Jump to content

thinking about a SHTF gun....ak or ar?


Steve Butters

Recommended Posts

Good luck hunting deer with a 22LR.

I'm not envisaging the end-of-the-world situation. I'm more worried about a Katrina-style thing where we just need to look after ourselves without the police for a few weeks.

Good luck hunting deer with anything in a situation like we are discussing. Deer were hunted to near extinction not to awful long ago and if you don't think that will not happen again you are crazy. Every Elmer fudd in every city will be packing up his Prius to head out to the country to bag him some dinner. Good luck. I have no desire to even want to drive near public hunting land during deer season and ill be damned if I would chance going out there if I knew that all the laws were thrown out the window.

Btw trespassing wont be looked to kindly upon so don't let me find you any where near me ... :)

Your best bet of definate food would be getting your hands dirty and growing some. Anymore its a lost skill amongst the younger generation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good luck hunting deer with a 22LR.

I'm not envisaging the end-of-the-world situation. I'm more worried about a Katrina-style thing where we just need to look after ourselves without the police for a few weeks.

Good luck trying to survive on nothing but deer. Something tells me that when the SHTF you're going to be glad to have any meat at all, and its more than likely going to be rodents, squirrels, and rabbits, much like settlers and native Americans did. Good luck collecting the meat from the squirrel that you've just obliterated with a 5.56 or 7.62 round.

Katrina is probably the most "realistic" SHTF situation, and it was even pretty hard to imagine that in a "modern" society that a Katrina situation could occur. That being said, lot's of people been killed by .22LR. Cheap to buy in BULK, easy to store, lasts forever, and most the pistols/rifles that shoot it are damn simple in function and to operate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are really worried about SHTF stock up on food with a long shelf life, maybe some MREs, and LOTS of bottled water.

Former USMC here...I have a REALLY hard time envisioning ANY scenario where a large cache of ammo will prove useful. If it makes you sleep better, then good for you. There are lots of Soldiers, Marines, and Police that have fired less than 100 bullets in anger over their entire career. And they deal with way more shit than you ever will.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SWFA Super Sniper scope, EBR, and Atlas Bipod. Good build there!

Atlas Bipods are Awesome FYI!!!

Lol, sorry to imply this was mine. While I do have an M1A, my better consciensce prevents me from gutting it to install into an EBR stock. Maybe someday when I can afford another I'll go this route.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good luck trying to survive on nothing but deer. Something tells me that when the SHTF you're going to be glad to have any meat at all, and its more than likely going to be rodents, squirrels, and rabbits, much like settlers and native Americans did. Good luck collecting the meat from the squirrel that you've just obliterated with a 5.56 or 7.62 round.

Katrina is probably the most "realistic" SHTF situation, and it was even pretty hard to imagine that in a "modern" society that a Katrina situation could occur. That being said, lot's of people been killed by .22LR. Cheap to buy in BULK, easy to store, lasts forever, and most the pistols/rifles that shoot it are damn simple in function and to operate.

I like you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nevermind

Editing again because I will give my honest opinion

my main goals are SHTF - occasional coyote blasting - and target shooting 100-200yds

Do you want to hit what you are aiming at? Expect around 3-5"+ groups with the AK at 100 depending on how good a shooter you are. Probably closer to 7" at 200

i like the accuracy and range of the ar - but i like the punch of the ak

Even at 500 yards, Punch wont matter if you hit what your aiming at (i.e Vitals) You said 100-200 yards

ar10 would be ideal, but its out of my budget

Gets Expensive fast when doing semi auto on .308. Bolt guns would be my choice in .308

im leaning towards an AK - what would be a good one? i want a synthetic one if i get one

Dont know much about different model/brands of AK's

i see a ton of ARs on armslist in my budget - but i know nothing about them, they seem ridiculously complicated

They are only complicated until you get 1 and strip it the first time then they are no different than any other firearm.

I think these answers are right on the money. I can only add that the .300 blackout is a specialized caliber for short range & suppressed applications. If you don't have a suppressor and dont have plans to get one, your just throwing your money away on a niche caliber.

The 6.8 SPC is a superior round, cost about the same or slightly less and be alot more versatile (even at long range). The blackout shooter needs to be an accomplished reloader with the capacity and patience to load ALOT, especially if you train with your rifle.

If you want to become a SHTF type person, buy an AK74 and start buying up all the 5.45x39 surplus while its still cheap. Don't buy thousands of dollars worth of add on crap like EOtechs and fancy flash lights. By alot of rounds, magazines and train with the rifle!

My 2 cents.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good luck trying to survive on nothing but deer. Something tells me that when the SHTF you're going to be glad to have any meat at all, and its more than likely going to be rodents, squirrels, and rabbits, much like settlers and native Americans did. Good luck collecting the meat from the squirrel that you've just obliterated with a 5.56 or 7.62 round.

Katrina is probably the most "realistic" SHTF situation, and it was even pretty hard to imagine that in a "modern" society that a Katrina situation could occur. That being said, lot's of people been killed by .22LR. Cheap to buy in BULK, easy to store, lasts forever, and most the pistols/rifles that shoot it are damn simple in function and to operate.

I have both 5.56 and .22LR :cool:

Or I can trade you a deer for 50 squirrels. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have both 5.56 and .22LR :cool:

Or I can trade you a deer for 50 squirrels. :D

Now you're talking like a survivalist!

Don't get me wrong, I'm sitting on a few thousand rounds each of 5.56, 7.62x51, 7.62x39, 12ga, 9mm, 45 acp, 22LR, etc. Every time a new zombie movie comes out I run to Walmart to buy cheap ammo. Looks like I'll be making another trip today now that I've learned of the scourge of coyotes that's just waiting to be unleashed. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think these answers are right on the money. I can only add that the .300 blackout is a specialized caliber for short range & suppressed applications. If you don't have a suppressor and dont have plans to get one, your just throwing your money away on a niche caliber.

The 6.8 SPC is a superior round, cost about the same or slightly less and be alot more versatile (even at long range). The blackout shooter needs to be an accomplished reloader with the capacity and patience to load ALOT, especially if you train with your rifle.

If you want to become a SHTF type person, buy an AK74 and start buying up all the 5.45x39 surplus while its still cheap. Don't buy thousands of dollars worth of add on crap like EOtechs and fancy flash lights. By alot of rounds, magazines and train with the rifle!

My 2 cents.

I see the 300aac having advantages that you can use the stock 556 bolt and magazines, all you need to get it up and running is a barrel. So the up front cost would not be as much if you already own an ar15 in 556 (mrp would take about 1min to do the conversion). Remington and cmmg have ammo available in both super and subsonic rounds.

If you do not already own an ar in 556, I agree the 6.8 is a superior round and you will be buying ammo specific magazines, bolts, and a barrel.

off the shelf ammo is not cheap for either round so you would most likely reload if you do any volume of shooting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9/11 is the biggest terrorist event I can recall. I don't recall any civilian ammo improving the situation. So are we talking about a terrorist event bigger than 9/11 with some sort of local impact to the food and/or water supply? Then there is the whole issue that terrorists typically don't provide a target to shoot.

Pearl Harbor was based on a large force staging a sneak attack and that only could happen in those days because radar was a relatively new technology. It couldn't happen today.

If survival hunting became necessary, any creature worth hunting would be extinct in less than a month.

What is your doomsday scenario? I'd like to hear it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...