.22 LR (Ruger 10/22 is my favorite) for survival hunting... while a GAMO pellet semi-auto can take down squirrel and rabbit easily, cheaper and quieter too, and is legal to shoot in town. For protection I would go with a 12ga. I am looking at the benelli M4 myself for a hopefully soon purchase. With that said I also have a 30-06 and .270 I prefer the 30-06 as I can control it more
-Todd