Most of the time when you think of a survival rifle or a survival firearm, you’re going to think of a couple of calibers--a 12 gauge shotgun or a 22 long rifle.
Jason starts the episode by sharing how he built his H&R single shot 12 gauge to become more impervious to elements. A firearm that’s great for hunting and he guarantees will get you small game (especially with squirrels and other “arboreal” type creatures).
Shorter barrel -- By hacking the barrel off and putting in a new bead sight on it, he shortened it significantly. it now has a 22-inch barrel as opposed to the 28 it originally had. Sling -- He also placed a one-inch piece of webbing to act as a sling. Added aftermarket synthetic stock
But there is a flaw to the shotgun when it comes to survival use. That’s a two and three-quarter-inch 12 gauge round case vs. a 22 long rifle. The size, the bulk, and the weight are all tremendously different. You can carry more 22 long rifles than you can with a 12 gauge.
A 22 can take care of just about anything--from large game like deer to smaller ones like squirrels.
Also when it comes to survival firearms, having a manual transmission is preferred. A lever, bolt, and break-action, single-shot, or whatever it is you can force even when it gets dirty.
While Ruger 10 22s are great, they jam up a little bit and become more like a single-shot when they get dirty. In a real survival scenario, your guns will not be as well maintained as you hope they would be. So having a manual transmission is a great backup option.
Tune in to learn more about survival rifle builds as Jason takes his focus on his Henry Lever Action.
In an effort to make our product reviews relative to each other, we started using the same scoring criteria across the board as of Sept 2022. Please note, we heavily favor American made products. Watch the video at the following link for an explanation of our evaluation system.
