false

 

The title is “Is this the ultimate little survival rifle.

Jeez..ol’ Hickok is sure starting to get…old, eh? He’s starting to natter and prattle as old men do, but that doesn’t mean he’s not worth listening to. The answer to the question at hand is - obviously -  no. The first question you have to ask is “where are you going to try and survive? I suppose this gat might do in an urban/ghetto collapse situation where ya might be forced to get by on a “bug out bag”? But…even then it’s a sketchy choice at best. I personally think an iron sighted M4 would be my choice because of all the other advantages that come with it. Parts are a big consideration - and ease of repair and maintenance. 223 ammo is comparatively cheap and plentiful and with the right tools and some experience…you can replace damaged parts fairly quickly and easily. There’s a reason why all the various police and military outfits use them, and getting them to switch to more modern designs is like pulling teeth. But whadda I know? If I had to go with a compact pocket rifle, I think the king of that hill is the HK MP7 or maybe that FN squirt gun (the P90?) might bear consideration? But ammo for the FN is not exactly plentiful, and that ammo for the MP7 is pretty much unobtainium. In that case maybe Hickok makes sense?

100 years ago I used to take a break from Clown World and the pressure cooker of life and read a magazine called The Back Woodsman. It was aimed at the retarded stubfarts like me who are basically boy scouts that never grew up. The authors were guys much like me too but they were the real McCoys. A lot of them were old hermits, beardos and recluses who got their fill of the modern world and just sold all their stuff, disappeared into the backwoods and chose to live lives of spartan simplicity. They literally lived the subsistence life, with the minimum amount of possessions. They had the tools and skills to live most of their lives away from the lunacy of our day. A similar magazine was called Harrowsmith - a mag that my father in law loved. It was aimed at the small land owner and was chock full of gardening and livestock tips. For those guys… the concept of the survival gun was much, much different.

The bums, hobos and woodsmen of Harrowsmith and The Bacwoods

sang the praises of the single shot 12 or 20 bore.

Get out a hacksaw or a pipe cutter, chop it down to 20” and you have a lightweight 

trapper’s carbine that’ll go anywhere, shoot everything from ducks on up,

and take up no room at all in the process.  These are nearly indestructible too.

The bead on pop’s gun fell off back in the 70s and a gunsmith

put a new one on in 5 minutes and charged me 11 bucks to replace it back in the early 80s.

No plastic, all metal and wood…and soul and nostalgia.

Mine is a vintage Cooey that I stole from Dad. I haven’t fired it in decades. If you’re trying to survive in the boonies these little guns are stronger than most modern guns - and far simpler. I can see why they fell in love with them. They are far more versatile than the rifles hands down. If you take care of them…there is no reason your great-great grandkids won’t be shooting them a century from now.

I wonder though. Is it even possible to “disappear” into the backwoods anymore? Up here in Canada I suppose you can -  into the bush country up north. But I digress.

The big question about survival guns has to be about where you plan to survive and the circumstances you find there.