How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [85]
The second major consideration for survival guns is that they be robust and reliable enough to put up with constant carry and regular use. When the nearest gunsmith is a two-hour drive away, you have to depend on your own resources. Since they are carried quite frequently and in all sorts of weather, farm/ranch/ survival guns need to have durable finishes. Stainless steel is by far the best choice for most situations. Unfortunately, however, not all guns are available in stainless steel. For guns that are made only with a blued finish, there are several finishes available. My personal favorite of the exotic coatings is called META-COL (metal color), which is offered in a wide variety of finishes by Arizona Response Systems (snipurl.com/ht0fs). Exotic material finishes are quite durable and offer rust protection that is exceeded only by stainless steel.
Because trips to town to procure ammunition might be infrequent (or impossible in a severe survival scenario), and reloading will likely be the norm for those seeking self-sufficiency, you’ll want to limit the number of different cartridges that you stock. Having ten different guns chambered in ten different cartridges will complicate logistics. Further, it is best to select only guns chambered for commonly available cartridges. Small country stores stock ammo like .22 long rifle, .308 Winchester, .30- 06, and 12-gauge, but probably not .264 Winchester Magnum, .300 Weatherby, or 28-gauge.
Small Game
There are several categories of firearms that belong in the gun racks of nearly every farm or ranch. The first and most frequently used variety are small-game/pest-shooting guns. These guns are used to hunt small game for the pot (squirrels, rabbits, etc.), to shoot garden pests (crows, starlings, gophers, etc.), and for shooting to deter marauding predators (coyotes, foxes, weasels, ferrets, etc.). They also end up being the guns most frequently used to slaughter livestock.
Good cartridges for small game/pest shooting include .22 long rifle (.22 LR) and .223 Remington. The most common shot shells for this use are .410, 20-gauge, and 12-gauge. The .22 LR will suffice for everything up to the size of a rabbit at conservative distances. It is inexpensive to shoot and quiet, and has hardly any felt recoil. The .223 Remington is a good cartridge for shooting perched birds that would be out of range for a .22 rimfire, or for shooting feral dogs, feral cats, or coyotes.
Both handguns and long guns are needed for small-game/ pest shooting. A long gun would of course be the ideal choice in most circumstances, due to its inherently higher velocity and longer sighting radius (and hence greater accuracy). There are times, however, when it is not practical to carry a long gun. When mending fences, feeding livestock, hauling wood, riding a tractor, or doing most gardening work, it is usually not practical to carry a long gun. On farms and ranches, long guns tend to be left behind inside buildings or in vehicle gun racks. They are only rarely carried when doing chores or just walking down to the mailbox at the county road. This is where handguns come in.
Rimfire Handguns
A good-quality .22 rimfire pistol may be one of the most useful handguns in your battery. These guns are used for dispatching those “uncatchable” chickens for the stewpot, for shooting small game/pests, and for inexpensively maintaining marksmanship skills for those more powerful (and more expensive to shoot) handguns. My wife and I use a stainless steel Ruger Mark II with a 5½-inch bull barrel and Pachmayr grips. The Ruger is also offered in 6 ⅞-inch and 10⅞-inch -inch barrel lengths. But we find that the 5½-inch barrel is a handy length for holster carry. Another well-made stainless steel .22 autopistol is the Smith and Weson