Before I start...

On another thread, the consensus seemed to be that having a .22 and a shotgun would be the "ideal" survival combo to have. i have both of these firearms, as well as 2 WW2 surplus rifles.

I just saw, at my local sporting good store, this rifle at $129. In short, it's single shot, break open rifle, available in 7.62x39, or .308, or .223. http://www.rossiusa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=R223B&category=RIFLE
For this price, I'd feel like an idiot to pass it up, even though I can't think of any practical purpose for it.

Pro's: cheap, the ammo can be cheap (depending what I get), light (at 6.2 lbs), break-open means easy to clean, few moving parts to clog.

Con's: don't need it (either hunting or survival situation), do I? A .223 is OK for a varmit round, or maybe hunting up to deer size. that being said, my Mauser or shotgun would do the same thing. The .22 I have could do all the small hunting work in a pinch (say, possum or smaller). And, being a single shot, it's slow to reload, making shot placement that much more important.

Feedback welcome... the sale is for a few more days still. And, if I decide to buy, which round? .223 is cheap, used by the US military, available in surplus, and "big enough for deer, small enough for rabbit." .308, I feel, would be redundancy with a Mauser, plus ammo is lots more expensive.

Thanks for the feedback.

I think you talked yourself right out of buying it, you seem to have things covered with the other weapons you mentioned you already have. If the money is burning a hole in your pocket buy ammo for the ones you already have.

The "consensus" is wrong. Which is not unusual.
A survival gun has to combine hitting power, accuracy and maximum practical ammunition capacity. Combining a .22 with a .410, 20 ga or 12 ga is a complete waste of time.
You are hunting for the pot. You make a kill or go hungry . That means that being "sporting" is a no-no. If something flies overhead you follow it, let it settle on a perch and then shoot it off it.

Dinner.

Same principal applies to rabbits, deer, snakes etc. Shotguns have a very limited effective range. Rule is: If you can spit at it use a shotgun. If you can't use a rifle.

Proper combi-rifle sets are:
.22 & .223,
.22 & .308,
.22 & 30.08.
Minimum of 100 round's of .22 and 20 - 30 round's of .223 etc.
I personally would go for .22.

To many 'survival' includes being able to fend off predators...which is one of the reasons a 12ga is so popular. If all you're doing is putting food on the table, then the .22LR can't be beat. My opinion of course. I've been researching this plenty though I haven't followed through yet.

If you're worried about bears, buy bear spray. It's proven more effective than any gun has ever been.

WOW are we really gonna get this debate started???

For you MDinana, a single shot break open in all seriousness would be a poor choice for a survival weapon(given the choice)IMHO So it's gonna be a toy to go plink with in real life more than likely.. have fun!!! single shots make you take your time and improve your shot placement abilities.

If you dont think you will need something 100% then chances are you may not ever use it. It looks to be a reliable little gun for what you described. You do have your basics covered though. From my experiences the .223 is a good little round.

If you think .308 ammo is too expensive consider reloading. I have a friend who reloads and he says he can save up to 80 % of the cost depending on what cal you reload. I will be starting soon.

Ha! Yeah, .308 is pricey. But the 8mm Mauser, and more-so the 7.62x54R is even worse. Many stores don't even carry the latter, even though they're selling the rifles for it (there's some great managerial foresight).

OK, it seems so far that most of the comments are in the "pass it up" category. Fun, but mainly a waste of money. If anyone has more "pro's" to change my mind, by all means speak up.

Thanks to everyone so far.

I bought a .460 revolver a while back. I dont need it. but it sure is fun to fire at the range. Sometimes you need to buy stuff because you want it and for no other reason. everything doesent have to be about survival. buy it for fun.

better yet. buy a SKS. they sell for about the same price but will have 10 round stripper clips giving you more options for a fun gun and a survival gun. canadaammo.com sells 7.62 x 39mm by the 1200 round crate for next to nothing.

I dont want to veer from your origional question though. it looks great for the price but it wont do anything your 12 ga and .22 cant.

If he's talking about the other thread, it wasn't about survival firearms, it was about what firearms to own as your first and the ones that would be the most "multi-purpose." A firearm for outdoor survival use, is a completely different matter.

For that, like Leigh_Ratcliffe said, .223 or .308 makes for a good choice. While I like .223, I think .308 would be more useful in a variety of circumstances. With a .308 and accurate .22LR pistol or pack-able rifle I would be good for a long time.

With that said, to answer your original question, for that single shot break-action rifle. Since you already have a .308, I would get the .223, just for fun. It would make for a light weight and easy to shoot rifle compared to a .308. It's a nice "in-between" for your .22LR and .308 and gives you something different to mess around with.

I have never used the rifle your asking about.

I would pass it up.

I do not like a break action for those calibers, though it is fair to say I have never tried a rifle with that action in those calibers.

I also do not like the look of the rifle from the 1 image I have ever seen of the rifle in question.

The only thing I am certain of is do not get the rifle chambered in .223 It's not worth it.

The .308 I *might* consider to use for a scout project.


-JRJ