If you could have 1 or 2 long guns if the SHTF which would they be and why?

[Bypass]

Not pissed at all. I am curious what your 2 choices would be. I am on a limited Rifle budget and if I am going to spend the funds for 1 or 2 additional long guns I want to be sure they are wise choices. I am not worried about Zombies or a Foreign army, more an EMP, destruction of the internet, the power grid being taken down, food shortages due to bio hazards sprayed, looting, survival of the fittest type stuff. Still a stretch but to me this is more likely than a Zombie.

Never skimp on a weapon. If you are on a limited budget wait until you can afford a quality, dependable rifle. After 30 rounds an AK will go "click" at a time when you need to hit something standing directly in front of you. A weapon that locks back after the last round saying "I am empty" is nice to have at that moment.

Doesn't matter what you choose as long as it works well.

 

[FrogMan]

If i could only have one 1 would take a 22lr and a metric ton of ammo, if I could have 2 i would add an AR and the only reason i would take the AR over AK is that there are more parts and ammo for it here in the US third would be a nice hunting shotgun.

 

[Patronus]

If i could only have one 1 would take a 22lr and a metric ton of ammo, if I could have 2 i would add an AR and the only reason i would take the AR over AK is that there are more parts and ammo for it here in the US third would be a nice hunting shotgun.

I think the reason there are more parts for AR's is because AR's NEED more spare parts.

 

[William F]

My Uzi, in which I can use 22, 9mm, and 45, and a suppressed 308 covers the bases for me....

 

[Ogg]

If I only get one, it's a .22 and as much as I dearly love the Savage MkII, it'd be the old Remington. Why? Because it has iron sights that can be used if the scope fails, and because it will feed anything from shorts to longs.

If I get two, the second one would be a lever gun, and probably the 336 over the '94 for the same reasons noted above. Where I waffle on this one is whether the lever gun should be in 30-30 or .357 using the same logic employed way back when re: same cartridge in your rifle and pistol. I figure most anything I can do with an AR/AK/Mini-14 I can do as well (or almost as well) with the lever gun. Sure, it doesn't take a 30 round mag, but I'm thinking that if I need that kind of sustained firepower at range I can (hopefully ) just run away and hide.

Shotguns fall in somewhere around 3rd or 4th place under the assumption that most of the food I can get with a shotgun I can get with the .22. Still thinking on this one though, because your basic pump or O/U has a dirt simple action, doesn't get too pissy when it gets dirty, and rolling your own ammunition is dead simple. Hrmmm...

 

[TacticalTaco]

My AR and my SGL-31 will do just fine. Since we're talking hypothetical scenarios though:

Noveske N4 with Elcan Spectre DR with Geiselle SSA trigger and surefire mount. Loaded P-Mags with M855 and Black Hills match grade 5.56

AI .338 Lapua with a NightForce optic.

 

[TREDpunk]

What about a 22lr and a 308 such as the LR308 or FAL?

 

[howwie]

I'd feel good with my SAR ak, I'd just need more mags and ammo. Then I'd probably saw off a double barrel 12. Not for "coolness" but you can hit a squirrell with it, it's light, and much easier to carry than a full size rifle/shotgun. I choose the AK for a few reasons. Reliability everyone talks about, but for me it's comfort. I just work well with the ak. I feel confident with it in my hands, I know it's limits and strengths. Is it "better" than anything else? No, just better for me. Main downside is that it's heavy to lug around

 

[FredAlert]

GA is the reason that you DO want a long range gun. You can drop a target from hilltop to hilltop before it gets anywhere physically near you.

You've got all you need in the .22 and AR. If you want a little more reliability you could trade up to a gas piston AR like a sig 556 or something similar. You don't need a "standoff" weapon for SHTF because you won't want to engage targets that far out, as that will do nothing but highlight your position. A .223 will takedown any game animal in GA. If you want to get an AK, by all means but it's not better than an AR, it's just different.

 

[FredAlert]

It's a nice sentiment but it's BS ... a $500 AK will be just as reliable as a $1000 arsenal AK ....

Similarly a $500 loose fitting 1911 will likely be MUCH MORE reliable than a $1500 match grade 1911 ... why? It's all about
tolerances. The same perfect, tight fitting slides that make the gun more accurate make it LESS tolerant to any kind of debris that you would encounter in the field whether it's sand, dirt or even too much lube.

The entire point of an AK is that it is CHEAP ... the commies stamp them out of used car or soda can metal by the millions so that every man woman and child can have one ... and the CHEAPER they build them the more reliable they are because the tolerances are so loose that nothing can bind them up.

Ever wonder why a glock will chamber and fire any cheap crap ammo reliably? Because they took a page out of the AK manual ... they make their chambers slightly loose and out of spec so that even slightly screwed up ammo will chamber ok.

I also have a box of hipoints and I've had more misfires from $600 kahr or SW pistola's than I have from any of them and worse I have
a $35 (new price at the time) raven arms .25 auto that has gone bang every time you pull the trigger for 25 years.

It doesn't matter if you pay $50 for a gun or $550 for a gun you will have bad ones and you don't trust your life to it until you've put several
hundred rounds through it and broken it in to know that you can trust it under pressure.

Never skimp on a weapon. If you are on a limited budget wait until you can afford a quality, dependable rifle. After 30 rounds an AK will go "click" at a time when you need to hit something standing directly in front of you. A weapon that locks back after the last round saying "I am empty" is nice to have at that moment.

Doesn't matter what you choose as long as it works well.