Why do people "downgrade" for the survival rifle?

LOL I love zombie threads too:D


Quote: I read all sorts of survival books, watched lot's of TV, done a much primitive camping and wilderness trips yet never once have I heard, seen or needed 1000 rounds. Save the 1000 round count for zombie threads.


Well now you've heard my opinion- if thats the first for you:D
 
I live so far out in the woods that I'm not sure where I'd "bug out" to.... Maybe climb a tree? That being said, as a paranoid man, I do have a packed BOB ready to go.

I think to answer the OP's question, the reason people choose a cheap gun for their bug out is that they're seeing it as a dedicated purpose gun. It's easy to shell out the money for a high point to stuff into you BOB where - hopefully - you'll never use it - separate from your other guns.

Personally, I don't keep a gun in my BOB at all - if I did it would probably be a .22 pistol for portability. However, I'm more worried about water purification, food, and shelter than defense in a bug out scenario, and there's only so much room in my pack.

As things stand if I had time I'd probably just grab my 30-30 (or better yet my bow) on the way out the door.
 
Like dayman said... I live in the country,where would I go?? the city?? not!!
I'll just stay at home with all my guns and supplies.
 
Just because an Arsenal costs 2-3 more than a WASR doesnt neccesarily mean its better. The tolerances of manufacturing are and can be fairly wide. The aresenal parts are factory mass produced just as the wasr. Arsenal IME just seems to take a little more time and care when assembling/converting their rifles. But factory tolerances can make a difference when talking about individual rifles. Maybe the said WASR shoots more acurately and more reliably. For me a doomsday situation calls for the most reliable weapons I have. If thats means my $1500 RRA stays home and my $400 WASR comes with me so be it.

I can honestly say, if i were ever to be in a SHTF violent confrontation, I would never ever say - "I surrender! You guys have more expensive rifles than I do! I Surrender!"

But then again, ive never been a price tag elitist.

In a survival situation its function over form(and price)
 
If you have access to all of your firearms, you could use the cheapo survival rifles to ARM family members or friends while retaining the good rifles for yourself.
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Yes, but if I am arming them, then maybe I don't to go the downgraded route on them anymore than for me.

Just because an Arsenal costs 2-3 more than a WASR doesnt neccesarily mean its better.
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Right, there are some good and fairly inexpensive rifles. Cost isn't what determines quality or applicability, though better quality gun do tend to cost more.

I read all sorts of survival books, watched lot's of TV, done a much primitive camping and wilderness trips yet never once have I heard, seen or needed 1000 rounds. Save the 1000 round count for zombie threads.
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I don't think folks in a crisis ever complained about having extra ammunition left over, but many certainly have complained about not having enough. 1000 rounds is a lot, but maybe if you are a Korean business owner during the last Watts riots, then you know exactly what it feels like to use your gun in self defense to protect your business (in some cases business and home) and family from rioters for multiple days with no clear indication as to when the rioters would be stopped.
 
DNS, first of all hi-5

A lesson I learned early in the army, no matter how advanced a fighting force. Somebody has to burn poop.

As the one supplying the weapons, I would think myself as the regime leader, therefore exempt from burning poop......and exempt from the AR7 :D:D:D
 
It'd depend on just what you intend to survive. And for how long.

A closed breech, takedown .22rf with decent peeps like the 39A seems to make sense to me.

salty
 
Perhaps he should rehearse a scenario where he takes the bad guys out to eat and gets to know them real good and understand it was the moms fault for holding him too much/little when he was young? :rolleyes:

I don't understand the point you're perhaps trying to make? Being emotionally detached from someone who may be trying to victimize you would seem to me to be an obvious and preferable position to be in.
 
The end of the world as we know it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzqiPvGrkTo

For me a "survival" rifle is for when I misplace myself in the wilderness. Since most of my time in the wilderness is when I'm hunting or hiking I already have two default guns. A .30-06 bolt action for the former and a Ruger MK II for the later.
Occasionally I'll have a .22 rifle when I'm hiking.

If I were to be dropped off somewhere in the middle of nowhere I'd opt for my Marlin 60. A close second would be my 20ga pump.

Future dystopia or civil unrest don't really concern me.

On edit Here's a "teotwawki" forum.
http://www.survivalistboards.com/tags.php?tag=life+after+teotwawki
 
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I dont downgrade , live in the country use what you have,aint carring 1000 rounds either, aint that far to the honey hole.:)
 
I want to know why people would leave their good rifles behind and grab a Century AK with their bug out bag.
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Maybe this is telling you which gun people consider the 'good rifle' deep down in their subconscious...


A good .22LR will do anything I want a survival rifle to do, including making boogie-men go look for an emergency room. Accurate, light weight, easy to shoot, ammo is everywhere. Lots of guys over-think this whole thing.
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Aint THAT the truth...
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There might be another way to look at it. Perhaps many folks leave the high price good looking gun at home and take the well used 'Old standby' to the range, out hunting, popping beer coke cans .... This means they are most comfortable with the well used 'Old standby'. It might just be habit to grab 'Old standby' in a pinch, rather than that alien beautifully kept centerpiece.

While the .22 is a fine survival gun, I'd sure hate for that to be my only choice if a bear took and interest in me because he had not eaten in three, or four days.
 
Another thing to consider here is barter. I've seen a preper blog where the guy purchased a crate of 91/30s to enable him to arm his neighbors and/or use as barter for goods. Same goes for buying up a bunch of Hi-Points. They are cheap so you can afford a bunch, but when everyone may need to go armed to survive, they may be worth their weight in gold after the gun stores get looted/turned into fort knox.

Also a consideration, many top notch rifles people have for recreation are simply impractical for EDC. They are too heavy because they feature heavy barrels, heavy furniture and have too many accessories etc and are simply impractical to carry with you all the time. Having a lighter weight, no frills rifle that has fewer parts to break has some merit in a SHTF scenario.
 
In a situation where maintenance items are scarce or nonexistence I would pick my AK WASP-10 ( as I run the snot out of it without any problems) and my Glock. Both guns seem to run fine where the possibly of maintenance is low.

On the other hand what ever gun I have at the time of need is the one I would use
 
I don't understand the point you're perhaps trying to make?
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Perhaps I am saying that we are talking about shooting people, not mythical monsters.

If you want to "shoot hobgoblins and zombies," go play dungeons and dragons.
 
I can't imagine a 'scenario' where you would only take one weapon with you. I'd at least have two, since my CCW is usually on me.

Yah, carrying a few long arms and all the associated ammo can be unwieldy, which is why (I assume) most preppers have bags already made up with guns, ammo and accessories ready to roll. If nothing else, you can carry a few different handguns for little extra weight.

A true SHTF person would probably have at least one takedown gun for portability, in addition to a rifle which perhaps cannot be disassembled as easily. That's three guns total right there.
 
Quite a few decent sources have indicated there are almost certainly as many guns as a adults in the US. I doubt guns will be worth all that much in TEOTWAKI, especially considering there would likely be a lot less adults very quickly.
 
Perhaps I am saying that we are talking about shooting people, not mythical monsters.

If you want to "shoot hobgoblins and zombies," go play dungeons and dragons.
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So you have no point. He did say it was slang which would indicate that he is very aware of who he would be shooting. Being snarky was your point, I see.
 
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