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ONE AIR RIFLE IF STUFF HITS THE FAN

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Foulksnation

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Apr 27, 2018
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Texas, United States
This question came up while with a mutual friend of a friend who is a bit of a pepper found out I was in to PCP Air rifles. Let just say he did not see the point of having an air rifle I from a pepper frame of mind. I gave him a few scenario where it would be advantage to have one for long term survival. Now he looking into it... may have a convert.

Which brings me to the question. If you had only one air rifle for a long term survival situation, Of course you have your power burners as well.

What would it be?

What caliber and why?

Keep it mind I am new to the sport about six months or so. I have a Hatsan AT-44 long in 25 cal. long, but I a long term survival I don't think it would cut it.

My choice would be the Sumatra 2500 in 25 cal of course with a suppressor of some kind

Because I could shoot pellets or cast slugs and control the power.

It could take down small to medium size up to deer size game with head shots of course.

What would yours be?


 
A PCP is a fine survival choice, as long as you understand what job its the right tool for. It isn’t for fighting off hords of zombies or enemy soldiers. Its purpose is to be a quiet game getter that lets you harvest meat without drawing attention to youself or using up valuable and finite firearm ammunition. Air and lead is easier to find and replace than gun powder, primer, brass, ect. You keep your firearms for fighting and your PCPs for hunting.

You can fill a PCP air resevoir with a hand pump just fine. With functional Chinese pumps costing $30 a unit, there’s no reason not to have several with rebuild components. And a generator with gas will run your compressor. I’d rather deal with the hastle of silicon oil and orings for rebuilding a pump than having to use a press to rebuild a springer. Springers are NOT indefinate in their lifespans. You’re out of luck if your seals fail on your springer and you lack a press to get inside the gun with

Caliber ought to be no smaller than .25. I personally think .308 is a good choice if you have a .308 barrel that also digests .300 pellets well. Whatever you pick, you want it to digest a wide selection of ammo and to have molds that produces ammo it shoots well. 

My choice is my .308 Texan SS because it fits all the above criteria. Second choice is the .300 Flex simply because it yields a high shot count and can use Marauder parts. I have lots of Marauder parts. 
 
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For what its worth,I have my Sheridan Blue Streak thats over 35 years old. Its accurate and has been THOROUGHLY used. Still shoots as hard as day one.

Food for thought.

Mike.
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That would probably be one of my choices!

In any case, if the SHTF - .22 might be an ideal caliber for ammo reasons, since it's more readily available than .25 or greater.

If I did choose to go with something greater, I'd have to have my own pellet molds and have enough raw pellet materials to last.

PCPs would be viable with like what was said about rebuild parts. Hill MK4 is my personal choice! I have had my pump for a while, I have rebuild kits and know that it'll stand the test of time.

A Crosman 1322 might also have some value in a survival situation and in SHTF situations (two very different scenarios though!).
 
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While a hand pump would be a tedious option I would go with a Texan or at least would if they would start making parts more readily available to the average public Hint Hint!!! Right now repairs are only available through the factory.

I wouldn't want to limit myself to small game so I agree on the larger caliber 

What I really wish I could see is a manufacturer fall back to the roots of a PCP Lewis n Clark Garandoni only used 900 psi of air and shot .46 cal round ball that was able to take down deer, was a repeater and came with it's own pump. 

Combine today's tech with yesterday's concept of needing to make easy field repairs with only whats available or can be made and you would have the perfect survival PCP. 

Today's pumps could easily pump 900 psi and a 47 cal 200 grain bullet is more than enough to do the job. 

If it can be done in the late 1700 there is NO reason why it can't be done today.
 
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Great information.

Just for the record, I didn't mean the air rifle would be you only gun. Of course I would expect everyone to have a selection of firearms in a SHTF case.

Another question, since I am a newbie, what is the life expectancy of a average PCP with proper maintenance?
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BTW.. we are running at a tie PCP =4 Springer=4 and -1 split
 
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I wouldnt go PCP or springer I would use a good multi pump. A PCP needs to much and yes a hand pump isnt allot but they tend to need more maintenance and you might not be able to keep it super clean or have a place thats clean to store the needed things for a pcp. The pump has to be kept clean and lubed and using high pressure pumps you are guaranteed to need o-rings and the o-rings will most likely fail quicker in less than clean normal conditions. A springer would be my second choice. I started my shooting life at the age of 5 with a crosman 760 pump master back when they were made out of metal. I used and abused that thing for 10 years. I shot it daily and pested with it daily and it never gave me any trouble and always worked. I have never needed to do any work to the multi pump rifles I have owned and all you need is a tin of pellets and the rifle. A springer is a close second simply because they are heavier and seem to need more maintenance than the multi pumps I have owned but it would get the job done better than a pcp in my opinion. 
 
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I have done a great amount of thinking on this. Here are my thoughts on airguns for shtf. #1 it must be able to get pumped back up so if its a pcp you need to be bugging in. "nobody is packing a hand pump rifle and survival gear in shtf. However most shtf its best to bug in. Sound crazy but its really not. Heading for the hills is stupid 99.9% of the time so yeah. #2 must be quiet. I am assuming if you are hunting your neighbors dogs and cats to stay alive you must be ninja and you dont want someone hungrier than you sneaking up on you to steal your kill. #3 it must be powerful enough to kill up to a racoon. Big bores are awsome but reality is that you will most likely be shooting small game. Id use powder burners for deer and above. Only because big bores are impractical for squirrels and such and you said only one gun. So heres my 5 favorite guns for that. Nova freedom or seneca aspen is my first choice. The pump is built into the gun. 30 fpe or more in 22 good shotcount and it comes with moderater and multishot mag. Crossman 1322 with a 16in barrel added to it and maybe a little valve work to add a little umph. I would avoid springers because most cheap ones are too heavy and hold sensitive A lightweight multi pump 22 will eat up squirrels and rabbits. So heavy hitter capable of killing a deer with a headshot in an emergency? Nova freedom 400 bucks. One rifle to rule them all for 50 bucks or so? Pretty much any lightwieght multipump on the market.i like crosmans but daisy or whatever will work. 392 is the nicest at 160 bucks or so. Id seriously buy the cheap ones and get super good with them. Sorry for the long message but I had to lay it out. Thanks man.
 
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I personally wouldn’t choose an Airgun for any end of the world situation. I understand they’re quite for hunting purposes but so are traps. Most I can make and set with natural resources which I won’t have to carry with me and others I own that are way more compact and lighter than any Airgun. As for firearms being loud, I have silencers for that. Yes they’re still louder than a lot of airguns but I can’t shoot 600+ yards with an Airgun either. 

In a real survival situation my 5.56 with a silencer would be my go to gun. It’s enough for some big game animals and plenty for selfie defense. Trapping would be my primary small game hunting. A trap can hunt 24 hours a day and I can’t plus it’s discrete and quiet where me with a gun is not. 
 
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I personally wouldn’t choose an Airgun for any end of the world situation. I understand they’re quite for hunting purposes but so are traps. Most I can make and set with natural resources which I won’t have to carry with me and others I own that are way more compact and lighter than any Airgun. As for firearms being loud, I have silencers for that. Yes they’re still louder than a lot of airguns but I can’t shoot 600+ yards with an Airgun either. 

In a real survival situation my 5.56 with a silencer would be my go to gun. It’s enough for some big game animals and plenty for selfie defense. Trapping would be my primary small game hunting. A trap can hunt 24 hours a day and I can’t plus it’s discrete and quiet where me with a gun is not.
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Agreed. If I had the room and felt like the airgun might help me out it would come along but in reality my firearms and other needed survival gear will be top priority. My silenced 300 blk would definitely be one of the first choices in a shtf scenario. It will be the quiet killer for deer sized game, it will work great for self defense and its only 33" long including suppressor. I would have a 5.56 as well and several long range rifles capable of taking moose or elk. Depending on how shtf I am sure I would start out geared up with all or most of my weapons but if it was a long downward spiral of civilization I would be re adjusting my gear as time went on. In a real shtf scenario you will not be sitting in your home comfortably with food storage and places to keep specialty gear like a pcp and its pump stored out of harsh conditions. You will need weapons designed and proven to hold up to the types of conditions you will encounter day after day trying to survive against weather, starvation or some type of epidemic and other people who will kill you at first sight if it means they have a better chance of surviving. You will have very few friends standing by your side you can trust with your life in this scenario.
 
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I think everybody envisions SHTF in a different way. My version goes like this:

No electricity, no mobile phone/internet service, and no place to buy fuel for vehicles. Neighborhoods of people organizing together and helping each other with their needs, and bartering. Depending on your location there may be a few desperate individuals prowling around willing to cause you harm. But for the most part I expect peace, tranquility, friendliness, and lots more love.

Nothing but a long camping trip. Sounds like heaven, and I hope that I live to see and experience it.

IMO the SHTF part is what's going on currently. 😄 Things will get much easier when folks start needing and depending on each other. A giant stockpile of guns and ammo will likely be the least of my worries.
 
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fishinwrench maybe you live in mayberry but thats not how a shtf scenario is going to go and we are not yet in a shtf moment. Just think back to the shtf moments in recent history that were not on a large scale and look at the looting, rioting and violence that went on in those very short localized events. When those moments happened people didnt even have to worry about if things would be better, everyone knew they would and they still went crazy. A real shtf situation that covers North America or the world will be very ugly. 
 
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