Beginner’s Guide To Firearms And Gun Ownership

The following information was created by NETRANGER, a survivalist and Patriot who was generous enough with is time and knowledge to write this very valuable content for the sake of others.  Thanks NETRANGER!

THE GOAL OF THIS GUIDE

My intention is to show you a more general and logical approach to arming yourself for, not only TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It), but for other tempororary SHTF and YOYO (You’re On Your Own) situations. Cost efficient, get the job done, maintenance free firearms of the proper caliber and configuration will be what I’m trying to guide you through. I will list different groups of firearms. At the end, I will come up with three levels of firearms preparedness: Minimal, adequate and premium.

TOO MANY BIG GUNS!

Why is it that when we start talking about SHTF survivalism there are so many people go to seed on guns? You’ve seen the type. The “If you don’t have a super this and big bore this and super combat this you’ll be dead in a week!” survivalist seems to have 10 times as many guns as he’d ever need. Then, when you take about food, it all leads back to guns again. Hunting and fishing etc. I believe, in essence that these gun “over doers” are simply hiding behind their firepower and refusing to face the real challenges of many subjects The Neosurvivalist (http://NeoSurvivalist.net) talks about. Oh, and God forbidding, you ask one of these guys for assistance in forming your opinion they’ll either try to get you to spend $10,000.00 on firearms or call you an idiot and refuse to help. The well rounded survivalist will have a certain complement of firearms on hand for his or her protection.

Often people that go to seed on the gun aspect of survivalism will aggressively ignore other aspects of survivalism, even aspects dealing with guns. Frankly, their ideas of survival firearms are often short sighted and inefficient. One would think that you could put the guy that spouts off about guns and defense in charge of the security or defense aspect of a MAG. A “MAG” is a Mutual Assistance Group where members of community come together to survive a SHTF situation. Overly aggressive gun “nuts” are often a bad choice for security and/or arms management because they often ignore practicalities and other people’s lack of either willingness or skill to handle big guns. And the overly aggressive gun guys are all about the BIG guns. The bigger the better. They also can be trigger happy.

All arms have certain drawbacks that need examined. The person that just goes out and gets a bunch of big guns and lots of ammo will not necessarily be better off than the guy that has less. Read on and learn.

GUN BASICS: How A Shotgun Works

The shotgun cartridge has a primer in the base, a powder charge above the primer and above that a wad or wadding then, usually, pellets (usually small and spherical). While captured within the chamber of the shotgun, the primer of the cartridge is struck. This causes the primer to shoot a small amount of fire into the powder charge inside the cartridge. The powder lights, burns, expands and propels the wads and shot down the smooth barrel. At the very end of the barrel is the “choke”, a slightly smaller portion of the barrel. The choke keeps the shot from fanning out so wide. This gives you a narrower pattern at a longer distance. Pellet sizes range from 00 buck (about .33 in diameter) to #9 (about .08 in diameter). These can be used for pests, birds, hunting, self defense, limbing (Yes, I trim trees with a shotgun.).

GUN BASICS: How A Rifle Works (Applies To Pistols, Also)

Modern rifles work by using a brass, steel or aluminum cartridge containing a primer in the center or on the rim, a powder charge inside and “bullet” (the projectile) seated in the end. This cartridge slides into a chamber and is captured and contained by some type of assembly (usually called the “bolt” or “slide”) from the rear. The bolt or slide has a firing pin that will dent the primer causing a small amount of fire to shoot into the cartridge and light the powder.

A rifle has a “rifled” barrel. The barrel has spiral grooves cut in it to spin the single bullet propelled by the gunpowder. As the powder expands the lead or jacketed lead projectile is slightly larger than the bore of the rifle and “swags” into the bore and seals the gases behind it while also biting into the riflings. As pressure increases the bullet accelerates down the barrel and is also spun by the spiral riflings. As the bullet exits, it continues to spin and stay point forward. The spiraling makes the bullet stable in flight to increase the consistency of the impact point.

GUN BASICS: Action Types

Pump: An internal slide (that is connected the to a sliding forestock) picks up a cartridge from either a tubular, box or internal magazine and slides it forward into the chamber, then, locking with the face of the bolt and firing pin holding the cartridge tightly in the chamber and containing the cartridge during firing.

Break: The cartridge slides manually into the chamber. As the gun is closed, the barrel and chamber (or chambers, with like a double barreled shotgun) swing down in front of the breach block that contains the firing pin(s). This tightly contains the cartridge in the chamber during firing.

Lever: Works nearly the same as a pump, except that the moving slide assembly is connected to a lever affair underneath the gun instead of the forestock of the gun.

Bolt: A bolt action type gun includes a rotating and locking bolt assembly that picks up a cartridge from the magazine and forces it into the chamber. Once down tight, the bolt rotates (usually about 1/4 of a turn), engaging the locking lugs at the front or rear of the bolt. The lugs hold the bolt securely against the base of the shell during firing.

Autoloader: The autoloader is, in some ways, more complex that the other types. But, depending on the design (blowback type action) it can be very simple. There are two basic types: slide and bolt. The slide type works very much like the pump and lever above, however, the power to move the slide comes from the firing of the cartridge. A bolt type autoloader works the same way except a small rotating bolt assembly inside the action rotates and locks as the action is operated by the firing of the shell.

GUN BASICS: Accuracy

Accuracy is that quality that causes a gun to shoot closer to the same aim point. Accurate rifles shoot in less that a 1 inch circle at 100yds. The accuracy of the weapon is one thing. The accuracy of the shooter is another. If you have a gun that shoots inside of 1 inch at 100yds but you can’t shoot inside of 2 inches at 100yds, expect a 3 inch or less accuracy. If you can’t hit what you’re shooting at you might as well unload the gun and use it as a club. Your accuracy and the guns accuracy are separate. Both can often be improved. Yours by practice and exercise, the gun’s by various gun and ammunition modifications.

GUN CLASSES

There are several classes of guns. There are many arguments about this, however, these are mine. There are valid arguments, but these are mine and I’ve been sticking to them for 35 years. You may have different ideas, and that is fine. Don’t ever let anyone try to tell you you’re crazy because you have a different opinion about guns. The gun “nuts” will do that. They are often very opiniated and won’t listen to other people’s points of view. This is often an indicator that you should not be listening to that person.

THE SHOTGUN

Shotguns come in several forms. The break, pump, lever, bolt, and autoloader are all acceptable for use, however, for general use, I recommend the pump. Fast, efficient and reliable. Put an 18 inch barrel on one or saw off a bird barrel and you’ve got an excellent self defense weapon. (If you do any firearms modifications, remember, there are laws. Short barreled [under 18 inches] shotguns are illegal and overall length must be at least 35 inches…) There are multiple calibers called “gauges”. Stick with 12ga, its the most popular. Though a small 20ga is nice to have around, and, a .410ga is pretty effective at short range.

The uses for a shotgun are many. Often viewed as a bit crude or innacurate, a good shotgun is a good tool. But, remember, the effective range of a shotgun is relatively short. Using a shotgun beyond 100yds for anything other than “peppering” something or someone is rather pointless unless, of course, you use a slug or very large pellets and then, there isn’t much accuracy. The shotgun becomes just sort of a “lead launcher”, which, may be useful depending on the need. But, at distances of 50yds and closer it is a valuable tool.

THE 22 RIMFIRE RIFLE

They’re all there: break, pump, bolt, auto, lever. Which one is best? Well, which one do you like? In some ways, simpler is better. Lever and autos can double as a better than nothing defensive weapon while maintaining its utility. This class of gun is useful when low power, high accuracy, low noise and low recoil are required. They are handy. They are cheap. They are cheap to shoot. They are made in almost any action or configuration you can imagine. They even make 22 rimfire shotguns. They are useful for the elimination of small pests. When I talk about 22 rimfire, I am really referring to “22 long rifle” ammunition. There are a whole host of loadings for 22 rimfire that is to lengthy for the scope of this article.

THE HIGH POWERED RIFLE

There are dozens of calibers and several different types. The break, pump, bolt, auto, lever, etc are all available. From .223 to 300 Magnum to 44 Magnum, there is one for any purpose from taking down an elk at 800yds to blasting groundhogs and 100yds, to nailing a deer at 75yds to longer range self defense with a low rate of fire. The high powered rifle is a confusing mess of calibers, action types and ammo loadings. Entering into this subset not knowing what you are doing is to almost guarantee you’ll get it wrong.

THE HI-RATE OF FIRE RIFLE

Though somewhat more narrow subset of THE HIGH POWERED RIFLE, these guys are still confusing. They are auto loaders by nature. Also called “semi-auto”. You pull the trigger, it fires. You let off the trigger, pull it again, it fires again. Most have removable magazines (also known as “clips”). Calibers are generally .223, 308 (also called 7.62×54 NATO) or 30-06 Springfield and there are many others. Some of these fire cartridges that are considered pistol cartridges. These include (if you want to) 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 Auto and there are even some that could qualify that fire the 44 Magnum cartridge. Let us not joke around here: These are for shooting PEOPLE. Lets get that out of the way. We can dance around this all we want, however, these are human killing machines. Oh, yeah, you can shoot deer or groundhogs or rabbits if you want, however, they are defensive weapons to use against people attacking you or for you to attack other people. They work well. They have a high rate of fire and they can sustain that rate with reasonable accuracy.

THE LARGE(R) BORE PISTOL

These pistols are mainly for defensive use. Some are accurate enough for use as a hunting or short range big and small game tool, but mainly they are designed to be portable and powerful and are for personal self defense. Most pistols (at least most that you would want to consider) will be either a revolver or an autoloader. There are single shots and even bolt action pistols, but, they are somewhat specialized and start becoming more classified as a rifle.

THE SMALL(ER) BORE PISTOL

These are useful for self defense but are really designed for accuracy and to have the ability to carry a 22 rimfire utility gun on your hip or to have a very small gun to conceal on your person. The larger guns’ accuracy may somewhat offset their lack of power in a self defense setting, however, they are mainly for utilitarian purposes. The micro-small ones are for concealment purposes and usually are very inaccurate.

WHAT DO YOU NEED

There are so many different combinations of both needs and arms that it was difficult to come up with these ideas. I came up with these solutions by asking myself questions based on both availability of arms and availability of money.

1. Shotgun, pump action with both an 18in Improved Cylinder barrel for slugs and self defense and a 26in Full Choke barrel.

2. Big(er) Bore Pistol. Anything from a .380 up. 9mm is a great choice. 44mag is a better choice.

3. High Rate of Fire Rifle. AR15s are fine but there are many other choices. A 308 or 30-06 High Rate rifle can take the place of 6A below, but, there is an issue with accuracy. Typically High Rate Of Fire guns are not all that accurate, whereas 6A guns tend to be 1MOA (1″ at 100yds). 2″ to 4″ at 100yds is typically good for a High Rate Rifle.

4. 22 Rimfire Rifle. Autoloaders can double as self defense. Single shot stuff is cheap and will work great for pests and hunting.

5. 22 Rimfire Pistol. Autoloaders only with at least a 4″ barrel for accuracy. Same as #4.

6A. High Powered Rifle. Consider either a 308 or 30-06 for more hardened targets, longer ranges and big game hunting / protection. Must be accurate to around 1″ to 2″ at 100yds.

6B. High Powered Rifle. Consider a Brush Caliber like 44mag (especially if you have a 44mag pistol! Fewer calibers to deal with…). You might even consider it to take the place of the high rate of fire rifle if you get a levergun. Its not as fast as an autoloader but its not slow, either.

I would say that if you have about $200 you could buy yourself a good break action 12ga shotgun. Preferably one of those with a shorter barrel designed to shoot deer slugs. They can be had, used, for about $125. Then, we’ll get you 1 box of each: #8, #6, #4, and 20 deer slugs. That would cover most of your needs. Thats the bottom, the minimum. And, for castle protection, its pretty darn good. But, beyond that and for full protection you’ll need more.

Low end:

New England Firearms single shot break action slug gun. ($200) + 200rnds mixed loads
Hi-Point C9 ($175) + 500rnds
Ruger 10/22 ($200) +1000rnds

Mid Ranger:

Winchester 1300, pump, 12ga, slug barrel, bird barrel with removable chokes. ($275) + 500rnds mixed loads
Hi-Point C9 or C9Comp ($175) + 1000rnds
Marlin 336 in 30/30. ($400) + 1000rnds
Ruger 22/45 or MKII ($275, $200) + 2000rnds

For my money, I’d want the following:

Winchester 1300, pump, 12ga, slug barrel, bird barrel with removable chokes. ($275) + 500rnds mixed loads
Hi-Point C9 or C9Comp ($175) + 1000rnds
Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle in .223 or a Ruger Mini-30 in 7.62×39 or Marlin 336 in 30/30. ($600, $700 & $400) + 1000rnds
Ruger 10/22 autoloading rifle or an H&R Single in 22 Rimfire ($200, $150) + 2000rnds
Ruger 22/45 or MKII ($275, $200) + 2000rnds
Winchester, Savage, Marlin or Remington Bolt Gun in 30-06 or 300 WinMag. ($300-600) + 500rnds