Before I say anything, let me state that I don't feel that firearms should be included by defualt in a 72-hour bag. As a module that can be added, like cold weather and +48 units, yes, but not by defualt, simply becuase YOU WON"T HAVE TO HUNT FOR THE POT IN MOST SURVIVAL SITUATIONS!! In 72 hours, you won't need to hunt, period, and guns suck as a siganlling device. If youare staying at your home, such as in a earthquake or hurricane situation, fine, but like I said last time this came up, when the National Gaurd starts enforcing curfews, they might not bother to ask why are sitting on your roof with a shotgun at sundown, before they determine you are an armed looter. And if you think the you can hold off a maurading pack of post nuke, mutant bikers after the Russians show thier true colors with a suprise attack, well, IMO, you shouldn't be allowed around firearms. :)<br><br>I like 22LR for a couple of reasons. 1, it's about the only universally available cartridge in the world, if you can legally get ammunition in your localation. 2, it's powerful enough to hunt SMALL game for the pot. 3, ammo is light and compact. For the same bulk of gun and ammo, you can get more milage out of .22WMR, but the ammo is a PITA to find and the older lots form all the manufacturers had quality control problems.<br><br>For pistols, the magnums are better if you want medium to medium-large game, with it mostly being a personal choice between .357 and a .44, based on howyou can handle the recoil and how much weight you want to deal with. I'd take a good .357 revolver with a 6" barrel and target sights, becuase I can shoot for the pot or go up to small deer with it, and it's potent enough to discourgage just about anything you'll find in CONUS short of a drug-crazed defensive tackle.<br><br>But pistols are a lot of negatives for thier positives. They lack power and accuracy. A compact rifle is a better choice. You just need to remember that a cartridge that will take deer will usually destroy the eating value of anything smaller than a rabbit, so are mostly limiting yourself to pistol caliber carbines. If I wanted a perfect survival gun, it wouldn't be a pistol, but a light weight carbine. Pump action, tube fed, in .454 Cusell (and able of handling .45 Colt, which can be loaded down to small game loads byu a hnad loader). But no one makes such an animal, not yet.