TEOTWAWKI -- Guns and Ammo Edition

I am hoping to do occasional articles on TEOTWAWKI (and guns & ammo).  I am not going to deal with the legalities of firearms here, you either know what the legalities are where you live, or you can find out easily enough.  Today is "Firearms for TEOTWAWKI 101".

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Modern Survival Theory (MST, actually I just made-up both the term and acronym, but maybe there IS MST already out there) tells us that being armed will help you survive and live better through a TEOTWAWKI ("The End Of The World As We Know It"), you know, what happens after the SHTF...

Preparing for a TEOTWAWKI was my first real article (look in the May archives) here at my blog.  Preparing for that is a long, hard and expensive process.  And everyone will around you will think that you are completely crazy.  References are also given to books and blogs that are about MST at my other article.

But, how will you defend your gold and your family when the Golden Horde / MZBs (Mutant Zombie Bikers) come to your home?  You will have to be armed.

I have read in various places the below guidelines re firearms for the prepared:

-- a semi-auto "assault rifle" (AK-47, AR-15)
-- a handgun, preferably a high caliber one
-- a Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun
-- a .22 LR rifle for hunting squirrels, rabbits, etc.
-- a 30-06 ("thirty odd six")  deer rifle

With 2000 rounds for EACH of the first two.  I have not seen guidelines for the other three, but would imagine that they would be around 500 - 1000 rounds each.

I myself own an AK-47 clone and a 9mm Beretta.  I have about 700 rounds for each.  So I would get a failing grade in "MST 101".  I have read sneers about the 9mm pistol, a women's gun...  But, you have to be comfortable with your gun.  You want to practice, and if the gun is too big, you might just skip doing that...

You also must be proficient in their use.  I have read, and can confirm that just going to the range or to the country to fire them once every four to six months just is not good enough.  Marksmanship is perishable as they say.

And maintenance, you have to know how to clean your weapons typically by "field stripping" them and have and use cleaning supplies.

Let us explore the above five weapons:

(1)  The semi-auto carbine / "assault rifle" will fire one bullet each as fast as you can keep pulling the trigger.  You might need the firepower if a crowd is coming at you.  My thinking is that both the AK-47 clones and the AR-15 are roughly equal over all.  I bought the AK because it can be seriously abused, hardly ever cleaned and still fire (not get jammed).  If I am in the rain, or behind a ridge-line or a sand dune, I want a bullet to come out when I pull the trigger.  A friend of mine as an AR-15.  He chose it because it is American, it also has less recoil ("kick") than the AK and is less noisy.  But when we went out to shoot our weapons a few weeks ago, his jammed up...  Effective range for the AK is claimed to be up to 300 meters, but unless you practice a lot, don't expect to hit much over, say, even 150 meters unless you are just hosing down whatever you are shooting at.  This is the gun even the police are scared of, the gun they keep trying to ban.  Better "git while the gittin's good".

(2)  "The pistol is what you use to get to your rifle."  A genuine quotation, but I do not know who said that.  A pistol is handy if "they" are close.  Once again, point and shoot.  Gun fans argue endlessly about what pistol calibers and brands are "best".  It all depends.  I chose the 9mm because it does not kick too much and the round will drop 'em fairly well, depending...  9mm is about the minimum caliber called for by most MST.  Lots of people say to just go with the old 1912 .45 caliber.  In Iraq, I read, US Army officers are discarding their government issue 9mm Berettas and instead go out with a .45.  Imagine that, a 99 year-old design is what the officers themselves want...  The .45 was designed to drop a man for SURE (when we fought in the Philippines against insurgents after the Spanish-American War).

(3)  A shotgun can be real handy for home defense.  The "hall cleaner", in which all you have to do is shoot the thing down the hallway and whatever is there will get hit by the buckshot most often used in shotguns.  ((And buckshot does not go through walls, endangering other people in another room or outside your place.  R Mix edit: this is WRONG.  Some of my readers pointed this out to me, buckshot and birdshot CAN go through walls and kill people.))  Mr. Mossberg seems to be the brand I hear and read about the most.  ZH's own Chumbawamba has mentioned his Mossberg 12 gauge, I of course would not know if he actually has, but it SOUNDS like he has one!

(4)  A .22 LR is the rifle most boys who wind up with guns usually fire for the first time.  I fired one when I was 10 years old!  It almost doesn't have ANY recoil and so is suitable for having your children join in when MZBs come-a-calling.  You can also hunt small animals like squirrels ("Tree Rats" as they call them in parts of Texas and the South) and rabbits.  If you shoot at a squirrel with a bigger rifle, you are just going to have all the meat splattered all over the tree...

(5)  A deer rifle with a good scope is also recommended in MST.  Someone (like a deer hunter) who is GOOD can hit a person at 400 meters, about a quarter of a mile.  That's a long way.  Drop a few of the of the apparent leadership of that band of MZBs coming your way from that far away will likely encourage them to find a softer target.  Again, among the aficionados of high powered rifles there is much debate about the "best" way to go.  I myself shared thoughts with two ZH-ers who seemed to know what they were talking about when I was considering buying a .338 Lapua, kind of a beast of a gun.  A gun like that (in well trained hands) can drop someone a MILE away!  After I thought it over, I realized that I would never go shoot the thing!  And it is expensive...  (check the cool .338 Lapua out at www.onlylongrange.com)  A 30-06 ("thirty odd ((R Mix edit: "thirty aught six")) is more than enough however for almost anybody.  There are many smaller and less powerful cartridges out there.  Again personal preference is the way to go.  I myself have shot a 30-06, and it is a pretty serious rifle, LOUD and with a BIG recoil.

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I hope that the readers of this article have enjoyed and learned something about firearms from this article.

If this, or other TEOTWAWKI articles, get(s) good reviews, there will be more.

Perhaps even a Guest Post!  As I do not know much more than the above...