Your Choice Of Weapons, Are They Practical?

For the fun of it, let's say that a massive CME hits the earth like it did in the late 1800s and shorted out the telegraph lines. Look it up. Any way, most of the really large cities hold millions and millions of people. New York, London, Sydney, Chicago, Los Angeles and so on all have millions and millions of people who will be trying to survive and live hand-to-mouth. In very short order the local parks, nearby streams, creeks and rivers will be stripped of anything close to being edible and then the surge begins where people will start to migrate out to the rural areas. See where this is going? The CME has caused the majority of transportation to stop running. Cars, trucks and buses are now rusting hulks because their computer chips are all fried. The 3 days supply of groceries are long gone in the the local grocery stores. So the only option left to people after a week or so is migrate out of the city to find, scrounge or barter for food.

So you are 100% right about the need for a person's gear needing to be practical. You need to think ahead and think like a trapper of old going out into new territory under the control of native Americans. That's because you'll be headed into territory filled with people who are not prepared and those people will ready and hungry enough to try anything to feed themselves and their families. Like the native Americans who hated incursions into the land and who often killed interlopers, you will have to be prepared on a 24 hour basis to defend yourself. Watch the movie titled "Jeremiah Johnson" which starred Robert Redford in it. That will give you an idea of how rough survival life can be.

 

My choice of weapons are
Compact 12g single barrel exposed hammer
.22LR compact bolt action, scope sling etc
.223R heavy 26in barrel bolt action, scope sling etc
Lightweight bowie type knife
various daggers in various locations!

 

Because I just use firearms for hunting, all I need is a good rifle with the best scope. I think the scope is very important for most of hunters, read more you will know why. So, quite simple.

 

Sidearm:
I like wheel guns but I know that either .357 magnum or .38 special isn't a caliber that is so abundant. Although I had a Charter Arms 38 Special which I loved. It was super concealable but 5 shots even as a side arm was problematic. 9mm is our police and military standard cartridge so it would make sense that this would be the best choice for a sidearm as it is very abundant. As for the gun i am old school... Either a CZ 75B or Arcus 98DA

Knifes:
I always have a pocket knife with me but but in addition to that i will carry an R1 bayonet... Full 440 stainless steel construction. Good for slicing and stabbing. The sheath also clips into my belt for retention.

Main Weapon.
I can think of no better weapon than a good 12gauge shotgun. It is a multi purpose weapon that under a 100m has no equal. Our police officers use them daily and ammo is plentiful and cheap. This Armed Combat is not bad at all.

 

Man those are some very beautiful weapons!

 

As I live in a rural area of Canada my choices would be a strong fixed blade knife, bow, 12 guage pump shotgun and a 270 bolt action. The bow keeps me off the radar, the shotgun and rifle keep my family fed if the humting and trapping are not going well.

 

Probably excess magnification!

 

An interesting question...

 

That is very fascinating Keith, thank you for sharing! I didn't know you could use a corn cob handle... That is quite a collection of rare weaponry / tools you possess!

 

I invested in 20 gauges. I bought two H&R single shots and two CZ Mallard O/U shotguns. I own a bolt action .223 rifle and a lever action Henry .22 magnum. I bought a couple cheap S&W 9mm pistols to have on hand. I have disabilities so "bugging out" isn't an option anymore. I had to come up with another solution. I guess I could explain it on another thread sometime. But 20 gauge shotguns are what I grew up with and I have confidence in them.

 

I have acquired cervical and lumbar stenosis so recoil is an issue. I have owed 12 gauges and admit they are highly effective. But as a kid my dad bought me a 20 gauge single shot and with that I rid the farm of pests. When I got older it was my first choice for my timber walking firearm. It hammered grouse with authority. Got a deer with it also. Their just fun for me. I have always wanted a Pedersoli flintlock Indian Trade Musket. Been a fantasy of mine. Someday I hope.

 

I have a lot of guns and most of them are very practical. To those of you in the UK I know that it is hard to imagine but where I live nearly EVERYONE has several guns. BUT even with the guns I also just have an affinity for sharp and pointy things. Most of them are also fairly practical I guess. If we have a Zombie apocalypse I can arm all of my neighbors with head removers. I am especially attached to a couple of big Bowie knives and several Cold Steel machetes. The thing is that while some weapons are more practical than others sometimes you have to sacrifice in one area to be better off in another. For example, while I admit that an automatic pistol has more fire power, I prefer more stopping power and so would carry a 357 mag in a revolver. I have a Winchester trapper in 357 mag and it is a pretty good all around rifle. I have gone down the AR and AK road but in the end just don't see them as good long term choices for me. They just EAT ammo and if you aim instead of spray the legality of other rifles isn't bad at all. If I'm on the move having one round for both guns that is easily reloaded is worth a lot. What makes you feel safe and comfortable is better than something that might give you a silly and false sense of power and invincibility.

 

Holy crud!!! They would LIVE at my house! I have somewhere around 50 guns in my house and cars!!!! I probably buy couple of guns a year at least.

 

I don't understand how people can let the police force execute people without charge or trial.

 

One of the sad facts about democracy and any form of majority rule is that it is based on the theory that 100 idiots are better able to rule and lead than 50 geniuses. In every country where there is majority rule you will find that the stupid and lazy are breeding like rats while the brilliant are not even replacing themselves and the smart are only having a little less than 2.3 per couple. Every generation is a little dumber and given the ability, idiots will always vote for free cake and circuses. So sad. It is such a lovely idea...

 

I love my trapper. It too is a .357. I have some reloaded rounds that use a bullet type that is the same as those that got banned years back. The bullets are designed to expand at handgun velocities; so out of a rifle, these bullets dump all of their energy into that which they strike. That said, I also like cheap range-blasting soft point .357s (flat nose, jacketed, lead exposed, non-hollow point) for survival put-back. Note that people shooting at you fire, then get back behind what they consider to be cover (obviously have been watching American TV & movies!), when in fact they are only getting behind concealment. The walls of most houses and businesses will NOT stop a solid bullet -- totally true of cars. Gang-bangers doing a drive-by shooting must be totally without thought -- they are open targets, their car provides them no safety from return fire. Another reason I love my trapper is that it is absulutely cute / adorable and I am a total nostalgia nut -- old cars, guns, machines, trains, ... I see these and my eyes light up like a little boy.

On a totally different subject, re: British home inspections of firearms, I've read that the Brits are trying to disarm the elderly. One specific story concerned an elderly war veteran who was made to weld-shut the bore of his Lee Enfield bolt-action -- only because he was old. He was no longer trusted to be able to make decisions for himself (nothing was said of him having Alzheimer's and I doubt he did). Me, I'd have packed up and left long before Big Brother got that arrogant. Of course, my genetics came form people who DID leave Britain and Germany and headed for the USA. No spiritual rape for me, thank you very much!

Where I'm from, Sheriff's Dept personnel look to the locals not only to protect their own selves, but also to cover their (the deputies') six o'clock. Me, I'm not going to just stand by and watch deputies or police officers get cornered & shot-at, no no no. If possible, I'll drop any felon trying to kill a law enforcement officer -- without a microsecond's hesitation, I'll do so. Even if I just got a speeding ticket, I'll help them out.

Don't kill felons unless in dire circumstance, else the cops will mistake YOU for a felon. I mean, put yourself in their shoes, how do they know who you are?! Me, if I had to take out a murderer or an arsonist, I'd fire from the back of a room out through the window ("cone of acquisition"). Come up to a window to fire and you'll be past-tense in a heartbeat -- you'll belong to the anti-sniper sniper first, then Satan. Poof, you're gone!
.

 

Where I live a guy I know put up a deer stand behind his business and so far has shot and killed two separate thieves. He used to get robbed almost every week end then Texas passed the Castle law and now you have every right to use lethal force on anyone that tries to rob you or harm you in any way. The local law enforcement if good with this all they ask is that after you drop someone you call it in and put your gun down before they get there. The crime rate has settled a lot and let me tell you the old folks have very little to fear they are serious and will shoot you in a flash if you break into their homes now. You don't have to warn them and can shoot them coming or going.

 

One unfortunate reality about the human species is that among them are those with whom one can never share any reason. Their skulls are filled with gristle. When they go violent, one must go Old Testament on them. Obviously the good people of Texas have recognized this dark reality and have adopted measures to deal with such.

Were that such genetics rare.

 

It is indeed sad. To me it is somewhat like snakes. Most are shy gentle creatures that offer no harm to any and fill necessary spots in an ecology. Some on the other hand are more aggressive and poisonous. They despite this are generally not desiring to harm you and also fill a place in the ecology. Unfortunately when you start finding them in your yard where your small children play you are forced to stop them and this often means killing some of them. Just removing them just doesn't eliminate the problem. When their populations increase they are forced into new places and just moving them out of your yard does nothing to discourage their encroachment. While I understand their right as a species to live, your little ones also have a right and you have a responsibility to those little one to provide them a safe play area.

Criminals breed criminals. You can take them put them in a place where they are contained for a little while and then release them back into the cities where they came from but this does nothing to alleviate the basic problem. At some point we as a people are going to have to understand and then act. I am truly sorry but timeouts don't stop murders and a thief is just someone that is going to kill you a little at a time. The man that I mentioned had been robbed EVERY weekend for years. The criminals knew that all they had to do was run and the law forbade you from shooting them in the back. The business that fed his family suffered by this loss over and over. They worked hard. The thieves on the other hand taught their kids that working is for fools and it is "smarter" to just steal what you want.

It IS sad but those two that were killed will never have any more kids and we will hope that maybe their children might have learned that maybe stealing isn't such a good idea and working might be safer.

 

I'm going to say something that could be taken as very dark and cynical. Political correctness needs to be burned off the Earth like the cancer it is. The only way I see this happening is via economic collapse and horrific riots that awaken the sheeple. I want the ivory tower elitists to have to physically defend themselves and their families from the savages to whom they currently extend protection. The good farmer burns his fields and plows them under in preparation for the new growing season. If a beautiful young dancer has a bone cancer in her leg, that leg must be amputated -- dancing may no longer be her career, however without this she wouldn't be here.

 

The thing you and I share as older people is that we were raised in a very different culture with totally different ways of looking at the world and different rules. Political Correctness has taken the place of Honor in western culture. I was raised by a man that believed that honor was the most important thing a man could have and conversely a man without it was nothing. Respect was something that you EARNED. If my Dad saw a man hit a woman he stepped in. His honor required that he defend those smaller and weaker than him.

S0meone that killed people or raped a woman were KILLED. It wasn't done as punishment it was simply what you did with any harmful creature. You don't lock up a dog with rabies you kill him. You might even feel sorry for it but you killed it. Criminals were basically looked at in this way. You locked them up to protect the innocent from them. Life in prison SUCKED! Hard work cold, hot and lonely it wasn't someplace that you ever wanted to go back to. If it didn't work and you were caught again you might go in and NEVER come out. Even if you did you were never given your basic rights back. No guns EVER. You did NOT vote and if you associated with other known convicted felons they threw you back on prison.

This topic was about practical guns and their practicality. Without guns in the REAL world, the bigger or more violent will RULE. When I was young I was a very big boy. Had I wished I could have taken about any thing I wanted from almost anybody. Honor made sure that I didn't do things like that but also had I been without honor good men with guns would have made sure that I didn't hurt people.

In the huge urban cities of the most liberal places you now see what no honor and no guns means...The dishonorable and criminal don't obey the laws and the first law they will break is to arm themselves. If you refuse to defend yourself and try to keep other good people from defending themselves what sort of person are you?? Kind or STUPID CRAZY?? I know what they will say. You need to just call the police. UNDERSTAND in the US the Supreme Courts have ruled that the police have no obligation to protect citizens it isn't their job. Their job is to investigate and apprehend criminals. I can tell you straight up that I'm going to kill you and as long as there are no witnesses there is nothing they can do...until you are dead. Depending on the police to protect you is like choosing a coroner as your family physician.

Any gun is practical!! Without one you are totally at the mercy of anyone that is bigger and stronger and less honorable than you are. With one you are not prey. You don't have to become a predator. A free man isn't free if he has to ask permission to be free.

 

One thing I point out to the politically correct is that if a man allows himself to become a victim without resistance, he guarantees that the felon will be emboldened thereby and will, most assuredly, go on to harm or even kill their next victim.

My next statement royally infuriates liberals; to wit, "Aggression is caused by the ready availability of victims." Do felons predate on those they imagine armed?! Lord no they don't. Felons are weak and/or lazy people who refuse to take honorable jobs; they want something for nothing. Felons are of a lower nature and must be crushed. If the felon was a youth, takes his punishment, and wises up, then that person may earn his right to enter back into society (watched by his parole officer, of course). The truly evil ones however, will always be dangerous, and thus must be locked up for life or must be executed. And no, I'd have zero qualms about being on the firing squad.

 

It is actually something that most people don't understand and may sound strange but having a gun isn't the thing that makes you not a victim in the eyes of a criminal. It is rather the mind set that would go along with the willingness to carry and use one. It is the attitude that keeps you mostly safe rather than the actual presence of the gun that makes you unattractive to a predator.

With or without a gun I am mostly safe almost anywhere and while being a big guy might help it is the lack of fear and willingness to fight that works like a shark repellent. I live in a place that is basically a study in this fact. Contrary to what TV and movies might lead you to think a prison is actually a pretty safe place to be. Guards and civilian workers are NOT armed except the guards usually have a small can of pepper spray on their belts. They are outnumbered hundreds to one and yet most manage to work there for decades without a problem.

Texas has over 150,000 criminals locked up in its prisons. If you look at that number and compare it to cities in the US of that size you would find that the prison is a wonderfully safe place as far as murders and such. Now, admittedly the real animals are locked up in cages 24/7 but most are only in their cells to sleep and if the prison is on lock up. They all have jobs that they go to and when not at work they have recreation and mostly run around free inside the boundaries of the prison. Oh and guess what, a lot of the prison has only a 4' tall 4 strand wire fence around the property.

The thing that EVERYONE that works in the prison learns fast or doesn't last very long there is how to be among people that have proven their antisocial tendencies in the free-world. Murderers, rapists thieves and normally people that you would consider scary bad dudes all around you and yet the smallest female guard can move among them with reasonable safety. Between my wife and daughter they have 35 years working in prisons and neither has/was ever been harmed. Even when working with the people on death-row you are mostly safe. There are bars and a few armed people up in the towers but what makes you safe is mostly an attitude and understanding the rules of the "jungle".

 

A practical gun in the survival sense is the one that you never have to use. This is one of the reasons that I sold off all my simi-automatic rifles except my Ruger 10-22. I realized that assaulting people is a good way to get shot and I saw so many people that were buying the AK and AR rifles with some sort of idea that these guns make them "safe" and "invincible". SERIOUSLY, these Rambo wannabes are going to be running all over the place shooting at everything and being shot. In a period of total collapse it is going to be like opening morning of deer season near a really big city. I NEVER hunted opening week. These crazy people would show up at the deer camps in droves. Get drunk and then head out to the woods before dawn the next morning. After that first week or so I would usually have my 3500 acre deer lease mostly to myself.

I realized that at least for the first few months the best thing to do if I wanted to survive would be to try and hunker down and be defensive instead of offensive. Assault weapons are not the best defensive weapons. Defensive weapons minimize the threat to my precious hide. An AR/AK is for moving through unknown territory where trouble could jump out at you from almost anywhere. It allows you to quickly respond to threats both near and relatively far quickly. It is not a very deadly little round but the ability to spry is what you need especially in situations where the exact location of your enemy is not known.

If you are not going to be aggressively moving from place to place doing a lot of shooting there are a lot of more practical weapons out there. For example; five guys armed to the teeth moving down a road on foot. These guys have every kind of high powered military looking weapons that money can buy. In a foxhole on top of a hill overlooking that road sits an old man with his old bolt action 30-06 with a 3X9 scope that he has used to kill a couple of deer every year for decades at ranges out to 300 yards. Now, who is in danger and who is safe? The old man has a lot of good options. He can just sit there and let them walk away never knowing that death had looked them over. If they are a threat to him in some way then he can put down at least two of them and then fade out the back of his hole, move to a second place and probably get another one or two and in the end have only exposed himself to minimal danger.

In the next scenario the same old man has let the massively armed guys get a lot closer. Once again though he is behind cover of some kind and his location is not known. This time he had his old Remington 870 pump 12 ga. loaded with buckshot and slugs. When they get close he opens up on them and once again he can pretty easily get two of them. A single hit from a 12ga is a game STOPPER! A hit from a 5.56 isn't unless it is a head or heart hit. The old man can duck and then cut loose again and if the assault group isn't real military they may all get killed before they can run.

The thing that I'm trying to point out in my long winded way is that unless you plan to assault people a more defensive mind set and weapon choices might be a safer and more practical choice. Let me assure you, there are a couple of things that the "assault" people haven't thought about in depth. If you get shot there is a really good chance that you are going to DIE and it is going to be slow and painful. With no medivac or hospitals if you are gut shot in the body with a 22lr you are a deadman walking and it is going to be UGLY! An assault rifle has several problems. They WILL lead a lot of people into the wrong mind sets. They EAT ammo. a 22 cal FMJ bullet is just not much of a stopper and even if the person you shoot will die later he or she may kill you too because that little bullet just didn't lead to a quick end. AKs and some of the newer 7.62 based ARs are better stoppers but also give away the big advantage of the 5.56 and that is that the ammo is comparatively light and you can carry A LOT of it.

Even if you are going to be on the move a defensive mind set will be better. If I HAVE to go down an open road I will NOT be walking down the middle of it and I may just wait until night to move through. Also let's be real for a moment. A bunch of people or even one, that is loaded down with a bunch of military looking weapons and dressed in camos is just sort of threatening looking. A group of people or even one alone with hunting weapons and in bluejeans and t-shirts just don't carry the same fear factor.

The best way to win ANY gunfight is to avoid it like the plague!! Be defensive. Be aware and alert and try to not look like an invading army when you are on the move. If a gunfight breaks out and you are not where you want to be long term then pull back go WAY around that place and move on. You are not in the army. You are not trying to conquer anyone. If you just want to survive you will learn that there is less danger in defensive activities and if you act like or look like a threat someone is going to probably just shoot you...defensively.

 

That is true, Keith, your weapons need to be practical. I agree, you need to be aware and alert. A low profile person appears to be a non-threat, but in reality those are the ones that will kill you.

 

Just saw this thread. I have 4 in my family. So 4 bobs with attending firearms.
I went with three rimless (.22lr,22 mag, and .17hmr) calibers. I added either a .41 magnum or .327 federal magnum. Everyone gets a lever action rifle, 200 rounds for both a rifle and a revolver in the aforementioned calibers.
Ammos is light, abundant (.22lr) man stoppers .22 mag and center fires). Two are very flat shooting to 100 yards. My one daughter is a good enough to kill deer by head shots with them -- if they are closer she can do it free hand.

I have bigger caliber handguns or AK or ARs, but I am not looking to hold off hordes. Coordinated accurate fire from two girlees a wife and a piss off daddy will do for all most anything.


BlindBirdDog

 

I'm jealous! I only have 50............or is it 60?
I have to look again.
C.R.S. Can't remember squat!
Lots of ammo however.
I simply must do an inventory and WRITE down my guns, serial numbers and inventory ammo.
Oh! I already did the gun inventory and order mo' ammo!

 

I want a lever action Marlin .22 so bad I'm peeing my pants!
Can't find one.
I don't think Marlin makes it any longer.
I settle for a Winchester .22 lever but they aren't made any longer either.

 

O.M.G. I just remembered another horror story from my police days.
Awful, just awful.
A young and very lovely girl of 15 lived in a middle class neighborhood and walked from high
school home, the last 5 blocks by her self.
Well an ethnic male began following her in his car driving very slowly.
After a couple times the girl told mom and dad but dad dismissed it 100% as a foolish
teen age girl imagining things. REALLY????????????????????????

This continued without being addressed.
Then late on night the ethnic man kicked in the front door high on cocaine and other
drugs.
(this make the miscreant invulnerable to pain)
The ethnic critter searched and find the girl in bed in a nighty while momma tried to
fend him off.
Dad is doing nothing but yell. (snowflake? sure as heck)
Ethnic knocks momma down with a fist to the chops breaking her jaw!
Criminal drags girl down steps with momma fighting as best she could and taking
a terrible beating.
Alerted neighbors call police.
Response time 5 minutes. a LOT can happen in 5 minutes.
Dad arms himself with a Ruger .22 auto pistol and yells at criminal to let his
girl go.
And dad yells, and yells, and yells, and..................that's all dad does!
Cops arrive as miscreant just about has all the girls clothes torn off and in his car.
Well then......................cops beat that guy near to death! One cop using a fiberglass baton
(night stick) BENT the baton permanently!
That's hard to do.
Finally one cop splits the gobblins skull and he lets go of one totally terrified young teen.
Score:
Teen girl traumatized for life.
Mother 100% ashamed of her hubby.(daughter is too I would think)
Neighbors know dad is a chicken chit.
Cops detest the dad.
I interview the gobblin the next day. Detective then, it's what I did.
The gobblin was in awful shape with a concussion, fractures of many bones, and eyes pretty
well swollen shut.
I couldn't even get a statement because HIS jaw was broken.
Not that a statement was needed.
I'm soooooooo glad I'm outa that line of work.