[Nowhere Man]

Well, a shotgun is the best if you are really financially strapped according to "Life After Doomsday, A Survivalist's Guide to Nuclear War and other Major Disasters" (by Dr. Bruce D. Clayton, PHD, 1980), a shotgun is the best to go, after the shotgun, you should get a handgun. Handguns are meant to be a backup to your main weapon or when you cannot carry your main weapon with you. Then if you can go for it, a light rifle like an AR-180 or AR-15 in .223 Remington/5.56mm NATO, followed by a heavier rifle in .308 Winchester/7.62mm NATO like the HK-91.

I only have a .22LR myself, better than nothing, but if I had the extra funds, I'd get a shotgun like a Remington 870 and if I can swing it, a handgun like a .357 Magnum or a M1911A1 in 45 ACP.

[William Tell]

Nowhere Man said: "I only have a .22LR myself,..."

I'm surprised that the book you quoted doesn't make more of the fact that .22LR ammunition is so inexpensive, that one could easily have 10,000 rounds for a .22. A really MAJOR disaster might make a person dependent upon hunting small game to feed the family. "Small game" in this context probably would mean the housepets of people no longer living in the area.