Chris is clearly bored with the board

My go to firearms in a survival situation will be a Ruger Combo: Mark II pistol and 10/22 rifle.

In a survival situation you will not have access to any means of keeping large amounts of meat from spoiling unless you plan on smoking the meat to preserve it.

That said, you will be looking to fill the cooking pot on a as needed basis. The .22 LR will drop small game with accurate shot placement. .22LR ammo is cheap. Think about it, would you rather move 1000 rounds of .22LR or 1000 rounds of say .357 or .45ACP ammo. Two bricks of .22LR in a ruck is not that noticable. Also, the report of a .22LR is less noticable than one of the .357 / .44 mag hand cannons.


I know that this thread started with the bear threat as part of the situation, but why worry about bears if the are not native to the area that you live. I plan on being at the top of the food chain if I have to run for the hills.

Ammo and camo will keep you at the top.

I'm pretty sure Mr. Howell had about $5 million in cash, and Ginger had at least 15 formal evening gowns. Something was definately going on there...

Vince

He is from North Carolina. They have pretty large black bears there. That's not to say you are wrong; these threads do tend to wander a bit.

Regards, Vince

Tom,

Thanks. That was great advice. I can't help laughing at chris. not making fun of but laughing WITH him lol. I do plan on my camping adventures to carry a .22/.223 and have my buddy with a .338 or a shotty. Camping situations are different because you go into the wood and purposly live rough. Survival situations are unexpected situations. I personally go camping to test out gear and techniques. Camping situations can turn into survival situations and your goal in a survival situation is to turn it back into a camping situation or get rescued. Anyway, perhaps I'll take up bear hunting and go with different people who have different guns and see what happens. I said bear just because they are the biggest, hungriest, toughest things I could think of that I might encounter in the woods and if running isnt an option and i dont have time to make an impaling spear lol then i'd just like some way to kill it or wound it to where i could get away. I understand what everybody is saying about how a pistol is going to produce more of a punch effect whereas a rifle will produce a drill effect. I have been looking at different guns some more and the Taurus 454 Casull might just be what I need. You can get a titanium model so it can take the elements a bit better. Well anyways, thanks guys. I'll let you know what I end up getting.

I expected that the shotshells were short ranged but I didn't realize that ten feet was the killing limit. I like the idea of 158 grain wad cutters. I have a slew of them. Like several hundred. Also quite a few semi-wad cutters.

For the information of those not real savvy about a .357, be advised you can shoot .38 caliber ammo (including wad cutters) as well as .357 ammo. But you CANNOT do the reverse. A .357 bullet is too long to fit into a .38 cylinder.
Also, for anyone wondering what a "wad cutter" is, it is a bullet, usually a reload, that has a flat nose and is used for target practice. It punches a perfect circle in the paper target whereas a round nosed bullet leaves a ragged hole. Just makes for a better looking target and a little easier to grade.
No offense to those who knew that but I am sure there are those that didn't know that. Now they do. We all learn from each other. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Boone

I just saw this year's Mountain Gun today at the local gun shop. It's the .44mag in stainless. Pricetag was $710. I'm tempted, really tempted. It might be higher priced than a Mauser, but I'm not tall enough to carry the Mauser concealed.

Grits, I have a Ruger MKII also and I love it but it sounds like a .30-06 when I fire long rifles in it. Really, really loud!

I also just ordered a 25 round magazine for my 10/22 but haven't tried it yet. Cost about $20. Was a name brand but I can't remember the name and I am too lazy to get up and look.
Fine little rifle. Deadly at 40 yards consistently with a Bushnell 4X. I have more guns than I need but less than I want. As someone once noted, there is a fine line between hobby and mental illness! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Boone <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I think we all need to remember that Chis is not only the full-time moderator, but also a part-time plain old poster just like us. He sees the same old topics come up time after time. I'm not sure how he keeps from getting jaded. I know it would be hard for me. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Regards, Vince

Well, since you're going to carry your Mini-14, may I suggest stoking it with Federal Premium Vital Shok ammunition? There is a load using a 60gr Nosler partition bullet (SD .171, BC .266) and another load using the 55gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet (SD .157, BC .199). The Nosler bullet in this caliber has a good reputation on deer and antelope and I would expect the TBBC to have an equally good reputation, but I don't recall reading any field reports on it - sorry. I would lean towards the 60gr Nosler Partition as a better all-purpose load in the Mini-14, but either would be better than the other readily available factory loads.

Neither of these will change the 223 into a spiffy big game rifle, but they beat the snot out of varmint or match bullets for that use. Don't be lulled into using ball ammo. M193 Ball (55gr BT) penetrates OK in something homgenous like wood but has poor/ureliable penetration in varying density stuff (like bone and flesh) - it frequently tumbles and even comes apart. Years and years ago I didn't know/believe that, but eventually I became better aquainted with its real-life effects... 55gr Ball is OK on unarmored humans and that's about it.

If you reload, there are a lot of other choices, such as various Barnes bullets, but the Federal stuff is the only mass-market factory stuff I know of that puts serious bullets on 223 cases. The Federals will be pricey as 223 ammo goes, but...

The Mini does not have a fast enough twist to handle spitzer bullets much heavier (longer) than 60gr, so the 75 - 100 gr 223 ammo is not feasible. There are Speer 70gr semi-RN bullets, but they are not very tough bullets and in my experiance sometimes come apart in mid air when fired from a mini-14 (1-9" twist). I shot a few hundred of those in my Mini and my buddy still does - at the range it's amusing to see one come apart, but that would not be comforting on a live target.

Regards,

Tom