The Best SHTF Gun Finally Revealed!

The issue of the best SHTF gun is like my ex-wife it’s been worked top to bottom, bottom to top and side to side and back again, it is nothing new.  

Some will say a .22 rifle or shotgun, others will suggest an AR-15 or some other center-fire magazine fed rifle and a few will tell you a bolt-action is the most logical choice.

While they aren’t wrong – at least under certain circumstances, they fail to see the big picture or fail to realize what really happens after a collapse.  

9mm automatic pistol. The brand is your preference, I love the Sig226 as it is perfectly reliable but very expensive. I fire it at work, but one of my own is still on my wish list. I have my standard issue Beretta from work and a Hi-Point of my own. 9mm is the most common ammo around. The US and NATO use it as do about 70% of law enforcement offices throughout the US. Ammo has a good balance of availability, cost, capacity and stopping power. Alright: 40 and 45 lovers come and get me.
2nd weapon: another 9mm automatic. Better to have 2 than one. You may be disarmed or a small part of your weapon may break. Have one on you and one close by in a car or home.
9mm Carbine. I love the Hi-Point 995. The Beretta Storm may be better, but I haven’t put the money into it. I love the old west concept of a rifle/pistol combo that uses the same ammo. Even better is a combo that uses the same mags (15rds or more). The Kel-Tec Sub2000 is ugly as sin, but it is cheap and can even fold and hide in a small computer bag
I love my M4 at work, but again haven’t put the money into it. Most others have already pointed out that it most engagements will be at close range. The M4 has a great compromise of close quarters ability with the capability to reach out to 300m for the practiced marksman. I’ll stick with the 9mm due to cost and availability of ammo.
.22lr semi-automatic rifle. I have a bolt action Winchester 69 that was handed down from my grandfather. A semi-auto would be better, but the bolt action is fine for varmint hunting. It is light, non intimidating, quiet and deadly accurate to 100m. And, as several of you have stated, the ammo is dirt cheap and available everywhere. This is great for practice, practice, and more practice. It is also a good rifle for older kids and small women. After SHTF you even a small-budget survivor like me will have buckets of ammo for hunting and occasional practice without announcing yourself to the entire neighborhood.
7.62×39. AK, SKS, other… These are available for under $250 and will put a big hole in a bad guy. Ammo is plentiful and cheap. Not sexy like the CAR-15, but more economical. You can also dress it up with aftermarket stocks, grips, sights, lights, etc just like an AR.
7.62×54. A big, bolt action rifle has its advantages. 30-06, 308, etc are just as good, but I found a Mosin-Nagant 91-30 for $99 still in the packing grease. I put a sight and a bipod on it and I can put a hole through a head or heart at over 500m. The ammo is plentiful and inexpensive and it will stop a moose. Accuracy, ammo availability, economics, stopping power: best high caliber long rifle for my SHTF list.
Shotgun. 12 gauge Remington 870 for me. Nothing will make an intruder leave like the sound of a shotgun racking a round. I don’t trust automatic shotguns in a life or death situation. I have a mix of 1-1 buck and slug mix in mine. Great combo of spread and knockout power. I prefer my pistol or carbine most of the time to a cumbersome shotgun.
Other stuff I keep around are pump bb guns (squirrel anyone?) and an array of sharp edge weapons. The bbs are almost close to free and can kill small food game without giving away your position to anyone more than a few dozen yards away. Machetes and Gurkha Kukris can be carried in the woods/garden in the pre-SHTF world without raising eyebrows and are great for clearing brush or defending oneself. I also always have a multitool and a small knife on me and in the car.
Before you spend 1500 on an AR-15 and all the lickey-chewies to go on it, ask yourself if you have water, food, radio, camp stove, and a plan to get through the first weeks of a SHTF scenario. Have a budget, a prioritized plan, and start preparing for what we hope will never happen.