Best SURVIVAL rifle

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Malamute,

Feel free to spread the movie prop department thing. You read much Jerry Pournelle?

Old Pappa,

Yep I guess those Charter Arms and Henry AR7 users missed the Armalite part of my likeing AR7s sometimes us more seasoned keyboarders forget things keep changing.

Also

"Prefection is the enemy of good enough" is a longtime old saying. Meaning don't get caught not having what you need for trying to get more than that and not hhaving anything when the need arrises.

I like A.T. Hagan's "Its never what you plan for" as the best survival advice.

Several folks have meantioned using caliber conversions in AR 15s to have both a .223 and a .22LR. I am curious to see what sort of accuacy folks are getting with them. I am betting that in a survival situation that when the bear shows up the .22LR conversion will be in place and when the first small critter or bird you have seen in days stands stock still looking at you 15 yards away you have a .223 up the spout. See A.T. Hagan above.

-kBob
 
I've have and have shot my little AR-7 many, many, many thousands of times and don't ever remember it jamming. Maybe the one I bought in 1963 was better made. The only 'breakage' I have encountered was the seam in the plastic butt cover split one very cold day in 1970, got a new one in Greatfalls, Montana that same week, still have and using it. Maybe those plastic butt covers weren't made to be flexible at 30 below.

Back to the original thread.
Why would I want to 'Plain' to have only one weapon? One is never enough. It comes down to the situation again. I can carry a lot of .22s, but a .22 is not my first choice if faced with multiple marauders, 2 legged or four.
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Now that you mention it, the plastic butt cap cracked on mine too, i had forgot about that!

As for "more than one gun would be handy", i agree! But, my first line choise will absolutely be my Krieghoff! It folds up for easy carry,

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It's light and quite accurate,

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And easily covers all bases, from mice to moose, along with defence use! AND "yes" i have shot a mouse (didn't take that pict.) and moose with it!

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also bear, deer and many other animals, big and small with it.

There are LOT's more great drillings out there and for fair prices, IF you are serious about a survival gun that actually works and pretty much does it all!

DM
 
(Rifle only so.....)

AK-47.

It can take care of deer, & feral hogs for food. It can be used against any attacking animal in N. America... and no a charging Grizzly Bear will not likely survive more than 3+ well placed shots if even that for defense considering the size of an AK clip capacity, and it certainly can take care of any bad people trying to come at me!

Very reliable... even if it does malfuntion it is usually due to ammo, and even if it jams you can just give it a swift kick to get it going again. (I have done it before!) :D
 
I've had 2 or 3 of those AR7's, two of them broke an ear off the stock, all of them were jamo-matic's! A friends AR 7 also broke an ear off the stock and also jammed all the time.
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I have the Henry version
it works with most bulk ammo just fine, preferring the slightly hotter loads
 
DM~, you dearly (If you'll pardon the expression) make me wish I could afford a Krieghoff.

Somewhat more plausably, I keep lusting after the pre-WWII ones I see on Gunbroker occasionally. I keep hoping to find a relatively inexpensive 2x16 over 9.3x74R one pop up when I have the money.
 
Tottally different option-even though you said rifle, howsabout a bow? Quiet, efficeint, and with some practice and knowledge you can make your own arrows. Also, you use traps for small game. Also, in a totall survival situation remember; your not Rambo. Change your mind set. YOU think like prey!! Assume that everyone is after you! Always retreat. It will keep you alive. Don't stay in one place for more than a month, or get comfortable! As a diabetic on insulin, I doubt I would live through a survival situation for long anyway.
 
What do you mean by a "survival rifle?"

If you mean what's in my survival pack when I eject from an F22 over Bongo-Bongo, a small caliber rifle/shotgun combo would be ideal. But if you mean what I want in a survival situation when I'm not constrained to a survival pack that would fit in an ejection seat, I want a full size 12 gauge, a .22 and a .30-06 or similar.

For a really small and effective package, how about an M1911 tuned for .45 Super? That would give me ballistics about equal to a .41 Mag for deer-sized game, and still be able to shoot standard .45 ACP. I could also have shotshells close to .410 capacity, and better signal flares than a 9mm/.38/.357 could offer. And I could also have a .22 Conversion Kit and a brick of .22 LR.
 
"living off the land" is more than hunting
in fact, if you don't know some of the edible vegetation in your area and how to set a basic snare, you're just going to use up your ammo blasting at game and then be hungry

I bet that in a day of setting snares and a day of gathering snared bunnies an experienced trapper would have more to eat than even a crack shot ... and you can gather other edibles as you go snare-to-snare, plus you're resetting them or moving them after collecting your snared meat, while a hunter starts from scratch each morning
 
The answer to the OP depends entirely on whether you plan to eat what you shoot. If the answer is no, a .308 will take any critter, 2 legged or 4, in North America. Of course, rabbits would be obliterated.
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On the other hand, I have a Hammond Game Getter for my pre-64 Model 70.

This is a cartridge case with an off-center "primer pocket." The "primer pocket" is really a chamber for a .22 rimfire, and the offset allows the centerfire firing pin to set it off.

In use, the Game Getter is loaded with a nail-setting blank (I use brown -- low power) and a sized buckshot is placed in the case mouth. Mine shoots a 1" group at 25 yards, just a the top of the thick crosshair. The Game Getter comes with a sizing die -- a thick steel disk with a tapered, polished hole that allows you to size standard buckshot for your rifle.

I use mine a lot when sitting on a deer stand and the squirrels try to carry me off.
 
DM~ said:
There's no way a tube failure happens even close to the amount of times a magazine fails or is lost!

DM
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Did I say it was a frequent occurrence?

Did I mention spare magazines?

The OP was asking about a survival rifle. That means something bad has already happened. I'm guessing in all of your 50 years, you probably haven't tried hauling around a tube fed rifle while seriously injured or in shock, for example.

Any magazine can fail, for a number of reasons. DBMs let you carry spares. Pretty simple concept.
 
bigfatdave said:
"living off the land" is more than hunting
in fact, if you don't know some of the edible vegetation in your area and how to set a basic snare, you're just going to use up your ammo blasting at game and then be hungry

I bet that in a day of setting snares and a day of gathering snared bunnies an experienced trapper would have more to eat than even a crack shot ... and you can gather other edibles as you go snare-to-snare, plus you're resetting them or moving them after collecting your snared meat, while a hunter starts from scratch each morning
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I'd give an experienced fisherman the edge over either, personally. Especially in an emergency situation, where less than legal methods might be employed.
 
The OP still hasn't elaborated on "SURVIVAL," I notice. Not knowing what situation they were talking about makes recommendations pretty difficult.
 
The OP was asking about a survival rifle. That means something bad has already happened. I'm guessing in all of your 50 years, you probably haven't tried hauling around a tube fed rifle while seriously injured or in shock, for example.
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No, but i did spend 25 of it in the Alaskan bush, at times dragging my tube feed around hunting for something to eat. Not even one failure!

Wish I could afford a Browning.
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I see nice used ones around for $350.00, i'd call that afordable...

DM
 
I'd give an experienced fisherman the edge over either, personally. Especially in an emergency situation, where less than legal methods might be employed.
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probably true

surely competitive with trapping, at least - it would depend on the critters available, probably

I remember a plan for a stake-based stream&creek fish trap that was sort of a bottle-shaped pen for fish, they get in and most can't find their way out (fuzzy memory, I could probably reproduce the sketch better than I can describe it)
If one had a fish-laden stream handy, that might be the best of both worlds - go pick up the morning water supply and grab breakfast out of the trap while you're at it
 
This thread started out about the best 'survival gun" .

consider the M4 carbine or a light weight variant

rifle with 100 rds only 7 to 10 pounds

millions of Americans already trained and experenced with it

loud enough to make signal shots.

hard ball ammo will take small game without muchly damage.

has been used to kill tigers in self defense (m16 viet nam 1968)

out to 200 yards can has and will take game as large as deer and elk.

powerfull enough to stun fish.

universally respected as a combat weapon-commands respect and has great trade value ,
 
Why would I want to 'Plain' to have only one weapon?
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I have said many times, most disasters happen because people 'plain' to have disasters, by making bad choices early in the game.

Me, I plan to have a shotgun, a centerfire rifle, a .22 rifle, and a handgun or two. Why not? I have them -- why would I divest myself of them?
 
I will carry the 30-06 bolt action or 30-30 lever action, the wife will carry the 12 gauge pump shotgun, my daughter will carry the mini-14. Pistols, I with a 45, wife with 9 mm, and daughter with 22 LR.
 
Vern has a point for most of us. Diversify!

Look at most of the police cars in "not a big city" USA. There is a handgun on the officer, a shotgun in the rack up front, and some kind of center fire rifle in the trunk. In more rural areas it is not uncommon for deputies to have a .22 rifle in the trunk as well for nusiance animals.

Came home to find Deputy in the drive last week and he had closed my gate. Turns out he had shooed a bull and hefier into my yard, using his car, thinking them mine when he found them on the road. They were my neighbors. The deputy seemed not just respectful of the Black Angus but scared of it ad sort of freaked with me running it aroud with an ugly stick, a kind of horse training whip. At one point he commented that he would hate to have to shoot someones bull and it was all I could do not to laugh. He was doing a Barney Fife lean on his .40 S&W auto at that point. Our Deputies only carry buck and bird shot for their 12 gauge and about twenty-five years ago the department traded in their .30-30s for Ruger Mini-14s. I too am glad he did not have to shoot that bull for it would have made that hunk of beef really mad at us!

Still being dropped into the unknown with ONE gun a .22 semi auto has much going for it......as long as we meet no Bull sized angry herbavores or carnivors bent on eating us.

On those neat Browning take downs; friend had one with a dedicated suppressed barrel (actually a Norinco he had gotten a good deal on) The suppressor worked very well and the action noise compared to other .22 Semis seemed very quiet. In fact the loudest sound when I test fired it at a tree rat up in a tree was the cursing when that hot shell case ejected out the bottom and rolled down the inside of my long sleeve. Any how my wife wants one and I think they are neat but I am a cheap, miserly gun buyer and it is not likely to be.

-kBob
 
DM~ said:
No, but i did spend 25 of it in the Alaskan bush, at times dragging my tube feed around hunting for something to eat. Not even one failure!
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I'm not really disagreeing with you on the reliability of a tube, but the question I'm looking at is what do you do if there is a failure?

Magazines can be swapped out. It's pretty easy to carry a bunch of spares when we're talking about .22 LR.

I see nice used ones around for $350.00, i'd call that afordable...

DM
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But you haven't seen my bank balance or the look on my wife's face when I bought the last batch of guns. :D
 
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