This is my take on guns
I know that I am not an expert on guns in general, but I am an expert about “My Guns.”
I can shoot them and I can take them apart for cleaning and I can repair them. In my military days I qualified as “Expert” with M-14, M-16, and the 45 caliber pistol. As to shotguns, I am a self-proclaimed expert. And, I have many hundreds of dead ducks, geese, and pheasants that will back me up on that claim. I have purchased different guns over the years and each one was purchased for a specific job. My first one was a used .22 caliber 9 shot revolver. The intended purpose was to kill skunks that were caught in my rabbit traps. Before that I had to club them and always came home a stinking mess. (Mom made me hang my cloths on the cloths line for a week before she would put them in the washer with other cloths.) With the revolver I usually dispatched them even before they could spray. I wish I had had it sooner when I caught a 72 pound beaver that was very upset with me. Or the muskrat that bit me twice before it got away. Two different “aside” thoughts came to mind while writing this. One is that my Mother made damn good fried rabbit. The other is that I bought that revolver from my 8th grade science teacher after class. I put it in my book bag and carried it home on the school bus. I was 12 years old. This was fine with my father because when I was 10 I took a hunter safety class and got my first (legal) pheasant hunting license. So, I was hunting with shotguns for 2 years before I bought the tiny little revolver. (I still have that hunting license.) Dad finally bought me my own first shotgun for my 13th birthday. It was a .410 gauge single shot. Let me tell you, there is nothing like hunting pheasants with a single shot to make you a damn good shot in a hurry.
I was older (15) when I purchased my next one. It was a Remington 700 chambered for 300 Winchester Magnum shells. I ordered that from a magazine. It came to me just fine, no questions asked. The men I worked with laughed at me saying; what are you going to do with that thing, it will blow a deer in half. They laughed even harder when I told them I was taking it to Alaska to hunt. It took me some years to do, but subsequently I lived in Alaska for a long time and shot many moose and caribou with that rifle. It was a good choice. I liked it so well that I never even bought a suitable rifle for deer and antelope. I just always take neck shots on those to preserve the meat.
While in Alaska I bought a new .44 magnum revolver. Up there it is considered a good side arm if you get surprised by a bear while hunting, fishing, or you are just out picking barriers. Anything smaller than that you should just be wearing bells. (Which I have heard is occasionally found in bear shit!)
Eventually I out grew the .410 shotgun and purchased a 12 gauge which I use for pheasants and waterfowl. After my Army days I also picked up a .223 rifle which works for fox and coyotes. Oh yea, there was also a .22 rifle I bought to teach the grandkids how to shoot. So there you have it, a gun for every need.
The moral of the story is this: I just demonstrated that I have guns and each of them was purchased for a specific reason. In other words, they are “tools.” It just so happens that my life experiences required a lot of different tools. It just makes me sick when I hear uninformed people say things like….why do people need so many guns. Well, damn it, now you know.
Many of you may have read this hoping for some genuine guidance on what would make a good survival weapon. Well, above you read that each of my guns has a purpose. Shotguns for birds, small rifles for small game, big rifles for big game etc.
For survival it is much the same. What do you need this tool to do for you? The problem is that there are so many circumstances that could occur. For example, are you inside or outside, are there other people around, is it at close range or of some distance? Are there multiple aggressor or do you want to shoot a raccoon in your chicken coop? However, the good news is that you will generally know your current situation and you can try to keep the right “tool” around you for that situation. Just deduce which tool you may need for the job. For example, you are at your survival retreat and you need to do something about that raccoon in the chicken house. Over the fire place hang a shotgun, a rifle, and a pistol. Which do you take? Well, is it daytime or night time? With which of these tools are you most proficient?
At the moment you hear the ruckus in the chicken house you already know these things. So you grab the appropriate tool and get the job done. What if you are escaping a riot using your car and all you have is a pistol. Well, that’s the only tool at your disposal so there’s not much to think about. Do your best with it. You see, there are just too many variables for anyone to give good advice on this subject, despite the fact that many think they can.
Consider this:
Are you man or woman, large or small, old or young, brave or vary timid, proficient with many guns, just one, or maybe none. Let’s try a combination of these options. The setting is that you are in a gun store wanting to know which gun is right for you. In this case: You are a young woman, actually rather timid but you tell the salesman you are moderately brave, and that you have never fired a gun. He sells you a 9mm semi-automatic. You go to the range and fire it; the boom is unexpected and too loud. It feels like your hand may be fractured and the front site is resting on your forehead. Or maybe he sells you a .22 or .32 caliber revolver and then the “know it all’s” at the firing range laugh and say, what do you think you’re going to kill with that little thing. (Now if you were to point it at them and say “you – asshole” they will think better of your little gun.)
The only way to buy guns is to know yourself and what you can handle.
The only way to know this is to go to a gun store and shoot some guns there in their range.
And remember these are “tools” and you may need more than one for the job(s). So give consideration to the choice you make regarding your long term shelter. Is it sheltering in place, camping in the forest, or at a secure survival retreat with many others? Then buy a “tool” for each job you might encounter. If you only buy one, choose wisely and practice with it.
BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO NEVER SHOOT A TARGET YOU CAN’T IDENTIFY. IT MAY BE SOMEONE YOU LOVE BUT YOU DIDN’T EXPECT TO BE THERE.