What are your survival firearm strategies?

[The Heretic]

Well when it comes to firearms. My strategy is to arm everyone within a 2 mile radius of my house with a semi auto rifle and a thousand rounds of ammo...

That is one of the reasons why I have more guns "than I need".

I currently have enough to arm most of my neighbors who live on my private road, including my family that is likely to show up. Some of them would wind up with hunting guns, but that is better than nothing. Some of my neighbors I know are armed (at least a little, probably not as well as I am) - others I am not sure of.

I know I need more defensive ammo though, I barely have enough (i.e., not enough) for myself and my daughter and SIL. Next year I am shifting my expenditures to address that issue more and I have been working on it.

However, when I see a gun I have wanted for a while, I usually can't resist buying it.

 

[11Charlie]

Well when it comes to firearms. My strategy is to arm everyone within a 2 mile radius of my house with a semi auto rifle and a thousand rounds of ammo...

In Idaho aren't more people more like minded? I have neighbors that prep here in Washington so I would guess some maybe a lot of yours do as well. Do you know all your neighbors in that radius?

 

[IronMonster]

In Idaho aren't more people more like minded? I have neighbors that prep here in Washington so I would guess some maybe a lot of yours do as well. Do you know all your neighbors in that radius?

There are about 4000 people in a 2 mile radius (my entire town is a mile square so a 2 mile radius includes the entire town plus a good chunk of the surrounding area).... I probably know 10-20% of them. I would say at least 60% of them own guns. I am a firefighter and EMT plus own a sizable local business, the only local place to buy steel and get metal work done in a farm community, so I meet a lot of folks.

Im still working on buying a rifle and thousand rounds for each of them..... Just in case.

 

[Hines11b3x]

Training and experience are more important than the weapon or your best laid plans.
(insert catchy military acronyms here)

If you have never been in a gun fight or trained countless hours to be in one, start training now. If you don't know where to get said training PM me and we can talk.

My firearm strategy (or even a theoretical survival strategy) is have and use what you know and train to be proficient in the areas you are... Not proficient.

 

[American123]

Step 1: Drop $600 on 10,550 rounds of federal 40gr played HP .22lr when it is $30 for 525 rounds with free shipping from palmetto state armory.

Step 2: Buy a handful of your choice .22lr chambered rifles and pistols.

Step 3: Stop worrying after that.

If we are talking long term survival of any capacity, it becomes a game of attrition, how long before you run out of supplies (Assuming we are not getting into firefights on a regular basis and dying in a gun battle like many people envision happening.)

Water purifier, dehydrated / freeze dried food, fishing gear (spending on where you are going to be and 10,550 rounds of .22lr and several rifles/pistols if you have that much .22lr, even if you shot 5 rounds every day that's 2110 day's worth which would last 5.78 years. It's hard to believe any long term survival scenario would last 5.78 years without it also including warfare on US soil which at that point we are talking about a different situation entirely.

Then worry about exposure and medical related problems I suppose.

 

[11Charlie]

There are about 4000 people in a 2 mile radius (my entire town is a mile square so a 2 mile radius includes the entire town plus a good chunk of the surrounding area).... I probably know 10-20% of them. I would say at least 60% of them own guns. I am a firefighter and EMT plus own a sizable local business, the only local place to buy steel and get metal work done in a farm community, so I meet a lot of folks.

Im still working on buying a rifle and thousand rounds for each of them..... Just in case.

I guess it comes down to advantages as well as preperation. You have the advantage of knowing a lot of your small community. Maybe how they think and how things will play out. You as a small community can ban together and help each other out. Me on the other hand live in a rural area but only know the people in my immediate area (maybe 20 households) out of thousands in a two mile radius. I wouldn't trust anyone out side of the people I know and maybe not even some of those.

 

[John Lynn]

I recently purchased a JRC 9mm takedown rifle to go with my 3 x 9mm pistols. If I have to leave my house I would be using 9mm, no worrying about carrying the right amount of different calibers. If I stay home, they will have to burn me out.
Side note: The JRC shoots hollow point flawlessly, if I ever decide to change caliber JRC offers different conversion kits.

 

[Colts4me]

Not knowing how it all plays out its difficult to itemize a strategy for me. In life I have learned to be adaptable to change and it's got me through 65 years so far. In those years many people have died around me and I have seen on tv real events that killed millions. Some of those events a gun would be worthless like floods and fires but other events like wars a gun is a very important tool.

So my thought is that you started this thread because it's a gun board and we all like guns as to how we would apply what guns and why in staying alive. Did war just get declared and an invasion is comming, or did I have to bug out due to a nuke or anthrax hitting near by? Did the economy just crash and there is no money to be had? Is antifa burning cities down? Did we just have an earthquake that brought down every house and bridge and dam and power plant?

Strategy for me is try to look like a good guy so I am less of a target. Carry what the good guys carry for the simple reason of resupply, physically nobody out there could carry enough by themselves. A person may leave on their own because they have to but you won't make it on your own long term in my opinion. That's my bug out strategy, if I must leave with just what's on my back.

My bug in strategy is an open door policy for good friends and good people.

 

[The Heretic]

I should mention that I have no real plans to bug out.

I live at what I consider to be my BOL. It isn't optimum, but it is very rural and not easily found. When I retire I plan to get a place more self-sufficient and remote.

My main problem right now with regards to carrying guns is getting home if something happens while I am at work. So I have guns specifically for that purpose. When I retire, those will be the guns I have in my vehicle for traveling/etc.

 

[Colts4me]

I should mention that I have no real plans to bug out.

I live at what I consider to be my BOL. It isn't optimum, but it is very rural and not easily found. When I retire I plan to get a place more self-sufficient and remote.

My main problem right now with regards to carrying guns is getting home if something happens while I am at work. So I have guns specifically for that purpose. When I retire, those will be the guns I have in my vehicle for traveling/etc.

As a younger man I did a lot of walking, work was on my feet in those days. As a retired man I go on long walks but realize I can no longer do 30 miles in two days. If my home is destroyed and I live through it the bug out will kill me, I don't live in a fantasy that I could carry on my own what I need to live. When I travel I have a get me home bag but realize it's a temporary answer, long distances just ain't going to happen on foot now.

So the bag gives me time to think and try for news to see if my condition is going to improve but fact is the older I get the shorter the distance I could walk will be. This isn't defeatist talk, it' knowing what will happen should a huge event take place and I am far from home. I am not giving up either, I can adapt to change if its there and live somewhere else. So I guess the strategy is adapt or die and I accept either as it comes along.

 

[Urgaburga]

Here are several of mine:

1) The pretty standard strategy of acquiring firearms in standard chamberings, regardless of the advantages of other non-standard cartridges (e.g., 7.62x51 vs. 7mm mag, or 5.56x45 vs. 6.5 Grendel). Not just gov. issue standard cartridges, but also 'standard' civilian cartridges like .45 Colt, .357 mag, .44 mag, .30-06, .30-30, .45-70, .410, 20 ga., etc.

2) For most of the chamberings, have a non semi-auto (bolt, lever, single shot, revolver) chambered for the same cartridge. The plan is to deal with any legal restrictions that may come into play for semi-autos, especially military style firearms. What happens to those firearms if restricted in some way would be for another discussion, but suffice to say they may not be readily accessible or it may not be desirable to use them except in a SHTF scenario. Whereas a revolver or lever action may still be politically correct or at least legal to use.

Also, inexpensive bolt actions (e.g., Ishapore Enfield) may be good stash/cache guns.

3) For the most part, have the same defensive guns for the different members of my group.

What firearm strategies do you follow in prepping?

I'm finding cheap military caliber rifles like the ishapore are no longer cheap. I've been talking to a guy recently about buying his (with a cracked stock and a mainscrew that he can't get out) and he refuses to accept anything under $250. Right now you can almost build an AR for that.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Practice and more practice with my firearms till using them is second nature...
lay in some commonly broke or lost parts , like firing pins , extractors , ejectors , springs , pins etc...
learn how to properly install said parts as well...
Stock up on ammo
Andy

 

[HB of CJ]

Most Most Respectfully ...

What I MAY, (may) be seeing here is a failure to communicate. A considered mature question is ..."How much money, time and effort have you spent on firearms?" Did you just do so, (all the guns and ammo) because it made you feel more powerful? Did it make you feel more SECURE? Did it make up for inherent weakness in other vital important prep areas?

A reality check. Most probably you will never have to use a firearm in defense. Certainly not in anger unless you are truly loonie tune and have no business on this excellent forum. The important question is why are you "foooking the cow?" Consider all the other important things you COULD be addressing if you did not "fooook" around with just guns and ammo?

A simple thought exercise. May be difficult. Figure out all the money you wasted on guns and ammo you will never use and most likely will just lose control of and instead use that money and effort for more productive and useful prepps? The answer may be very sobering. Forget the guns. You will probably not ever use them. Instead figure on reality. Difficult.

Real time real deal survival preps should not make you feel powerful and in control. Survival preps should make you feel very weak and inadequate. Each well reasoned decision and prep should make you feel even more non in control. The circle becomes very non comprehensible. At some logical point enough is enough and then move on elsewhere in daily living.

This only reflects the prep situations all of us may be addressing. It DOES NOT ADDRESS any additional RECREATIONAL firearm employment. We are discussing prepping only. Nothing else. It is easy to confuse and wash together the two. We feel it is OK to have a firearms collection that MAY also serve as a PREP consideration. Situations will vary with all of us.

Most Respectfully ... MY SITUATION is that I have way too much $value$ in guns and ammo I will most likely never use and enjoy. Downsizing is on the short list of 2018 New Year's Resolutions. Easy to identify. Much harder to act upon. Also understand that we here are talking about probabilities. There is a very slight chance of the SHTF ever happening HERE!

 

[The Heretic]

Most Most Respectfully ...

What I MAY, (may) be seeing here is a failure to communicate. A considered mature question is ..."How much money, time and effort have you spent on firearms?" Did you just do so, (all the guns and ammo) because it made you feel more powerful? Did it make you feel more SECURE? Did it make up for inherent weakness in other vital important prep areas?

<snip>

When I am being truthful with myself, I primarily buy guns because I enjoy having guns and having them for SHTF is way down the list. I mostly agree and hope that I will probably never have to use them. I do not agree that I will likely lose my guns (except maybe in a "boating accident", but that is a separate discussion.

That said...

There is a very slight chance of the SHTF ever happening HERE!

Disagree. SHTF is happening now, just very slowly. It is interesting that the people who most recognize that it is happening, while trying to prevent it from getting worse, do not really recognize the inevitability of the final outcome due to human nature being what it is.

For those that haven't heard me talk about this before - I am speaking of the carrying capacity of the planet we live on and the inevitable die off sometime in the coming decades (probably before 2050). I probably won't be around to see it, as I doubt very much I will live beyond another 20-25 years and at that point I won't be in any shape to use guns anyway.

But my one child will live that long (I hope), and I prep almost solely for her. The chance that she may see bad things by then is quite possible.

If I outlive my child, then all bets are off and I may sell everything and just go off and exist somewhere - or maybe not - I won't care at that point.

I do prep in other ways. How many preppers here own and actually live on their BOL? I have much more money and time and effort invested in my property than I do in guns and ammo.

 

[Koda]

There is an old saying, "don't fear the man with many guns, fear the man with only 1 gun"... (or something like that). Regardless, what Ive read about natural disasters is its essential to have as many backups as you can because they will get stolen or forcibly taken away from you by the authorities: Zombie Squad • View topic - Katrina Experiences - Note this is very long

2) For most of the chamberings, have a non semi-auto (bolt, lever, single shot, revolver) chambered for the same cartridge. The plan is to deal with any legal restrictions that may come into play for semi-autos, especially military style firearms. What happens to those firearms if restricted in some way would be for another discussion, but suffice to say they may not be readily accessible or it may not be desirable to use them except in a SHTF scenario. Whereas a revolver or lever action may still be politically correct or at least legal to use.

I'll go out on a limb and suggest a good 1911 is pretty low on the prohibition radar, for whatever reason it just seems that way.

 

[HB of CJ]

Respectfully ... Agreement ... Subjective ...

Yep ... always the possibility of the SHTF happening. Some, by other definitions, consider that the SHTF is happening NOW. They are also correct. It all comes down to definitions and expectations. Short term. Medium term. Long term. Historical term.

We have had three, (3) real deal wildfire scares in the last 16 years. Once on a hard 30 minute evac recommendation. The Cascadian Earthquake potential depends upon whom you listen to. One in ten to a one in thirty chance within 30 years or so. Wow.

Political unrest may tip the SHTF potential in ways very hard to predict. North Korea has our attention. So do the various economic collapse bubbles. So do many other potentials. Very dynamic. All told lots of good reason to consider SHTF now. Yikes!

Respectfully. ...

 

[The Heretic]

There is an old saying, "don't fear the man with many guns, fear the man with only 1 gun"... (or something like that). Regardless, what Ive read about natural disasters is its essential to have as many backups as you can because they will get stolen or forcibly taken away from you by the authorities: Zombie Squad • View topic - Katrina Experiences - Note this is very long

In some circumstances such as disasters/etc., most any gun, regardless of type, is probably vulnerable to confiscation - didn't read the referenced URL, but I doubt in Katrina that they were only taking away ARs and hi-cap pistols.

OTOH - anti-gun legislation will probably target many semi-autos, starting with the more military appearing ones and working down to ones with less capacity and appearing less evil:

I'll go out on a limb and suggest a good 1911 is pretty low on the prohibition radar, for whatever reason it just seems that way.

Revolvers and lever or bolt actions, even less so.

If "they" can't find them, and "they" can't prove I did not sell them, then "they" can't confiscate them. The revolvers and bolt or lever actions are the backups which I may get to keep because they are not as threatened by those (or at least maybe the legislation does not cover them - yet). At which point, I still have something immediately available to protect myself with that uses most of the same ammo.

 

[Koda]

The revolvers and bolt or lever actions are the backups which I may get to keep because they are not as threatened by those (or at least maybe the legislation does not cover them - yet).

IMO the lever gun is the worlds first real "assault rifle", deadly in its day and now. Its kinda like the open carry debate, strap on a Glock and get harassed or freak people out, strap on an old cowboy 6 shooter and your one of those cool old guys. Like lever guns and 6 shooters never wrecked havoc in their day in the hands of the bad guys. The antis have a screw loose in their thinking...

 

[Andy54Hawken]

IMO the lever gun is the worlds first real "assault rifle", deadly in its day and now. Its kinda like the open carry debate, strap on a Glock and get harassed or freak people out, strap on an old cowboy 6 shooter and your one of those cool old guys. Like lever guns and 6 shooters never wrecked havoc in their day in the hands of the bad guys. The antis have a screw loose in their thinking...

This is so very true ...at least where I live.
The area that I hunt in , is public land and open to all ...all year 'round.
I often run into folks when I am hunting...I have found that most folks don't bat an eye or they stop and ask about the "Cool old gun" , I'm hunting or shooting with if I am using one of my muzzleloaders...
If its a more modern firearm the reaction can be far more cool and reserved...sometimes even a hostile undertone ...sigh.
Andy

 

[HB of CJ]

Lots of us here live in a developed highly populated urban area. Cities or suburbs. Heavy population density. Considered surviving governmental infrastructure after a SHTF including public safety. Including police or sheriff presents. Situations arising after a major SHTF may include local, regional or state wide emergency declarations including a national martial law EO 11490.

However, we live in SW OR USA. You know where. Kinda. Not the pizza place. Our situation is different. We have little governmental infrastructure during the best of times and probably, (likely) we will have very little or no infrastructure after a big SHTF. Specifically southern Josephine County. The Illinois Valley. A long political story. Dodge City. We will be on our own for a long time.

Most probably no police check points. At least for several weeks/months. Our firearm view point is definitely different from others.