Posted on 08/07/2009 12:52:41 PM PDT by appleseed
If you’ve watched Survivorman, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Les Stroud, the star of the show, seems to starve during every episode. I don’t mean this as a criticism; Stroud is the real deal. But his hunger pangs raise a point: Boy Scout improv works better on the page than in the forest. If you want to bring down enough bacon to keep up your strength, you’re going to need bullets—and the more, the better. With this in mind, I recently tested two different approaches to the survival question.
The Pocket Protector
The Henry U.S. Survival firearm ($245; henryrepeating.com) is an updated version of the ArmaLite AR-7 designed for the Air Force. Weighing a scant 21⁄2 pounds, it is the ultimate breakdown .22, with the action and barrel unscrewing to fit inside the ABS synthetic buttstock, which floats in case your canoe capsizes. (Testing revealed the rifle also bobs like an apple when fully assembled.)
A lightweight .22 is a proficient survival firearm for harvesting small game, and at first glance the Henry seemed to perfectly marry the longer sighting plane of a rifle with pistol portability. But tests revealed a problem. The Henry is a blowback semiauto with a rough chamber and a reputation for unreliable feeding, and jamming was the rule until I switched from flat-nosed, regular-velocity ammo to CCi Stingers, which are high-velocity jacketed round-nose bullets. It seems to require kickback from a speedy bullet to work the strong spring of the bolt. The receiver rib is grooved for scope mounts, but this is a gun chosen for portability, and the adjustable aperture rear and ramp front sight proved adequate for the ranges at which most hunters will use it. I shot a 1⁄12-inch group at 20 yards—plenty good to render rabbit into hasenpfeffer.
The verdict? If I knew in advance I’d be forced to feed myself with a .22, I’d choose a more substantial takedown model, such as the Browning SA-22 or Marlin’s 70PSS Papoose. But where space and weight come at a premium, the Henry is a good choice. And it will keep you in squirrel stew as long as you feed it ammo it has an appetite for.
A Sleeve Up My Sleeve
The second gun I tested was a longtime friend—my .350 Remington Magnum. The best survival weapon is the one you have in your hand when you face a survival situation. For most hunters, that’s a centerfire rifle.
What turns an elk thumper into a small-game provider is the cartridge. Instead of using full-power loads, I fired handgun rounds using a cartridge conversion sleeve (KJ Knives: $25; 406-669‑3382). A conversion sleeve is a housing that encloses a handgun cartridge so it fits the diameter of a rifle bore. (For the .350, it’s the .38 auto.) You can drop 30 or more pistol rounds into a pocket and forget they are there. Reserve your big-game loads to signal for help or rebuff teeth-gnashing creatures of the night.
As expected, the pistol bullets seldom shot to the crosshairs, at least not at rabbit range. But accuracy was adequate and estimating holdover was simple—simple enough, anyway, to reward me with a snowshoe hare while I was elk hunting last fall. True, you have to eject the conversion sleeve after each shot, remove the shell, and reload. But firepower isn’t an issue regardless of the survival gun you choose—just as long as your first aim is true.
The Henry rifle is a turd. Not just a little one, either. It’s a massive, gray, floating Charlie that will never go down the pipe, no maater how many times we flush.
Assembling it can destroy the receiver. So can firing it. Disassembling it won’t immediately destroy the receiver, just accelerate the process. Yes, a .22 rimfire rifle is an outstanding survival weapon, just not that one.
The author’s choice of game animals is also wrong. Unless you find a mother lode of the things, there is not enough meat on them to replace the energy you expend in hunting, prepping, and cooking them. This is not to disparage the .22. You can easily kill deer with it, if you know how. Bowhunters will laugh at this. They’ve waited for hours for the right buck to pass within range of their stands, then hoped the animal wouldn’t jump the string, and that the arrow hit enough vital organs to kill the deer and enable it to be tracked. Plenty of bow hunters will tell you that if they used a .22 instead of a bow, they would need another freezer.
the best survival weapon I have is ME....and how I use my surroundings and adapt to any given situation
“You ever hunt em with spear or knife ?”
nope and I aint gonna. I’d love a 45-70 but all i have is a 30-06 and a 12ga
“Unless you find a mother lode of the things, there is not enough meat on them to replace the energy you expend in hunting, prepping, and cooking them.”
While its true you can starve to death on just rabbit they make a great addition to the diet. Squirrels are about the same. If you’re expending that much energy hunting them then you are doing it wrong.
My Marlin 1894 for this one.
CCI's Small Game Bullet (SGB) is designed that way, IIRC.
An 8 ounce squirrel is about 125 kcal of food. If you spent one hour getting to your spot and hunting, then another hour prepping and cooking the squirrels, 10 of them would result in a net gain of about 250 calories for your effort. That’s half of a light lunch.
You’re right, I only pursue the weird stuff because I have the regular bases pretty well covered.
There’s stuff that’s even too weird for me... although I was once tempted by a NIB Gyrojet with ammo.
mighty small squirrels where come from
Same here Slim. The .38 Super got a bad rap in the accuracy department early on. As a "semi-rimmed" case, the original weapons were designed to headspace on a very, very small portion of the rim that just barely exceeded the diameter of the case body, and the case mouths were crimped. Nowadays, most weapons designed for the cartridge headspace on uncrimped case mouths like most other autos, and accuracy is anything but a problem.
I've always kind of liked the "bastard" rounds, so it should be no big surprise that two of my favorite (and I would argue, most useful) rounds have been the .38 Super and the .41 Magnum for revolvers; however, I'll be the first person to admit that as "survival" weapons, the limited availability of both rounds would not make them my first picks.
One thing about the .270, a good clean shot to the neck will break it. Don’t have to worry about looking for the deer.
I shot an Axis doe last year (ummm, ummm, good) and flipped her completely upside down while her head was still rightside up. Never knew wwhat hit her.
If necessary, I can shoot the letters off the paper target at 50 yards with my Savage .22. A young deer’s head would be easy pickins.
I have a S&W 915, a Mossberg 850, and a Marlin 336W for my survival weapons.
Oh yeah. The 270 is my classic do it all caliber. Pre 64 .Mod 70 Winchester ......it doesn’t get any better.
Perfect choice IMO !
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