A bare-minimum arsenal - your opinions?

[22luvr]

My son and I have discussed at-length what constitutes a basic home arsenal. Purpose? The possibility of civil unrest, anarchy, breakdown in the vital infrastructure (water, gas, electricity, food, etc) My criteria:
Reliable, accurate, durable, inexpensive to purchase, universally available cheap ammo, and simplicity of battery.

We came up with five categories of firearms for our own bare-bones basic personal arsenal:

RIFLE: My son already owns what I want: an SKS, which I have shot at length and really love. Ammo is plentiful and dirt-cheap. In a pinch, it will do many tasks fairly well.

SHOTGUN: Make mine a Remington or Mossberg 12 ga.

REVOLVER: .357 magnum....versatile, powerful and can shoot both .38 spcl and .357 mag. Ammo is universally inexpensive and available.

AUTOLOADER: A service-grade 9 mm. This is the one that is puzzling both of us. There are so many fine autoloaders out there. I am leaning towards a CZ 75 (I like that Kadet .22 conversion kit!) The 9mm is a stout round and is both universally cheap and plentiful.

back-up/concealment gun: I already have this one....my NAA mini-revolver .22mag

This entire post may be redundant but I am very interested what some of the more experienced shooters would consider for their basic armory. Did we leave something out?

 

[10-Ring]

W/O starting any caliber discussions, I've always said that every collection needs at least one 45 acp. That said, as a basic arsenal, what you already have seems to have a representative for each category.
Now for the redundency

 

[BerettaNut92]

Rifle: No experience here with SKS's but all things considered, an SKS with scout mounted red dot. No magazines, just piles and piles of strippers of cheap ammo.

Shotgun: Benelli Nova or Remmy 870.

Pistol: Beretta 92F. Inexpensive, easy to find magazines, and I can shoot like a rabid skunk to the wall with one. Carbon fiber stocks a plus.

Knife: I'd say Buck/Strider drop point but I have no experience with them. I'll have to go with my Emerson folder.

Taclight: Sure-Fire 6P. Affordable and holds its own against the best albeit with no whistles and bells.

No revolvers here, can't shoot them to save my life.

You didn't ask, but if cost weren't an option:
AR15 with taclight and red dot.
Benelli M1S90 with taclight.
P7M8 (shoots like a service pistol, tucks away like a concealment pistol, but expensive and heavy).
Emerson folder.
Sure-Fire E2e.

 

[Betty]

22luvr,
I give you three bonus points for not saying "SHTF."

For convenience in "having to defend/leave our residence in the remote possibility that the oncoming freaks are going to fight me for a can of SPAM", I'd choose calibers that both Oleg and I share. We could go with .45's or .357's, and 12 gauge shotguns (he'll have to borrow one of mine since he only owns a "wimpy" 20 gauge ), and we'd use our Ar15's.

For collection purposes, I'd like to have one of each. I want a good lever action now, and have my heart set on a Winchester 1895 (original finish, please) in .30-06, but I'll have to snap off an arm and a leg for that one.

 

[4v50 Gary]

A good semi-auto carbine. Helps to repel boarders.
A good shotgun. When boarders get too close.
A good pistol. When boarders get up and personal.
A good scoped rifles. To keep them from boarding.

Boy, the things you must do because of bad tenants.

 

[BerettaNut92]

A good semi-auto carbine. Helps to repel boarders.
A good shotgun. When boarders get too close.
A good pistol. When boarders get up and personal.
A good scoped rifles. To keep them from boarding.

Can you do it all with an M4 with 4x ACOG and Masterkey?

 

[cslinger]

I am of the belief that all you really "NEED" as in you "NEED" to keep a fire extinguisher, is a good solid multi purpose shotgun or rifle. Just one, with a reasonable amount of ammo, say 250-500 rounds.

The thought being that should unrest happen you will most likely hunker down and never really use the weapon. Even in the event that a mob shows up at your door, if you pop a few rounds into the leading group or even over their heads, chances are they will turn tail and look for easier prey.

If you think you are going to get into a long drawn out firefight then chances are the arsenal won't help as much as more ammo and good cover.

I guess I would have to go with something akin to an SKS for a good all around weapon because it's....
Cheap
Cheap to feed and practice with.
Good round.
Will work for deer and other game if need be.
Has a bayonet that is as much a psychological advantage as a practical one.
Reasonbly quick to reload with practice.
10 rounds should be fine.
You can keep stripper clips loaded forever and have them ready to go in a bandoleer.
You can load single rounds one at a time or drop the mag bottom and throw a few in at a time if need be.
Negligible recoil, easy to teach others to use.
Tough as nails and doesn't need to be babied.
Reasonably accurate out to any range you would need it for. If you are shooting at threats past 200 yards chances are you are just looking for trouble.
If it is one of the Military, Invasion, Red Dawn type things, you are just going to acquire yourself a nice full auto if need be and you'd be stupid not to hunker down and hide if a military unit comes a calling.

Based on that I would go with the SKS or something similar. AK maybe but requires a bit more training and logistics concerns with magazines etc.


Based on WANT. I WANT one of everything as I suspect all of us do. I also suspect we all like to justify our purchases for things like, well I need a shotgun for HD, 9mm for this, .308 for long range etc. when in reality a single SKS would suit just about any NEED we would have.

That being said we will probably all be found dead in front a safe full of weapons because we are trying to decide which one would be perfect for the situation.

I really think there is something to be said for having a rifle with an internal magazine. SKS, Garand, Mauser etc. and so forth. Just makes storing ammo that is ready to go that much easier and is much more comforting to know that if my magazine fed weapons lose or break their magazines.

Just for the record this was purely education and a complete load of bull pucky as I have a safe full of what if guns myself and I NEED every one of them.

 

[BerettaNut92]

IMO a rifle, handgun, light and knife should be enough. As many friends as possible with all of the above. Cool heads and medical skills highly desirable. Skunkabilly Tactical is not an equal opportunity employer.

 

[Marko Kloos]

A bare-bones minimum arsenal in my book would be one of each of the following:

.22 handgun or rifle

Cheapest caliber to shoot. Useful for plinking, pest control, small game, and target shooting. You can store and carry huge amounts of .22LR ammo.

Centerfire rifle

This can be a bolt gun or an autoloader, in a good all-around caliber for social work as well as hunting. The .223 Remington is light and easy to shoot and haul around. The .308 and .30-06 are plenty powerful and very versatile. Ideal in-between rounds would be .243, .260, and most anything in the 6-6.5mm range.

Self-defense handgun

To me, the ideal "one handgun" is a .357 with a 4" barrel, since it gives you the most flexibility by virtue of the hundreds of available loads in .38 Special and .357 Magnum. That gun can be used for home defense, CCW, plinking, and hunting. Others may prefer autoloaders as their "one gun". The important part is that it's a flexible caliber and barrel length, so it can perform the widest variety of handgun tasks.

Shotgun

A good 12-gauge is the single most versatile firearm one can own. Use Magnum loads for turkey, regular shot for other birds, slugs for deer, and buckshot for home defense. Pump or autoloader, SxS or single-shot...take your pick.

 

[Onslaught]

There were lots of gunrag articles during the "Y2K" silliness a few years ago...

Every single gun-mag had at least one run-down of "Your Y2K Arsenal Solution"... and they all basically boiled down to:

One Semi Auto rifle of adequate caliber
One pistol you are comfortable with and can reload quickly, of adequate caliber
One Shotgun
One hunting rifle,

and

One .22 rifle for "quietly taking small game" once the food supplies start to run low.

Boy, do gun dealers make some $$$ when there's a crisis!

 

[Elmer Snerd]

For convenience in "having to defend/leave our residence in the remote possibility that the oncoming freaks are going to fight me for a can of SPAM"

I would throw them the SPAM. After I pulled the pin on the can, that is. I have some Wal-Mart knockoff pseudo-SPAM if that doesn't do it...

After that, I guess it's the Mossy 500. AAHH! Need more guns!

 

[BerettaNut92]

Don't forget the toilet paper!

 

[Rovert]

Here's my list, which is very similar in reasoning to those given above:

AR15 (M4gery w/TA31) ( http://www.ar15.com/content/docs/idealRifle/ )
9mm Pistol (P99, 92fs)
CCW: Kahr MK9
This list is given with 'caliber management' in mind. The 9mm round does it for me.

Substitutions:
1911 .45 for 9mm Full Size
SKS/AK for AR... any good battlefield rifle will do, but read the "ideal rifle" article. Granted it's biased, but it makes for a good read, anyway.

 

[BerettaNut92]

TA31 Didn't s/he say 'inexpensive'?

 

[Dave R]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A good semi-auto carbine. Helps to repel boarders.
A good shotgun. When boarders get too close.
A good pistol. When boarders get up and personal.
A good scoped rifles. To keep them from boarding.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow, looks like we're getting a lot of agreement with 4v50 Gary's basic list. Like others have said, I would add the following:

- .22 rifle, for game-getting and low-profile shots. (Besides, I think its illegal to have more than 2 guns and not have a .22)

- Back-up pistol/CCW. That way, after they get past your bolt gun and semi-auto carbine and shotgun and service pistol and take you captive, when they're not looking you can pull your BUG and make that secret-agent escape. I nominate the P-32/P-3AT in a Smart Carry/Thunderware as the gun most likely to be overlooked in a casual frisking.

 

[JMLV]

JMHO but

The idea of a Rifle , pistol, shotgun seems to be about right. Personally I would have 2 rifles one 22 auto(Ruger 10/22) and a hi-power bolt gun (in my case a Mosin nagant 762x54R model 44 - just in case I need to reach out and touch something) I may somday replace this with a savage 110 on 30/06 but there are a LOT more handguns I want befour I buy another rifle.
handgun(s) can be either a 357 revolver(mine is either a Dan Wesson model 15 with a complete pistol pac of barrels or my custom model 28) or a nine mm auto(either the 639 or the PT99) I have both so no worries mate<G>. The shotgun is of course the simplest choice a pump or auto 12 gage. Preferable with a full length magazine and a 20" barrel.(mossberg 835 ultimag 24" slug barrel - OK OK I know but its what I have right now till I can order a cylinder bore 20" barrel) Again these choices are mine and may not be suitable for others. subsutite as you will for your preferences.

 

[goon]

If you never take any other advice from this forum, heed this:
Run down to the nearest shop and immediately get a CZ-452 22LR.

Other than that, it is up to you. The only thing I am currently lacking is an AK. I don't really need one, as I feel that a full power scoped bolt action is a better weapon than an AK, at least if you are talking about one of these SHTF fantasies that we all love so much.

 

[RockyNH]

My "Arsenal" really developed from hunting... and with 3 adults in the house it has served well.

Remington Auto 30.06 scoped
Lever 30 30
Ruger 44 mag auto carbine
22 rifle scoped

(2) .357 revolvers (6" & 3 /12")
(2) .40 s&w autoloaders

 

[trapshooter]

I'd consider parts/ammo availability, so:

Rifles -

AR-15 type 223
Rem 700 in 30.06

Then,

an M1
an M1A

Just about any decent .22lr

Shotgun -

Rem 870 or 1100, probably one each.

Revolver -

Smith N, L, or K frame .357 mag.

Just about any decent .22lr

Semi-auto -

1911 type in .45 ACP

Any decent 9mm

Just about any decent .22lr


After the above, it's all gravy.

 

[AnklePocket]

Bare Minimum (edited to reflect actual bare minimum):
.357 Mag revolver
small auto
medium auto
mag fed rifle
pump shotgun


Personal Choices:
S&W 686 Plus 4
Kahr PM9
Sig P229 .357 Sig
DSA Carbine
Scattergun Technologies Border Patrol Model

 

[Erik Jensen]

well, there are three guys in my house, and I think we've already got it down. between us, we have: 3 service pistols (H&K USP9, Beretta 92F, and a Colt Combat Commander), about 17 rifles.. heh. realistically, 2 useful ones. (M1 Garand and a scoped rem 700 in 30-06) a pump shotgun (rem 870), and a 10-22. there's more, but if a quick retreat to the upper peninsula is in order, that's what we'll throw in the Caddy. (yes, my '73 Cadillac Hearse is what we'd choose. room for three, plenty of cargo space, and no-one, but no-one would mess with three large men in a Hearse. ). also, one of the roomates is a doctor... might come in handy.

 

[BerettaNut92]

Minimum?

.357 Mag revolver
small auto
medium auto
1911
bolt rifle
mag fed rifle
pump shotgun
Minimum Desired - Add:
tiny revolver
snubbie
tiny auto
lever action

 

[AnklePocket]

I've already been accused of being horribly undergunned.

 

[Mr. Hankey]

If I had to choose one from each group, the first 3 out of the safe would be my SAR-1, Mossy 500 and my Glock 17, allowed one more it would probebly be my 10/22,

 

[Kharn]

I believe every American should own an 20" A2 AR15 and either a 1911 or Beretta 92 with a pile of mags and ammo for both pistol and rifle. Sorry Kali residents, you'll have to get an M1A or FAL.

Kharn