My opinion, of course, by then, you asked for my opinion.
First and foremost, you need to own a good 22 rifle. Which kind don’t really matter. I’ve got ‘em all. Got some bolts, a lever, an automatic, a few pumps, a rolling block and a Martini action. Got single-shots and repeaters.
You need to have a 30/30 lever action. It should be a Winchester 94. The Marlin is acceptable, as long as it is 30/30. Nothing wrong with the 35 Remington – it’s a fine cartridge. But you need to have a 30/30. Can’t get much more American than a Winchester 30/30.
You need a 12-gauge pump – preferably a Remington 870. Now, there are lots of fine pumps out there. Winchester 12, Ithaca 37, Browning, etc. And there are many fine shotguns of other action types. But a shotgun just seems to say something. Over/under says “skeet shooter”. Side-by-Side says “elegant” and “European driven birds”. A pump is like a pickup truck or a station wagon. It says “everyday American”. And the 870 is the perfect pump. There are many fine gauges of shotgun. I, for some reason I cannot discern, am kinda partial to the 16. As I get older, I seem to like the 410 more and more. But, truthfully, anything you can do with any other gun, you can do with a 12 gauge.
You need to own a Smith and Wesson Military and Police 38 special revolver. It’s sad that I had to specify. At one time, if you said S&W M&P, everyone knew what you meant. K frame 38 special. But lately Smith has started to call their line of plastic fantastic automatic pistols M&P, and also their copy of the Colt AR15 is the M&P rifle. But I digress. Since 1957, when they started to give them model numbers, instead of names, the M&P has been called the Model 10. You can’t get much simpler than a double action revolver. Just point it and pull the trigger. No safety to worry about. Don’t need cocked. Just “bang”. 38 Special, while not the “best” anti-personnel round out there, will do its job if you do yours. K frame is big enough to give some weight to hold down recoil, but not so big that it’s too heavy to tote. You got six shots. It’s accurate enough for plinking, robust enough for combat. If you’re only going to own ONE pistol, it should be this one. The quintessential M&P is a 4-inch skinny barrel, but as long as you have one of some description, that’s okay. I’ll even allow a Model 13, which is an M&P in 357, a 64, which is a stainless steel Model 10, and a 65, which is a stainless Model 13.
You need a 1911 in 45 ACP. Now, there are many makers out there. There are the wartime guns. World War 1 – Remington Arms, along with Colt and the US Armory at Springfield. The World War 2 guns – Colt and Springfield, along with Ithaca shotgun, Remington-Rand typewriters, Singer Sewing Machine, Union Switch and Signal. Then there are the commercial guns. Colt and Springfield (not the military arsenal – different company but same name), Kimber, Auto Ordnance, Arcadia Machine and Tool, and a whole slew of ‘em made in the Philippines and sold here under different names – Dan Wesson, Rock Island Arsenal, Charles Daly. Remington sells one now, as does Ruger, S&W, and SIG. You can get them in lots of sizes – full size, commander size, officer size, compact officer size and long slide. You can get them in lots of calibers – 22LR, 9mm Luger, 38 Super, 40 S&W, 10mm and 45 ACP are the most common, but there are others available. You can get them in any configuration from military dress to totally tricked out, and spend anywhere from around 500 to several thousand. But I think everyone needs to have at least one box-stock 5-inch government model 1911A1.
You should have a bolt action “deer rifle”, with a scope.
Lastly, you need a good 22 pistol. There are so many of them. Revolvers and automatics. Single actions and double. Sizes from dinky to huge. I’m partial to S&W double action revolvers and Ruger single actions and autoloaders.
So, there you go. Seven guns. Everyone that calls himself a gun owner should own these seven guns.
Everything else is gravy.
