My favorite toy
Here’s a quick game for us to play.
If someone gave you a voucher for a free new gun at your friendly neighborhood Merchant Of Death, what gun would you buy or order? (Restrictions: one gun only, nothing costing more than $2,000 and nothing not currently in the catalog.)
Answers in Comments.
Mine: 
That’s a Colt New Frontier Single Action Army, in .44 Special. Cost: $1,995. (I need a gun for the Governor’s BBQ.) I’ll spring for the DeSantis holster out of my own pocket…
I’ve been thinking about the SHTF thing recently (as one does), and a random thought occurred to me: is the venerable AR-7 Survival Rifle still a consideration for inclusion in Ye Olde Bugge Out Bagge? Here’s the original Armalite AR-7:
I tested one of these puppies many years ago, and I was seriously underwhelmed. I tried at least half a dozen different types and brands of .22 LR, and I got either flawless feeding and crappy accuracy, or decent accuracy and a 1:3 jam rate. So I wrote the thing off as a waste of time — just another gimmick.
However, time has passed and the AR-7 has now become the property of Henry Repeating Company — and they’ve made some changes, all for the better. So the question comes up again: is the little AR-7 still relevant as a SHTF option?
Apparently, it is — or at least, these guys seem to think so.
And I really like what Henry’s done with it. The component stowage has been tidied up:
Of course, the packed-up rifle is still not only waterproof, but it floats as well:
…and the addition of a high-viz front sight and scope rail, in my opinion, has made all the difference.
So the original concept has been refined enough so that it is, at least, a viable little firearm — and Henry’s creation of an accompanying mini-bug-out pack (see the first link) has made it all the more appealing.
Nevertheless, I’m still a little dubious about the AR-7, and here’s why. If one is wandering around in the wilderness after the S has HTF, the whole palaver of having to assemble the rifle into an operating firearm is somewhat time-consuming — and given the exigencies of such a scenario, wouldn’t one want the thing to be ready at all times?
(And I’m not going to get into the argument about whether the .22 LR cartridge is a viable SHTF option because it is, in the function for which it is intended: popping small game for the pot. No problem with that.)
My question is that since a modern SHTF scenario involves not only wandering around in some post-apocalyptic landscape looking for squirrel snacks, but avoiding (or at worst, fending off) feral critters of the human persuasion, would the .22 requirement not be better served by a longish-barreled handgun such as the 10-round capacity S&W 617, worn on the hip?
Sure, the 16″ barrel of the AR-7 is always going to be more accurate than the 6″ barrel of the 617, but in reality, if one is potting critters over unscoped sights, the shorter distances in practice make the issue somewhat moot, I think. And if we’re going to insist on a semi-auto .22 firearm, then there’s always the Buckmark URX Contour, with a 7″ barrel (and rail for a scope/red-dot arrangement):
Here’s what I think, at the end of all this. I like the AR-7 concept, a lot. I think that as a “stow away and forget about it” addendum to the trunk of your car or storage space in your truck — especially with that survival pack — it’s a winner. Henry’s rather clever payoff line for the AR-7 is “Don’t leave civilization without it”, and I sorta-agree with that.
But I think that as a SHTF tool, the .22 LR function would be better left to a handgun, while the actual survival function is delegated to an AR-15 or AK-47. But that said, there’s nothing wrong with having an ultra-lightweight rifle in your hands or in your backpack, either.
As you can see, I’m hopelessly conflicted about the AR-7. Feel free to untangle, explain or even cast insults upon my thoughts, in Comments. All such would be quite welcome.
Longtime Reader DarrellM sends me this snippet from Dan Wesson:
It started as an experiment — a grand melding of Dan Wesson and CZ pistols. Borrowing the crisp single action fire control group of a DW 1911 and combining it with the ergonomics and capacity of a CZ, the resulting pistol emerged as something great.
…
Designed initially for competition use, the DWX has evolved into much more than that, with both full-size and compact variants. Its locked breech barrel system is simple, ditching the standard 1911 link system and using CZ-style takedown via the slide stop. The easier take-down will be familiar to any hammer-fired CZ owner, as is removing the Match-grade barrel due to the bushing-less barrel system that resembles a P-10 or P-09/P-07. Double-stack magazines boost the capacity of the full-size to 19+1 with flush bases, and many standard 1911 parts enable gunsmiths and competitive shooters to tune the X just the way they like it. Sights are easily customized, using a 1911-style dovetailed sight in the front and a CZ Shadow 2 style sight cut in the rear.
Here’s what it looks like:
Apart from the front-slide serrations (ugh) and the somewhat gay red accents (double ugh), this “marriage” pushes all my buttons. Reader Darrell admits to being a fanboi of both the 1911 and CZ 75 (as am I), but the only thing that puts both of us off is that the suggested retail price for this lovely thing is not a true marriage: it’s too much Dan Wesson and not enough CZ, i.e. at nearly $1,800 it’s out of reach for both of us.
That said: a 1911 single action with 20-round capacity and easy takedown? Hand me mah smellin’ salts, Prissy…
Put some lovely wooden grips on it, lose the cherry-colored trigger and resist the urge to carve out the front serrations, and I’d be very tempted to sell a kidney or something.
On the other hand, there’s always the CZ 97 B:
…even if it does only hold 10 rounds of .45 ACP. (Full disclosure: I once owned a CZ 97, and loved shooting it. But it’s no carry piece, lemme tell y’all — it’s a heavy beast. Still, I should never have sold it, because now that I think about it, the 97 would make a perfect bedside gun. Oh well.)
We are all familiar with Kim’s #1 Principle of Guns: a .22 gun is not in fact a gun; it is a household appliance (and every home should have one, be it a rifle or a handgun). The corollary thereto is that .22 ammo is likewise not actually ammunition, but a household commodity like salt or sugar.
And while this is absolutely true for the venerable .22 Long Rifle, there is a higher level of household commodity, if you will — not salt or sugar, but, shall we say something that could also be classed as a commodity but has a tad more spice to it — something that makes life more enjoyable, like BBQ sauce, or mustard, or Tabasco sauce — which adds to the enjoyment of life, and I don’t think anyone is going to argue too much with me on this point.
Which brings me to my favorite cartridge of the small ones, the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, a.k.a. the.22 WMR or still more simply, the .22 Mag. I love this tangy little rimfire cartridge with a passion, and it remains a mystery to me why it’s not more popular among shooters (the lack of popularity no doubt being the reason why it is priced as high as it is today).
Basically, the .22 Mag does everything that a .22 LR cartridge can do, only with a 50-yard longer reach and an impact that makes it more deadly without adding in the slightest to felt recoil. You want numbers? Using a 40-grain bullet, the.22 LR ammo runs at 1,200 fps, while a .22 mag leaves a rifle barrel traveling at 1,800 fps. That 50% increase in velocity creates a significant difference in muzzle energy : the .22 LR typically weighs in at around 140 foot-pounds at the muzzle, but the .22 Mag. generates more than double that — around 300 ft-lbs. Without the huge cost difference, the Mag would leave the LR in the dust — at least, it would in my case.
I have one rifle (Marlin 882) and one handgun (Ruger Single Six) chambered in .22 Mag, but I want more. Which brings us to day’s GGP, the S&W Model 48:
This particular little beauty is at Collectors Firearms, and the only thing that’s stopped me from getting one is the nosebleed price. (At Bud’s Gun Shop, the 6″ barreled model is over $100 cheaper… stop me before I do something foolish.)
“So Kim,” you may ask, “why do you want another .22 Mag revolver?”
Because I can, because it’s double- and not single action, and because it’s beautiful. And in case I didn’t mention it earlier, because I love the .22 Mag cartridge.
Doc Russia astounded me the other night by telling me that next year (2020) he’s not going to use his custom Remington 700 in .300 Win Mag to cull Scottish deer with Mr. Free Market. Instead, he’s downloading to (another) custom Rem 700 in 6.5 Creedmoor.
Okay, as any fule kno, I am hugely skeptical of new cartridges simply because, as some smart guy put it:
“Typically, this is how we get new cartridges. A gunmaker approaches an ammo producer—which is sometimes part of the same parent company—and says, hey, we want to introduce a new round, and if you make it, we’ll produce several thousand rifles to support it. They then hype the hell out of it, cross their fingers, and hope shooters are drawn to it like raccoons to hot garbage.”
And after a couple years of frenzied excitement, the cartridge disappears as though it never existed, leaving gun owners with a rifle that’s as useful as tits on a boar hog.
However, this 6.5 Creedmoor seems to be the business, not only because it’s a good hunting rifle, but it’s also winning competitions for accuracy — delivering about the same impact as a .300 Win Mag (!) but with considerably less recoil. No wonder Doc is interested.
So with that said, read all about it.
As intriguing as it sounds, however, I’m unlikely to follow the trend (and not for the first time) because I’ve long known about the beauty of a 6.5mm bullet, in its incarnation as the 6.5x55mm Swedish cartridge, developed in the nineteenth century. Granted, the 6.5 Creedmoor hits harder than the Swede, but I’m reminded of the trenchant response from a guy who had been shooting .270 Win his whole life when told how much better was the .270 Win Short Magnum cartridge that came on the scene: “So what?”
Put me in his camp. However, I can’t wait to see what happens when Doc hits the Angus Glens with his new death-dealer…
A couple Readers (one assumes New ones) wrote me and asked (and I paraphrase): “So what’s YOUR list of ten rifles everyone should own?” Of course, keeping it down to ten is a little difficult — certainly for me, and I suspect for most others too — but I’ll give it a shot, so to speak, and confine it to center-fire chamberings (no rimfires) as the original article did, with mostly bolt-action types (and only one semi-auto). Rather than advocate specific rifles, however, I’m going to classify them by category. I understand that not everyone is active in every category, of course; but it helped me crystallize my thinking.
So let’s imagine that you must have at least one rifle per category, just to make this interesting. There are nine categories, so you only get an extra rifle in one of them. And the finalists are:
1) High-capacity (10+ magazine) semi-automatic combat rifle. I don’t really care whether it’s an AR-15 type or AK-47 — and for the old-timers, the M14/M1A and even the M1 Carbine can be acceptable — but everyone should own at least one of these because
a.) the Socialists want to take them away, and
b.) you never know if a random Pantifarian / BLM uprising may occur in your neighborhood. (And I don’t have to tell you that you need LOTS of ammo for this category, do I?) Here’s a pic of some choices, as an example.
2) Mauser 98k-type. This category exists because in the domain of Emperor Kim, everyone has to own at least one Mauser. Once again, the choice of which one is up to you. Personally, I favor the CZ 550/557 type because of its set trigger:
…but should you want to go all traditional 98k in this category, you won’t get any arguments from this side of the keyboard:
Caliber is up to you; the CZs offer just about any chambering you wish, while the actual 98k comes pretty much only in 7x57mm or 8x57mm. Not that this would leave you disappointed, of course.
3) All-Purpose Bolt-Action. As the name suggests, this should be the rifle that in a pinch you can grab and use for just about any application. It could also be called “My Last Rifle” (last to be let go, last to be purchased, last gun to be taken from your cold dead hands, whatever).
4) A vintage battle rifle. These old ladies are desirable for pure nostalgia reasons, and because I think it behooves every rifleman to be aware of and appreciate our rifles’ heritage. I will leave the actual rifle up to you, because far be it for me to be all judgey when it comes to my favorite class of rifles of all time. (And if you picked the 98k above, then feel free to drop it in here.) Here are just a couple of obvious choices that were not covered in the Great War Rifles post:
Krag-Jorgensen
M1 Garand
5) Deep-woods hunting rifle. I already covered a part of this earlier, in recommending the wonderful Savage 99 (here).
But if you want to keep it to “traditional” lever rifles such as Marlin, Henry or Winchester, then have at it:
6) Reach Out And Touch (a.k.a. “sniper”) rifle. This is for when your quarry is further out than a city block, for example. It doesn’t have to look all “urban-SWAT-y”, but whatever. Here I’m going to get specific, because you need several characteristics to make this shot more than a “by guess or by God” proposition, as seen below. Any one of these would be an excellent choice.
Savage 110 FPS
CZ 557 UCS
Note that each of these rifles has a honking great scope on it — don’t skimp on your glass: Nightforce, Zeiss, Swarovski, Steiner, Minox etc. should be your standards.
Now as I said, it doesn’t have to be a “sniper” rifle as above. But whatever it looks like (see below), you need to be absolutely confident that you can make a sideplate-sized grouping at 500 yards minimum with whatever you choose. Here’s an idea of what I’m talking about:
Remington 700 VTR
Winchester Mod 70 Extreme Weather
Remington 700 AAC-SD
They could also be older rifles (e.g. pre-’64 Winchester Mod 70), but they must be dependably accurate.
With this type of rifle, chambering is very important. My choice would be 6.5x55mm Swede (simply because I know the cartridge so well), but .308 Win, 6.5mm Creedmoor and .300 Win Mag are also excellent choices. (Watch out for exotic cartridges like .338 Lapua and such: they’re expensive and scarce on the ground.) Lighter bullets will get blown around a lot, so be very discriminating in your selection.
7) Trunk rifle. Generally speaking, a trunk or “truck” rifle should be able to be abused and handle extreme temperature changes, and still be able to fire. It should also be cheap enough that if it’s stolen, you won’t be out serious money. From my perspective, if it’s got to be cheap, ugly and effective, it’s gotta be Russian. Like this one:
Mosin-Nagant M44
It’s uglier than Hillary Clinton’s backside and will kick you around worse than a drunken rugby player, but it will do everything you ask for, and then some.
I do know an old boy who has an ancient Marlin .30-30 lever action stashed in his car, but then he has at least a half-dozen other Marlins in his safe, so that’s to be expected.
8) Varmint rifle. Think “prairie dogs” or similar, and that’s what I’m talking about. It’s a variation on the “reach out and touch” principle, but in a much smaller caliber like .223 Rem, .22-250, or even .22 Mag or .17 HMR. Given that you’re going to be hunkered down, it doesn’t have to be an especially light rifle, but you’ll know best how heavy a rifle you can handle comfortably. I have a Marlin 882 in .22 Mag for this purpose:
…but you’d probably need something with a little more legs / oomph than .22 Mag, like the Cooper Mod 21 in .22-250 Rem:
9) “Safari / Dangerous Game” rifle. This is going to be the least-necessary category for most riflemen, unless you have a thing for Kodiak bears, African lions and such. And in this category, you can’t think that your trusty .30-06 will do the trick — well, not in Africa or Alaska, anyway. (Doc Russia once shot a warthog with a .30-06, absolutely nailed it with a heart/lung shot, and he finally caught up with it over half a mile from where it was shot. For his Cape buffalo, he went to .375 H&H and it still took more than one shot to kill the thing.) There are only a few rifles to choose from in this category, but the go-to rifle — the one which when you uncase it, the PH will nod approvingly — is the venerable Brno 602 (nowadays the CZ 550 Safari). But there’s also the Mauser 98 Magnum, which is offered in .375 H&H, .416 Rigby and .450 Rigby:
So after looking at all that, here are Kim’s Top 10 Rifles, in category order as listed:
“Pantifa Repellent”:
SAR-1 (AK-47) (7.62x39mm)
“All-Purpose Bolt-Action”:
Mauser M12 (6.5x55mm)
“Heritage Rifles” / Mauser 98k type:
Mauser M48 (98K) (8x57mm)
SMLE No1. Mark III (.303 British)
Browning Hi-Wall (.45-70 Govt)
“Deep-Woods Hunter”:
Savage Mod 99 (.243 Win)
“Reach Out and Touch”:
Mauser Mod 41b (6.5x55mm Swede)
“Trunk / Truck Gun”:
SKS (7.62x39mm)
“Varminter”:
Cooper Arms Mod 21 (.223 Rem)
“Lion-Killer”
CZ 550 Safari (.375 H&H Magnum)
You all knew I was going to be heavy on the “Heritage” rifles, didn’t you?
But let’s say that you disagree with all the categories (and it’s a valid argument), and just want to see the rifles I want to own*. In that case, Kim’s Top 10 Rifles (uncategorized and unranked) are:
and the last two (not on the list above):
9. CZ 527 Carbine (7.62x39mm) — my idea of a “cabin” rifle
10. Marlin 1894 CB (.357 Magnum) — companion piece to my .357 revolver
Those are my top 10… this week. Choices may be subject to change without prior notice.
*I don’t own any rifles, ever since that canoeing accident on the Brazos lo those many years ago… wait, I do have a bolt-action .22 rifle, but it’s old and rusted, can barely shoot.