shtf guns...and non guns

Discussion in 'Firearms' started by Tango3, Feb 4, 2008.


  1. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    when we talk of "shtf guns" folks "automatically" think of weapons for combat in the post apocalypse thunder dome world but after reading the .22 thread, i can't help thinking a supremely accurate, ammo efficient bolt gun to roll the bunnies and drop the squirrels and crows for the pot. And even serious adult air guns, like the sheridan (with 500 .20 pellets for$9.50 675fps) these are the"(real) "jed clampett" guns that keep people fed and alive during hard times.trapping too; trappers should never be too hungry,just got to be hungry enough for muskrat stew. trappers use the .22 for finishing shots.[beer]
     
  2. ozarkgoatman

    ozarkgoatman Resident goat herder

    In our house we don't have to be to hungry to eat things like muskrat stew. [lolol] While we haven't had muskrat stew (thats only because we haven't gotten a hold of a muskrat yet). We have eaten possums, black snakes, coons, turtles, and armadilos (which are tastey).

    OGM
     
  3. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    For the most part in a post SHTF situation if I was traping finishing would be done on all but very dangerous animals includeing skunks, I figure would fall to a club to avoid useing up ammo.

    In general though I figure a good .22 is what would do a majority of the feeding, the big gun for the rare long rang shot at big meat and the shotgun to may hit hen house raiders in the night but the .22 and a large side arm would see most of the work I think for me.
     
  4. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    OGM sounds like you need to open a restaraunt!My wife is alittle picky, didn't want any of the venison backstrap I browned up tonight until she tried a nibble, then :"Hey that's pretty good...":)
     
  5. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    Can't argue with the club to save precious ammo (Whacka' beaver!")..[coffee2][boozingbuddies][boozingbuddies]
     
  6. Blackjack

    Blackjack Monkey+++


    Possum - I guess if I'm hungry enough
    Black Snake - hmmm... guess it's no different from a rattler? How'd it taste?
    Coon - Eaten several
    Turtle - Only had snapper.... good but hell to clean
    Armadillo - Don't they carry leprosy?


    Sorry to get off track there:

    Tango.... I pretty much agree. In fact, if I wasn't already pretty set for 22's, I'd be looking to a shtf 22 as my next purchase.

    I do think, however, that as a "puttin meat on the table" gun goes, nothing beats a 12 ga. A 22 is much more discreet though.

    One thing to maybe keep in mind for a shtf 22 is that while your looking for squirrels, there is always the possibility of running into bad guys looking for the same thing.... or looking for you. It's a very different world now than back when grampa was squirrel hunting during the depression. So I'm thinking a 22 with some "fire suppression" ability might be in order. I guarantee you can keep some bad guy heads down with a barrage from a 22, even from 100+ yds away. And there's no reason a 22 can't be an accurate hunting gun and be a capable defense weapon (in a pinch) at the same time.

    I think a my ideal shtf 22 would be:
    Ruger 1022 with some hi-cap mags. Replace the scope mounts with some good ones (the stock ones are not that good), and a good 4x fixed power scope, and a sling. That'll bring you in at under $300 for the whole deal, brand new.

    Then you can always upgrade it if you want:
    Better Barrel... many manuf. 100-300 bucks
    Extended mag release
    Trigger job, competition hammer & "stuff"
    Better Furniture (maybe a folding stock)
    The list goes on. You can get just about anything for a 1022

    Which caliber to choose would be the hard part. 22lr, 22mag, or 17hmr?
    But I'm thinking 22lr just for ammo availability.
     
  7. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I figure in a time like that a lage bore handgun would definatly be on the hip while hunting as I prety well do now. That way if you run into something the .22 just isnt quite up to (bad guy, mountain lion, bear, pissed of ferril hog, etc.) then theres something to fall back on for a bit more fire power.

    One thing that a guy I know has/dose would seem like a decent idea for a food getter. He has an in line .45 muzzel loader. Buys the primers by the case pretty cheap then buys .45 bullets for reloading handgun ammo (IIRC) and uses that for wider variety in projectiles. Then when he wants to hunt birds or bunnies and such he picks up a few bags of the wads for reloading .410 shotgun shells, dumps powder down the barrel, stuffs in a wad, dumps in some #6 or so shot then a wadded up piece of cloth or toilet paper and he has a .410 shotgun to hunt with.
     
  8. ozarkgoatman

    ozarkgoatman Resident goat herder

     
  9. ozarkgoatman

    ozarkgoatman Resident goat herder

    Picky people starve in this house. You either eat whats on your plate or go hungry. :D

    OGM
     
  10. ozarkgoatman

    ozarkgoatman Resident goat herder

    I just remembered one time I was doing some resurch on guns used in the Smokey Mountains back when it was the western frontier, and from what I read the most common caliber was .36. I've got a .36 it's the gun I'm shoting in my avatar. I'm not real sure that I would want to go bear hunting with it but it seems like they did it. I know that gun has taken many squirrels.


    OGM
     
  11. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Figure a .36 front stuffer probably wouldnt pack much if any more punch than a modern .22LR either. I figure it would kill them, I'ld just be afraid (especialy with just 1 shot) that might not kill them before they got to me in a real bad mood. lol I figure it would have about double the mass but moveing a lot slower with BP.
     
  12. ozarkgoatman

    ozarkgoatman Resident goat herder

    Thats pretty much how I see it but from my resurch it was the most common caliber. Maybe they could run faster back then. [LMAO] [gone]


    OGM
     
  13. Seacowboys

    Seacowboys Senior Member Founding Member

    It is an interesting corollary that the 1934 gun-control act defines a .22 as a non-gun and not subject to the act. Makes a pretty good argument for a .22 machine-gun being legal to buy and sell in interstate commerce.
     
  14. ColtCarbine

    ColtCarbine Monkey+++ Founding Member

    Are you going to test these waters? If so, let us know how it works out. taser1
     
  15. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    :) you go first;
    we'll buy stock in your co. or a cake with a file in it...taser1[lolol]
     
  16. Blackjack

    Blackjack Monkey+++


    I think the ATF already weighed in with the "Akins Accelerator" didn't they? Too bad, I would've loved to get one of those.
     
  17. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    That's a pretty interesting "i-d-er"[beer]...I 'm just wrestling the ever popular,ever -unanswerble "best" question...and trying to come up with something from a unique angle....not much wrong with the12ga (pat response: "ammunition is heavy and bulky" can't carry bazzillion rounds). Frontier "trade guns" were highly valued smoothbores for that reason, rich white settlers bought rifles."Indians were traded smooth bores so they didn't have "superior"weapons to the settlers.but the smooth bore and shot proved a very practical feature.
     
  18. BigO01

    BigO01 Monkey+++ Founding Member

    No Offense to you Blackjack but I always have to laugh when I hear/see folks talking about getting a better barrel for a 10/22 .

    I have owned two of them and still have one , both are/were capable of of groups off of a bench that at 25 yards could be covered with a dime and a quarter at 50 yards .

    I have taken squirrels at 50 yards and beyond with the cheap old 22 scopes standing with one shot many more times than I can count .

    I just don't see what that cool looking after market barrel can get me "other than the cool looks" that the factory one can't get done .

    As a matter of fact I have never shot any 22 rimfire that wasn't capable of fantastic groups even a few very old and cheap single shots just as they came from the factory decades ago .
     
  19. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    "Accuracy costs money. How small can you afford?" There are guys out there that set great store by 100 meter groups they can cover with a dime. I'm not at all sure that a group that small can be achieved without machine rests in dead air, and not so sure you need it for filling the pot with squirrel stew. Then there is the pride of ownership factor. I'd love a Perazzi or Krieghoff trap gun, but it's WAY out of line in terms of return on investment. But I'll never throw rocks at the guys that own them, I just don't see the clay breaking any more often.
    [coffee2]
     
  20. Blackjack

    Blackjack Monkey+++

    None taken..... My childhood 22 was 40 years old at the time and hardly ever got cleaned, but it still took squirrels quite regularly. But if money isn't an issue, there are more accurate barrels out there, I don't see a problem with somebody wanting the most accuracy they can afford.
     
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