In selecting a firearm, remember the parable of Mel Tappan. He wrote the book on survival guns (entitled, oddly enough 'Survival Guns"), wrote a column for guns & ammo. Thought a lot about guns-he liked them large bore and semi-automatic-and clearly felt that guns were necessary to rpotect him from his most serious survival threat-economic collapse and rioting. So he moved to rogue river oregon, a tiny village about 11 staute miles from nowhere, and practiced marksmanship. The economy did not collapse, rioters never reached rogue river, and the man died of congestive heart failure at age 47. Everybody has to die, but 47 is early and chf is treatable. He apeears to have mis-assessed his threat scenario. if he had lived near a major medical center, he might well have survived the chf...for a while, anyway. Guns are not always the answer.