Preparing on a Shoestring Part 9: Firearms

Firearms ownership and use is a touchy subject even in the Prepper community. In the interest of honesty, I will state up front that I grew up around firearms and am comfortable with them. I am a Second Amendment advocate. Finally, I long ago made my peace with the idea that I may one day be forced to use a firearm to defend my family or myself. It is my daily prayer that that day never comes.

Owning firearms and to what uses you will put them is a decision only you can make. However you choose, choose well. You may one day have your choice put to the test…either way. In that day, your moral convictions are going to be on trial. If you are armed but can‘t pull the trigger, your weapon will most likely get you killed. If you are not armed, your moral ability to fire will be irrelevant. It bears repeating. Make your choice with care.

That said, on to the matter at hand.

Firearms are tools, nothing more or less. As such, they are best employed in the specific purpose for which they were designed. Once you choose the purposes for which you need firearms, pick the ones that will best do the job subject to your budget.

Let’s start with practice. To be proficient and safe with a firearm, you must practice regularly. Of course, ammunition costs money. The 22 caliber rimfire round is the cheapest commercial ammunition on the market. Target grade ammunition costs a few dollars for a box of 50 rounds. Shooting that much ammo each month is enough to keep you proficient.

About .22 ammunition, just because it is target grade and relatively inexpensive does not mean that it has no use beyond target shooting. I have many times put small game animals on the supper table with a single .22 bullet. Though it is unlawful everywhere that I am aware of, .22 bullets are even capable of taking larger game like deer. Your shot placement must be perfect with larger game and even then it may take more than one shot. I do not advocate hunting out of season or with weapons that are unlawful for the game you are hunting, but if your food situation is critical enough, a .22 rifle could make the difference between a full stomach and starvation.

If you choose to own more powerful firearms, you should practice with them too, just to stay familiar with their performance, but the .22 rifle and pistol are the least expensive option for practice and hunting. They are also a good firearm for those new to shooting. They are generally lightweight and more forgiving with regard to recoil and noise.

Rifles are useful for both hunting and defense. There is a bewildering array of makes, models, and calibers available in rifles. In the case of the financially challenged prepper, like me, a utility grade rifle in a common, versatile caliber is the best choice. In the United States, the most common large caliber rifle calibers are .223, 7.62X39, .357, .308, .30-30, and .30-06. All are good rounds and are effective for both hunting and defense. I am partial to the .30-06 myself. As a hunting round, it is not necessarily the best round for any specific type of game, but is the best all around choice for all types of game in the US. It is capable of taking every large animal species in the US from deer to grizzly bear. With careful shot placement, it will even take such things as ground hogs and raccoons while still leaving meat to harvest. As a defense round, it served the US Armed Forces from before World War I until well into the Vietnam War. It was utilized in rifles, fully automatic rifles, and light machine guns. It is time and battle tested.

Shotguns are also useful for hunting and defense. The most common and most popular shotgun gauge is the 12 gauge shotgun, followed a close second by the 20 gauge. The 410 gauge shotgun is also very popular but the cost of ammunition is considerably higher. I have owned 12 gauge, 20 gauge, and 410 gauge shotguns in my time. I enjoy shooting all of them and am impressed with the performance of each. If I had to choose only one, I would choose the 12 gauge. They are the most versatile and have the greatest variety of ammunition commercially available.

It has been my experience that men tend toward both the 12 and 20 gauge shotguns about equally. Women’s choice of a shotgun is a wildcard, but it seems that women of slight build tend toward the lesser recoil and weight of the 20 gauge. The 410 gauge is a good choice for children who are old enough and responsible enough to handle firearms. There are other gauges available, but are much less popular and the ammunition for them is much harder and more expensive to come by. I do not recommend them as a primary firearm in a prepper’s collection. Again, any utility grade shotgun in a gauge that is comfortable for you to shoot is a good choice.

Now let’s talk about handguns. There is just no delicate way to put it, handguns are primarily a defensive weapon. Certainly, they are fun to shoot and can be used for recreation and hunting, but they are designed to be light, portable, concealable, and easily brought to bear in close quarters for defense.

The .22 caliber handgun is a good choice for practice and can be an effective firearm for hunting small game. It is a less than optimal choice for self defense. They do not have the power to reliably, immediately stop an animal or person that is a threat to you. Larger calibers are called for.

Beyond the .22, common calibers are the .38, .357, 9 mm, .40, .45 ACP, and .44 Magnum. In my opinion, the .357, .40, and .45 ACP are the calibers of choice for a prepper’s handgun. The .38 is a little light on power for hunting and the .44 Magnum is overpowered for the purpose of defense. I wouldn’t really recommend hunting larger game like deer on up with a handgun in a survival situation, but if you must, the .357, 9 mm, .40, and .45 ACP will do the job, on deer at least, while still being adequate but not oversized for defense. Bear in mind that there are a multitude of restrictions on hunting with handguns. Like rifles and shotguns, there are a number of different calibers available in handguns, but those listed here are the easiest and most affordable to come by. Incidentally, you can safely shoot .38 caliber bullets in a .357 but not .357 in a .38. With this one exception, calibers are not interchangeable. Trying this with any other calibers will likely get you killed. DO NOT TRY IT under any circumstances.

In rifles, you also have the choice between single shot, bolt action, lever action, and auto loading varieties. Bolt action rifles make for really good hunting rifles while auto loaders make for better defense rifles. That said, autoloaders are very suitable for hunting. Single shot rifles are self explanatory. Lever action rifles are in between bolt actions and autoloaders but are a viable option that is also available in a couple of handgun calibers. Bolt action rifles tend to be very accurate and force conservation of ammunition and accurate shot placement but do not allow quick follow up shots for either hunting or defense. Single shot rifles tend to be the least expensive options with auto loading rifles being the most expensive. Single shot rifles are just that. You have no second chance to place a shot.

Shotguns come in single shot, pump, and auto loading varieties. I favor pump action shotguns which require manually cycling the action to eject a spent shell and load another. Auto loading shotguns offer a slight advantage in defensive situations, but not that much with practice. Single shot shotguns offer the same advantages and drawbacks as their rifle counterparts. Shotguns also tend to follow the same rules with regard to cost as rifles.

Handguns generally come in two types, revolvers and auto loading pistols. .22 caliber revolvers tend to hold 6, 8, or occasionally 9 shots in a rotating cylinder, thus the name. They generally are double action which means that as you pull the trigger, the hammer will rise while rotating the cylinder to put a live round under the hammer and then fall to fire the round. .22 autoloaders tend to hold 6 or 10 rounds. The recoil of firing the round causes the pistol to eject the spent shell and load a live round. It is then ready to fire again. It will fire only one round with each trigger pull until empty.

Larger caliber (center fire) handguns, come in revolver and auto loading varieties as well. Regardless of caliber, these revolvers usually come in 5 or 6 round capacity and come in single or double action variants. Double action revolvers operate the same as their .22 caliber cousins while single action revolvers must have their hammers manually cocked back for each shot. I do not recommend a single action revolver for a prepper’s collection. They do not lend themselves well to follow up shots in the hands of all but the most experienced of single action shooters.

Auto loading pistols generally have ammunition capacities of 6-15 rounds. They operate exactly like their .22 caliber cousins though with louder reports and stronger recoil. To my knowledge, .38 and standard .357 chambering is not available in auto loading pistols. The .44 Magnum round is available in at least one model, but that model is hard to find and very expensive to buy. Larger caliber autoloaders generally have a feature that locks the slide open when the last round is fired.

With all firearms, the ultra cheap (relatively speaking) models are not a great choice due to reliability questions but are better than nothing. Beyond that, the biggest difference between the lower priced, utility grade firearms and the ultra-expensive custom guns is the price. The high priced guns are kind of nice to own, but do not render higher performance comparable to their much higher price. My best advice is to go shooting with someone you trust. Fire several firearms of the types you are thinking of acquiring before you buy any of them. Shoot different calibers as well as different makes of guns in the same caliber. You should quickly come to some good decisions.

The next decision is how much to spend and what to get first. My best advice is to start with a rifle, then the shotgun, and finally a handgun. Don’t scrimp, but don’t go into debt either. Buy utility grade firearms manufactured by reputable makers. Take your time in building your collection. Firearms are not the priority in prepping, though they can be used to hunt for meat that is a priority. In terms of defense, they are for just that, defense. If your plan involves using firearms offensively to take what you need from other people when the balloon goes up, you don’t have much of a plan in my opinion. You are eventually going to die at the hands of someone who is also armed…and deserve to.

I recommend a prepper’s armory contain a .22 semiautomatic rifle (the Ruger 10/22 is superb for this and reasonably priced), a semi-automatic rifle in .223, 7.62X39, .30-06, or .308, a pump or semi-automatic shotgun in 12 or 20 gauge, and a revolver or semi-automatic handgun in .357, .40, or .45ACP. That is an effective and versatile combination that should handle any need you have. Ideally, you will have sufficient arms to outfit each member of your group with a rifle, shotgun, and handgun.

On ammunition, I recommend at least 1,000 rounds of ammunition for each firearm you own, regardless of type. If you own more than one firearm in a given caliber, I recommend you have at least 1,000 rounds for each firearm, not just of each caliber. The old adage on ammunition is, “Buy it cheap and stack it deep.” Buying it cheap isn’t so easy anymore. There will be a future segment on ammunition that may help with the cost issue in the long run.

As always, start small. Buy one gun and a couple of boxes of ammo for it. Build both your armory and ammunition stocks a little at a time as you can afford.

Good luck and happy hunting!