up and reconsider for a minute.

Still, I think I'll stick with my original choice of the 1894C carbine.

In such a scenario of "you can only own one gun", those would have to be extreme times, as in some really, really big political change where anti's ruled the world or something.

Something tells me in such a time, I'd still want a rifle.
I can't articulate why; call it a gut feeling.

M1 Garand
close second is my Marlin 30-30

It's a draw between my Winchester 1894 Trapper in .44 mag and the Colt Walker I am hopefully about to buy soon.



It points brilliantly, feels better in my hands than a Marlin, is short and easy to maneuver, will kill deer and other game, and is a lever action, which is probably the best rifle platform ever invented IMO. The only draw back is that it is not good for small game (rabbits pretty much explode). As for the Colt Walker, I'll find out soon, hopefully.

ETA: For those who advocate pistols as better choices, isn't it often said that the best use for a pistol is to use it to obtain a long arm? My .44 mag can be concealed... if I am wearing a long duster!

Twenty-gauge classic-looking pump with very few tactical doo dads, but an adjustable choke barrel, a rifled, iron-sighted barrel, and a sling.

Along with a wide assortment of lots of ammo and a couple of bandoliers for 20-ga shells.

(OK, maybe a 12-ga because more ammo is available in that boring.)

Practically anyone can shoot a 20, and a non-tactical shotgun looks less intimidating than a Monstrous 12-ga Evil Black Shotgun (MTGEBS?) and hence is less "confiscatable."

I note that in every country with strict gun laws, shotguns are much less restricted --being, I suppose, more of a gentleman's firearm, and obviously necessary merely for meat-gathering and livestock protection.

I always find that amusing, since a shotgun is arguably the most devastating close-up weapon there is, yet there is a lot less negative attitude against it amongst the antis.

Amusing, no?

6in gp100 or equivalent.

S&W 1911, because its a good time to shoot. I take this question as not having any other circumstances.... so I would keep what I enjoy.

Remington 870

Keltec PLR-16... Why, because it would give me intermediate effective range, yet still be concealable with the right attire... A compromise on both ends yet doable...

Another vote for a pump-shotgun.

Id take my Blackhawk SRM 357 maxi, mag, or 38. Easy to find ammo that way. Loaded up its deadly to 125 yards loaded down works for small stuff. It is easy enough to conceal if need be too.

http://www.mindingthecampus.com/forum/2007/09/no_free_speech_please_this_is.html

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But if you've only got one gun (a long gun) and you don't have it with you, then you won't have a handgun to get you back to it. Not being able to have it with you at all times is exactly the problem with long guns.

The OP didn't specify a SHTF/TEOTWAWKI situation. In day to day civilian life a handgun is the only sensible defensive weapon.