I will touch on the guns since I live in a part of the world where you are considered "strange" if you dont carry one. :)<br>You specified a semi-auto rifle. Someone mentioned a mini-14. Its a fantastic gun although it wouldnt make my personal list of survival arms. I would like you to give thought to two particular weapons before you cash out a few hundred dollars. Consider the Remington 870 pump shotgun in 12 guage and a Marlin lever action carbine in 357 Magnum. Ive got some reasons behind these choices. Both of these are close to medium range weapons.<br> A 12 guage pump is about the most versatile (and deadly) close range ( to 40 or so yards) weapon you could buy. With the proper load, this gun will take anything on the North American continent. Ammo can be bought to do nearly anything you can imagine. (Flares, bean bags, bird loads, rubber balls, lead slugs, low recoil, you name it) My wife weighs 120 lbs and handles standard 2-3/4" 00 buckshot from this gun without flinching. Anything larger than that is too much for self defense anyway. This is my first choice if I only had one long gun. <br> My second choice would be a Marlin lever action .357 magnum carbine. This choice stems from the advice I give people on handguns which goes: "If you are only going to own one handgun, then get a 4" barrel .357 magnum revolver. Its the most versatile handgun around, its nearly idiot proof, and you can afford to practice with it." Stands to reason that I would suggest a rifle that shoots the same bullets. This gun WILL kill a deer at ranges you are likely to see in a forest. This gun is a pussycat to shoot nomatter what load you put in it. I've let many "non gun types" shoot this gun and they have all walked away with a smile on their face. <br> OK, I want to talk about high capacity semi-auto weapons in general. Im not against them. My wife carries a .45 auto for Petes sake. Its just that hollywood and some very stupid people in politics have painted them as being some sort of ultra-destructive super-weapon. They are far from it. Most of them are a compromise between controlability, weight, price, etc. The truth is that animals dont shoot back and if you cannot resolve a self-defense issue in less than six rounds you are in deep trouble anyway. Semi-auto's require much more maintenence to function properly and are usually intolerant of not being clean. Both guns that I am suggesting are insensitive to all but the dirtiest of conditions. There are no O-rings or plungers or gas ports or anything like that to screw up. Both guns have been proven for many decades and the Marlin has been in production since the 1890's. The design is that good. <br> Both of these guns are expensive compared to the competition. This is an area, though, where you get what you pay for. You would be able to give these guns to your grandchildren and they will still work. How much money is your life worth?<br> Have I muddled up the issue enough?