The ONE gun for SHTF

[thvigil11]

M1A my friends. Its hard for me to argue against the versatility of 7.62 Nato, the reliability of the platform, plus overall coolness factor for mowing down zombie hordes. HA

[TriggerHappy]

M1A my friends. Its hard for me to argue against the versatility of 7.62 Nato, the reliability of the platform, plus overall coolness factor for mowing down zombie hordes. HA

I agree with thvigil11, cool factor and just an all around good battle rifle.

[rforsythe]

Interesting thread, and something I've been pondering for a while now. In true SHTF, it's not going to be a day at the range - so forget your usual routine of meticulous maintenance, known easy access, etc. Also a huge pile of quickly re-loadable ammo is good, but I have to assume if I am getting into a gunfight anywhere I'm not sticking around long regardless of whether it's my house or not - if they came once, they're coming back later with friends. So having ammo available for my weapons is good, but being able to sustain a prolonged gunfight is unlikely - if it's that drawn out, either it's me against a horde, or we're both incredibly crappy marksmen. Since I know I can shoot, I have to assume #1 and will be looking for an opportunity to defend, but escape and live to fight another day. I would rather have what I need bagged up and ready to grab and go.

So my criteria would be ease of use, and above all else reliability even when I can't clean/oil it for a while. Honestly, I think a .357 Smith revolver with some speedloaders ready to go would do quite a bit of damage, and the lack of moving parts makes them ideal for a long term low/no-maintenance scenario. I'd trust my Beretta 96 any day based on experience, but I've also never run it dirty and dry.

For long guns, pump shotties are always a crowd pleaser, and the design has been around long enough that reliability isn't generally a problem assuming you start with a clean and oiled one to begin with. They can have issues when dry/dirty though, so for absolute reliability something like a double barrel might be better. You won't get rounds off as quick after the first load, but it's a close-quarter gun IMO so if you need more than two, your day has already sucked.

As rifles go, again bolt actions are going to be the most maintenance insensitive. My .270 Win is cheap, reliable, holds 5 in the in-stock mag, and would likely fire for a long, long time without any work. I'm sure getting the pin gummed up will make issues, but any useful rifle is going to have that issue. Of course the SASS makes a statement as well, but will eventually foul without cleaning, being a gas-driven AR-style gun. Up to that point though, it will drive tacks to a very long distance. Either one will have ammo readily available (though if the S has HTF you probably want to have it already no matter what you're shooting, because everyone else will be grabbing what they can find too). A 5.56 could be fun (though I do not have one so can't really speak to it), and 10/22's are highly customizable and can lay down an impressive amount of lead.

For ultimate can't-kill-it, proven reliability though, I would have to say an AK. They can be had cheap, enough people have them that it shouldn't be a total one-off for parts or ammo, and they are basically indestructible as proven by decades of use by people who do zero proper maintenance and beat the crap out of them, but still manage to kill plenty of their enemies.

Of course the thread didn't specify "what you own" versus "if you could buy any kit". If I'm using what I own, I'm quite confident that even with zero maintenance, I can act defensively for quite a while (perhaps indefinitely to a point, though the semi-automatics are eventually going to have issues without at least an occasional clean+lube). If I was going to start from scratch though and go solely on reliability and the least maintenance required, I would stick with a .357 revolver, a short double-barrel shotgun, and either a good bolt-action rifle with some capacity or an AK. Of that list the bolt action rifle is the only one I do own (though I've been waiting for a smoking deal on a revolver to pop up). That and of course a pile of ammo for all of it.

The "best gun is the one you have on you" idea is 100% valid, but I am assuming for purposes of this argument that I'm either able to see disaster coming and get home first, or make my way back to get my stuff if the situation was one where I felt personal defense was going to become an issue.

Just my $0.02 though, and I am enjoying reading everyone's different opinions (which are all good, and highly subjective to the individual).

[ChunkyMonkey]

590 or 870 with variety of ammos