Best survival gun? Probably the one you have when you need it. No use buying a .500 S&W if you aren't going to have it near you when you need it.

With that said, I've always had a few favorites when it comes to firearms in general. I'll just list them all.

1. A .22LR rifle. Preferably one that has a detachable magazine and is either bolt action or autoloading. They're great because, in general, they're inexpensive to buy, inexpensive to shoot, easy to carry, easy to shoot, and ammo is everywhere.

2. A good air rifle. Like haertig, I'm a fan of them. They're great for basically the same reasons a .22LR is, with two other added bonuses.

The first is, you could fit 500 pellets in the space of 50 .22LR. The ammunition is about as compact as you can get. The second is, they don't require a casing and powder charge, so as long as you can get your hands on some metal and a way to form it into a rough pellet, you can shoot it. You could probably even shoot small pebbles, though I don't know how they would do ballistically. A .22LR, OTOH, becomes about as useful as a stick once you run out of ammo.

Basically, A pellet gun allows for the carrying of more ammo, and it might still be useful after you run out of premade pellets. The trade-off though is it's even less powerful than a .22LR rifle on average, and a .22LR isn't exactly all that powerful to begin with.

3. A lever action carbine and revolver combo, or possibly a more modern carbine/pistol combo. Take for example, a .357 lever action and a .357 revolver. The ammunition is relatively small and light compared to larger rifle ammunition, but still plenty powerful for most game in NA. You only have to carry one ammunition type, which makes things a lot easier. You could shoot both .38's and .357's if need be, and both .38 special and .357 mag are pretty common.

You could use shot shells to take out small game, or full magnum loads on larger game or predators. If you have another person with you, you could loan them one of the firearms and some ammo to try and cover more ground or to have more firepower. I could go on and on, but a carbine and pistol in the same, readily available, smaller caliber are one of my favorite outdoor combos. I've even heard of .44 Magnum carbines and revolvers being used to hunt bear.

4. A 12 gauge smooth bore shotgun. While heavy and a bit rough to shoot, it's probably one of the versatile and well-proven firearms out there, along with the .22. Sure, I wouldn't want to carry it plus a few hundred rounds if I didn't have to, but it's great to keep around the house. In fact, I know of quite a few people around here whose only firearms were a shotgun and a .22, they're like the bread-and-butter of the firearms world, at least in NA. Besides, the sound of a pump action shotgun slide racking is still the fastest way to get an unwelcome guest out of your house.

5. A bolt action .308 or .30.06., again generally heavy and tough to shoot, but they pack a wallop and are great at distances greater than a stones throw. Not as versatile as a shotgun, but just as well proven.

6. An "AR" type rifle. Originally I wasn't a huge fan of the AR and .223, but its started to grow on me. They're a surprisingly versatile platform. Rifle versions, carbine versions, pistol versions, .22 or 9mm conversions, match grade barrels, open sights or optics, rails for various add-ons. In effect you can make an AR for just about anything, just by changing lowers and uppers. I think I've seen them used in every application, except for big game hunting. That says a lot about them.


Now, I'm no expert, like I said those are just a few of my favorites based on what I like in firearms (common, easy to find ammo for, versatility, ect). Everyone is going to have their own opinion. When it comes to firearms there is always a trade-off somewhere. None of them are perfect in every situation. That's why you have to pick one you're comfortable with using and possibly carrying, become proficient with it, and hope that's all you'll ever need.