Top Ten Guns for TEOTWAWKI

I read an article with this title on someone’s blog the other day. The dude was an idiot, and was doing nothing more than parroting what he read off someone else’s blog. He didn’t even write it well.

I’ll make an attempt to do better, scout’s honour!

He had a list of lettered attributes that I won’t worry about. I’m not even going to bother with his list, since it had ridiculous shit like a Barrett .50BMG on there. (I LOVE the Barrett as an Anti-Material weapon, but for a survivalist? Maybe not so much, all things considered.)

1.) A semi-automatic, magazine-fed, rifle or carbine.
I don’t care if you pick the AK, or an AR, or an M1A, or the FN-FAL or HKs G3. It really doesn’t matter. Caliber is pretty well irrelevant too, despite the retro-philes who long for the days of the M14 and 7.63mmNATO.

You need something that will put a lot of controlled fire down range, in a relative hurry. Of course, you can never miss fast enough, but good training, coupled with a good weapon, will serve you well.

I think the 7.62x51mmNATO round is over-rated as a regular infantry caliber. Too many old guys remember it well from “back when it was hard!” That’s cool. I wouldn’t tell them to trade it in on a 5.56mmNATO “mouse gun.” Carry what you trust. Just don’t tell me to change what I am comfortable with.

I carried 5.56 the whole seven years I was a soldier, either as an M16A2, and M4A2, or the FN Minimi M249 SAW. I love, and TRUST, the caliber. I’ve never seen it not work when the shooter put the rounds where they needed to be.

Most of the anecdotal evidence of failures-to-stop come from shitty marksmanship. Yes, it happens, even in the U.S. military, because we no longer really train riflemen. Quit worrying about cool optics, and teach the fundamentals of marksmanship, out to the limit of the weapon, EXPECT your subordinates to shoot to the limit of the weapon, and you’ll see a lot fewer failures-to-stop.

The round is inherently accurate. Granted, barrel twist-to-bullet weight have to be factored in, but anytime a shooter can get 1000M match shots out of a 20-inch barrel, you’ve got an accurate weapon. The stated maximum range for a point target, of the M4 series, according to the army, is 500M. That’s pretty fucking good. I’ve seen guys do it too. Hell, I’ve done it, and I’m sure as shit no Gunny Hathcock!

The AK on the other hand, is running neck and neck with the old .308s as the most overrated weapon in the history of firearms! Yes, it’s tougher than boiled owl shit! Yes, it’s so simple the village retard can use it. Yes, it’s a relatively hard-hitting caliber. So, is the .30-30, and no one is shouting that we should issue Winchester 94s to our troops! Ballistically, that’s all the 7.62x39mm is, a .30-30 in a smaller package.

So, grab your AK-47 copy boys! It’s a semi-auto .30-30. Whoo-Hoo! Nope, make mine an AR in 5.56mmNATO.

Regardless of YOUR choice, it’s way more important that you practice with your weapon. Instead of typing inane bullshit about what gun is most effective for TEOTWAWKI, these yahoos should be getting some quality instruction and putting lots of rounds downrange. My apologies to the Michigan Militia guys too, but minute-of-paper plate, at 100 meters, is NOT battlefield accuracy (seriously, I saw it on their webpage once, that was the “standard” for these yahoos!), it’s “I’m an ignorant redneck wannabe Army Ranger” accuracy. Even under stress, with an M4, you should be able to make head shots at 50M. It’s done all the time.


2.) A semi-automatic, magazine-fed handgun.
I know there are a lot of guys out there, with serious combat handgun skills who will give me shit for not putting a revolver on here. Too bad. It’s my fucking list, and I think double-action revolvers are a poor choice for combative applications, outside of a snubby for EDC. Pistols have better ergonomics, making them more accurate, with the same amount of training, higher capacity (cause it’s probably not going to be a one-on-one fight, even post-apocalypse), and are, with the exception of single-action revolvers, more reliable, as well as quicker to clear in the event of a malfunction.

Caliber is even more irrelevant than in the rifle. Granted, a .32 ACP is probably a shitty choice if you are over the age of 8, but 9mm to .45ACP, are all proven man-stoppers, with accurate shot placement. Without it, a .44 Auto-Mag isn’t going to stop a determined attacker.

As with your rifle, get instruction in how to use it well, under combative conditions. Don’t be a gun store commando who talks about all the cool shit he has, but still thinks the sun rises and sets with point-shooting or the Weaver stance! Don’t be a dumbass!

3) a single-action revolver in .22caliber.
The workingman’s outdoor, do-anything gun. Killing pests, teaching the kids to shoot, it does pretty well everything, and they are so light that you can throw it in a rucksack and be done with it. I’ve had to put horses down with one, as well as cattle.

4) a .22LR semi-auto or lever-action carbine

I like the Ruger 10/22. It’s the only firearm they make, that I’ve had positive experiences with. I’ve shot sage rats (ground squirrels), birds, rabbits, squirrels, and (no shit!) a mountain lion. I shot a badger once too, but I don’t recommend that experience, at all! Like the revolver, it’s a do anything gun.

5) a .357 single-action revolver.
Fire .38 caliber rounds, or .357. I don’t think it’s the super-caliber that a lot of people seem to, but I think it’s a good one, and the ability to downgrade to .38 has been handy for me.

6) a .30-caliber bolt-action rifle with telescopic optics
The “sniper” rifle, isn’t. It’s just a good, all-around big-game gun. A .30 caliber bolt-action is capable of extreme accuracy, and heavy enough to put down anything on this continent. I’ve seen guys put down Alaska moose with a .30-06, and I guided a fella who put down an Alaskan brown bear with one round from a .30-06.

The caveat on this rifle is, if you have a .308 for your primary gun, it’s not necessary to have this one. Modern gunsmiths are more than capable of making a super-accurate semi-auto. Hell, the match-grade M1As from Springfield Armory are capable of sub-MOA out of the box!


Well, shit, that’s only six, and I’m done. See, there’s really no reason to own ten fucking guns. As the old adage goes, I’m more scared of the guy with one, really well-used gun than I am of the retard with 10!

With these six weapons, and adequate ammunition and magazines, a person is going to be able to make it through anything that would require a firearm, post-SHTF.

Granted, a shotgun would be nice. I own a Mossberg 500 in 12-gauge, and it’s comforting to know that I have an “alley-broom” that I can also use to hunt our little feathered friends with. Necessary though? Not really.