Posted on 10/02/2009 8:37:24 AM PDT by Sasparilla
No one will ever compile a top ten list that everyone will agree with. The subjective criteria used here is based on price, range required, caliber required, history of use and reliablity, and commonness of ammunition, not necessarily in that order. This is not to suggest that a person needs every gun listed.
A large caliber rifle, .22 rifle or pistol, 9mm or .45, and pump shotgun are the basics. There will be lots of other opinions, but here is my list that I came up with after 50 years of shooting… not necessarily ranked in order.
1. We know that the first choice here will be controversial. A good AK47 is practically indestructible. Taking much of its design from the best points late WWII German MP44, the AK47 usually functions flawlessly under the worst of conditions. Throw it in the mud, fill the receiver with muck, or just leave it in a muddy river for weeks like the Viet Cong hid them, and all you need to do is wash it out, lubricate it, load it, and you are ready to go. In worst conditions, you could probably even urinate on it to clean out the muck. It is not the most accurate rifle available due to the loose manufacturing tolerances used. You can count on 3 inches at 100 yards. But, these loose tolerances allow the rifle to function and feed, and for the parts to move in almost all weather and geographical conditions. Its hard to freeze up an AK47. The 7.62X39 intermediate round is smaller than .308 or 30.06, and is comparable to a 30-30. 10, 20, 30, 40, 75 round magazines are plentiful. 75 round drums can be had for about $255.00, but they are bulky to carry and use with a semiautomatic AK47. They...
(Excerpt) Read more at secondamendmentfreedom.blogspot.com ...
An acceptable substitute for the AK-47 / MAC-90, in my opinion.
No, just an oversight. I personally carry a S&W 442 revolver. Interesting picture you used, .45 ACP in Moon clips.
All my firearms fell overboard in an unfortunate boating accident while over the Monterey trench ...
| Stuff you know if you have an AK | Stuff you know if you have an AR | Stuff you know if you have a Mosin Nagant |
| It works though you have never cleaned it. Ever. | You have $9 per ounce special non-detergent synthetic Teflon infused oil for cleaning. | It was last cleaned in Berlin in 1945. |
| You are able to hit the broad side of a barn from inside. | You are able to hit the broad side of a barn from 600 meters. | You can hit the farm from two counties over. |
| Cheap mags are fun to buy. | Cheap mags melt. | What's a mag? |
| Your safety can be heard from 300 meters away. | You can silently flip off the safety with your finger on the trigger. | What's a safety? |
| Your rifle comes with a cheap nylon sling. | Your rifle has a 9 point stealth tactical suspension system. | You rifle has dog collars. |
| Your bayonet makes a good wire cutter. | Your bayonet is actually a pretty good steak knife. | Your bayonet is longer than your leg. |
| You can put a .30" hole through 12" of oak, if you can hit it. | You can put one hole in a paper target at 100 meters with 30 rounds. | You can knock down everyone else's target with the shock wave of your bullet going downrange. |
| When out of ammo your rifle will nominally pass as a club. | When out of ammo, your rifle makes a great wiffle bat. | When out of ammo, your rifle makes a supreme war club, pike, boat oar, tent pole, or firewood. |
| Recoil is manageable, even fun. | What's recoil? | Recoil is often used to relocate shoulders thrown out by the previous shot. |
| Your sight adjustment goes to "10", and you've never bothered moving it. | Your sight adjustment is incremented in fractions of minute of angle. | Your sight adjustment goes to 12 miles and you've actually tried it. |
| Your rifle can be used by any two bit nation's most illiterate conscripts to fight elite forces worldwide. | Your rifle is used by elite forces worldwide to fight two bit nations' most illiterate conscripts. | Your rifle has fought against itself and won every time. |
| Your rifle won some revolutions. | Your rifle won the Cold War. | Your rifle won a pole vault event. |
| You paid $350. | You paid $900. | You paid $59.95. |
| You buy cheap ammo by the case. | You lovingly reload precision crafted rounds one by one. | You dig your ammo out of a farmer's field in Ukraine and it works just fine. |
| You can intimidate your foe with the bayonet mounted. | You foes laugh when you mount your bayonet. | You can bayonet your foe on the other side of the river without leaving the comfort of your hole. |
| Service life, 50 years. | Service life, 40 years. | Service life, 100 years, and counting. |
| It's easier to buy a new rifle when you want to change cartridge sizes. | You can change cartridge sizes with the push of a couple of pins and a new upper. | You believe no real man would dare risk the ridicule of his friends by suggesting there is anything but 7.62x54r. |
| You can repair your rifle with a big hammer and a swift kick. | You can repair your rifle by taking it to a certified gunsmith, it's under warranty! | If your rifle breaks, you buy a new one. |
| You consider it a badge of honor when you get your handguards burst into flames. | You consider it a badge of honor when you shoot a sub-MOA 5 shot group. | You consider it a badge of honor when you cycle 5 rounds without the aid of a 2x4. |
| After a long day the range you relax by watching "Red Dawn". | After a long day at the range you relax by watching "Blackhawk Down". | After a long day at the range you relax by visiting the chiropractor. |
| After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge for a stiff shot of Vodka. | After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge for hotdogs and apple pie. | After cleaning your rifle you have a strong urge for shishkabob. |
| You can accessorize you rifle with a new muzzle brake or a nice stock set. | Your rifle's accessories are eight times more valuable than your rifle. | Your rifle's accessory is a small tin can with a funny lid, but it's buried under an apartment building somewhere in Budapest. |
| Your rifle's finish is varnish and paint. | Your rifle's finish is Teflon and high tech polymers. | Your rifle's finish is low grade shellac, cosmoline and Olga's toe nails. |
| Your wife tolerates your autographed framed picture of Mikhail Kalashnikov. | Your wife tolerates your autographed framed picture of Eugene Stoner. | You're not sure there WERE cameras to photograph Sergei Mosin. |
| Late at night you sometimes have to fight the urge to hold your rifle over your head and shout "Wolverines!" | Late at night you sometimes have to fight the urge to clear your house, slicing the pie from room to room. | Late at night, you sometimes have to fight the urge to dig a fighting trench in the the yard to sleep in. |
| There you have it. In the end, it is clear to any open minded inquirer that the Mosin Nagant is the most superior weapon of all time, but the AR and the AK come out as a draw when compared side by side. | ||
“A large caliber rifle, .22 rifle or pistol, 9mm or .45, and pump shotgun are the basics.”
One of each...just a list with multiples to choose from.
Now, Now, Now.
You know 0bama has spies here. And you know we all sold our guns at a gun show and just keep a few boxes of ammo around for old time’s sake.
So 0bama-trolls, we have no guns here. Move along now and go watch your Michael Moore movie and get wee-weed up.
I bought my Chinese-built SKS second-hand from an American capitalist and its receiver and other fring components are most definitely not constructed of stamped sheet metal.
It has the added benefit of being a heck of a lot cheaper to practice with than my AR-15.
1. Not all autoloaders work well with cast bullets.
2. Revolvers don't stovepipe and crush brass, or deform it on extraction/ejection.
3. If pressed, revolver ammo can be handloaded with blackpowder.
If I were to obtain another firearm, I would buy it with the thought in mind that I might be getting my ammo from freshly killed opponents ...
Grab a PSL. You get AK reliability, Mosin Nagant power and Dragunov accuracy. I wouldn’t worry about high capacity magazines, because if things are so haywire you’re spraying it enough to need 75 rounds in a mag then (a)you’re going to run out of what will become a scarce resource, and (b)you aren’t going to live that long anyway. Best bet is to reach out and touch the bad guys from afar. 30-06, 7.62x54r, 308, etc. Up close will probably be up REAL close, so a pistol will do.
The whole thing revolves around "when things go bad." How bad? Are you going to be toting a 12-gauge over your shoulder when you shop for cheesy puffs? Great, I can get down with that, but if things aren't quite so bad and old ladies will call the SWAT team on you, then concealment comes into your scenario (or carrying a less scary piece).
If you have to hunt for pot meat the scenario changes. If there are small groups of marauders looking for a quick mugging victim, different still. The key here is to adapt to the threat.
And the key to adaptation is options. Buy guns. It's for the children.
When you need a gun, just take what you want from the invading “blue helmets”. That way ammo will be easy to find.
Bingo. My TEOTWAKI handgun is a Ruger GP100 .357 — totally overbuilt, indestructible, and absolutely reliable. Plus it can take a small-medium deer in a pinch. Semi-autos are nice, but if I had to pick only one for the rest of my life, it’d be a stainless revolver in .357 with a 4” bbl. Followed by a glock.
Anyone want to sell a threaded barrel for a HK USP40?
I'm ready if my land is invaded by zombie pheasants. CSMC RBL 16 gauge. ;)
Sweet. It’d work on zombies, too.
When I was a kid I owned a Moisin-Nagant rifle. Bought it thru the mail for something like $12.95 plus shipping. It was all your post says it was.
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