SHTF What Rifle do you grab?
- Thread starter jrhzn
- Start date
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Zombies.
StantonCree
Watch your beer
- Jan 23, 2011
- 23,932
I’d just bring Chad.
The calibers that will be most available during a SHTF event are:
9mm Luger
.45 ACP
5.56/.223
Coincidentally, that list and .22 equals the same, most sought after list during a panic buy.
...oh how I dread when those days will return.
BlueHeeler
Ultimate Member
And where would you find the available ammo? Walmart was pretty much cleaned out after one day of looting in Katrina.
Gun stores would suffer the same fate.
I am going to sit at home with spam cans of surplus ammo because it is too difficult to carry and too valuable to leave.
dist1646
Ultimate Member
Since we are talking rifles, my M40 sniper would get the nod.
Bugging out is full of enormous compromises and risks. Bugging in, too, of a different sort. Being inside the beltway, we'd have to fortify ... because there would be a big wave of bug-outs washing over us on their way out of Dodge. Tough call. If we had to go? Wife carries lightest AR15 we have, and I carry the short AR10. She puts her pet .380 on her hip, and I'd carry probably the 92F. I'd have the MKIV .22 with a suppressor in a pack. It would really suck to haul all that around, along with the rest of the necessities. Bad enough I'd have to leave my mom behind, but after that really bad grilled cheese sandwich fiasco back in sixth grade, I know we can't rely on her in an emergency. Kidding, Mom, kidding! You can carry that featherweight 10/22 and the iodine pills.
- Jul 29, 2014
- 49,963
I'm kinda with you on most. Bug in til and if the coast clears, bug out. We'll bring in moms and pops. What the heck. Things get real sketchy, we can always eat them. Then we di di mau.
We'll pack three calibers-5.56(I can kill anything with one), 9mm for tight quarters, and .22 for small game and such. All suppressed.
Alan3413
Ultimate Member
- Mar 4, 2013
- 17,078
Worst case, you can eat Mom if the going gets really tough. 
- Jul 29, 2014
- 49,963
- Feb 4, 2013
- 28,175
To me, bug out is a last resort. House is destroyed, or likely to be. No place to bug in.
Then, for firearms choice, it would depend on total circumstances. .22 is the choice for survival. Light, you can carry a lot of rounds. Big enough to take small game (and I know of cases of deer taken with a .22).
If there is likely to be more issues with personal protection, I would say AR in 5.56. Common round, and due to military, LOTS of it floating around. Small enough to carry a good amount.
Pistol, I would probably take two. One .22 RF. And the second either .45 or 9mm. I am more of a fan of .45. But the ammo situation and ability to carry a fair number of rounds favors the 9mm.
If more than one person, especially with children old enough, then you can mix among the group. Kids with .22s, that you can borrow to take small game. AR for protection and larger game. And a shotgun for protection and birds for food.
And BTW, yes, when I did my bug out bag build, I did two, one for each of us.
Then, for firearms choice, it would depend on total circumstances. .22 is the choice for survival. Light, you can carry a lot of rounds. Big enough to take small game (and I know of cases of deer taken with a .22).
If there is likely to be more issues with personal protection, I would say AR in 5.56. Common round, and due to military, LOTS of it floating around. Small enough to carry a good amount.
Pistol, I would probably take two. One .22 RF. And the second either .45 or 9mm. I am more of a fan of .45. But the ammo situation and ability to carry a fair number of rounds favors the 9mm.
If more than one person, especially with children old enough, then you can mix among the group. Kids with .22s, that you can borrow to take small game. AR for protection and larger game. And a shotgun for protection and birds for food.
And BTW, yes, when I did my bug out bag build, I did two, one for each of us.
WildWeasel
Active Member
The biggest problem is that Maryland isn't conducive to doing any bugging out, unless AOC shows up with eyes open...
Sure we can pack food, armor, water, and ammo(?), but pre SHTF, many of us can't even carry a pistol. Ideally, I'd have a pistol and a truck gun, but again, until the brown stuff and copper jackets start flying its simply not ideal. Obviously after who cares, but...
And personally I'd be bugging in for sure, short of the house getting destroyed. 1 month old baby kind of throws a damper on even leaving by vehicle and on foot?
But to answer the question, my 300 BLK carbine is up first; easy to handle with plenty of power, and theoretically a simple swap to 556.
Sure we can pack food, armor, water, and ammo(?), but pre SHTF, many of us can't even carry a pistol. Ideally, I'd have a pistol and a truck gun, but again, until the brown stuff and copper jackets start flying its simply not ideal. Obviously after who cares, but...
And personally I'd be bugging in for sure, short of the house getting destroyed. 1 month old baby kind of throws a damper on even leaving by vehicle and on foot?
But to answer the question, my 300 BLK carbine is up first; easy to handle with plenty of power, and theoretically a simple swap to 556.
Ammo Jon
Ultimate Member
- Mar 3, 2008
- 20,962
Unfortunately you just missed out on the best day to buy ammo.
If I was solo and need to travel alone then I would be looking at 10/22 for survival while staying out of sight.
If I had to protect the family during some bug our journey to some other safer location I think it would be the KelTec Sub2K 9mm. Mainly because the ammo is even more common than 5.56 and I could easily conceal the rifle if needed.
If I had to protect the family during some bug our journey to some other safer location I think it would be the KelTec Sub2K 9mm. Mainly because the ammo is even more common than 5.56 and I could easily conceal the rifle if needed.
Probably a few things....suppressed and select fire/full auto in .22LR, 9mm, .223/5.56 & 5.7x28. Its nice to have options.
- Dec 27, 2012
- 30,178
In a SHTF scenario there are two types of people: those who have a gun and those who don’t. The rest is just details.
My chest rig is set up with AR mags. I have a 10.5” SBR built on an Engage lower in 5.56mm. It’s run flawlessly. AAC 762-SDN-6 suppressor. AimPoint PRO, PVS-14. HK USP9, M11/9 with Lage upper and Octane 9 suppressor.
Muleskinner
Ultimate Member
I'd grab my Colt M4 and put my Ruger PCC in my pack.
