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surfcast

· SI vis pacem,para bellum
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Discussion starter · #1 ·
What rifle would you recommend,If you could only have one ,I am not a hunter.
and don't have experience with long guns.If I decide to buy one to put away for bad times.My thinking is what is the worst threat or best Game I could find in the wilderness what comes to mind Is. Bear's any species Boars, Moose,Large cats, Elk ,dear two legged threats which is a more likely threat than the above mentioned.I was scoping a 30/06 . It looked like enough to stop anything I could ever Imagine .I am sure it is not the best rifle for every occasion but if you are on the move or on the run it would be hard to bring ammo and 4-5 separate rifles.
 
#2 ·
You're going to get a lot of different opinions on this one. You have to decide what is the main purpose the rifle - defense or survival. If I could only take one rifle with me, it would be a .22LR. I'll leave the defense option to my pistol. WRT hunting in bad times, large game is going to be scarce.
 
#3 ·
I have to agree with the .22LR being the best choice for getting game. I keep at least 4000rds of 22LR on hand as I figure 400rds a year times 10yrs. I have hunted lots of rabbit and squirrel with the round, and I have an indian (native american just to be p.c.) friend that I know has poached deer and turkey with it. You said you arent a hunter, dont have much experience with long guns, and are getting it just to put away for bad times, so I would invest in a single shot or bolt as they wont tear a hole in your wallet and are probably best for hunting. Another reason Id go with .22LR for game getting is I see you are in New York and while I may be wrong I doubt youll run into any bear, large cats, elk, bison, or moose if S were ever to HTF. As for a rifle for two legged threats give some serious thought as to whether you think you might ever have to engage many (say five or more) individuals at one time. If the answer is yes Id buy the semi auto version of a more recent military arm in one of the many calibers they come in .308, 6.8spc, 7.62x39, .223, 5.45x39 6.5grendel. Didnt want to step on any toes so I listed all calibers I could think of and I wont list rifles I like the best. If you dont have to escape from New York and live in a rural area an older military bolt action or a decent bolt action hunting rifle would probably suit your purposes just fine. Depending on where you are and your situation you might also want to think about a shotgun. I personally feel that the combination of a 12gauge and a .22 rifle give a person the ability to hunt pretty much everything on the continent if you are sneaky enough and have a selection of shotgun ammo.
 
#4 ·
In my opinion (disclaimer added for clarity), if I could only have one rifle it would be either a bolt action 30-06, or a lever action 30-30, preferably Winchester or Marlin.
With a 22LR, your options are too limited, with some of the modern semi-automatics reliability under adverse conditions could be compromised unless you are well versed in weapon maintenance.
Of course, for the best of both worlds, an M1 Garand can not be beat.
 
#6 ·
30-06 is a fine old military cartridge that will cleanly take all game in North America with proper shot placement. 308 is a good choice with a little less recoil. If you plan to forage small game and birds, take a shotgun instead of a rifle. You can syill kill deer under 100 yards with slugs.

I'll differ on the 22 advice. I own a few and would never ever choose it as the first choice for either hunting or self defense. A shotgun does far better for small game and birds, a rifle is much better suited for large game.

a 22 is better than no gun at all or if you had to carry a thousand rounds, but really you don't have to.
 
#7 ·
I'm a big military surplus rifle fan.
They are a lot of rifle at a small price. Shop carefully and you can have a large game rifle for $100. Powerful cartridges, plenty accurate for 300 meter shooting. Ammo available and reasonable.

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=F3MOSIN9130

I've posted these a lot, but they're very illustrative of their capabilities.



 
#8 ·
jesse8931 said:
a gun is no use with out ammo try picking up a 1000 30 06 rounds but i can carry 5000 22lr on my back no problem
Click to expand...
Different strokes for different folks.
My wife and I worked hard and long to afford our little farm in the country. I ain't going anywhere, so I don't have to hump any ammo. This is as good a place to die as any.
Of course, a lot of "survivalists" with 22LR weapons that think they can get over on me will soon learn that 30 caliber works real well.:thumb:
 
#9 ·
well, i cant suggest just one firearm. but i can suggest a long arm and a pistol.

an ak and a good .22 pistol. i recently had a change of heart on the shtf on a budget. the 7.62/39 offers cheap fmj for SD, AND cheap softpoints for large game. im an AR guy, i like the platform better, but i have a rifle for every situation, and thats just not possible for some.

get an accurate .22 pistol or revolver, get profficiant with its use, and you will be able to harvest your small game with that.

oh, i missed that you were not a hunter and had no experiance with long arms. get a .22 rifle FIRST. get one in the style of the larger rifle you plan to buy in the future. ie, if you want a bolt 30-06, get a bolt .22, if you want an AR, get an auto .22, if you want an optic on your CF rifle, get the same kind on your .22.
 
#11 ·
Good lord, how many times do we have to go through this ha ha ha . It all depends on where you are. Where I am if I could only have one( government orders?) Bans on owning multiple firearms?. It would be my Ruger 10/22 . If I lived in Alaska It would a .30 caliber rifle like 30/06. If were in the plains or desert? 25/06 or 7mm mag. Africa? .338 or .300 mag. Afganistan? small nuke.

I mean this question comes up all the time. Be glad you dont have to choose just one. I have 16 fire arms. Rifles, shotguns, .22 rifles and 9mm handguns. I have all the bases covered and so should you. Dont limit yourself to one gun because there isnt one that does it all. Kingfish
 
#12 ·
stick with something simple, affordable to buy, innexpensive ammo, that is least likely to get taken away by gun control legislation, first thing to go will be high cap, semi auto "assault weapons" not regular old bolt action or lever guns. if only had one choice it would be near 30 cal (308, 30-06, etc) bolt action, removable mag, short barrel, scoped with iron sights as a backup.
 
#13 ·
if you are limiting yourself to one rifle the .22lr is the ultimate survival caliber,but its not a self def caliber. there is no 1 weapon that is going to fit for all types of situations you may need.you also have to let your terrain dictate what type of weapon is best for the envirionment you live in.

you live in New York state so that is dense forrest terrrain but even in forrsest terrain you have open fields from farms so a short range weapon may be ok ,you really dont need a long range weapon.depending on where your hunting and to meet your goals i would suggest a 12 ga shotgun. ive never been a big fan of shotguns i love rifles but it is the best choice for your situation. i would get it with a regular long barrel ,a short barrel and a rifled slug barrel. with a shotgun you have a wide variety of hunting possablities from pheasent to bears,from rabbits to moose it all depends on what barrel /ammo you are useing to what you will be hunting. the short barrel shotgun is the best home def weapons you can get.long barrel is for mid to small size targets,and the slug barrel is for deer and bigger. the 2 major draw backs to the shotgun is range and the other is the ammo is bulky so its not very good as a bug-out weapon and takes up ALOT more room if stockpileing ammo. but if you never plan on bugging -out then thats not a problem. but range could be a problem if your useing slugs you have a range of about 100 yrds for big game. but all else is more like bow range for buckshot or smaller (50 yrds or less). which is just fine for dense forrest terrain, it will be a challange in open fields but it can work. but the shotgun is the closest do-all weapon out there :thumb:

i wouldnt limit myself to just one weapon you need 4 weapons to cover all applications effectively

#1 handgun
#2 shotgun
#3 .22lr
#4 rifle
 
#15 ·
for serious hunting /survival scoped 30 06 or similar cal. ppl are to worried about carrying 1000 rounds ... if you shot 12 deer/elk/moose/ buffalo /bear/wild cattle a year with carefull shot placement say 15/20 rounds per year, get a laser bore sighter to check your zero without wasting ammo 200 rounds could last a long time. im not into the shootout with bad guys senerio that much. it could happen but if im shooting 100 or 200 rounds at them they could be doing the same. not good odds if at all posible im running or hiding, call me chicken if you like
 
#16 ·
rice paddy daddy said:
In my opinion (disclaimer added for clarity), if I could only have one rifle it would be either a bolt action 30-06, or a lever action 30-30, preferably Winchester or Marlin.
With a 22LR, your options are too limited, with some of the modern semi-automatics reliability under adverse conditions could be compromised unless you are well versed in weapon maintenance.
Of course, for the best of both worlds, an M1 Garand can not be beat.
Click to expand...
If you only get one rifle, get a .22 LR. For every deer you see, you will see 20 rabbits/squirrels/turkeys.
After that, get a MBR. I have to agree with the Garand on this one. With a $35 adjustable gas plug, they can shoot the most common rifle cartridge in North America, 30-06. They only bad thing about the M1, is that it is hard to mount optics on it, so if you have shady eyesight, it might not be the best option. They do come with some of the best Iron sights out there though.
 
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KaptainKoolz
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