The best all around three gun battery

[Troublco]

Jerrymrc's one SHTF gun thread bothered me a bit, because trying to decide what one gun I'd take is like saying "Which one of your kids would you save?". Besides, there are folks here don't have too many, or are in the process of acquiring their basic set. Also, over the years I've been asked more than once by people serious about the subject. These are folks who want to have what they need, but they don't have a ton of extra money to get exactly what they want, or think they need, or whatever. So I'm curious what everyone thinks would make the best three-gun battery for all around general purpose use.
Here are my thoughts -

1. Bolt action rifle, scope sighted with iron sights for backup. .308 or .30-06 caliber. Synthetic stock preferred.

2. Shotgun. 12 gauge pump, probably a Mossberg 500 series or Remington 870. A two barrel set preferred, one around 28" with changeable choke tubes and one 18-20" for other, close in work. Plastic stock so weather doesn't affect it.

3. Pistol. Stainless .357 revolver, 4 inch barrel with Pachmayr or Hogue grips.

I have my reasoning for these guns, mostly relating to simplicity and covering a wide range of functions. They're not perfect, but I was trying to cover the most territory possible with one of each basic variety of firearm.

[bryjcom]

Gun #1 m14 type rifle. Hardly ever breaks, mags are relatively cheap, are very accurate, shoots 308, and can deliver one hell of a lot of fire power.Can be used for hunting, suppressing fire and sniping. Its one hell of a rifle in my opinion. Its extremely reliable-see below photos-Not one malfuntion with 40mph winds and lots of dust blowing. It took a whole can of brake cleaner and lots of Q-tips to get it clean again.

Gun #2 12 gauge shot gun of some type. Not really picky but I have bad experience with Stoeger over/under. I have a mossberg 500 with the 28" barrel. No reason to go tactical on this one. Keep it in the traditional bird gun configuration especially when you have the m14. It would be used more for hunting than protection.

Gun #3 I would go with a semi auto handgun of something. Me personally would be a 1911. Ammo is common, hard hitting and for me the 1911 with a the hammer cocked is pretty scary looking thing.

[SSChameleon]

#1 something in 308/30-06. I would love the M14 if money was not an issue.

#2 12ga pump or O/U. Not picky as long as it works and is reliable.

#3 Reliable handgun in a popular caliber. G19 would be a good choice. It's reliable and there will be many like it floating around in case you get desperate and need to trade off mags/parts or if you need to trade for mags/ammo/parts.

It seems the three gun combo is rifle/shottie/handgun. More important the semantics of revolver vs. semi or pump vs. O/U is keeping them in popular calibers. This gives more options to trade or scavenge ammo and parts.

[bryjcom]

#1 something in 308/30-06. I would love the M14 if money was not an issue.

You could by a springfield stnd for around $1300. Or you could get the parts slowly and build one up. You can get brand new cast recievers for $399, barrel for $200, oprod for $175, trigger group for $150-$200, rear sight for $75-$100, bolt for $150-$200, and gas system for $125, and all other small parts for another 100 or so including a cheap stock.

There are alot of new commercial parts manufactures out there now that are building quality replacement parts for the m14 so I actually see prices coming down some in the near future.

If you want links to these parts let me know.

[theGinsue]

#1. 30-06 for hunting
#2 12ga for close quarters use
#3 Beretta 92 - close quarters/personal defense. Ammo availability is good, easy to completely disaaemble and clean.

[Irving]

I think the reason the other thread was just one gun, is because every other "SHTF Gun" thread is 3 guns and the whole thread is filled with 90% answers of "bolt gun, shot gun, pistol."

[Graves]

M1a
870
92


Not that I'll ever need them but I have plenty of ammo and spare parts for each.

[Troublco]

I think the reason the other thread was just one gun, is because every other "SHTF Gun" thread is 3 guns and the whole thread is filled with 90% answers of "bolt gun, shot gun, pistol."

Waaaaaaaaaaaah.

Start your own thread if you want something different. Two, four, five, heck, what if you could only have a knife? What kind of knife would you want if you only have one?

[Irving]

I'm just saying...

[Troublco]

You have a point, however I'd say that shows, to some degree, the validity of the three gun set. Maybe, though, a better thread would be what would you take? One? Three? Seven? And what?