Here is another interesting thought: I had the "Cartridges of the World, 6th Edition" for a million years; it eventually disintegrated. Near the end of book there was a question posed to Frank Barnes (gun guy extraordinaire). He was asked "If you had to choose only one caliber to use all over the world, what would it be?" His response was ". . . a 12-gauge shotgun". This is because of the wide variety loads that can be had or made for it.

Youth 20 gauge

Eugene, that is very nice. Is that an H&R or an NEF? Either way, it is nice. 20-gauge is a very manageable gauge for all.

I have seen those for around $100 at Walmart.

H&R from the 80's

My brother has one like it just sitting at my parents house, if I can ever get him to reply to an e-mail I've offered to buy it then I can refinish it (he's scratched it up pretty bad) and have one for each of my kids.
Will probably just paint it pink with sparkles for my daughter

I have a large collection of guns and have naturally tested them over a long period of time. At this point and, unless I'm going on a hunting trip, I carry one of two guns in the field.
1) 1892 Winchester carbine in .44-40 with peep sight. Reloaded with modern powers and jacketed cartridges you get 2000 fps with a 200 grain bullet.
That's more than enough to bring down a deer at 100 meters. For small game I carry shells using Speer plastic cups
I also carry a handful of .429 lead balls, a few primers and small can of Unique Powder with a powder measure. You would be amazed at how easy is to reload this cartridges with a light load. No tools are needed. This works great for hares, nutrias, etc. (No rabbits down here).

2) Rossi .308 single shot break-open gun. This is the gun that lives in the trunk. I carry a 10 rounds of soft point ammo for deer and carpincho and an adapter for .32 S&W and a box of .32s
That takes care of all the rest of animal edibles around here (which is vast).

This is what works for me, in my territory. Guns like clothes have to adjust to the area you are in. There is no universal gun for all purposes. The 12 gauge may be almost an all around gun whenever weight is not a concern. Try carrying two boxes of shells for a day and then tell me about it!

That is an important observation. The quote I gave did assume a non-survival situation. I have lost track of what Jac is looking for; survival or general (all) purpose. For survival, I would probably go with a single-shot .22. However, if I had to have only one gun, I may go with either a 12 or 20 gauge.

Survival shooting for food presents a problem. How much dead animal is enough? If you cannot process/preserve the meat from a deer-size animal, why harvest it? Thus, what is the need for medium or larger calibers in a survival situation? I have wrestled that question for quite a while.

My $.02

Faced with that problem, I would follow the strategy adopted by generations of carnivorous game hunters. Sit down and have a huge feast, concentrating on things like the upper intestine and organ meats which do not preserve well. Using either the sun or a slow fire, jerk the muscle meats, carry what you can, and cache the rest. There is lots of evidence for this in many buffalo jump sites on the Great Plains, practiced for thousands of years by hunters with nothing but large caliber sharp rocks and pointy sticks (and a lot of teamwork).

I also think the .22 is better for survival because of the weight issues of ammo. Although the 12 Gauge is versatile, that versatility comes with the cost of several different types of heavy ammo. The .22 can let you pack a lot of ammo for relatively small amount of weight.

Thus, your ammo will last longer and you will harvest more small game. I agree that taking a deer an not being able to use all of the food is a waste. The leftovers could also attract predators you would prefer to avoid.

That last situation is the best reason I can think of for a heavier weapon in a purely survival situation: defense against a predator. Here on the US east coast and in the Allegheny Mountains, large predators are much less of a risk then say on the West Coast or Alaska---our black bears are much less aggressive than brown bears, and despite persistent rumors of sightings (and one or two confirmed) there is not a resident or permanent population of big cats to worry about. So, for purely survival on the east coast, I would go with a good reliable .22 and lots of ammo.

My understanding of Jackie's original post was to ask about how to get started, recognizing a potential for possible later hunting/survival uses. IMO, a .22 (almost any .22 rifle) is a great way to start/learn at a very reasonable cost, provides a lot of fun shooting, and retains significant utility for later survival and small game hunting (check local laws). I think it is the best "starter" gun, and a .22 and a good supply of ammo should be included in all preps that include firearms.

While the .22lr is classic and pretty good, would the .22 Magnum (or even something like the .17HMR) be better? Just in terms of ease of harvesting game. For instance, a head shot to a deer with a .22lr may work, would the .22 Mag work better?