Considerations for rifle selection you should consider for hunting/SHTF rifle

[Hummer]

There are several ways to evaluate a rifle in my opinion that you may need in a SHTF situation.

1. The main question is this. What design will last the longest without maintenance support? i.e. be capable of firing the most number of rounds day in and day out with little or no maintenance? Chrome barrels will eventually flake off the right piece and the accuracy will deteriorate. CIP I once went to a funeral and bought a rifle before I left the cemetery. Got home and put a bore scope down the barrel and the chrome was pitted from one end to other. It was a SKS. I dumped it for a profit. Chicom ammo is generally corrosive which is I am sure what it was fed in a previous life. CIP don't depend on COMBLOC ammo. I would not consider a gas operated rifle as that is a situation waiting to go south quickly.

2. What will be the easiest to maintain in the field WITHOUT SPECIALTY TOOLS? Basically if you need more than a Leatherman Wave it will be iffy. A Leatherman Surge would be better. I carry a Wave for day to day things but a Surge has a big blade that will be better for action screws and I have both.

3. What will it require a very minimum of spare parts to keep it going? At a minimum a spare striker (firing pin), striker spring, extractor, (maybe a ejector) Your immediate thought should be if " I was out right now, had the part, could I put it in with a Leatherman Tool or better yet NO TOOLS?"


4. Can it accommodate subsonic cast bullet loads without incurring maintenance issues? There is likely to be situations where it will not be a good idea to touch off a center fire rifle than can be heard miles away when you are hunting for food because of the tendency to alert potential hostile visits. You need to be able to cast bullets with sufficient weight to achieve significant penetration for best terminal effects for a kill. Bullets weighing 200+ grains launched at 1100 FPS will probably be your minimum to achieve a through and through terminal delivery. Living things die as a result of a loss of blood and two holes (in and out) leak twice as fast as one hole per Col Fackler MD of the Army Wound Ballistics Lab.

5. What is the longest effective range with jacketed full performance ammo that incorporates 1 and 2,3 and 4 above will your rifle be capable of?


6. If you have a shot at say 300 yards on game can you be reasonably certain you can make the shot? If you can't hit it you can't kill it. At a bare minimum your choice should be able to knock over a 12" sq X 1"thick piece of steel plate at 300 yards.


7. The US Army Infantry board used to have a requirement that a rifle be capable of being used as a step to help troops over walls and into window openings etc. Such a capability would more likely be beneficial if you fell on your weapon. When the M16 came out that requirement mysteriously disappeared because the military wanted to please those who wanted to please the politicians. ARs are the most prone to break in half in a fall breaking off the rear ring on the lower receiver.


8. Can your selection be hardened up to achieve such? Say your wanting a bolt action rifle, the weak part of the stock is the area just to the rear of the receiver. Plastic stocks coming now on factory rifles can't be bedded well as no glue will stick to them. (Hint: I knew a stock designer at Remington (passed now) and he designed them and he confirmed no glue would adhere to them thus no bedding material. Wood stocks can be had and some of the grip areas are pretty thin. You can take a long 1/4" drill and run it down through the pistol grip and insert a piece of ALL THREAD 1/4" rod GROUND FLAT ON ONE SIDE and a screw slot cut in the end. Prior to insertion of rod pour in Devcon Two Ton Epoxy and insert the rod. The rod will start to compress the epoxy and it will be forced to the bottom and sides of the hole and then want to escape and can do so along the flat ground area where the threads are ground down on one side of the rod. Insert rod with a screwdriver in the slot turning the rod as it goes in. You should see epoxy coming out the hole when the All Thread contacts the bottom. If not back it out quickly and add more epoxy. Let it sit up over night and you can pretty well forget a the stock break there. Even better get a design with a laminated wood stock and do the rod enhancement.


9. Does the rifle you are considering have stripper clip reloadability or detachable box magazine? Most hunting rifles these days are 4 in 1. Four rounds in mag and with a little finger finesse you can insert the 5th round. If you are hunting this may be acceptable but if you are placed in a defensive situation the ability to reload in a hurry can be detrimental to your situation. IMHO you need a rifle you can on command pick up and load five rounds in, fire them, reload five and fire them in no more than 60 seconds. The WW1 battle rifles had this capability on both sides with the Brits having the capability of loading ten rounds at one time in the SMLE rifles.


10. What is your plan to mount a fire control system? This is the military terminology for sights. Most iron sights will not allow you to engage a 6" target at 300 yards unless the light is very good and you have excellent eyesight of 20-20 or better. If you are considering iron sights go out in the woods and set up a dark colored target at 300 yards and walk off while looking back frequently. When you can't see it measure the distance to the target. Thus optics should be considered. Receiver mounted scopes inhibit your ability to reload in a hurry unless you have a detachable box mag on your rifle. Most detachable box mags have 4, 5, 6 or 10 round capability and these can be very pricey. That means optics with lower power as you need light gathering ability in order to be able to separate your target from the surroundings. I like scopes with low power and the largest front lenses I can find. No more than 2-7X. I have some scopes that are 1X which will give you much more clarification than iron sights.


11. You can get scope mounts that will allow you to mount long eye relief scopes (Scout or Pistol) on your barrel. They are pricey but functional. These make for quicker aiming or in the words of Gen Nathan Bedford Forrest when asked about how is troops were so effective? He said, "Get there the firstest with the mostest." Gen Robert E. Lee was asked which was his best general and he said Forrest.


12. You need to be able to place a plastic cap on your muzzle because a dropped rifle, fall etc can present you with a muzzle full of dirt which you do not want to fire with that in place. A good source for these are known as cap plugs and they come in different diameters and colors. You want a snug fit when slid over your muzzle. If you have lots of time you can remove the cap, if you have an emergency aim and fire. If you can't get a cap plug the diameter of your muzzle wrap the muzzle with tap to increase the diameter and slide the cap plug on. A 16MM cap plug will fit on many sporting barrel weights with muzzles of .600 to .625 diameter. These plugs might weigh an ounce for several dozen so lay them in and carry spares. Bottom line is you can keep a barrel going a long time if it is protected from dirt, moisture and in the South dirt dobbers.


Lets say you do get a muzzle full of dirt, a pull through string cleaning rod won't dislodge rammed in dirt. It is going to take a jointed rod to accomplish this. Military cleaning rods are generally made of steel, they generally don't assemble straight and used improperly may destroy the accuracy capability of your rifle in one pass especially if inserted from the muzzle. I have found a three piece brass cleaning rod at Wally World that appears to be ideal for 22 cal up.


13.What kind of sling do you intend to use? Forget leather. A cheap sling that will last forever is the black rough weave silent slings made for the M16 rifle that can be had for a nominal price. I have seen them for 2.00. If you have one of the military green cotton slings that is tired or breaks you can replace the cotton material with the silent sling material, sew it up just like the green one. They don't rot and are extremely strong and won't slide off your shoulder and should hold up for years and can also be used as a tourniquet.


14. What are you going to attach your sling to? I purchase M1903 sling swivels, inlet stocks and mount them and they are secured by two screws. Mount the front one at an appropriate place there so you can shoot prone supported by your sling. Mount the rear one on the side of the stock about 1" forward of the buttplate. If you are right handed place sling swivel on left side of stock. Opposite if side if you are a lefty. This will allow you to carry rifle muzzle down and butt of rifle slightly below your shoulder and under a poncho or zeltbahn keeping your rifle clean and dry and not snag on tree limbs you may duck under. It will present a image that you are unarmed to personnel at a distance as the rifle will be close to your side and not silhouette itself.


15. Lets say you have your selected cleaning rod. What are you going to clean our weapon with? Liquid bore cleaner can be totally gone in seconds when knocked over.


There is the single point screw in studs. The only sling hardware acceptable for these is the Uncle Mikes milspec swivels or the Mossy sling swivels that take 1 1/4" wide slings as they are the most durable I have seen to date except the 1903 sling swivels.


As a final protective finish get Sandstrom 28A and paint your rifle with it. Don't worry about getting it in spray cans, get the paint on variety. You need to agitate with very well to suspend the molybdenum disulphide while you paint your metal. I do this by making taking L shaped wire about 1/8" thick, bend it 90 degrees and place other end in variable speed electric drill. Mix contents well to suspend the contents that settle quickly to bottom of can. All the metal on your rifle will now be a very dark gray.


If you muzzle is in the neighborhood of 5/8" or thicker you can have your muzzle threaded 1/2X28" then screw on a M16 flash suppressor and use M16 muzzle covers. If your rifle is bigger than 22 cal open the inside up to clear larger caliber bullets. Thus your crown is better protected and the chances of having your position exposed by flash signature is greatly reduced. The basic rule again here is if you can be seen you can be hit.


If you have made the right decisions on rifle and assembly you should be able to perform the following:

Set a candidate rifle out on a bench and shoot it one round a week and never clean it. Let it get rained on, don't ever clean it, don't lube it, don't ever leave wet ammo in the chamber the moisture will create galvanic action and pit your chamber. In other words treat it like you could not care for it just like you are in a SHTF scenario. Zero it at say 300 yards on a 6" plate and your one shot per week aim for the plate and see if you hit it.

Bottom line is there are very few weapons that will get along with little or no care and therefore the one you choose you are in a sense betting your life on and if you have one that is likely to need parts are you going to carry them which begs the question of whether can you put them in yourself with no tools? If you happen to live near the ocean the salt atmosphere is going to play havoc with your choice as well.


16. Choice of calibers. This will give you are pretty good idea of caliber selection.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19XN_ck8dsmb_F3uL10AxZYryvVEcxVTa?usp=sharing

Note: If you have the ability to reload your chances of keeping your weapon going for many years is significantly enhanced if you have components laid in.

 

[Ray B]

When civilization dissolves I suspect those that survive will be those that have skills to organize people into a community based on each person providing a needed skill. Eliminating other people with whatever implement is at hand is only one skill and it's value is generally short term. Study history and how people have come together for common good and you'll see that there is a lot more to life than just eliminating the "others".

 

[Hummer]

You should visit Jamestown Settlement Va and hear the lectures of the folks that are investigating what happened there and their findings include evidence of how they ate their dead to survive. They are digging continually and their conclusions over the last six years of hearing the presentations never change as we visit there every time we go.

I don't believe I said the plan was to eliminate others but if they are coming for what you have that they don't seems like a logical plan is to defend yourself and your family.

I remember hearing stories of those that survived the depression in the 30s here of roving gangs going through the countryside and stealing from farms and I knew a guy that told me how they climbed up on moving trains and threw of hunks of coal to provide heat for their homes.

We are all hunkered down here now for the virus and I am told the first things to disappear was all the ammo in the stores followed by toilet paper.

Just yesterday I was out walking and this pickup truck came down through our area with two males in it creeping along at about 8 MPH looking. I called two neighbors quickly down the road behind me and they told me they were looking over all the farms as they came slowly by. I have lived here 26 years and I saw this one other time and they were caught breaking in a home up the road.

Several years ago three males in their 20s came walking down our road and I came in from my shop and my wife asked me if I saw them and she said it was seconds prior. In a three mile radius there is no place that has that age/number of males of their description. I jumped in my car and went down the road and they were not to be seen. I called police and they arrived and they agreed they were up to no good. Next day I found out they had left the road about 100 yards after going out of sight of our house and went through the woods and dogs started barking at a house they came up to the back of through the woods. Lady was home and she pulled curtain back to look out and they took off. For some reason she did not call police. I found out a week later they were seen walking on another road behind me the same day about two miles away.

8 years ago I spotted two guys trying to steal a neighbor's tractor and I called police while I watched them and they got a 3 year vacation for that.

Literally everyone on the road we live on has firearms.

 

[Major Khan]

Well... 1st and fore most , you need to select calibres for which you know that you will be able to acquire ammunition and re loading components easily , especially in the long run .
The hand gun would have to be chambered in 9 mm Parabellum and the anti personnel rifle would have to be chambered in 5.56 NATO calibres .
This is because these calibres are utilized by NATO and thus .... in the ( hopefully unlikely ) scenario that civilization collapses , ammunition for these calibres would be the most in abundance .
In fact , I dare say that in a situation where civilization collapses .... if ANY production of ammunition does continue , then in all probability , it shall be ammunition for calibres utilized by NATO.
The general purpose hunting rifle should be chambered in 7.62×51 mm NATO for the very same reason .
The small game hunting rifle would invariably have to be chambered in .22 Long Rifle calibre . Every country in the world which allows fire arms ownership of private citizens , will allow legal ownership of .22 Long Rifle calibre weapons . Boxes of ammunition can easily be found in camps , rifle clubs and any sporting goods store in the entire world . Thus , it would be quite easy to stock pile .
The shot gun would have to be a 12 Bore , utilizing 3 inch chambers . This way , they can make use of any 12 Bore cartridges which the operator may be able to get his hands on ( 2.5 inch cartridges , 2.75 inch cartridges or 3 inch cartridges ) . If the operator got his hands of some 3.5 inch cartridges , then no bother . These can easily be cut to 3 inch length , with a little skill . 12 Bore ammunition would be extremely abundant , because ( aside from being available in sporting goods stores , camps , shooting clubs and the like ) ... it is also used by police forces and security companies through out the entire world . Thus , 12 Bore ammunition could easily be found .

The large game rifle would have to be a bolt rifle , chambered in .375 Holland & Holland magnum ... simply because it is extremely versatile and the most commonly available sporting rifle calibre , for which ammunition could be easily found off the shelf . Of course , I suspect that it would not be seeing as much use , as the other calibres which I have mentioned above .

The ideal anti personnel rifle in such as a fire scenario ... would have to be the Soviet Kolashnikov AK platform . During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971... I have personally witnessed 1st hand , how reliable the Soviet Kolashnikov AK platform can really be , even in dirty and muddy conditions .
The ideal hand gun ( in this context ) would have to be a Glock model , due to their reliability in harsh conditions .
The ideal general purpose rifle would have to be a Remington Model 700 bolt rifle ( in this context ) with a detachable box magazine . Alternatively , a Winchester Model 70 with a floor plate magazine would be pretty advantageous in it's its own right , as well. The operator does not need to worry about losing magazines . Synthetic stocks and stainless steel barrels are a massive + point , in this context .
The small game rifle should be equipped with a low power scope and a suppressor for quietly taking game for the pot .

The shot gun should either be a pump action or a basic break action ( which should be extremely simple and easy to keep maintained ) .

The large game rifle should have detachable telescopic sight mounts .

A really excellent rifle action in such dire contexts , would have to be the old British service Lee Enfield action . They can continue to keep functioning in " apple pie order " even after accumulating a great deal of dirt and grit . They are a control round feed action and have detachable magazines capable of holding 10 cartridges.
Well... I hope you found this useful . However , I also sincerely hope that you never need to put any of this to use ... like we actually had to , in 1971.

 

[IvW]

I would keep one of my ZKK602 Brno in 375 H&H, with pop up in rear receiver.....

 

[Red Leg]

Not planning to star in a "Mad Max" movie, so I can conceive of no need for the firearm you describe in you original post. For repelling boarders, I'll gladly opt for one of my well maintained rifles or handguns. This is Texas, and anyone prowling around a farm or ranch surreptitiously, day or night, should have a care.

 

[EricB]

Two mistakes I always see in these SHTF scenarios:
#1, assuming that you'll be able to pick up "battlefield ammo". Don't ever count on that, count on what you have right now, this very day, and that's it.

#2, dismissing odd calibers for the above reason. I choose odd calibers specifically because they're the ones usually in stock when all others are bought during panic buying. Having standard calibers is always good, but having odd calibers is always a good idea for backup purposes.

 

[Bullthrower338]

I spend most of my time worrying if my claymores are positioned in the optimum position.

 

[Newboomer]

Well, I think I'm pretty well covered. I have 22s, 308s, 5.56s bolt and semi, 30-06s bolt and semi (Garand), 12 guage pump, 375HH and various types of ammo for all. As for function, repair and/or maintenance, it doesn't get much simpler than the great old Garand. Handguns from 22 to 30 carbine with a good sprinkling of 40s and 45s.

My part of town is pretty secure but I do live on a rather well traveled road and am constantly aware of possibilities so preparation is paramount.

 

[IvW]

Dooms day prepping......

 

[Newboomer]

Pro active.

 

[Rick Cox]

You should visit Jamestown Settlement Va and hear the lectures of the folks that are investigating what happened there and their findings include evidence of how they ate their dead to survive. They are digging continually and their conclusions over the last six years of hearing the presentations never change as we visit there every time we go.

I don't believe I said the plan was to eliminate others but if they are coming for what you have that they don't seems like a logical plan is to defend yourself and your family.

I remember hearing stories of those that survived the depression in the 30s here of roving gangs going through the countryside and stealing from farms and I knew a guy that told me how they climbed up on moving trains and threw of hunks of coal to provide heat for their homes.

We are all hunkered down here now for the virus and I am told the first things to disappear was all the ammo in the stores followed by toilet paper.

Just yesterday I was out walking and this pickup truck came down through our area with two males in it creeping along at about 8 MPH looking. I called two neighbors quickly down the road behind me and they told me they were looking over all the farms as they came slowly by. I have lived here 26 years and I saw this one other time and they were caught breaking in a home up the road.

Several years ago three males in their 20s came walking down our road and I came in from my shop and my wife asked me if I saw them and she said it was seconds prior. In a three mile radius there is no place that has that age/number of males of their description. I jumped in my car and went down the road and they were not to be seen. I called police and they arrived and they agreed they were up to no good. Next day I found out they had left the road about 100 yards after going out of sight of our house and went through the woods and dogs started barking at a house they came up to the back of through the woods. Lady was home and she pulled curtain back to look out and they took off. For some reason she did not call police. I found out a week later they were seen walking on another road behind me the same day about two miles away.

8 years ago I spotted two guys trying to steal a neighbor's tractor and I called police while I watched them and they got a 3 year vacation for that.

Literally everyone on the road we live on has firearms.

Three years for a tractor?!

 

[Rick Cox]

Well... 1st and fore most , you need to select calibres for which you know that you will be able to acquire ammunition and re loading components easily , especially in the long run .
The hand gun would have to be chambered in 9 mm Parabellum and the anti personnel rifle would have to be chambered in 5.56 NATO calibres .
This is because these calibres are utilized by NATO and thus .... in the ( hopefully unlikely ) scenario that civilization collapses , ammunition for these calibres would be the most in abundance .
In fact , I dare say that in a situation where civilization collapses .... if ANY production of ammunition does continue , then in all probability , it shall be ammunition for calibres utilized by NATO.
The general purpose hunting rifle should be chambered in 7.62×51 mm NATO for the very same reason .
The small game hunting rifle would invariably have to be chambered in .22 Long Rifle calibre . Every country in the world which allows fire arms ownership of private citizens , will allow legal ownership of .22 Long Rifle calibre weapons . Boxes of ammunition can easily be found in camps , rifle clubs and any sporting goods store in the entire world . Thus , it would be quite easy to stock pile .
The shot gun would have to be a 12 Bore , utilizing 3 inch chambers . This way , they can make use of any 12 Bore cartridges which the operator may be able to get his hands on ( 2.5 inch cartridges , 2.75 inch cartridges or 3 inch cartridges ) . If the operator got his hands of some 3.5 inch cartridges , then no bother . These can easily be cut to 3 inch length , with a little skill . 12 Bore ammunition would be extremely abundant , because ( aside from being available in sporting goods stores , camps , shooting clubs and the like ) ... it is also used by police forces and security companies through out the entire world . Thus , 12 Bore ammunition could easily be found .

The large game rifle would have to be a bolt rifle , chambered in .375 Holland & Holland magnum ... simply because it is extremely versatile and the most commonly available sporting rifle calibre , for which ammunition could be easily found off the shelf . Of course , I suspect that it would not be seeing as much use , as the other calibres which I have mentioned above .

The ideal anti personnel rifle in such as a fire scenario ... would have to be the Soviet Kolashnikov AK platform . During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971... I have personally witnessed 1st hand , how reliable the Soviet Kolashnikov AK platform can really be , even in dirty and muddy conditions .
The ideal hand gun ( in this context ) would have to be a Glock model , due to their reliability in harsh conditions .
The ideal general purpose rifle would have to be a Remington Model 700 bolt rifle ( in this context ) with a detachable box magazine . Alternatively , a Winchester Model 70 with a floor plate magazine would be pretty advantageous in it's its own right , as well. The operator does not need to worry about losing magazines . Synthetic stocks and stainless steel barrels are a massive + point , in this context .
The small game rifle should be equipped with a low power scope and a suppressor for quietly taking game for the pot .

The shot gun should either be a pump action or a basic break action ( which should be extremely simple and easy to keep maintained ) .

The large game rifle should have detachable telescopic sight mounts .

A really excellent rifle action in such dire contexts , would have to be the old British service Lee Enfield action . They can continue to keep functioning in " apple pie order " even after accumulating a great deal of dirt and grit . They are a control round feed action and have detachable magazines capable of holding 10 cartridges.
Well... I hope you found this useful . However , I also sincerely hope that you never need to put any of this to use ... like we actually had to , in 1971.

Sir, suppressors are not legal in Canada, but have you tried the subsonic ammo available? I have some that has a velocity of 710 fps and hitting a piece of plywood with a round at 25-30 yards makes about as much noise as firing the gun. These would be fine for small game inside that distance.

 

[Major Khan]

Sir, suppressors are not legal in Canada, but have you tried the subsonic ammo available? I have some that has a velocity of 710 fps and hitting a piece of plywood with a round at 25-30 yards makes about as much noise as firing the gun. These would be fine for small game inside that distance.

Please , Rick... Just call me Poton . No formality is needed . I have tried subsonic ammunition for my .22 Long Rifle calibre Austrian semi automatic rifle quite a few times , actually . They are extremely useful for shooting doves or shooting pigeons on bait , near private properties where the noise may disturb the residents . However , these days I mostly use the Eley Brand .22 Long Rifle calibre ammunition which I have massive hoards of ( I have been stock piling Eley 12 Bore shot gun and .22 Long Rifle calibre ammunition for years) . They are not really that loud and most people in Bangladesh are desensitized to the noise , anyway .

 

[Hogpatrol]

Hmm, lets see. Fallout shelters in the '50s, race riots in the '60s, oil shortage and gas lines in the '70s, Mt. St. Helens in the '80s, '90s computers will crash and the world will end on 12/31/1999, AD NAUSEUM. From this chair, prepping for SHTF is a waste of human capital, effort and mental horsepower. I got bigger things to worry about, like whether or not I'm going to have a good bowel movement tomorrow.

 

[Ray B]

I'm not into prepping, but I do lean toward buying things when they are available and the price is relatively low, rather than waiting for the government to ban the sale or media causing runs. As an example, several months ago we had this situation: Costco previously had sales on Northern bathroom tissue in the stores, then for a few years Northern was unavailable as they had switched to Charmin. I became familiar with Costco On-Line and noticed there was a sale via On-Line for Northern 48 packs and if four were ordered, Costco paid the shipping. so we bought four. they were shipped directly to our home. That was about a year ago and it led to quite a few laughs from our friends when they saw the four packets of TP on the basement shelf. But guess who is no longer laughing. Same thing goes for anything made that contains copper- use your imagination of what gets purchased.

 

[35bore]

Interesting thought, but definitely not realistic (by your standards) such a universal all purpose firearm does not exist...

What works for me, i.e. weapons choice, here in Missouri, in my "bunker/fortified position" may not work for someone in an urban setting in say Chicago, NYC or LA. For that matter terain in said state varies N to S, E to W.

As if that isn't enough to deter anyone that there is a "one for all, all for one" firearm for a SHTF scenario consider this if you will. I have a good amount of military training and a fair amount of Law enforcement training. I guarantee there are folks with a lot more of both than me. They will probably choose something different than I.

My opinion is that if society really goes to shit and you have to defend yourself or your family, you will use whatever is in your hand. Katana or an M-60, whatever is in hand.

To answer the OP question though, for me, a medium/long range rig for overwatch, an AR platform for the closer work, up to 200 yards, and a Glock (pick a caliber) for the up close and personal.

 

[EricB]

Interesting thought, but definitely not realistic (by your standards) such a universal all purpose firearm does not exist...

What works for me, i.e. weapons choice, here in Missouri, in my "bunker/fortified position" may not work for someone in an urban setting in say Chicago, NYC or LA. For that matter terain in said state varies N to S, E to W.

As if that isn't enough to deter anyone that there is a "one for all, all for one" firearm for a SHTF scenario consider this if you will. I have a good amount of military training and a fair amount of Law enforcement training. I guarantee there are folks with a lot more of both than me. They will probably choose something different than I.

My opinion is that if society really goes to shit and you have to defend yourself or your family, you will use whatever is in your hand. Katana or an M-60, whatever is in hand.

To answer the OP question though, for me, a medium/long range rig for overwatch, an AR platform for the closer work, up to 200 yards, and a Glock (pick a caliber) for the up close and personal.

Totally agree. Here in Kansas, a longer range rifle is far more useful than a short range weapon. Urban warfare is few and far between here, but miles of open space is the norm.

 

[35bore]

Totally agree. Here in Kansas, a longer range rifle is far more useful than a short range weapon. Urban warfare is few and far between here, but miles of open space is the norm.

I guess that's my biggest point, if you had to go into unfamiliar territory, you will do the best with the weapon you are most comfortable with. Chances are though it may not be best for different settings. It's all about what works best for ALL the criteria that was set by the OP. I just don't believe there is such a firearm.

 

[nztimb]

As a matter of course we have always kept quite a few months ahead of us in the pantry so dont see that as prepping and my 1901 Magazine Lee Enfield with an unlimited supply of cast bullets powder and primers has been at hand for many years so that is the major part of the OP question answered. Have all sorts of other bits and pieces I could call on but I dont see it becoming a "situation" that needs more than simple self sufficiency which is how we live anyway.