Gun Collection Essentials

[foghornl]

"OK, I'll play", he says while rummaging through the "Artillery Locker"

.22LR auto..yeah, got that, MK II Ruger
.38 snubby..yeah, got that a cheap Rohm/RG-38
9MM....hmmm nothing in here like that.
.357 DA revolver...hmmm no DA, but do have a 50th Year Blackhawk. Gotta get a 6" GP-100.
.45ACP...yeah Springfield Champion, and a GI-45

.22LR rifle...check 40th Year 10/22, and OLD Marlin 99.
.223......hmmm no "Poodle Shooters" in here
7.62x39...Yugo 59/66 SKS, complete with all the grenade launcher stuff
US Rifle Cal .30 M1 popularly known as "The Garand"
Mosin-Nagant M-44
Mossberg ATR-100 in .30-06

Maverick 88 pump with 2 barrels..28" mod choke & 18-1/2" cylinder bore

Oh, yeah...almost forgot the most fun gun for indoor [basement range] use.....The much feared "Red Ryder model 200 Range Rifle with compass in the stock" And no, I haven't shot my eye out....

 

[Big Larry]

Well, let's see: I think this is all I've got.

H&R 22 9 shot revolver
.25 Raven (not super proud but a buddy needed some money)
.357 Ruger Blackhawk
9mm Ruger P-95

Marlin 18 shot .22LR
Marlin 45-70 Lever Action
Marlin .357 Cowboy Carbine Lever
Henry .17 Yellow Boy Lever
Remington BDL 30-06 bolt
Remington 870 Wingmaster 20 ga
2 Winchester Ranger 1100's 20 ga
1 Winchester Ranger 1100 12 ga
1 Smith & Wesson 20 ga pump
Rossi SXS 12 ga 20 in. barrel
Mosin 7.62
Ithaca SXS 12 gal
Savage single shot 12 ga.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

oops

 

[epijunkie67]

Well, my take on this is that you asked about "essentials" and not "a good collection". I think there's a big difference. Even bigger depending on how you define "essential". Essential - guns you need for a well rounded collection, or essential - guns you need if it all goes to hell in a handbasket?

I usually put the minimum requirements for a well rounded collection into something like this.
small caliber pistol
small caliber rifle
large caliber pistol
large caliber rifle
shotgun
If you want an extra go with a medium caliber rifle.

The small calibers can be anything in .17, .22lr, or .22mag depending on whether you are looking at general shooting or SHTF. For SHTF you need .22LR, otherwise any of the others is fine.

The large calibers need to be good enough for self defense and hunting. For SHTF I think that means .357, 9mm, .40, or .45 and magazine fed .223, 7.62X39, or .308. For general purpose usage you could use anything in .243, .270, 30-06, 30-30, 45-70, or even one of the milsurps like 7.62X54R.

Shotgun for SHTF would be pump 12, but otherwise any good 12 or 20 gauge in pump, O/U, or SxS would be fine.

Personally, I use a heritage .22 revolver with both the .22Lr and .22Mag cylinders. My current small caliber rifle is a lever action .22 mag but I'm thinking about getting a marlin 39A for .22LR. My SHTF pistols are a .357 revolver and my .45 1911. Large caliber rifles are levers in 30-30 and 35 remington and an M1A in .308. Shotguns are a mossberg 500 in 12 gauge and SxSs in 12, 20, and 28. Medium caliber rifles are a lever .357 and an SKS in 7.62X39.

So I can go with either the SHTF senario or just regular shooting fun. I figure if I can't take care of the problem with what I've listed here then it wouldn't matter what other gun I had access to. It ain't gettin taken care of!

 

[Jeff Timm]

Are we talking "Personal Battery" here or "Gun collection?"

Personal batteries come in two flavors, Defense and Hunting, these are further defined as Defense (Location) and Hunting (Area or Specialty)

Examples: North American hunting: all high quality bolt guns, .22 LR , .22 Centerfire (.223 or .22/250), 7mm class rifle (.270, 7mm-08) Medium magnum rifle (.350 Rem Mag, .338 Win Mag, .375 H&H Mag), Browning Superposed with .410, 20 and 12 Gauge barrels, Remington 1100 Auto shotgun with interchangeable choaks and a Deer Slug barrel for states with limitations.

Suburban Development Defense, with Concealed Carry, .22LR revolver matched to .38 or .357 2" revolver, heavy 4" .357 Magnum revolver, .22 LR pump action, 12 Gauge pump shotgun.

Note, these are minimum batteries.

Geoff
Who doesn't not minimize his battery.

 

[22-rimfire]

These aren't collections; they are ACCUMULATIONS. Collections must have a theme of some sort. Just a pile of guns is not a theme. A broad theme might be one of each model made by Glock, or every 357 revolver variation made by Smith. You get the drift.

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

I would just add a nice large caliber magnum revolver. like a .454 casull or a .44 mag hunter model. Rifle wise i would add a nice stainless lever action...probably .30-30 or .45/70
My list so far includes...
Handguns
.44mag Super Blackhawk hunter (stainless)
.45acp Kimber Pro Carry II (stainless)
.357mag Taurus model 65 (stainless)
.357mag Ruger GP100 (stainless)
.357mag Ruger SP101 (stainless)
.32 Beretta Tomcat (stainless)
.22LR Ruger Mark II (stainless)
.22mag NAA mini (stainless)
and I have a 9mm Taurus 92SS laid away and I am searching for a .454casull Ruger Alaskan

Rifles
.45/70 Marlin 1895G lever action (stainless)
and I laid away today a .30-30 Marlin 336SS and a .30-06 Ruger M77 Mark II Sporter

 

[22-rimfire]

None of my business, but why are the guns so quickly? You win the lottery or did you just turn 21?

 

[PlayboyPenguin]

None of my business, but why are the guns so quickly? You win the lottery or did you just turn 21?

I do not mind the question. I used to have a collection of revolvers years ago but had to sell them to pay my car payments while I was in Iraq. I have always wanted to get another collection together but never did. Other needs got in the way and it just faded to the back of my list. I then happened upon this board and it kind of rekindled the flame. Like re-uniting with a long lost love. I am actually in a period of my life where I have some expendable income and also got a pretty good tax return this year so I decided to put it to good use. What wasn't eaten up by property taxes that is...

PS- I turn 40 this year. I barely remember 21.

 

[RichieV]

epijunkie67:

Well, my take on this is that you asked about "essentials" and not "a good collection". I think there's a big difference. Even bigger depending on how you define "essential". Essential - guns you need for a well rounded collection, or essential - guns you need if it all goes to hell in a handbasket?

I took "essential" to mean guns needed for a well rounded collection, and that's probably the wordage I would have used if it had occurred to me.

I think think the answer to the question of "what guns do you need once the SHTF?" is "anything you can get your hands on". However, I do believe there are certain guns which are ideal to have in given HIAH scenarios:

• Urban riot: .223 AR-15, 12 gauge 18" barrel pump-action shotgun, Hi capacity 9mm handgun
  
• Population-killing epidemic: Scoped bolt action hi powered rifle, .22 pistol, .357 magnum revolver
  
• Machines taking over the planet: 12 gauge autoloader, .45 long slide with laser sighting, phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range, Uzi 9mm

--Richard