[Doc Holliday]

Let's assume everything falls apart, society collapses, anarchy reigns and chaos ensues. Survival of the fittest is the name of the game now. You may be forced to leave your home, live on the run, stay mobile. Of the guns you currently have, which one would you want to keep the most and why?

 

[68Firebird]

FNX-9: Highest capacity I have (except for .22 rifle), readily available caliber (usually), night sights, high quality, dependable, accurate, easy to carry, feels good in my hand.

 

[GhostHorse]

Hmm, interesting question. Very interesting. It would have to work for harvesting game and for defense. You wouldn't want ammo to weigh a ton. Quiet would be nice, because staying unseen and unheard would be good, but that's a low priority. Accuracy and reliability would matter more. And "reliability" would take on a whole new meaning. It's not just "how long have you gone without a failure to feed/extract/eject, but how long can you go without any of the springs breaking, any of the smaller more fragile parts breaking. You'd also rather not lug around a 12 pound, five foot long gun. No full size Mosin-Nagants, thank you.

I'd say something in 5.56 or 7.62x39. Either will take game and defend you, but I trust the 7.62 a bit more, so I'm going to say any AK that's accurate enough to take small game with. I wouldn't feel too bad about an AR15 though. Both have good capacity, and are reliable systems. Can I lug an oops kit along to deal with broken springs if they happen?

Of my personal firearms, I'd probably go with this.

If you think about the criteria, though, it's kind of surprising how well this might do:

Plenty of military forces have issued .22 weapons for survival situations, and this this is very accurate and dependable. Sure can lug around a lot of .22LR on you.

 

[Divebum]

One of my Savage MK2 bolt guns in .22lr. Well place shot is lethal, great for small game to eat, large amounts of ammo can be carried pretty easily, and the bolt gun is the most reliable and simple repeating action.

 

[Old_Sp5]

First, I think the scenaro is a bit far fetched. Why would one go on the run as if he were better off alone or even with his family ? Where's your family ? Arm them, as well ! Travel in motor vehicles would probably be impossible except possbily for short disatnce, then what ? I would think like minded people would huddle-up and combined their resources. Because of this, why limit your firearms to ONE ?

With that said and although I don't own one, I would believe a 9MM carbine would be good.

 

[DeltaBravoKS]

First, I think the scenaro is a bit far feteched. Why would one go on the run as if he were better off alone or even with his family ? Where's you family ? Arm them, as well ! Travel in motor vehicles would probably be impossible except possbily for short disatnce, then what ? I would think like minded people would huddle-up and combined their resources. Because of this, why limit your firearms to ONE ?

With that said and although I don't own one, I would believe a 9MM carbine would be good.

Maybe OP is on the run from his family?

 

[Doc Holliday]

First, I think the scenaro is a bit far feteched. Why would one go on the run as if he were better off alone or even with his family ? Where's you family ? Arm them, as well ! Travel in motor vehicles would probably be impossible except possbily for short disatnce, then what ? I would think like minded people would huddle-up and combined their resources. Because of this, why limit your firearms to ONE ?

With that said and although I don't own one, I would believe a 9MM carbine would be good.

Ok, the roving mobs burn you out of your house, whatever...the question isn't about that. Just play along without lawyering everything to death.

Maybe OP is on the run from his family?

Maybe. Maybe not. WitSec won't let me say too much about my past.

 

[Jake3501]

I love these EOTEWAKI scenarios, have played them through my mind numerous times over the years, have them down pat. My EOTEWAKI weapon is my Saiga 12, a 12 gauge AK 47 design shotgun, which has magazines up to 12 rounds, or a 20 round drum magazine. Loaded with buckshot, it will handle most situations up to 60 yards. I'm not likely to want to engage anyone at further distances anyhow, I will be evading. I would wind up taking all supplies to my daughters house. There, my son-in-law, grandsons have plenty of long distance and AR type weapons, The Saiga 12 will defend a castle. (also, with birdshot, there are plenty of dove that don't taste like dog food!

 

[lazyspeed]

Quite possibly my Nylon 66

 

[WVFarrier]

Winchester 92 in 357 mag

 

[silverstring]

IMO in a true end of civilization event, I have 4 priorities:
1.food and drinking water - I live in a high game area and have two ponds with plenty of land to grow crops
2.Safe place to live - I live far out in a rural area surrounded by ranches and chicken farms, in a hard to see from the road abode.
3.Winter warmth ( we can't all escape to the gulf states ) Plenty of firewood in my forest
4. Security - here I address the initial post.
. must be reliable, easy to fix, parts availability, ammo availability - Phew hard to find just one choice..I reload and have lots of ammo, but how long would that last?
. AR pattern rifles using 556 or 223 - a good argument can be made for this platform, but I do not own one at this time
. Bolt/lever rifles - probably a great choice for game and some self defense.
. Centerfire pistols - probably the worst choice, hard to take a squirrel or other small game at any distance
. PDW or PCC pistol caliber carbines - Almost a perfect choice - depending on ammo availability.
. Rimfire rifles - again a good choice for small game - but hard to feed folks with small game, so a larger caliber is better..take any size game, well except squirrels( hard to find any meat after a 30-30 or 44mag ). Large caliber would also serve as a better defense against 2 legged varmints.

So my eotw situation is different from the op's in that I plan on staying on the farm. It is easier to cast 44 slugs than my other rifle bullet options, so I would use my 44 mag lever rifle. hopefully the EOTW gods would let me have two weapons and my 10/22 would be included.

 

[Old_Sp5]

Ok, the roving mobs burn you out of your house, whatever...the question isn't about that. Just play along without lawyering everything to death.



Maybe. Maybe not. WitSec won't let me say too much about my past.

Ok, the roving mobs burn you out of your house, whatever...the question isn't about that. Just play along without lawyering everything to death.



Maybe. Maybe not. WitSec won't let me say too much about my past.

Okay, Doc, I'll try to take your "Walking Dead" scenarios seriously.

 

[Tracker627]

Rem 870 12 gauge. Reliable and versatile.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Okay, Doc, I'll try to take your "Walking Dead" scenarios seriously.

Just for this thread, then we will return you to your regularly scheduled reality, thanks.

As for ONE gun I want to have, it has to be something in .22LR, can carry a lot of ammo, can probably FIND .22LR in a lot of places, too...

 

[Tuco_Ramírez]

Within the context of the scenario, I can think of no valid reason to carry only a single firearm and plenty of reasons to carry more.
Heck, even know I carry two guns on my person at all times when I leave the house, a primary and a backup.

Logically speaking, if the planet is still capable of sustaining life, then there ought to be animals like Horses which could be used both as a means of transportation as well as to carry more weight than I could carry on my own, so yeah, definitely no reason to limit one's self to a single firearm.

However, in the interest of being a good sport and playing along, I suppose that my choice would be my Mossberg 590 Shockwave.

It's light enough to carry in a scabbard, compact enough to deploy at close range, can be used in a variety of applications from hunting to personal defense, is chambered in a common cartridge which shouldn't be too hard to find, and is powerful enough to deal with virtually anything that I might come across.

 

[CaptainMorgan]

Probably gonna go with my H&R Pardner 12 gauge pump as it is most versatile. The so close it is tied second choice would be my Hi Point 995ts carbine.
But I always have a 9 mm pistol handy so I'm violating the terms as that's getting carried as well.
Both are versatile and reliable but the 12 gauge has a advantage on small game.

 

[olfarhors]

well you don't mention if it has to be a pistola or a long gun?
so in a Pistiola likely would be my CZ SP-01, could be the Shadow -2 but the Sp has trit sights.
they are 9 MM so ammo isn't to heavy, more so both weapons are extremely reliable, and i have about 8 mags for either weapon as they interchange.
and for a long (sort of) gun it would be my AR-15 pistola in 300 Blackout, reason in a world comes to an end everybody is going to be cleaning out the 223/556 ammo and 7.62 X39 ammo, and i got a good amount of 300 blackout , and the cartridge is large /heavy enough to take medium up to light skinned game as well as bad guys.

 

[kschilk]

Oddly enough, I'd go with my 1903 6.5mm Swede for the simple reason that it's what I'm best with. It's also the one I'd trust the most, especially under severe conditions. It's also sturdy enough that if I ever ran outa' ammo, I could even beat a bear to death with it.

 

[Jake3501]

Probably gonna go with my H&R Pardner 12 gauge pump as it is most versatile. The so close it is tied second choice would be my Hi Point 995ts carbine.
But I always have a 9 mm pistol handy so I'm violating the terms as that's getting carried as well.
Both are versatile and reliable but the 12 gauge has a advantage on small game.

With one ounce slugs, it has an advantage on big game also. They also make saboted armor penetrating slugs for 12 gauge!

 

[MadKaw]

I'm old enough that if the world was to end I'd probably open a bottle of wine, put a couple of steaks on the grill, and watch the sunset with my arm around Otter.

But for you younguns... there's not simple answer to which gun is best to face TEOTW. Because it all depends on how it's ending.