As my trips into the wilderness are getting longer and more remote, I’m thinking about carrying a firearm and a personal location beacon with me. Choosing a PLB looks to be pretty easy. I have had some experience (been shooting with friends and milirary) with firearms, but do not own one. I’m looking for those with more experience with firearms than myself to recommend a rifle that fit what I need.
I’d like it to be compact, very much so. It needs to be light and fit into a backpack and on a kayak
I like the accuracy of a rifle or long gun than a pistol.
Something reliable, can get wet, and is very easy to operate.
I’d first ask what you think your needs are really going to be.
If it is for protection from stumbling into a bear…then a large caliber handgun is a better choice because it will be in the holster at your side, not buried underneath your sleeping bag in your pack.
If it is for hunting during game season, then a hunting rifle is more in order.
If it is for hunting during an emergency, a simple .22 LR (or .22 Mag) gun or rifle would probably suffice as you are going to go after birds and rabbits and squirrels and beavers and fox and etc more so than deer, elk, bear or cougar. A .22 also has the advantage of being light and you can carry 100 bullets easily.
For a breakdown rifle, Taurus has a neat pump action. But my favorite little storage rifle is a Henry Survival Rifle.. At least that is the one I think my brother owns and I shot. The whole thing stores in the plastic stock.
That said, a long-barrel handgun is probably more than enough. Put a scope on it and you are good to go. In deep woods you aren’t going to have many 100 yard shots. This Taurus is especially neat because it shoots both .45 bullets and .410 shotgun shells. Great combo for protection and small game hunting. Add a scope and you could probably take down a small deer at 50 yards.
Idea three is what I am concerned about. I have no illusions of chasing away/dropping a bear with a small firearm, and I don’t intend to use this rifle for in season hunting. If I am to need this rifle/pistol then something went wrong, and I’m out in the wilderness longer than I anticipated.
I recommend against the .410/.45 revos. Their rifling has an extremely long twist so as to make patterns with shotshells somewhat acceptable. The tradeoff is that accuracy with the .45 cartridges is lackluster.
For what you describe, I think you might want to look into the Marlin Papoose or a Ruger 10/22 in a Butler Creek folding stock. As has already been noted, .22lr ammo is light so you could easily carry a bunch of it. If you do want something in a heavier caliber, you might consider the H&R Handi-Rifle line. They don’t fold, as such, but the barrel is easily detached from the stock and both pieces stow in a very short package. They’re light and cheap.
Another vote for the Henry. If you are in the deep wilderness, you are better off with less weight and more bullets. Two bricks of .22LR would weigh more than the gun!
Do any of you who recommended the Henry version of the AR-7 have one? That particular gun has been manufactured by several companies over the years. Its reputation has not, on the whole, been good. Feed problems were common in ll models and the Charter Arms- manufactured rifles were little more than junk. If Henry is actually doing a competent job on it, that’d be great; there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Stoner’s design.
I’ve had a Ruger 10/22 for a while now, and would reccommend it highly. Very accurate and you can get lots of cool stuff for it.
Look here for a lot of info about rimfire (and some other) guns, both long and short. I think they call what you’re looking for a “camp gun”.
For a true folding rifle that has the ability to deal with variety of situations I’ve always liked the Kel-Tech SU-16B. Small and lightweight, it none the less allows you to have 5.56/.223 versatility. It’s adequate if not exactly highly recommended for hunting, very good at personal protection from other people, will dispatch attacking animals besides bears with ease.
This has been on my ‘want list’ for a long time. .22LR is good for small game, and .410 would be good for closer small game. The original, as developed for the Air Force, did not have the trigger guard so it would simply be folded in half. With the trigger guard on you have to take the halves apart. Having a trigger guard is safer, but if you ensure that there is not a round in either chamber every single time you fold it and are careful not to cock it until you are ready to shoot every single time, then you could remove it to allow the rifle to be folded on its hinge.
Sorry to hear about the quality problems of the AR-7. I’ve wanted one of those since I was a kid in the '70s.
The Kel-Tec is FUGLY!. I think it’s even uglier than my AR-180 (which is a Sterling, and so has the folding stock; unlike Armalite’s AR-180B, which has a fixed stock).
I don’t own it, I’ve just shot my pal’s. I did get a couple stovepipe’s, but in rapid fire. The trade-off, as I mentioned, is the weight. It weighed less than my Browning Buckmark. The novelty of how small it packs up is pretty cool. If I was lost in the deep woods and had to hunt for my food and try to find my way out, weight would be my biggest consideration.
The reason I mentioned the Marlin Papoose is that it packs up about as small as the AR-7 and enjoys a better reputation for reliability and shootability. It just isn’t as cool with its little satchel as the AR-7’s self-storing, I admit.
Kind of a blast from the past, but the M1 Carbine is a rifle that might fit your needs. It can easily be converted with a paratrooper style folding stock kit and there are even leg holsters/scabbards for easy storage and tote with the bonus of at ready use.
It’s sort of a medium range gun with “medium” firepower, and could serve well as an all purpose survivalist rifle.
I’ve heard quite a bit about the T/C Encore, and Contender pistols? I’ve never fired, or even handled them. Would one of these fit the OP’s needs? They sure are pretty.
oldlib
I have a henry-made AR7, labelled “US Survival Rifle”
I’ve only shot it a few times, and haven’t dragged it through the mud, but haven’t had any problems with it. I was surprised with the degree of accuracy it had - shot as good as a 10/22. The receiver is a bit awkward to clean so maybe after a few thousand rounds you’d see problems from that.
