From reading some of the past posts, it would appear there are many here in favor of the lowly 22LR as a survival weapon. It does have some distinct advantages: light weight, very accurate, semi-autos are very fast to shoot, and a very large number of rounds can be carried without adding a great deal of weight to BOB. <br><br>Soooo, what are the opinions about the best round as far as speed, knockdown power, range, etc. Just thought I'd get some opinions.

This sort of veers off into the "survivalist" mode of thought, but I've always considered the .223 round to be second in line to the .22LR. <br><br>My reasoning is that in the US, the .223 is commonly found in civilian, military, and law enforcement depots. If I lived in Asia, I would probably choose the 7.62 Soviet round. Both are more than adequate in terms of range, stopping power, etc. In my mind, availability is of utmost importance.<br><br>That being said, I personally carry a .40 weapon for daily survival purposes. If I'm ever stranded in the desert, the Hydra-Shok rounds will probably be adequate to stop a jackrabbit.

Gee<br><br>Just at a guess, I would think whatever shoots accurately out of your firearm.<br><br>The common scenario is hunnting small game, like squirrel, so I think that just about anything will fit the bill.<br><br>I would stay away from .22 cal shot shells though, my limited experience with them is that you might as well throw sand.<br><br>Seth

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.

id rather have a 22 that i could use than a larger weapon that i wasnt comfortable with, i wouldnt be worried about human attackers, unless you plan on killing someone a 22 can keep a persons head down just as well as a .45. and in a disaster i doubt anyone would say anything about me carrying my 22 around. but the guy with the M16 would attract much more attention.<br><br>id stick with a long barreld 22 pistol, and a bolt action .308, and if budget/weight permitted a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun with rifled slug barrel and 1-3x variable scope. this combination should allow you to take any realistic game, as well as defend yourself and the amunition is quite readily availible.<br>optics and proficiency/safety is more important than the model or caliber you choose.

You all bring up some very valid points, most of which I agree with. However, I'm interested specifically in the best 22LR cartridge. Although my thinking deviates somewhat from the general theme of this forum, I find the minds and ideas here a tremendous resource. I've spent hours poking through the archives and have gleaned some amazing pearls of wisdom.<br><br>Since my main residence is in the mountains already and some 15 miles from the nearest town, my BOB is set up with a slightly different strategy in mind. If I should ever need to dash in a hurry, it would be for a very serious reason and probably for an extended period of time. The mountain range here is vast and several pre-scouted destinations are very isolated. The advantages of a 22LR suit my needs well.

I like the Remington .22LR subsonic hollow point rounds. I use them for squirrel hunting in my Ruger 10/22. I think the lower noise signature helps to not scare the animals as badly. The squirrels seem to come back out sooner. These rounds will function in auto-loaders and do not give up any noticable preformance when compared to conventional rounds on squirrels. These rounds eliminate the sonic "crack" that travels much further than the muzzle blast. From a distance, especialy in the woods, the sonic crack is what is most noticable about the noise generated by a firearm.

The 22 rimfire has long been a favorite of the poacher. This should answer the question of stopping power. If you have the time, get many different brands of ammo, hollow point and solid. Your rifle or pistol will favor one or maybe two. These are the ones to use. The CCI Small Game bullet has proven to have very consistent velocity. This is a key to accuracy. Your standard velocity ammo is generally more accurate than others, and for defense purposes your hyper velocity or fragmentation rounds might be the best bet. But again, all the speed in the world is useless though if you can't hit the target.

I'd give anything for a pump or lever action 454 casull that would also shoot the 45 Colt and 410 shotgun shells.