A Survival "Rifle" goes along the same lines as a Survival knife. Neither do any good unless you have them with you. Handguns require practiced skill to be proficient beyond arms length. Handguns are self defence weapons and are not typically hunting weapons. Unless of course you are extremely proficient and practice with them, still, they hard to master.

Therefore, my choice goes to the rifle or shotgun. They need to be light, so you take it with you, It needs to be rugged and dependable to handle hard use, and still remain accurate.

In a true survival situation, the objective for a firearm is "MEAT ON THE TABLE." And this meat will probably be small game, with the ability to take larger game if needed. The game you shoot will typically be under 50 yards.

For me, this type of weapon would be either a small 20 gauge shotgun, or a Ruger 10-22 Compact with open barrel sights, no scope.

Shotguns are Meat Getters that require minimal marksmanship experience to be sucessful at harvesting game. Their drawback is their range (35-40 yards) and the weight of the ammo.

The Ruger 10-22 Compact is a proven reliable rifle that is accurate and can take game of all sizes even at extended ranges out to 100 yards. 50 rounds of ammo weigh as much as three or four 30-06 bullets or 4 shotgun shells.

Range practice is cheap and fun. What is also VERY good is the 22 rifle can be used by any member of the family with little training. My boys 8 and 11 each have a Ruger 10-22 Compact and can shoot with them very well.

Also, the 22 does not make a lot of noise which in some survival situations would be usefull.

My vote goes hands down to the Ruger 10-22 Compact. Put a sling on it, leave the scope off of it. If you insist on having a scope that will some day fail or get damaged, I suggest putting "High" rings on it so you can keep the open barrel sights on it as backup. "Low" or "Medium" Rings set the scope too low to retian the rear sight. Make sure you sight in the open barrel sights before you install your scope. When your scope fails, you can take off the rings scope combo with a simple screwdriver or quarter.

Muleskinner