The shelves are empty, except for a few select calibers.  Those calibers are 243 Winchester, 30-30 Winchester, 270 Winchester, 7mm magnum, 45 colt and 30-06 Springfield.  A line of people are  standing at the counter in the hopes the store got a shipment in.

Sounds like something from a movie?  Nope, its the result of panic buying after the Communist Dianne Feinstein talked about another gun ban in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.

The calibers left on the shelf share some common denominators, they do not fit semi-automatic rifles, nor are they chambered in modern day military grade rifles.

The M1 Garand is chambered 30-06, but its not like the M1 Garand is sold by very many sporting goods stores. When someone goes looking for a new deer rifle, chances are the M1 Garand is not even on the screen.

There are semi-automatic rifles on the market chambered for 243 Winchester and 270 Winchester, but they are not very popular with modern day hunters.

What Was Sold Out

Everything besides the calibers listed above were sold out. 223 Remington, 22 long rifle, 308 Winchester,,,,,.

If it fit a semi-automatic rifle, and especially a military style rifle, it was sold out.

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Some kind of new disease has broke out, society has collapsed and no more trucks are rolling.  Over the following weeks the power goes out, the water stops running, people stop driving their cars and trucks, friends, neighbors and strangers come around begging for food.

The food preps are slowly being eaten.  But the food is not an issue, because you still have your backup food preps at your Bug Out Location.  If your family can reach the remote location safely, you will have food, water, seeds to plant a garden, and getting a rabbit out of the field next to the creek should not be an issue.  The problem is getting there.

Its been at least a month since your car or truck has had gas in it.  So now you and your family has to walk to the Bug Out Location.  Your family has to go through the middle of town, hit a set of railroad tracks, go about 30 miles following the tracks, hit a pipeline, go another few miles following the pipeline, then its just a short trip through the woods.  Your family should be able to make the trip in about 3 days.

You grab your Bug Out Bag, go to the gun safe, open it up, and you can only take one firearm, what would it be?

Ruger 10/22:   Lightweight semi-automatic rifle, magazine fed, fires 22 long rifle, ammo is light, easy to carry and is effective on small game.  The problem is, the 22 long rifle is not effective on deer and hog size game – well, unless the hog is in a cage and you can get a headshot on the animal.  Over the years the Ruger 10/22 has proven its reliability over and over again.

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Ok Survivalist, its time to talk about firearms every serious prepper should own.

Whether you are in an urban survival situation, have a homestead you plan on using as a Bug Out Location, bugging in, or bugging out to the wilderness, lets put together a solid list of well preforming firearms.

Requirements for this list require the firearm to have a long history of civilian or military service, and must have a reputation of being reliable.

Ruger 10/22 is the bees knees of 22 rifles. There are a lot of 22 rifles out there, but few of them can compare to the reliability and the customization of the Ruger 10/22.

My first experience with a Ruger 10/22 was sometime in 1984 or 1985 when 3 of my buddies and I were on a 3 day camping trip. We loaded up an aluminum boat and headed out to one of the bayous close to Bridge City, Texas.

On the second day of the camping trip after eating lunch, Allen and I took the dishes to the bayou to wash them. While we were washing the dishes, we saw a nutria rat on the other side of the slough. 1 shot with the Ruger 10/22 took care of the animal. Allen and I got in the aluminum boat we used to reach the camping spot, then paddled over to retrieve the nutria rat.

We skinned the nutria rat and brought it back to the camping spot where it was roasted over a camp fire and eaten. Even though we had just eaten dinner, it was just canned chili and we were still hungry. The meat from that nutria rat really hit the spot.

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What is your ideal firearm for a rural small farm (Bug Out Location)? Purpose is to protect property and livestock. For this article, lets say the setting can be during normal everyday life, and during a long term SHTF / TEOTWAWKI event.

During a SHTF setting, livestock are going to be very difficult to replace.

Its 10 pm, your chickens start making a fuss, what firearm do you grab? Do you use a shotgun, small caliber rifle, medium caliber rifle, or something else?

One of my ideal setups would be for a rifle and a pistol setup to share the same caliber.  There are several manufacturers that make carbines in various pistol calibers, such as the 17 HMR, 22 long rifle, 9mm, 357 magnum and 45 acp.

This article will be divided into 3 phases, discussion on shotguns, small calibers for everyday life, larger calibers for post-SHTF / a world without law. Since followup shots may be needed rather quickly, single shot firearms will not be discussed.

Shotgun

While a shotgun may be ideal for nighttime, there is a high risk of collateral damage. We want to protect the livestock, and not take the livestock out along with the predator.

Even though the Mossberg 590 is one of my favorite SHTF shotguns, I do not think it is appropriate for livestock protection. The 590 does not have a choke that can be used to change the pattern of the shot. The short barrel of the Mossberg 590 will have a negative effect on the shot pattern as well.

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Someone on my facebook friends list posted a picture of 4 survival firearms – pistol, Ruger 10/22, Remington 870 and AR-15.

I suggested the AR-15 be replaced with an AK-47. This is why I made that suggestion,

22 Long Rifle VS 223 Remington

When you look at the two calibers, the 22 long rifle bullet is not much smaller then the 223 Remington. If your shots are less then 100 yards, the 22 long rifle loaded with high grade bullets can get close to 223 Remington. Lets be honest, there is no way the 22 Long Rifle can match the ballistics of the 223 Remington.

22 long rifle, CCI mini-mag hollow points, 36 grain bullet, bullet diameter .222 inch (5.6 mm)

223 Remington, 55 grain bullet full metal jacket, bullet diameter .224 inch (5.7 mm)

There is not “that” much difference between the 22 long rifle bullet and the 223 Remington bullet.  Keep in mind we are talking about bullet diameter and bullet weight, and not the cartridge length.

Is there a difference between the 22 long rifle and the 223 Remington? Of course there is. But if I were shooting less then say 75 yards, I would take either the 22 long rifle or the 223 Remington.

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Lets say that some kind of SHTF situation happens tonight, how ready is your ammunition stockpile?  Whether its nuclear war, plague, disease outbreak, collapse of the dollar,,,, something happens to disrupt society.  What kind of ammunition do you have stockpiled to hunt and protect your property?  Have you taken any wild game with the ammunition you have stockpiled?  Have you sighted in your rifle with the various types you have stockpiled?

My wife and I made a trip to the Academy sports and outdoors in Lufkin Texas just to buy some ammunition. It seems that the walmart in Jasper Texas can not keep certain types of ammunition in stock. Its either buy online, or drive almost an hour just to buy some ammo.

Todays Haul Includes:

100 rounds Federal 223 Remington
20 rounds 30-30 Winchester in Remington core-lokt 150 grain
20 rounds 308 Winchester in Remington core-lokt 150 grain
20 rounds 30-06 Springfield in Remington core-lokt 150 grain
120 rounds 7.62×39 in Monarch 123 grain full metal jacket

You may be asking “why so much Remington core-lokt?”

Because its a proven performer in southeast Texas whitetail deer.

I stockpile what I know works. Over the past decade and a half my family and I have taken dozens of whitetail deer with Remington core-lokt and in a wide range of calibers.

A few examples of deer taken taken with 30-30, 270 and 308 Winchester. All of these deer were taken with Remington core-lokt.

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Some kind of worse case situation has happened, you and your family have to bug out to the Bug Out Location, and how what?

Keep in mind, this is a worse case situation, meaning you did not have time to grab any gear from your home. The only gear you have, is the gear you have stored at the Bug Out Location.

In such as situation, what 4 firearms would you want?

The firearms need to be reliable, somewhat service free, do not cost a small fortune and in case your Bug Out Location was broke into the firearms will be easy to replace.

The first thing people will probably say, “I want an M1A, FN/FAL, Remington Model 700 or a PTR91″. For the sake of discussion lets rule out all firearms that cost anywhere close to $1,000. In fact, lets rule out all firearms that cost over $500. This pretty much rules out all ARs and the majority of AKs. Lets go ahead and rule out all AKs just for fun.

Marlin Model 60 – the first thing people are probably going to say is, “oh come on, the Ruger 10/22 should be first”. I can respect that opinion about the Ruger 10/22, its a great rifle.

Here are the reasons why I listed the Marlin Model 60 instead of the Ruger 10/22

1 – The Model 60 uses a tube magazine instead of a detachable magazine. This means you have one less thing to worry about, which is stockpiling magazines or losing the magazine.

2 – Marlin Model 60 has a slightly longer barrel then the Ruger 10/22, which means a slightly lower report.

3 – The Model 60 has better sights then the 10/22. On the rear sight, the 10/22 has screws that have to be loosened then retightened to adjust the sight. The Model 60 has a ramp to adjust the rear sight.

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A few weeks ago my wife and I, and some of our friends, made a trip to the Bug Out Location for the weekend. Spending time at the BOL gives us a chance to test our survival plans, see what works, what does not work and what we need to change.

Every few months I make up a bucket of gear to bring to the Bug Out Location. Sometimes I bring tools, sometimes its flashlights, sometimes its first aid gear, chains for pulling logs,,, and so on.

I want to share with yall what I am putting together for the next load.

Trotline string – cost $4.97 for 580 feet, 235 pound tensile strength. I guess I could order some 550 cord, but that stuff cost around $8 for 100 feet. 550 cord might get added to another shipment.

We need some simple cord for tying stuff up. On the last trip to the camp, the chain that works the flap of the toilet broke. We needed some simple cord to make the flap of the toilet work. My buddy used the cord off my ear plugs to rig the toilet flap where it would work.

Nails – we are in serious need of nails at the camp. I am probably going to buy a tub of 10 penny and 12 penny nails. Not the small box of nails either, but rather a tub of nails.

Worse case situation, some kind of long term event happens, we need to build some kind of shed. Some of us chop a pine tree down, plit it into boards, but guess what, we do not have any nails.

While on the topic of nails, why not add in a couple of hammers and wedges?

Cigarette lighters – not for smoking, but for starting fires.

Even though I have around 2,000 matches at the camp, a lighter provides almost unlimited sparks. I picked up a 5 pack of large Bic lighters just to bring to the Bug Out Location.

First Aid – The never ending quest to have enough first aid items.  The dilemma I am caught in, do I stockpile isopropyl alcohol or some kind of clear whiskey? Isopropyl alcohol expires, whiskey (like vodka) never expires.

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While stockpiling survival gear for a long term SHTF / TEOTWAWKI situation, I think it is important to pause, review, and then move forward.  It does no good to stockpile the same thing over and over, while overlooking other essential preps.  The changing of the seasons, a new year, or every 3 – 4 months are good times to do reviews.

January, February and March of 2012 were dedicated to buying a Remington 1911 R1, stockpiling 45acp, collecting some some books on chickens, buying some chicks and building my chicken coop.  The 1911 is for personal / property defense, and the chickens are for a sustainable food source.

Related Forum Thread – My Chicken Coop Project

April, May and June of 2012 were dedicated to expanding my ability to purify water, some new cooking gear, expanding my stockpile of brass cased 223, buying some 308 Winchester, diversifying my stockpile of 22 long rifle and expanding my first aid supplies.

Purifying Water

If water purification is not at the top of your long term survival plans, it should be.  Without safe drinking water, life as we know it can not exist.

My recent additions were two Berkey black filters and a SteriPen Sidewinder.

The Royal Berkey I keep at the Bug Out Location has 2 black filters.  Each filter has a life expectancy of around 3,000 gallons – depending on water quality.   With the addition of 2 more filters, I can now filter an estimated 12,000 gallons of water.

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As I was stacking a new box of 30-30 Winchester (Remington core-lokt 150 grain) and a box of 12 gauge slugs on the shelf, I started thinking about having a well rounded ammunition stockpile.

When talking about ammunition, we need to realize that there is no perfect answer.  I live and hunt in southeast Texas, my longest shots are in the 125 yard range.  200 yards is a long shot for this area.  The only place we get to see 200 yards, much less shoot that far is either on a pipeline or a highline.

In New Mexico, west Texas, Arizona, Colorado,,, 200 yards might be a short shot.

Talking about stockpiling firearms and ammunition for a long term SHTF survival situation is like talking about trucks.  Do you need a truck to pull a boat down to the local boat launch, or do you need a tractor trailer rig to pull 60 tons?

Someone in the south with dense timber will probably do just fine with a 30-30 or 308.  Someone making 200 and 300 yard shots may need a 25-06, 7mm magnum, 300 Winchester magnum, 30-06,,,.  Someone in Alaska where grizzly is an everyday threat, maybe something like a 338 Winchester Magnum, 375 H&H or 12 gauge slug.

Lets use this article as a generalization, rather then an exact science.

To kick off the discussion, lets start with the two boxes I bought today:

1 box – 30-30 Winchester (Remington core-lokt 150 grain).

1 box – 12 gauge 2 3/4 inch Winchester 1 ounce slug.

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What other ammo can you buy 500 rounds of for less then $20? Just a few years ago a brick of 550 rounds cost in the $10 – $11 price range. I wish I would have bought several cases 5 years ago, it would have saved me a lot of money.

No other type of ammunition is more practical to stockpile then the good ole 22 long rifle. One reason why the 22 long rifle is so popular today, is that during the great depression, 22 long rifle is all people could afford to buy.

Its cheap
It stores well
Low report
Low recoil
Anyone in the family can shoot it
Rifles do not cost a fortune
Works in rifles and pistols
Effective on small game
Does not cause excessive damage to the animals
Report does not scare livestock

What more could you want?

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A buddy of mine and I are planning a 100+ mile 3 – 4 day river camping trip. On this trip we will be going into some pretty remote areas. After we put our boats in the river, there are no boat launches for probably 50+ miles. The location is East Texas on the Sabine river.

I would like to bring either a rifle or shotgun for personal protection. Black bears are known to be in the area where we are going, as well as everything from coyotes to wild hogs.

I am more concerned about running into a rabid raccoon, then having problems with a black bear, but you never know.

The options are:

AR15
AK47
Mossberg 590
Ruger 10/22

My first choice is the Ruger 10/22. Its lightweight, ammo is easy to carry and the 22 has a low report.

My second choice is either the Mossberg 590 or AK-47.

The mossberg loaded with slugs or buckshot is capable to taking down anything in this part of Texas.  I mounted a Surefire light on the Mossberg 590 last night.  In a marshy area, having a weapon with a light on it sure could come in handy.

The thing with the AK, its reliable. I dont think I have to worry about the AK getting muddy and not working.  At this time I do not have a light mounted on the AK, but I am working on it.

My third choice is the AR-15. The 223 is loud, and I am not sure how the 223 would work on black bear if one where to enter our camp site.  I have some parts ordered to mount a light on the AR.  It should be ready in plenty of time for the trip.

I am not “that” concerned about black bears, but I think they should be taken into consideration.

If I wanted a weapon with a light, the choices would be either the Mossberg 590 or the AR15.

Pistols:

I thought about bringing a pistol, but some law enforcement people get pissy when you have a pistol.

Post your comments in this forum thread about taking a firearm on a river camping trip.  There is a poll in that forum thread.  If you do not want to post any comments, at the very least log-in and place your vote.

This evening my wife and I went to the camp (aka Bug Out Location) to check on things.  While I was looking through the ammunition stocks, it was like someone turned on a light.  I realized the ammo that I was looking at was divided into 2 categories – small rifle (22 long rifle) and medium/large rifle (30-30, 308 and 30-06).

The 223 and 7.62×39 are stored separately from the main hunting calibers.  When my family goes to the camp during deer season, they do not need to dig through 500+ rounds of 223 to find a box of 30-06 or 308.

While I was looking at the 22 long rifle and the 30-30, 308 and 30-06 I realized that most people would only need 2 calibers for a shtf survival situation.

1 rifle caliber for small game hunting.

1 rifle caliber for everything else.

22 long rifle

Lets say that some kind of long term disaster happens, such as civil unrest, climate change, new disease breaksout.  You and your family head to the remote camp.  Unless you have a small farm with chickens, rabbits, hogs, or goats, the main source of meat is either going to be fishing or hunting.

The 22 long rifle is well suited for taking just about any small game in North America, maybe even anywhere in the world.

If the muzzle report is a concern, stock upon 22 shorts or sub-sonic ammo.

If you need a little more power then the 22 long rifle, there is the 22 magnum.

When my dad was growing up, one of the families main sources of food was small game, like squirrels.  For hunting the tree rats, my dad used 22 shorts.   When I was growing up, my dad used to take me and my brother squirrel hunting every winter.  Instead of using a 22 rifle, we used shotguns – my dad used a 12 gauge with #4 shot, and I used my single shot Winchester 410.  when I got old enough, my dad bought me a Montgomery Ward Western Field (Mossberg) 12 gauge pump shotgun.

Related forum section:  Ruger 10/22 Forum

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There is a thread in the forum asking whether the 7mm or 8mm would make a good caliber for a survival rifle.  When you walk into a pawn shop and you see a bunch of a certain type of firearms, that is usually not a good sign.  If people like a product, they tend to hang onto it.

22 Long Rifle

The 22 long rifle should not need an introduction.  The ammunition can be fired in rifles and pistols, firearms are not expensive and they have a long life expectancy.  With the low recoil of the 22, parts last long then a full sized rifle caliber.

The low cost of the 22 ammunition makes it attractive to survivalist who want to stockpile thousands or tens of thousands of rounds.

The 22long rifle is effective on small game and does not do a lot of damage to the meat.  When you use a 12 gauge on a squirrel, you might have to pick out a bunch of BBs.  If you take a squirrel with a 22 short, you have 1 bullet hole.

A couple of my favorite rifles in 22 long rifle include the Marlin Model 60 and the Ruger 10/22.  My Ruger 10/22 was bought in January of 1986 and is still going strong.

223 Remington / 5.56mm

Standard service round of the US military.  there are survivalist out there that plan on using the 223 as their main survival rifle after SHTF, but I personally would not want to use the 223/5.56mm on deer sized game.

If you want a rifle for hunting after SHTF, there are better options out there besides the 223.

One of the really nice things about the 223, there is a wide range of rifle options available on the market.  There is everything from bolt actions rifle, to the Ruger Mini-14, to the AR-15.

243 / 6mm

The 243 is favored by a lot of people who hunt deer sized game, mainly due to the low recoil. for small framed people the 243 is a viable deer option, but bullet placement is critical.

I say the 243 is good for small framed people, but I used to work with a guy that was around 6 feet 3 inches tall, and he liked using the 243 for deer.

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the 243.  Shooters should be aware of the limitations of the cartridge.

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It was the last weekend of regular deer season, saturday night. A long time member of the deer lease drives up to the camp, and backs his truck up to the scales. That is usually a sure sign that there is a deer in the back of the truck. They get the doe weighed and are stringing it up to skin when I walk out there.

As the skinning of the deer proceeds, there are a few of us standing around helping and watching. The topic turns to the cost of ammunition and bullet performance.

Like a lot of hunters, I tend to buy the cheapest ammo on the shelf – and that is usually Remington Core-Lokt. Over the past 14,,,, 15+ years Core-Lokt is about all that I have bought and shot deer with. During that time I have had no complaints. There is usually a hole going in and a larger hole going out.

The guy who shot the doe goes on to talk about Remington Core-Lokt and how he has since switched to Winchester softpoints. The rifle the guy used was a 270,,,, I do not remember the exact make or model. After talking for a little while, the person who shot the whitetail deer said that he has not been happy with the performance of the Remington Core-Lokt lately and that he felt it may not be expanding like it should. So he switched to the Winchester softpoints.

Whitetail deer taken with 270 remington

I can say one thing about the doe that was being skinned, there was a massive amount of bruising, bleeding and tissue damage. It was like the whole area where the bullet went through had residual damage to the surrendering tissue.

Doing a mental comparison of the deer that was shot with a 270 and Winchester softpoints, and the deer that my son took a couple of years ago with a Marlin 30-30 and Remington Core-Lokt – the 270 caused more tissue damage – both rifles were shooting 150 grain bullet. The 270 travels at a higher velocity then the 30-30, but the 30-30 is a larger in diameter bullet.

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