, whereas I do not believe any police dept in this country or any other has taken that extra step to economize in these tough times by converting a force from 12 ga to .22's yet, but I may be behind the times. Furthermore, entire states have restricted and eliminated rifles in big game hunting, but they allow shotguns, as they are less likely to overshoot or kill someone in a ricochet. So for big game or small, in a tree or flying away from you, the shotgun is the top performer in the all around game, which is what you will need in a SHTF scenario where something has caused it all to fall apart.
I do miss the 378 wheatherby!! That did have some firepower to!!!
I'll pitch the 12 ga shotgun. It's true that .22's cost much less than shotgun shells. And you can carry more. But they are less versatile. There is only one common and popular caliber that will work in ALL situations you might encounter. Shotgun. 12 ga is the most common, ammo everywhere in the country. Boom, EMP lights go out. You are out scrounging for food and all you see are skinny and tiny pigeons or quail. They are spooking easy as everyone is onto them as a potential food source. Now, you may think you can hit a little moving quails head at 30-50 yards as it starts to get air and fly away, but most likely all you'll do is scare all the rest of the game away with your first inaccurate shot and be hungry. Who would even try a shot at a bird in flight with a .308 or 30-30? With a 12 ga, you'll get shot spread out and be much more likely to be eating in high style later.
You're finishing up the pigeon BBQ at home and the neighbors, attracted by the great food smell and their own hunger, come over like zombies during the apocalypse. With their own .22's and near insane from hunger....intent to take whatever you have that smells so good (they don't know that they missed out and only bones remain). Do you want to have a 12 ga with a heavy buckshot load (you wer smart enough to pull out the ammo you used on the pigeon) in this scenario or a .22? I can assure you that many many police carry loaded 12 ga shotguns throughout this county for those very specific potential zombie hordes (not zombies, but regular people out of control ...in this case going for a cooking Quail or pigeon
So now that we have that narrowed, which shotgun specifically? Mossberg 500-590 series or Remington 870s would easily be top choice for price-performance. Benili pump if price was no object and pump was what you wanted. Pumps are simple and work accurately and very reliably, and a stainless steel Marine magnum could also be the leading pump choice due to ease of maintenance and rust. Yet the Saiga 12 or a Vepr 12 get hunted in Russia, and would be worthy of consideration. They have magazines and thus very fast reloading times. In fact, for me, I'd pick a Vepr 12 shotgun. The reliability of a AK and much better performance and more rounds/faster firing in a firefight than a pump, but perhaps a tad less performance in shooting a quail or squirrel.
That's what I'd choose.
