If you could only have one gun...

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Haha...let's pretend we got stranded in a jungle or wilderness without prior warning and without being prepared in any way except one autoloader that fell from the sky.
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Or we were prepared and had a pistol in our ditty bag or "in case of emergency" locker. This is actually a GREAT question, because survival packs SHOULD include a gun.

Looks like the 10mm wins. I agree it's a good choice, but still lean toward the .22 because you easily carry so much more ammo. Especially when you are unprepared - like in an airplane crash.

I just threw out the smart-Alec answer because...well...it's NOT a smart Alec answer. It's what I actually bring when I go into the woods. Just in smaller quantities. Plus food and toilet paper.
 
I'll play...

I would not choose a .45 acp, 40 S&W, or a 9mm for this application. While these conventional handgun cartridges are good choices against men, none of these are really adequate to take down large beasties with any kind of regularity. In my book, the *minimum* caliber for stopping large predatory animals would be +p or +p+ hardcast .357 magnum ammo. With big beasties, you want penetration and you have to hit a vital area. I would prefer one of these cartidges: .357 magnum, 10mm, .41 magnum, .44 magnum, .454 casull, .460 S&W, .480 Ruger, or .500 S&W.

If I could only have one autoloading handgun for the application that you described, I would choose a 10 mm G20. It is probably the best compromise of power, capacity, size, durability, and reliability in a "survival" autoloading handgun.

If there were large predatory animals in the area, I would probably take my 4" Ruger Redhawk in .44 magnum over any autoloading handgun.

I do agree with everyone else: I'd take an autoloading rifle or a shot gun over any handgun any day.
 
Tough question.

Given that rounds of ammo are all equal, I'd take a Ruger stainless GP-100 .357 with a 4-inch barrel, no underlug. My rifle would be a Mini-14 7.62, but I also like the Ruger .44 mag carbine.
 
weird seeing these pics of rifles in a the handgun autoloader forums maybe people are just confused
 
I just can't see taking any autoloader pistol into a survival jungle enviroment!

MAYBE a high cap 357 sig Glock but that's about it!
 
MAYBE a high cap 357 sig Glock but that's about it!
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Why a .357 SIG Glock? The 10mm Glocks are more powerful than the .357 SIGs.

Plus, if you want true ".35 Magnum Auto" power in your Glock, just throw in a 9x25 Dillon barrel in your Glock 20, and buy DoubleTap 9x25 rounds.

With a 6" barrel, a 90 gr. 9x25 is hitting 2100 fps. With a 125 gr. it's hitting 1700+ fps.

With a 6" barrel, a 135 gr. DoubleTap 10mm round is hitting 1730 to 1750 fps.

Some powerful stuff from a semi-auto. :)

Still, I'd pick the DoubleTap 10mm 200 gr. WFNGC round for woods / jungle protection, if I had to carry a semi-auto pistol. Out of a 6" barrel, you're looking at 1430ish fps, and over 900 ft. lbs. energy... and 16 rounds of that in a Glock 20. :what: Or 21 rounds of it in a Glock 20 with a +5 mag extension! :what:

Here's the DoubleTap 9x25 selection to pick from: http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalog/index.php?cPath=24
 
4" 357 magnum medium frame revolver for the short gun. 12 gauge shotgun of my choice for the long gun.

These choices are the most versatile. AR15s are pretty limited in usefulness. I can hunt doves to ducks to deer to hogs to whatever with a good pump 12. I can get a rifled barrel if I want with rifle sights or a scope on the barrel for the big game stuff. Same gun works great for defense, better than any .223 rifle at defense ranges. It's also a great gun to have in bear country and a great survival weapon. Shot for small game, slugs for big game.

Autoloading handguns are specialty tools, not versatile enough to own as an only gun IMHO. My very first centerfire handgun was a Ruger Security Six, a good choice in retrospect. :D Carriable IWB, yet powerful enough to kill medium to large game, accurate, light, and capable of taking small game with .38 special loads. AND chambered for the best handgun fighting caliber ever invented, the .357 Magnum. It ain't no Sig, either. It can chunk a 180 grain bullet to over 700 ft lbs of energy from that 4" spout. That's handy on game.
 
PoorEastTexan said:
I just can't see taking any autoloader pistol into a survival jungle enviroment!
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I'd say that's probably a fair observation. I'd go on to add any other backwoods or desert environment. Although a revolver can last a lifetime, autoloaders are essentially spring-powered mechanisms. Recoil springs and magazine springs wear with use. If a magazine is lost or damaged, the entire gun goes South. If fatigue sets in, you begin experiencing malfunctions (known to revolver afficianados as "jams"). Same thing is true if the thing isn't properly lubricated. A revolver can function with all sorts of lubricants that can be found in the middle of nowhere. Not true with autoloaders. Oh, and if you choose an aluminum framed auto, you also risk damage and malfunction. Polymers may work, but I'd hate to trust one as my "only" gun for the rest of my life.

GP100_sm.jpg


This is what a good "rest of your life" gun looks like. It'll be around a lot
longer than the notebook computer it's resting on.
 
MCgunner, I think you missed my posts about the 10mm rounds from a semi-auto Glock 20 (or 29)? Go read 'em, then you'll change your mind about saying no semi auto is versatile enough for an all-around gun. Load the Glock 20 up with DoubleTap, and have a 6" barrel handy, and you're set. :)

People (on one GlockTalk posted) have taken deer down at 112 yards with his Glock 20. Ted Nugent goes to Africa with his 10mm Glock 20.

DoubleTap 200 gr. WFNGC flies in at 1300 fps and 750 ft. lbs. energy, out of a 4.6" Glock 20 barrel. Sixteen to 21 rounds of this? You'll spit on your .357 Mag revolver if someone handed you this beauty! :neener:

Confederate, Glocks are the closest you'll get to revolver simplicty, durability and reliability in a semi-auto. Glocks hate a lot of oil, in fact they like only very little. There have been major (and numerous) "torture tests" to see what they can go through; there have been Glocks with 250,000 rounds fired through them, etc.

Revolvers, if something breaks, usually you'd have to bring it to a gunshop to get it fixed; with a Glock, you can easily have plenty of extra replacement parts on you to fix it yourself; Glocks have a huge aftermarket for replacement parts... and for cheap, too! Go Glock 20 10mm, and you'll be okay. Ask Ted Nugent. ;)
 
No food...

Pistol is not going to save you from most big cats of the jungle (mostly because it's going to sneak up on you), and "hostile natives" today generally are armed with firearms, not bows and blowguns. I like to eat, so I say Browning Buckmark:neener:

People envision a scene of Rambo but in reality I much rather die from losing a gunfight than starving because every time I shoot a rat/monkey/squirrel they turn into a pile of mush. That would be rather frustrating.

I'll take a 12 gauge shotgun with a few rounds of birdshot, buck, and a few slugs, a .22 pistol, a knife or two and a tarp.

People (on one GlockTalk posted) have taken deer down at 112 yards with his Glock 20.
Click to expand...

Honestly, that irresponsible in my opinion. I could probably kill a deer with a screwdriver, but I use a .30-30 instead. Animals should not be used in stunts/to prove a point....


HB
PS- The ratmonkeysquirrel is pretty tasty. I like this topic
 
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I'd rather take my chances eating mushed up rat and other small animals, though. ;)

The 10mm is still powerful enough to do the job, and accurate at long ranges. So, yeah, a rifle is obviously better, but the 10mm still has the power to "git'er duhn." :neener:

Guys, this is a semi-auto pistol choice; stop coming in here saying "I'd rather have a rifle..." etc. That wasn't the question of the OP, so if you can't stick to it, then don't respond. :)

Again, if you were FORCED to pick one semi-auto pistol to bring with you, WHAT would it be? This is not saying a semi-auto pistol is the best choice. Get it now? Good! :neener:
 
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