The perfect survivalist rifle.....

[WellArmedLiberal]

I have a 10/22 for survival and I think it would work well; some guys say an air rifle works the best 'cause you don't alert others to your whereabouts and booty while taking small game.

Personally, if I was in a tough spot, I'd most like the Mini-14 -- wood stock, no mods, unobtrusive 5-round mag inserted, 20 rounder in pocket.

[rich e]

I like the air rifle idea...I had a scoped pellet gun that I shouldn't of sold..It might have to get replaced again..My next one will be able to shoot bbs and pellets..

I used to hit pop cans, open sights, between 40-60 yards when I was a kid with a Crossman 760 pumpmaster. I bet if I scoped one it would be deadly on squirrels and rabbits..The only pain was pumping it ten times.

[DoogieB]

I like the air rifle idea...I had a scoped pellet gun that I shouldn't of sold..It might have to get replaced again..My next one will be able to shoot bbs and pellets..

I used to hit pop cans, open sights, between 40-60 yards when I was a kid with a Crossman 760 pumpmaster. I bet if I scoped one it would be deadly on squirrels and rabbits..The only pain was pumping it ten times.

You don't want one that shoots BB's, they're inaccurate. Stick to pellets, especially with a scope.

One of the most interesting things I've discovered this year was the adult air rifle. I purchased a German RWS 34 Panther just to practice target in the back yard. Well, now it's getting difficult to stick to just one (or two, or three). The quality and accuracy of these rifles has really surprised me. Also not dealing with the FFL is really nice (in PA, at least).

While these guns will easily take small game, remember in PA air rifles are not legal for any type of hunting.

http://www.pyramydair.com/video/?vid...-episode-4.flv

[scarecrow]

let me bring this one back from the dead. i am putting 2 rifles together right now as survival rifles. 1 for my wife to take and 1 for myself. you hear alot of people say .22 long is the way to go. and the rifle for my wife is a marlin .22 long. but what about .22mag? my rifle is going to be a marlin .22mag i am surprised noone mentioned it. it has noticable more punch behind it and yet it is still light weight , cheap ammo , plenty of ammo , and you can carry just about as much .22mag ammo as you can .22long....i know the idea is to everything the same so if something goes wrong with 1 you have the ability to use all the others ammo but i am useing 2 different because thats what i have.

[Bravo Whiskey]

I actually read every post! (up until mine)
Great thread.
I'll be back

[gator39]

With all the tacticool guns and accesories available today, alot of people do under estimate the abilities of the .22 lr.
Especially from a quality semi-auto rifle, for hunting and most of all self defense, the .22 is extremely effective.

The Isrealies used scoped 10/22s quite often for awhile for riot control during the palistinian uprisings.
They would try to pick out the main aggessors and shoot them in the testicles.
Nothing made the other rioters decide they had other things to do,,,, right now,,,,, than seeing a couple buddies semi castrated this way.

Only problem was, they ended up killing a surprising number of the rioters from gut shots or nicking arteries, and the use of the .22s were curtailed.

And any farmer that does his own butchering uses a .22 to dispatch everything from hogs to 2000 lb bulls.
If a .22 between the eyes can drop a 2,000 lb bull dead in its tracks it will definitly drop a human.

From a defensive position, like the shop keepers in the L.A riots, or from a buildings roof during the Katrina mess, a good semi-auto .22 rifle with plenty of good mags and ammo, would in my opinion be much better than ANY pistol.

[nfafan]

let me bring this one back from the dead. i am putting 2 rifles together right now as survival rifles. 1 for my wife to take and 1 for myself. you hear alot of people say .22 long is the way to go. and the rifle for my wife is a marlin .22 long. but what about .22mag? my rifle is going to be a marlin .22mag i am surprised noone mentioned it. it has noticable more punch behind it and yet it is still light weight , cheap ammo , plenty of ammo , and you can carry just about as much .22mag ammo as you can .22long....i know the idea is to everything the same so if something goes wrong with 1 you have the ability to use all the others ammo but i am useing 2 different because thats what i have.

Consider a .22 tube-fed bolt, pump, or lever, as you can shoot .22S, .22L, .22LR, .22CBs, all but the magnum.

I'd suggest a Remmy 552 Speedmaster for .22S/.22L/.22LR, but you can't use the ultra-low powered .22's to cycle the semi action

[Triggerh4ppy]

Ideally the perfect survival rifle would be a Yugo sks with a suppressor....youd turn off the gas like for the grenade function so the bolt doesn't make noise...and you could have a brass catcher....that would be a good set up :] ....you could covertly take out small furry animals.....such as those furry bastards we call cats...

maybe an ati stock

[ham385]

let me bring this one back from the dead. i am putting 2 rifles together right now as survival rifles. 1 for my wife to take and 1 for myself. you hear alot of people say .22 long is the way to go. and the rifle for my wife is a marlin .22 long. but what about .22mag? my rifle is going to be a marlin .22mag i am surprised noone mentioned it. it has noticable more punch behind it and yet it is still light weight , cheap ammo , plenty of ammo , and you can carry just about as much .22mag ammo as you can .22long....i know the idea is to everything the same so if something goes wrong with 1 you have the ability to use all the others ammo but i am useing 2 different because thats what i have.

last i checked, .22 mag costs as much as .223. might as well go with the .223 in that case, it's more powerful, and more available than the .22 mag.

i like the idea of a 10/22. ammo is dirt cheap, and plenty for hunting small game. It seems .22lr is debatable for deer, but in a survival situation, i'm pretty sure i'd be willing to take my chances on a deer if that's all i had.

the only thing that would concern me would be the defense aspect. I think something like a 10/22 would be great for dealing with an unarmed mob, but if they have toys of their own, well, you're up the creek.

[sliverflinger]

Again I go slightly off topic. Brick 22 ammo is pretty much nonexistent in this area , unless you are willing to pay a premium for it. The only big box store we have around here( 35 miles west or 70 miles east) is Wallyworld, and they say what little they get lasts 2 hr. max. Just want to see if it's like that outside the empty corridor.