Hacksaw, what is your take on survival guns now that some time has passed?

I don't think Hacksaw will be replying, his user account is unregistered and by the looks of it, has been this way for a couple of years at least.

I thought he might have morphed into a different user name.

I would say buy an inexpensive non-semi-auto .22LR rifle. Maybe a Henry H001 lever action, Marlin 981T bolt action, a Mossberg 802 Plinkster bolt action, a Savage Mark II-G bolt action. If you absolutely must have a semi-auto, go with something like the Mossbers 702 Plinkster or Marlin 60 or 795. I would hold off on the Ruger 10/22 at first. For shooting out-of-the-box the other guns mentioned are better and cheaper than the 10/22 (the Henry is little more expensive than a 10/22, but a far better shooter). However the 10/22 may be a good gun down the road if your passion becomes creating a "tacti-cool" looking rifle. But you don't know what your passion will be yet.

It seems like you really don't know what you're planning to do with this new rifle (and I wouldn't expect you to at this point). So don't try to get something that you think you'll be able to hunt elk to squirrels to turkeys with. You would end up with a Jack-Of-All-Trades, Master-Of-None contraption.

Start simple. Learn marksmanship. Don't overbuy trying to outguess yourself in what you may want to do down the road. A .22 is your best start IMHO. Every gun owner ends up with a .22 at some point, the majority probably buying this as their first gun.

Although hacksaw may be gone...

Agreed that the best start is a .22, even if you buy it, use it, and sell it. Its very hard to buy the perfect gun for you on the first try. Same is true for fishing gear, pool cues, and knives, etc.

I was in an archery shop the other day, with an old bow, and I asked about arrows. Of course, the guy said, "What do you prefer to use? What will you be shooting?" there are probably 1000 variations of this situation.

After years of getting everyone's opinions, I have become more of a "get one, get some training, build some experience, and THEN ask" kind of guy.

Oh Lordy! I didn't realize that this thread was so old. I saw 2/22 in the date and my mind (erroneously) put that into the year 2010 since that would have only been two weeks ago.

But this thread started back in 2008!!!

Oops, I shouldn't have replied.