Wilderness Survival Gun - Firearm for SHTF

Lets play wilderness survival gun with the stipulations being:

survival: denotes a peacetime ("Les stroud" extended wilderness camping trip kinda "survival" either for fun or through accident). 1-3 weeks away from "home" in duration.

As the likelyhood of getting stuck in the woods or purposely going survival camping is 99% more likely than a civilian going into combat e&E mode.

The gun will be primarily(97%) used for the most readily available "pot game", small mammals and birds. protection against large woods animals; 2or 4 legged will be a rare occurence.( 3%)?
The firearm is a tool carried in or along with your woods/camping pack.
I offer up .22lr in a handgun or rifle of your choice,;.410,20 or 12ga shotgun of your choice.
Centerfire rifle or handgun of your choice,
Or No gun at all its only a couple of weeks.

I am currently considering a recently found buckmark .22autopistol or a .410or 20ga NEF singleshot shotgun for this role. What has the best chance to keep you fed and keep the bogeyman away from the fire circle.
I'm starting to get real curious about the .410 singleshot.( but never owned one)
what do you take?

 

The most practical combination that I ever thought of was a lightweight AR-15, a Glock 22 (or 17) and a .22lr conversion kit for each of them. This allows me to carry mostly .22lr, but still have some 40 S&W (or 9mm) and 5.56 Nato on hand if needed. A Ceiner type kit for the AR-15 and an Advantage Arms kit for the Glock.

One magazine for each of the conversion kits, and three each (filled) for the centerfires. Six or eight boxes of .22lr in the flavor most appreciated by your kits. For me, that would be Winchester Dynapoints or Remington subsonics.

I know, "You can't carry an AR in PA to hunt with." If I was lost in the woods for an extended period of time and was found by a game worden, he can gladly take me out of the woods to prosecute me.

Not really likely senerio around here, you only have to walk one direction for a couple of miles before you encounter a fire road, creek, or private property line. Just follow them to civilization; there isn't a scrap of land in PA that didn't have generations of indians, settlers, farmers, or hunters walking over it.

You guys out West may have a different situation. I bet your state isn't anal about hunting with semi-autos, either.

 

I once had the Savage .22 mag/20 gauge.
An awesome weapon and hunting tool.
Due solely to weight conditions, I would most certainly choose almost ANY combo gun.
A .22 lr is good, and the .22 mag is better.
Not sure about a .410, but I like the 20 and 12 gauges.
You can afford to carry a large amount of .22's, but those dang shotgun cartridges get heavy quick!
"Out West" we have a lot of rules and regs over the use's of any semi-auto, that can hold more than 3 cartridges.
Even my 12 gauge pumps can't have more than 3 unless I am NOT hunting.
Then the "plugs" have to go back in.

 

in that situation....single shot nef 12 gauge

 

Everybody is entitled to their opinions, but I do like the way you think.

I have always bought into the ".22 is the only choice; because you can carry hundreds of .22's( and you can), but IMHO being cold, hungry and critical bullet placement really don't go together...

I like simple,
It never ceases to impress me anytime you see a national geographic special about indigenous people living in the jungles or on the african plains they are bringing back "bushmeat" with some old single shot 12 ga. Monkey meat, sloths, zebras doesn't matter; all fall to some guy with a banana leaf covering his "package" and the venerable12...

20ga maybe a good compromise but I am stocked with 12 for my 870,and I'd hate to mix a 20 up in there somewhere...



Coach guns appeal to me too..

 

Reading this on my iPhone at my inlaws here is my take.
I like the one weapon theory since how many people will actually have reason to be stuck out somewhere with three? As for me with just one weapon it would be a shotgun. Buckshot and slugs for bigger game, and birdshot for small game. I LOVE double barrels, especially the coach guns, but as anyone that has carried them long in the field will attest, they are heavy especially with longer barrels. I would prefer a Benelli auto, or Remington 11-87. A pump would work as well. They have more capacity than the double or the singleshot. I have hunted quite a bit with the singles, reloading after every single pull of the trigger gets old. A Benelli auto with a red dot with back up iron sights would be my first choice.

 

In your opinion Would a few full throttle 3" 12ga slugs in the butt cuff of a double barreled coachgun do a better job on ursus horribilius? ( than a handgun?)

Negating the handgun?
Threre is no right or wrong answer here..
Everybody will carry what they feel comfortable with in their area. We have a pretty large (and growing black bear population). "I was Netflixing "survivorman season III last night. Les Stroud and a hunting buddy purposely wandered off into the Ontario forests" playing "LOST HUNTERS". Les had a 12 ga browning semiauto that stayed mostly on the sling. his buddy with a bow had an nef .410(packed?) which took their pot squirrel and a good sized gray bird ( smallish turkey or big grouse or pheasant of some kind). That's what got me started rethinking the whole .410 thing...

 

I try not to do this( "best" stuff),in the end there is no right answer and I end up spending WAAAY-HEY- HEYYYYYYYYY more mental calories than necessary on what is essentially a $350 purchase( buy one of each: singleshot and hammer coachgun 12's and beat them around the north woods for a season or two(See which I like better...)

 

If and when it comes to bears, I have to have a 12 gauge, (can't handle a 10, much less an 8!)
Brennekke slugs, will take out pretty much anything I'd have to worry about on the North American Continent!
Here at home, I have the "beast" loaded with 00buck.
I did find not so long ago...I'd made a bad mistake.
I got rid of the older (new) wooden stock shotguns and bought the newer synthetic stock types...I had a real shock (literally) when i took them out and decide to test fire them the first time.
The 7 1/2 birdshot was minimal. the 00buck got my attention....The slug, made me realize why it's BEST to leave some things alone.
My son was videotaping the "action"....
I was spun around and you could see it physically had hurt me.
Now I'm 6 ft, 200+ lbs and have been shooting since I was 9.
Never, ever, have I had such a kick in my life!
A little bit of weight makes a whole LOT of difference!
But then, maybe it's my age?
Nah!
Can't be that!

 

The scattergun is hard to beat for all around purposes. You really have to consider the area that you are in. One of my favorite doubles was a Fox that I stupidly got rid of in my youth, it was a great shotgun but carrying it all day was a chore since it was so heavy. Coachguns are great but you need to be close, that is why I like the longer barrels they are better for birds. For survival puposes I could see where birds and squirrels would be a solid source of food.

 

just handled a stoeger anda zingzhou ( centuryarms coach at our dunhams):

Zingzhou pros:
swivels, rubber recoil pad,price
cons:
fit and finish was horrible: Rough hammer castings ( must have handled a lemon that got away from qc) 6th graders given a 2x4, some black iron pipe, a hacksaw and couple of files could make a nicer gun.
The stoeger: no swivels,no pad, much better finish ( internal boxlock) Neither of these had changeable chokes, though I know they make'em...I'm not a gun snob, but pride of ownership was completely missing on the century. It reminded me of a fake wall hanging decoration as opposed to a real firearm. Gotta find another example

 

Seems to me I recall reading where in africa for lions, guides often carry 12 ga pumps with double aught mag loads for finishing off wounded lions in cover. King of beasts in african continent, wounded no less = 12 ga OO-buck magnum loads = dead lion = safe guide = happy hunter. Works for me. I vote for the 12 ga.

 

Tango, go to gunbroker.com and do a search for a "fox double" there is a Fox savage model B for $300 with no reserve. I am not sure if this is the same Fox that I had back in 92' but mine was a very, very, nice shotgun with excellent finish and craftsmanship. I would link it here from gunbroker but I am on my iPhone with spotty reception. You might want to research it a little before you buy as I am not sure about the whole Savage thing as it has been a long time, but it sure was a beautiful shotgun.

 

Danke...xmas cash burning a hole in my pocket...

 

Hard to beat a good shotgun for such work probably why I like them so much.

 

Tango, I went by Wal-Mart and they had a really nice camo 11-87 for $637.

 

Thanks guys I'm incredibly cheap anymore(not making verymuch) , it's hard to let go of the green...Still would like a coachgun to play with/ ...but I really should have a second cf handgun...
I really, really should just stash my envelope in the safe

 

I just got the Stoeger coachgun; though I am still waiting-day 2 of 10. I have always felt simplicity is the key to survival. It is small, easy to pack, and good from bird to big-game.