So ... what's a "survival rifle" anyway?

[BMCTED]

I've had this question, "What's A Survival Rifle", on my mind for a very long time, maybe before Col. Jeff Cooper was coming up with his "Scout Rifle" concept.

In celebration and appreciation of Admin opening up a new forum aimed at ALL AR7 Survival Rifle enthusiasts, I thought I might like to throw this question out to everybody.

Just what do you think a "Survival Rifle" is and why? Please explain your ideas on what caliber(s) it should be chambered in, it's length, weight, construction materials, COST, operating system, features, needs, wants ... and anything else you can think of.

I'll hold my own ideas for a while to give everybody else a chance, but I do have an example of what some agency came up with that I will share.

[PBSnooker]

Coopers concept was a good idea. Mine is slightly different. A Ruger american ranch 5.56 bolt with a red dot and back up iron sights. A good compromise for many situations.

[Hatchdog]

I like the idea of a combination gun like the Savage M/24 with both a rifle barrel and a shot shell barrel. Caliber and gauge is a personal choice but I like a 22 caliber center fire and a 12 ga. Best of both worlds would be a .223 and 12 ga as ammo availability would be better with these two in a SHTF situation.

As far as the AR-7 is concerned, when I win the one in the prize pool this year I’ll report back.

[BMCTED]

As far as the AR-7 is concerned, when I win the one in the prize pool this year I’ll report back.

As many AR-7s as I've messed with, I've never had my hands on a new one from Rice Lake. They are VERY different. Maybe If you win, you'd let me take it apart, measure it, weigh it and photograph it. Of course I'd reassemble it and give it back!

If I win ... I'll let you look at the pictures of mine!

[Vaquero]

I'll just grab one of the AR's, large cap. mags to hold a lot of ammo, that is not that heavy carry with.
Good at dispatching 2 or 4 legged vermin.
Don't care anything about the AR7, if I was considering a 22lr, it would most likely be the Marlin model 60, or Ruger 10/22.
Bu in all actuality a darn ole Marlin 30-30 would work about as well, it's just the ammo could be a bit heavy.

RP

[BMCTED]

OK ... so in my first post I teased a story about a survival rifle made by an "agency". Well, the "agency" was the USSR Space Agency and the weapon wasn't actually a rifle. It was a hand gun. The motivation for this weapon was the disaster ridden flight of Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyayev that started March 18, 1965. Part of the mission for this flight was the first "space walk" during which Leonov almost couldn't get back into the capsule. Most of the story of the flight can be found here: https://time.com/5802128/alexei-leonov- ... obstacles/.

I've read other accounts to confirm this telling. The entire flight was a disaster from start to finish that could have ended up in death many times. The Times story kinda ends with the cosmonauts landing miles and miles from the original site ... but it doesn't tell "the rest of the story". It turns out that Leonov and Belyayev really didn't think anybody would ever find them way out in the woods as they were. Worse, Leonov started thinking about some of the "wildlife" living where they landed. The fierce HUNGRY wildlife. And then he realized that the ONLY defense they had on board, was a Makarov pistol which was almost useless against anything in Siberia that wanted to kill and EAT them. Leonov didn't get much sleep while out in the woods. But they did make it home. And the very first thing that Leoniv did ... was scream at the Soviet Space Agency until they developed a weapon suitable for cosmonaut's defense against ANY predator should this EVER freakin' happen again.

The weapon they came up with is unbelievable BEAUTIFUL, if in my eyes only. It was called the TP 82, and nick-named "the wild boar". It was a pistol having 3 barrels, the upper two shotgun barrels used special 12.5×70 mm ammunition (40 gauge), and the lower single rifled barrel used 5.45×39mm rifle ammunition. Loadings for the shotgun ammo included shot, slugs, flares and flash-bang noise makers.

As I recall the barrels were short, very short. Maybe about 13 inches short, which made this handgun, well ... a handful, hence the nickname. To increase it's usefulness,and give it a bit of a butt-stock, along with the handgun came a machete which would attach to the stock ... something that would make ATF and FBI agents extremely grumpy today.

Speaking about federal agencies, I have seriously thought about building a copy of this firearm. I've collected as much information, photos, reports and drawings as I could find. The but is those federal agencies. Yes, I know about the NFA and how to register this sort of thing and etc ... but there is that big ol' but. You just can't tell these days which way the federal mop is gonna flop. I mentioned it on another web forum and got screamed at by a number of (ahem) "older" firearm owners and wabbit hunters for even thinking of such a thing. One old guy even wanted to know what my "motivation" was.

Anyoldways, if you're interested, there is a LOT of information about this interesting SURVIVAL firearm out there. Just do a search.

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LOOK >>> a holster!!! You don't have to carry the dang thing around like the AR-7. (Hint of things to come!)

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[Vaquero]

Well then .

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RP

[Rifletom]

This is going to get interesting. The first two certainly are. Didn't our military flight crews carry .45 autos?

[GeoBoy]

Mine is a Ruger 10/22 TD with a Magpul Backpacker stock and Trijicon RMR red dot.

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[BMCTED]

This is going to get interesting. The first two certainly are. Didn't our military flight crews carry .45 autos?

Yes and back in the day they also carried various revolvers, some Colts but also Smith & Wesson Victory .38s which were pretty much Model 10's. I own 2 of them and love them to death.

During Vietnam guys who flew Helicopters and small observation planes like the Birddog and others also carried M1a carbines or M16 and its variants among other things.

But SURVIVAL isn't just about shooting bad guys.

The problem with handguns and large caliber rifles as SURVIVAL guns is it's hard to get food with them. Also, there just isn't much rabbit or squirrel left after you shoot it with .38, .45acp or even 5.56 or .223. This is pretty much the reason for .22lr chambered survival weapons.

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