Survival Rifle

Dana M. Hague wrote:

I still hold to a .22 as probably the best survival rifle. Not much
stopping power for large game (though the world record black bear was
taken with a .22!), but it's great for the small game that's more
likely to keep you fed, and _lots_ of ammo doesn't weigh much.

-Dana

Additional barrels in various calibers and shotgun gages can be bought
for NEF single shot rifles. These rifles are light and way more
accurate than the under $200 new price tag would suggest. Having
another barrel fitted (in most calibers) is under a hundred bucks.

The one caveat is no rim-fire calibers on a center-fire frames. I have
one in .223 Rem, and I'm planning to get a .22 Hornet and a .45 Colt
barrels for it. I could shoot .410 shot shells in the .45 Colt barrel
and the shot cup would keep the rifling from chewing up the shot.

This rifle with the 2 barrels and 50 rounds of ammo for each would
easily pack away behind the seat of your plane if you're flying out in
an off the grid area. Or perhaps just the .45 Colt barrel but then
you'd have to rely on .410 shotgun rounds to take squirrel sized game if
you are to stay fed until help finds you.

WWII German Luftwaffe pilots had drilling rifle/shotguns. These usually
had 2 shotgun barrels and a rifle barrel either under or over the
shotgun barrels and centered between the two. Drilling is the German
word for triple so they always had 3 barrels. The US pilots had a an
over under .22 hornet over a .410 gage shotgun. A couple companies
reproduce these but I don't think they're worth the money. Savage has
made over under rifle/shotgun combos for many years but again I think
they sell for more than they're worth.

Tony