What should be in your survival arsenal.

OK, so you've decided that it definitely makes sense to prepare for whatever survival-type situation that you are concerned about, be it blizzards, thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, pandemic, bio-terrorism, hyperinflation, peak oil, or those pesky zombies.  You've packed away shelf-stable food, plenty of water, water purification equipment & chemicals, medications, a generator, batteries, and all sorts of alternative lighting methods for a grid-down situation.



Now you have to be able to protect those items and your family from the members of the welfare nation who didn't prepare at all, and will be wandering through your neighborhood 72 hours after a catastrophic event occurs looking for food.  If for some reason you have a hard time believing this, here is a little reminder.

Some refugees may ask nicely if you have any food or water for them.  For these kinds of people, I recommend handing out a can or two of vegetables (the kind your kids won't eat) and some bottled water if they seem genuine to you.  This is not only the Christian thing to do (if you're into religion), but will also help you conserve your ammo in the long run.  You cannot afford to get into a fight with everyone who comes to your door.

For the crackheads and people with a sense of entitlement who demand that you give them stuff, you answer "NO", both verbally and with the business end of your AR15.  If they are smart, they won't come back.  Of course, this is assuming you have a firearm to back up your answer, which brings us to the meat of this article...........what kind of weapon(s) should you have on hand in a survival situation?

Before we delve into specifics, I'd like to mention that you won't be seeing anything here that chambers the 50 BMG, 408 CheyTac, 338 Lapua, 500 S&W Mag, 357 SIG, 9x25 Dillon or any other oddball, expensive, exotic or otherwise arcane calibers.  The name of the game in survival weaponry calibers is common, easy-to-find, cheap, effective ammunition that you can afford to stockpile by the thousands or scrounge up after a society-changing event happens.

We will begin with some advice for the people who really aren't into guns and don't go out shooting but can see the logic of this type of application, and will probably only buy ONE firearm for their protection.  These people are Glock 17 people.  Nothing more than the most rudimentary training is required to run a Glock, 9mm ammo is available everywhere (and is cheap), and Glocks are noted for their reliability and durability.

You may wonder why I don't recommend a shotgun for these folks, since their stopping power, versatility, and increased probability of hits compared to a handgun make them a superior weapon.  Well, I have a couple reasons........A lot of these folks are not going to be amenable to the recoil of a 12 gauge combat shotgun because they are either elderly, infirm, slight of frame or just complete novices to firearms in general.  For them, a 9mm Glock is much less intimidating and much more likely to be used in confidence.  In a bug-out situation the size and weight of a handgun makes it much more likely to be taken along compared to a shotgun.  Also, 9mm ammo is much smaller and lighter than a comparable number of shotgun shells.  It's better to have an inferior weapon that you can use, kept with you at all times compared to a real street howitzer that you left back in the closet.

For the rest of the people out there who appreciate guns for their utility, like shooting them, and plan on buying more than one, here are my recommendations:

• AR15 carbine (16" barrel), 5.56 NATO caliber with red dot sight and weapon light
• Lever action carbine (20" barrel), 30/30 caliber with red dot sight
• Bolt action rifle, 308 Winchester caliber with high magnification scope & bipod
• 12 gauge pump action shotgun with 18" barrel and magazine extension
• 9mm/40 S&W/45 ACP semi-automatic pistol(s), at least one with weapon light
• Rimfire rifle, 22 LR caliber with scope

We won't spend a lot of time discussing the AR15, since it has such a near-universal approval in this application.  I will say that in spite of some of the new and interesting calibers released for it in the last several years (6.8 SPC, 458 SOCOM, 300 Blackout, and 6.5 Grendel) you should still stay with the 5.56 NATO version, for the reasons of cheap ammunition availability and commonality.  It is much better to have 1000 rounds of 5.56 ammo compared to 350 rounds of 6.8 SPC for the same money, and should you be able to scrounge up some ammo after an event occurs, you have a way better chance of it being 223/5.56 compared to some of the others I mentioned.  The red dot scope and weapon light make your rig 24 hour operations capable, instead of being a daylight-only wonder, and should be considered mandatory.  I use and recommend the RRA Tactical Operator 2.

The lever action back-up rifle is best referenced here, in it's own article.  I use and recommend the Marlin 336.

The bolt action 308, if set up properly with a picatinny rail, high magnification scope with tactical turrets, bipod and a good trigger will defend your perimeter out to 1000 yards and provide you with a heavy weapons-type capacity using FMJ ammunition for enhanced barrier penetration when necessary.  I use and recommend the Remington 700.

The 12 gauge pump action shotgun, set up as specified, provides you with a true multi-purpose weapon, capable of easily bringing down an adversary with buckshot, or by simply switching to a birdshot load, provide you with much needed meat for the pot.  The only real caution here is to make sure that you are using the correct ammunition for defensive purposes.  The shotgun can also be loaded with slugs for various reasons, but with three different rifles in our arsenal already I consider this a moot point.  I use and recommend the Remington 870.

The semi-automatic pistols will be your weapon of convenience and back-up.  No pistol should ever be your primary weapon if you can help it, but there are activities that you need to have the use of both hands, such as gardening, that are fulfilled by having a holstered pistol on your hip.  Also, a pistol on your hip makes a great back-up weapon if you run out of ammo for the rifle/shotgun you're carrying or if you have a mechanical failure.  You should have a pistol that you can supply to every able-bodied adult in the house in case of a siege situation.  At least one of them should be equipped with a weapon light for effective shooting during times of darkness.  Pick a caliber that you are comfortable with and can afford to stockpile a lot of ammunition for.  Stopping power does vary some between the common defensive calibers, as does recoil characteristics and ammunition costs.  Check out this post for more information.  I recommend and use double-stack high capacity 45's, such as the Glock 21 or Springfield Armory XDM 5.25.

The rimfire rifle in 22 Long Rifle caliber is a versatile weapon that can be used to bag small animals for the pot with minimal meat damage, such as rabbits and squirrels.  For this purpose, I prefer subsonic hollow point ammunition for its low noise signature and quick kills.  The 22 rifle can also be pressed into defensive service by those shooters who are recoil sensitive.  While it is not an ideal weapon for fending off attackers, more tangos will be repealed with accurate hits from a 22 than misses from a 45.  I have an old, accurate, scoped bolt action Remington that I use for this application, but it would be hard to argue that a Ruger 10/22 is not the ideal choice for a new rimfire gun.

These are my opinions for the necessary survival firearms, but equally important is providing adequate amounts of ammunition for each of them.  While all of these are fine guns, they make awful clubs when you don't have ammo to fire in them.  When making your plans to buy ammo, more is always better.  You can always use it to barter if you have too much.

Here are my personal guidelines for ammo quantities per weapon:

• 5.56mm- 1000 rounds military ball (M193 or M855) minimum.  2K to 3K preferred.
• 30/30 Win-  300 rounds soft points  minimum.
• 308 Win- 150 rounds match grade soft points, 200 rounds FMJ ammo minimum.
• 12 gauge 00 buckshot- 250 rounds minimum.
• 12 gauge birdshot- 250 rounds minimum.
• Pistol ammo (9mm/40 S&W/45 ACP)- 500 rounds HP ammo, 500 rounds ball minimum.  (more if you have multiple pistols)
• 22 LR- 1000 rounds subsonic HP, 1000 rounds practice ammo minimum.

These may seem like large quantities, but keep in mind that in the unlikely, however possible occurrence of a TEOTWAWKI situation, the ammo that you have on hand is all the ammo you will ever have.  As I said before, better too much than not enough.  You will not be able to buy it when you really need to have it.  Get stocked up ahead of time.

As always, comments are welcomed and appreciated.

LWM out................