Monday, August 4, 2025

 



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.

17 comments:

  1. Urban survival against 2-legged vermin is a lot different from sustenance survival in the wilderness scenario. Best to have several firearms for each scenario handy.

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    1. Urban survival against 2 legged vermin?

      Several firearms for every scenario?, gee dude going to have a native gunbearer to hold a golf bag of them for your selection or what?

      LOL Omega Man isn't worth trying. Escape and evasion. If a powerful firearm is needed so is an Infantry Squad to back you up. Oh and medivac and resupply, might need a lot of ammo.

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    2. Dude, lighten up. If I choose to dig in and stay where I'm at, I'll most likely work with a neighborhood squad and carry my AR, pretty much like EVERY OTHER PERSON IN THE USA.

      If I choose to bug out to the country, I'd have to take my truck cause I ain't walking 300 miles first. And I'd take the AR, a scoped .22 rimfire, perhaps a lever action 30-30, a simple shotgun, and a selection of pistols. Easy peasy. I'm not saying I'd carry every gun at once or live in the wild like Jeremiah Johnson. I have family in the hills, a trailer on family land, it ain't the EOTWAWKI. It's just a move to a more rural location.

      So yeah, multiple weapons at my home base, and I'd carry the appropriate one for the occasion.

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  2. Most of our north AB bush is heavily monitored half the year looking for smoke incase of forest fires. Its also muskeg, and a giant swanp. Lastly its full of reservations, so if you tried and they found you they would kill you and 'inherit' your stuff

    Exile1981

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  3. Double barrel with short barrel, one barrel load with 00 and the other with slug.

    Exile1981

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    1. My main gripe against the double barrel is the weight of the gun from extra steel. Versatile - yes. Handy to carry - not so much. My H&R 20 guage Tamer has weather resistant finishes and has the very short - lightweight characteristics shown above. And while the 20 does not have all of the different loads that the 12 has - lighter ammunition to carry and enough differences to kill what I have here.

      Actually, a Savage 24C in .22lr over 20 Guage would not be a bad choice either.

      I was a fan to The Backwoodsman as well, but they recently had to close up shop. Too expensive to produce - a real shame.

      Great topic sir - thanks for the discussions.

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  4. yeah, I still have a old as dirt Iver Johnson 12 gauge that was my Dad's go to shotgun. and like you, I don't use it much at all.
    did shoot it about 3 years ago with my grandson though.
    and I have his old Stevens 25-20 single shot rifle he used to hunt squirrels with in the fall every year until he stopped hunting.

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  5. I would go with a Ruger 10/22 takedown any day over that KelTec.
    Eddie

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  6. Lotta truth to your words there, Filthie. My first gun was a Savage Model 24. Single shot, break action, hammer fired stack barrel. 22 WMR upper, 20 ga shottie lower one with a selector. Looking back, that would be a superb bush gun. Small enough to not vaporize small game, big enough to take medium stuff. Wish I still had it.

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    1. Savage 24 was my first gun as well. The .22 rimfire was very accurate but I'll be damned if I could hit anything with the 20 GA, 50 years later I still don't understand why. Kent MI.

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  7. I like ole Hickok, he has done a lot of good videos. I am old too. Life is so short.

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  8. I'll stick with my itty bitty 10/22 Charger. It's light, handy, small and minute of squirrel head out to 50 yards, with a red dot.

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    1. Yup. Although I think I’d opt for the carbine…

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  9. Like Hickok said “it’s fun”… can’t argue with that.

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  10. I recall watching a documentary about native tribe people living in the Amazon forest. Often show was a single shot shotgun, prized because quick fixes could be done without much cost. If the hammer would not stay cocked, a strong rubber band looped behind the hammer and triggerguard would allow the hammer to hit hard enough to strike the primer. If the bolt locking the barrel to the receiver did not function, a sleeve around the forearmm and slid over the barrel chamber - receiver would close the action and allow it to function.

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  11. Confining my contribution to firearms, if I had to bug out and live somewhere else, I'd pack my AR-15 and a half-dozen magazines, my Ruger Mk. II Government .22 pistol w/ three magazines, and my Ithaca pump 12 gauge shotgun - in that order. Note that I can get along without the shotgun.

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  12. I have the same KT Sub 2000. I bought it because it will fit into a back pack and uses the same mags as my Glock 19. I haven't shot it in a long whine but when I did shoot it, it would stovepipe the ammo I bought at the range. I need to break it out and try it again.

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