Bug out gun

[movevio]

Hoosier8. Yes, I would gladly trade water for a fighting rifle and ammunition. I plan on being on foot. My Jeep would be a luxury I cannot count on. I have walked my actual bug out route, 21 miles in 7 hours, cross county and dirt roads, with a 50 pound ruck and my AK. The weight is not a issue. I spend a lot of time in the gym, away from the buffet line and on the trail, making sure I can handle the load and stay in combat condition.

Regarding water: We live in Indiana. There is water everywhere. Even in winter. If you tell me "what if the water is in a denied area or someone won't let you get to it?" Then that tells me I probably should have a rifle, 'cause things are looking pretty bad.

If I am bugging out, I don't expect to be strolling along shooting rabbits like some episode from Little House on The Praire. I expect it to be a lot more like Bosnia.

These posts discussing BoB or SHTF guns, giving preference to .22s for game harvesting over carrying a rifle you can fight with frustrate me. The cost to me for failure to harvest food, or perhaps wasted meat due to overkill, is small. The cost to me for bringing a .22 to a rifle fight is HUGE-my life and possibly the lives I am charged with protecting. Unacceptable. I will ALWAYS default to carrying a fighting weapon first.

i couldn't agree with you more. if it is bad enough to leave your home then it is a true SHTF scenario and you better believe that i will be packing more heat than a .22

 

[clt46910]

I would go with a .22 target pistol for game and a M-4 for all else. Suppressor for both if I could get one.

 

[TiminMishawaka]

Thompson Encore pistol with a .22 barrel and a 30-06 barrel. 1000 rounds of .22 and 2 boxes of 30-06. That goes in the bag. My G30 is always with me though so I'll have it but it's not a bag consideration.

 

[Sureshot129]

I'm working on getting conversion barrels and mags in .357 and 9mm for my G23 plus a rifle

 

[dieselman]

i have a MOLLE style scabbard for my PGO shotgun, and for some reason, am dead set on keeping it... also my AK is a yugo underfolder that can be easily hidden. the only drawback i see to the ak is weight of the gun and ammo compared to my .22, and the fact if i were to try and take some sort of small game like a squirrel, rabbit, etc. there wouldnt be anything left... guess thats what the shotty is for though...

 

[longbarrel]

I would just have my proto- carbon laser gun. It only weighs 1.4 lbs and it is virtually indestrutable. (waterproof, weatherproof,mold and mildew resistant) and with no internal moving parts it is accurate up to 600 meters. Can penetrate block, wood, and light steel. Perfect for those b.o. occasions.

 

[infidel]

You guys that say you would bring a battle rifle. HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO KILL SQUIRRELS TO EAT AND SURVIVE?! Oh.....you already thought ahead for food...

1911
AR 15 A2

 

[Bruenor]

Your Bug out Bag is to be used to get you to your fall back position. What is that fall back position for you? Can you store supplies at that location and assume that they will be there when you get there? If that's the case, then it opens up other possibilities.

Having a BOB without having a place to go isn't a very good plan. It's better than having no plan, but still it's not a good plan. The place where you are bugging out to had better have supplies stocked, because in a true SHTF situation, you'll need a lot more than you can carry on your back.

 

[FordMan08]

Im gonna try my best not to bug out.

Some of you folks are just plum nervous.

 

[infidel]

Im gonna try my best not to bug out.

Some of you folks are just plum nervous.

^Zombie fodder.

 

[Hoosier8]

Im gonna try my best not to bug out.

Some of you folks are just plum nervous.

Actually, I think the most reasonable scenario that would likely happen is an extended outage of some kind, electricity, food distribution, things like that due to some unforeseen storm, natural or manmade occurrence. In that case, I hope to have my house prepared enough to weather the storm, so to speak. If I ever had to travel to any other place, it would probably be to get to a relative. If I had to travel on foot, then it would be dire indeed as the closest relative is 300 miles away. The only place I have to stock is my house so house it is.

For me this is a thinking exercise.

 

[indyk]

my bug out guns

I would give the wife the Saiga 12
I would take the 9mm and the AK.

 

[Indiana_Dave]

I think people should be more worried about what food they are going to store, or grow, than what weapons they have. If you have food stored, and want weapons for defense of it, that's different. But to have no food and plenty of guns means that you are very likely going to become a bandit or looter. Hunting? Forget about that. If SHTF, and people no longer care about hunting laws, EVERY deer in Indiana will be dead in a week. (They were extinct here during the great depression due to over hunting, back when we had probably less than half of the people we have here now.)

One of the biggest dangers to me and mine, if SHTF, is people whose only "preps" were guns 'n ammo, and I have prepared for this, in addition to food stocks. If your plan is to roam the Indiana countryside looking for people with better preparations, I'd strongly suggest thinking twice. All of us should hope that everyone has several months of food and water on hand. And all of us should prepare with those who don't in mind.

 

[zoglog]

I would use one caliber 9mm. I would have my carbine for the longer shots, and it is small enough to fit in my bag, and my 659 for anything else. This allows me to use the same ammunition for both firearms. If one firearm would fail, I can use the ammunition in the other. I won't have to lug around ammunition for an inoperable firearm.

 

[CopperWires]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned a revolver and a lever action in .357. You have the option of .38 and .357, which are plentiful, if you have to scavenge for ammo. The revolver wouldn't be my first choice for protection, and the a lever action wouldn't be my first choice in a hunting or a long range defense shot, but being able to carry only one type of ammo is huge. And a carbine lever action is easy to carry.

 

[hickuleas]

If i am walking i would carry a springfield M6 scout in 22hornet/410. And probably a S&W Mountain revolver in 44 mag. Would want something that would require minimum maintinence. Hope that day never comes.

 

[stormryder]

If I had to leave my home/shelter, G.O.O.D. and start scavenging,.
I would go with a set of revolvers in .22 mag, .357mag, .44mag.(8 calibers in 3 pistols)
My .223 M4gery w/9mm upper and mags in my CFP90 ruck and on my LBV.

 

[PatMcGroyne]

Trying to keep calibers to a minimum

Each of our BOBs has a Keltec 9x19. Ammo is all over the place in our Bail-out clothing, in double ziplock bags. The small magazines make that easier. Not all of it can be lost at once. Our carry-guns are Choate-stock Marlin-45s. Unfolded for ease of fitting the back-pack papoose style, barrel downwards. Magazines all over the place. Side-arms are various Glock full-45ACP pieces, with interch angeable magazines. Ammo again in canvas snap-open mag carriers. Carried on legs, belt, molle devices in front and in back, none of it buried too deeply. Easy to tell which magazine you've reached for, even in a snow-storm at 3AM. Only full mags. No loose amo or boxes to contend with. Also have fire-starters and food-bars in most other pockets. Pat.

 

[pinshooter45]

The AK as a hunting Rifle

Just an interesting tid bit. I work with a guy who escaped Cambodia during the Kymer Rouge(SP?). and he claims to have hunted game sucssesfully with an AK which suprises me due to them not being th most accurate weapon past 50 yrds. He also had to drink his own urine to survive. Never really asked him, but I was thinking the AK was probably easier for him to get his hands on. Also didn't ask was private ownership of guns leagal before KR. And I have no dought that that 7.62 round will take large to medium game If you can hit them with it!

 

[irishfan]

Just an interesting tid bit. I work with a guy who escaped Cambodia during the Kymer Rouge(SP?). and he claims to have hunted game sucssesfully with an AK which suprises me due to them not being th most accurate weapon past 50 yrds. He also had to drink his own urine to survive.

I believe there are a lot of wild boar and other type animals in Southeast Asia which I would think an AK would be fine. I don't see why a person who has practiced with an AK and learned how the particular rifle shoots can't hit a rabbit or even a squirrel and definitely deer here in Indiana. You won't be able to hit a squirrel at 150yds but I can barely see them that far away to shoot without a scope anyway. I can't dispute the AK as a good bug out weapon and consider it myself but I could also see the other choices being good as well.