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Only one what would it be?

10K views 43 replies 30 participants last post by  huntined 
#1 · (Edited)
Probably the wrong place, so move as needed please. Taking off from Pastotp's question about handguns: . If, like most of the settlers who moved west, you could only afford one firearm what would it be?

I believe I'd get a shotgun. My preference would be a Winchester 97, but reality probably is it would be a single shot 12 ga.
 
#2 ·
. . . but reality probably is it would be a single shot 12 ga.
i'd probably go right along with that.
there's not anything in my region i've ever hunted that couldn't be done in by a single 12.
doves and birds and bunnies on up to deer and swine. a lot of places i used to hog hunt
had a shotgun-only rule, but that was more than adequate for a clean kill.
i like a good single. easy to tote, easy to clean, easy to maintain.
even poorly maintained, or not maintained at all they're still very reliable.
 
#3 ·
I'd also choose a single barrel, but I'd want the rebounding hammer instead of that thing that comes up when you pull the trigger. (would you believe I can't remember what you call that thing:))
 
#4 ·
I understand that way back in the frontier days one long gun and maybe a handgun was all many could afford. Iffen I were back in those days I might would play the one long gun only game but this ain't then and I can own more and do.

Playing both the handgun and long gun game you guys are I'd be tempted I guess to say my Rossi M92 in .357 magnum and my 6" S&W M66 also chambered in .357 magnum. Both also shoot .38s of course.

No way I'd chose a single shot anything limited to one. I'd also not chose a shotgun. One of my 22LR guns would be really tempting and I suppose could be used to collect food to deer size critters but ain't much for a self defense gun and back then and now both that would be important I believe.

Ask me which dozen I could get by with rather than which one.
 
#5 ·
By no means is it my favorite gun. But I can tell you it would’ve nigh on impossible to talk me out of a good AR-15. If a second upper in .450Bushmaster was not cheating, I would use the 5.56 to insure I had one.




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#6 ·
yup an ar15 all the way. Decent gun for up to whitetail so it would bring home meat. Small enough to shoot small game and not much better to protect you from the Indians outside the casinio. A bunch of 30 round clips loaded with 60 grain partitions and your good to go. If I could have two add a 12 guage pump to that and if three a glock 19
 
#7 ·
When I was a kid growing up in the Deep South a lot of hunters only owned a 22lr and maybe a shotgun. They killed small game and hogs and deer.
I remember Dee saying his grandad, I think, fed his family with a single shot 22 rifle and a single shot 12 ga shotgun.



If I could have only one gun it would be my krieghoff 16x16 over 7x57R with the 22lr insert.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Just getting around to this thread.
Grandpa was a sharecropper/farmer, as was dad.
We ate well but didn't have any money.

Like no indoor plumbin of any kind poor.

Grandpa had a Marlin leveraction 22, most likely a 39A, and a single shot shotgun.

If we had been dependent on those two guns to eat, we would have starved.
That's just what he had to hunt with.
Livin off in the land in the lower 48 since the late 1800s is long since gone.

Now, If I could only have one gun, my old 870 Remington 12 guage would most likely be my pick. An AR15 would also be hard to walk past.
I've tried other auto loading rifles but, they lack the capacity, and reliablity.

A single shot for protection is what movies, and nightmares are made of.
 
#9 ·
Since the OP stated the limiting factor was price - I assume the only qualifying guns in his hypothetical scenario would be at the bottom of the price range. In other words if you could afford an AR you could afford to buy 2 or 3 other guns for the same amount of money, and therefore wouldn't be limited to just one gun.

Generally speaking the lowest priced guns are in the $150-$200 range these days. With that in mind I would choose a 12 gauge Pardner pump or Mossberg 88 over a single shot.
 
#11 ·
You specified settlers moving west. In that scenario, I’d probably take a double barrel shotgun. Why limit yourself to only one shot? Two actions, two barrels, so if anything went south you would essentially have a spare gun in the same stock.
 
#13 ·
Just one of what I have? Not a clue, I could make do with any of them. All my rifles are bolt action's. Have three SxS shotguns, one pump action shotgun and several handguns DA's and three auto's. Wouldn't be a handgun!

Where I live a shotgun wouldn't be so good, shot's at game animals would generally be to far. My smallest rifle is a 243 and largest a 30-06. Anything in between I could live with!
 
#14 ·
Alot of guns from the ear of northen aggression were converted to shotguns for move west. I talked to a collector who was all about Western guns. He said the reason you didn't see many shotguns was because they were worn out and replaced.
I would take a shotgun it will offer the most uses shooting birds flying with a rifle . Just saying
 
#20 · (Edited)
Grew up in Nebraska and in those days most of the guns we saw hanging in public places or in museums were converted to shotguns they were worn out and rusty (they were basically pieces of junk by the early 1950s). I've thought about it for years and believe I'd go with the best break action shotgun or combination gun I could afford. Right now it would be a Savage 24 in either .223/20 ga or in .357/20 ga since I have both and ammunition probably would be readily available in those cal. and ga. Has been interesting to watch this topic develop based on what people believe is important to them and how their lives might develop. Thanks for all the thought and input. gene
Notice how even my thinking has changed as I read the posts.
 
#19 · (Edited)
if modern choices are allowed make my an ar15. Go back in time with one ar15 and a few thousand rounds of ammo and you could have changed history. Can you imagine if Custer had just one man set up with cover and an ar15!!! If one man at the Alamo had the same!! Battle at Gettysburg, Yorktown ect. If you could go back in time with one and enough ammo youd almost be considered a God. Can you imagine what General Lee could have done with 20 men armed with suppressed 300 blackouts.
 
#21 ·
For me and my use I would say my TCR 87 with a shotgun barrel a 22Hornet barrel and a 7mmo8 barrel that would about cover anything I would hunt.

Deaconllb
 
#22 ·
If a guy gets down to only one gun, it will probably be the one that's available. Then its just a matter of figuring out the best way to do it.
As common as single shot shotguns are, it might be one of those. They ought to be good for anything in North America.
Then again, it might be a .32 rimfire.
 
#28 ·
Tough call for me between the Rem 870 wingmaster in 20 ga vs a H&R single shot with a long chamber adapter to shoot 9mm. (16" rifled full length" or a H&R in 12 ga which I have a much more diverse ammo supply for including bird shot, #1 buckshot and Lee 7/8ths oz slugs, plus a long chamber adapter for .38/,357.


The punp gun can do a whole lot more damage in a very short period of time. But otherwise not quite as flexible, or as light to carry.
 
#31 ·
I absolutely believe someone could live off grid with just one cartridge from a 22 RF to a 505 Gibbs and cartridge would not matter so much as how it was used. All any cartridge does is kill when used within it's limits. If you were limited to just a 22 RF and required to live off then land you would either learn to provide with the 22 or you would die!
 
#33 ·
The modern single shot rifle chambered in 45-70.
CVA ,H&R handi rifle and Henry.
You can it’s capable of taking any large and mid sized game in North America. You can even make up forager rounds for small game at close range.
Also if a person is faced with defense against a large dangerous animal such as a bear you may only have on shot . The 45-70 is quite capable of stopping the threat. Rather have a 45-70 lever in that case.[emoji26] The single shot 45-70 can handle the job though


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#35 ·
Been interesting reading the ideas posted to this topic. Let's change the OP to something more contemporary:

“What firearm would you get if you had been laid off due to the pandemic, your unemployment runs out the end of the year, you expect to be booted out of your rented apt. because you owe rent back to March so you expect to be sleeping in your car or on the sofa of friends or family?”


I heard a lady at our local Bi-Mart telling the clerk that as soon as she got her last unemployment check she would be back to get the long gun she had picked out. I didn't go over to see what she had picked out, not my business. But not an unreasonable problem to face.


Since I started this post, I have found what seems really good to me. It is a Rock Island Arms 12 ga single shot folding shotgun, made in Turkey. I found it at Bi-Mart for $100 new. Came with three screw in chokes, cheap plastic sight on the back, rib, 3” chamber, sling swivel studs, stock which can be adjusted for lop, 20 “ barrel.


I got a sling with 10 loops, a butt cuff with 5 loops, and have been trying it out with some chamber inserts: .45 ACP, .45 LC/.410, 9 mm, .357, .22 LR, .22 Mag, 20 ga., and .410. Lots of fun and makes it possible to shoot much of what a neighbor finds lost at the rock pit (you would be surprised at what people drop on the ground and don't bother to pick up). I should note that a couple of my shooting buddies went down and got some also. The store had .410s just like these also at the same cost. Since we have black bears and mountain lions come thru the neighborhood from time to time, I keep it by the front door.
 
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