First, I want to thank everyone for the comments so far. There have been a lot of good thoughts and observations in the responses. I am taking time to think about all of them.

One factor that I should have explained in my original post - is that I am also thinking about keeping the recoil of the rifle down to an acceptable level. That's because I would like the women in my family to be able to use the rifle if necessary (wife and daughters). It would be useful - as a last resort for defense - for them to be able to fire the gun in the direction of a threat. For this reason, a long gun has a better chance at accuracy for an inexperienced user. Likewise, the 243 and .30-30 calibers should be more than effective for the job ... if absolutely necessary. It's true, though, that a 44-magnum lever gun would achieve the same objective. Personally I don't think that the risk from "zombies" is all that high. But in the unlikely event that we encounter an animal problem (a bad dog or a sick cougar), it's important that the women in my family have a defense option. So part of my thinking had to do with keeping recoil at a moderate level.

Some folks mentioned Scout Rifles (see Wikpedia and look up "Scout Rifle"). It's hard to argue against such a good idea ... esp. a weapon that was devised by Jeff Cooper. I've got no problem with the Scouts and if I were the only user I would probably think about one seriously. My only objection there was that it's highly unlikely I will ever need to shoot big game, and the 308 caliber has too much recoil for the women in my family. But I'm not against the Scout Rifle - it's still a very effective design.

I expected that 22 Long Rifles would come up. And the folks here make a good point. In a real survival situation, wouldn't small game be more available? Yes ... it probably would. In addition, I realized that there's another fundamental reason for having a good 22 rifle around. It's what people use to LEARN shooting. So if I want the other members of my family to become comfortable with firearms, starting them with a 22 is a good way to go.

The moral of the story may be ... that there is no one weapon that offers a perfect solution. Hence having a 22 rifle (or pistol that fires 22LR), plus a higher-caliber rifle will greatly expand the options for survival, hunting & personal protection.

Thanks for all the comments so far.

other Pete