You are going on a wilderness adventure...

[Sallow]

I was reading this thread (http://www.usmessageboard.com/curre...e-stupid-but-can-we-make-them-pay-for-it.html)...that referenced the book "Into the Wild", in which the story culminates with Chris McCandless' adventure, unprepared, into Alaska's last frontier...it got me to speculating about, if I could only take one, what firearm would I take on an extended solo wilderness adventure.

So I ask you, if you could only take one gun into the wilds of the backwoods, what would it be?

I didn't read the book but I saw the movie. It's not something I would do unless forced. The few times I've been camping have been punctuated with bug bites and rainy nights. I do like a rustic cabin now and again.

Much as I think a shotgun would be the way to go, a .22 and lots of bear/wolf repellent probably would fill the bill. Both are pretty shy creatures despite their strength and size.

Along with a map and a compass...

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Those seem like good choices, but let's throw in some predators like wolves or bears...

To make things a little more interesting. How long are we going to be in the wilderness?
A month? six months? Winter or summer?
Do we have to pack in all gear and ammo?
All those things would come into consideration as to what kind of gun I would bring.

And of course location. Since bears and wolves are in play,I'm guessing up north.

Might be interesting to pick a location and a time of year.

Well, this thread was inspired by "Into the Wild", so let's use that as a guide...

McCandless was out of contact with civilization for at least 113 days.

He carried everything with him in one trip.

It was both summer and winter.

So we're talking four months in Alaska. .......Damn thats harsh!!!
This southern boy hates it when it gets below 40!!!!! Unless I'm duck hunting of course.

I could sit here and play couch QB as far as McClandless goes,and I firmly believe I could do much better considering I grew up hunting and fishing. Hell my favorite book as A kid was My Side Of The Mountain.
Surviving in the wilderness has always been something I wanted to try.

 

[rightwinger]

Ultimate survival weapon

 

[chikenwing]

To make things a little more interesting. How long are we going to be in the wilderness?
A month? six months? Winter or summer?
Do we have to pack in all gear and ammo?
All those things would come into consideration as to what kind of gun I would bring.

And of course location. Since bears and wolves are in play,I'm guessing up north.

Might be interesting to pick a location and a time of year.

Well, this thread was inspired by "Into the Wild", so let's use that as a guide...

McCandless was out of contact with civilization for at least 113 days.

He carried everything with him in one trip.

It was both summer and winter.

So we're talking four months in Alaska. .......Damn thats harsh!!!
This southern boy hates it when it gets below 40!!!!! Unless I'm duck hunting of course.

I could sit here and play couch QB as far as McClandless goes,and I firmly believe I could do much better considering I grew up hunting and fishing. Hell my favorite book as A kid was My Side Of The Mountain.
Surviving in the wilderness has always been something I wanted to try.

The kid was a dumb ass,I was on a small tributary of the Susitna the summer after he was found,the Anchorage paper had a large piece about his fool hardy misadventure,he was from the DC burbs and had gotten himself in trouble before doing a similar thing,he was just miles from a ranger cabin,unmanned but supplied,no map no life.Nature is amazing,but very indifferent.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I was reading this thread (http://www.usmessageboard.com/curre...e-stupid-but-can-we-make-them-pay-for-it.html)...that referenced the book "Into the Wild", in which the story culminates with Chris McCandless' adventure, unprepared, into Alaska's last frontier...it got me to speculating about, if I could only take one, what firearm would I take on an extended solo wilderness adventure.

So I ask you, if you could only take one gun into the wilds of the backwoods, what would it be?

I didn't read the book but I saw the movie. It's not something I would do unless forced. The few times I've been camping have been punctuated with bug bites and rainy nights. I do like a rustic cabin now and again.

Much as I think a shotgun would be the way to go, a .22 and lots of bear/wolf repellent probably would fill the bill. Both are pretty shy creatures despite their strength and size.

Along with a map and a compass...

You grew up in the city I take it?

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Well, this thread was inspired by "Into the Wild", so let's use that as a guide...

McCandless was out of contact with civilization for at least 113 days.

He carried everything with him in one trip.

It was both summer and winter.

So we're talking four months in Alaska. .......Damn thats harsh!!!
This southern boy hates it when it gets below 40!!!!! Unless I'm duck hunting of course.

I could sit here and play couch QB as far as McClandless goes,and I firmly believe I could do much better considering I grew up hunting and fishing. Hell my favorite book as A kid was My Side Of The Mountain.
Surviving in the wilderness has always been something I wanted to try.

The kid was a dumb ass,I was on a small tributary of the Susitna the summer after he was found,the Anchorage paper had a large piece about his fool hardy misadventure,he was from the DC burbs and had gotten himself in trouble before doing a similar thing,he was just miles from a ranger cabin,unmanned but supplied,no map no life.Nature is amazing,but very indifferent.

Thats kind of the impression I got. City boy WAY out of his element.
If the fool hadn't found the bus he wouldn't have survived as long as he did.
And I asked the question....if the damn bus could make it out there,there had to be a way back. And if the bus was there it's not like he was a hundred miles from nowhere.

Idealistic moron???? ....Yeah.

 

[chikenwing]

So we're talking four months in Alaska. .......Damn thats harsh!!!
This southern boy hates it when it gets below 40!!!!! Unless I'm duck hunting of course.

I could sit here and play couch QB as far as McClandless goes,and I firmly believe I could do much better considering I grew up hunting and fishing. Hell my favorite book as A kid was My Side Of The Mountain.
Surviving in the wilderness has always been something I wanted to try.

The kid was a dumb ass,I was on a small tributary of the Susitna the summer after he was found,the Anchorage paper had a large piece about his fool hardy misadventure,he was from the DC burbs and had gotten himself in trouble before doing a similar thing,he was just miles from a ranger cabin,unmanned but supplied,no map no life.Nature is amazing,but very indifferent.

Thats kind of the impression I got. City boy WAY out of his element.
If the fool hadn't found the bus he wouldn't have survived as long as he did.
And I asked the question....if the damn bus could make it out there,there had to be a way back. And if the bus was there it's not like he was a hundred miles from nowhere.

Idealistic moron???? ....Yeah.

Got himself killed for it,the spruce grouse up there are a dumb as rocks you can just about walk right up to them,should have never starved.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Ultimate survival weapon

You can only pick ONE gun....although I guess you could call it a side by side.

Yeah she qualifies. And she could keep you warm at night!!

 

[chikenwing]

Ultimate survival weapon

You can only pick ONE gun....although I guess you could call it a side by side.

Yeah she qualifies. And she could keep you warm at night!!

I want to do the aiming!

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Ultimate survival weapon

You can only pick ONE gun....although I guess you could call it a side by side.

Yeah she qualifies. And she could keep you warm at night!!

I want to do the aiming!

And she's obviously a semi auto,and thats a big plus!!

 

[Missourian]

Well, this thread was inspired by "Into the Wild", so let's use that as a guide...

McCandless was out of contact with civilization for at least 113 days.

He carried everything with him in one trip.

It was both summer and winter.

22 hands down,a brick doesn't weigh that much and ya got 500 effective rounds on anything but bear,or moose and such,wolves are going down with a good head shot and they are no threat anyways. 22 keep you in meat as long there is some and you have rounds

I'm with you all the way on that. LARGE predators would be your only issue.
When I stop and think about it I would probably take my chances with a the original .22 I suggested.
Thirty rounds in the dome would make most bears think twice.
Assuming you had the time to empty your magazine anyway.
The .22 is way more lethal then most realize.

And halfway through this response I think I came up with a decent soluti.....never mind.
I was thinking .22 mag but round capacity is weak.

I might be back with the 5.56 since it's accurate and the ammo is somewhat light weight,and you have a large magazine for large predators.

And you could still hit small game as long as it wasn't so far out the 5.56 round started to tumble. That was one of the complaints in V.N. ...it only punched a small hole if the round hadn't started to tumble.
But again you can avoid the lethality issue by using hopped up .223 hollow points. Which are illegal in a 5.56.
So after much thought? AR-15 with large predators. 22 LR without.

Free your mind with drugs??? Shiiiiiiit!!! Crown Royal seems to be doing a fine job !!!!

I thought about that too, but like Hoosier pointed out, one broken part, and you're completely weaponless.

 

[Dugdale_Jukes]

Stable rounds tumble on impact.

Unstable rounds exist; are not accurate, have no widespread military application.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Stable rounds tumble on impact.

Unstable rounds exist; are not accurate, have no widespread military application.

The M-16 wouldnt always tumble. A lot of times it would just punch straight through and do little damage. Colder denser air tended to make the round tumble as it left the barrel.
It was most effective when the bullet tumbled on impact. If it hit you in the kneecap it would very likely come out at your butt doing massive amounts of damage.

I've found that heaver rounds work better with my 1-7 twist. The 55 grain will occasionally disintegrate when it leaves the barrel. 65 Grain and up work far better.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

22 hands down,a brick doesn't weigh that much and ya got 500 effective rounds on anything but bear,or moose and such,wolves are going down with a good head shot and they are no threat anyways. 22 keep you in meat as long there is some and you have rounds

I'm with you all the way on that. LARGE predators would be your only issue.
When I stop and think about it I would probably take my chances with a the original .22 I suggested.
Thirty rounds in the dome would make most bears think twice.
Assuming you had the time to empty your magazine anyway.
The .22 is way more lethal then most realize.

And halfway through this response I think I came up with a decent soluti.....never mind.
I was thinking .22 mag but round capacity is weak.

I might be back with the 5.56 since it's accurate and the ammo is somewhat light weight,and you have a large magazine for large predators.

And you could still hit small game as long as it wasn't so far out the 5.56 round started to tumble. That was one of the complaints in V.N. ...it only punched a small hole if the round hadn't started to tumble.
But again you can avoid the lethality issue by using hopped up .223 hollow points. Which are illegal in a 5.56.
So after much thought? AR-15 with large predators. 22 LR without.

Free your mind with drugs??? Shiiiiiiit!!! Crown Royal seems to be doing a fine job !!!!

I thought about that too, but like Hoosier pointed out, one broken part, and you're completely weaponless.

You could say that about any weapon. As far as maintaining an AR goes it's pretty simple.
You can field strip it with no tools. And I've fired thousands of rounds without a single jam or miss fire,so it's pretty reliable. Or as reliable as any semi auto I've fired.

 

[Dugdale_Jukes]

Obviously velocity (distance to impact) affects tumbling of stable rounds.

No stable round (full spec; right round for the twist) ever tumbled before impact.

 

[Sunshine]

I was reading this thread (http://www.usmessageboard.com/curre...e-stupid-but-can-we-make-them-pay-for-it.html)...that referenced the book "Into the Wild", in which the story culminates with Chris McCandless' adventure, unprepared, into Alaska's last frontier...it got me to speculating about, if I could only take one, what firearm would I take on an extended solo wilderness adventure.

So I ask you, if you could only take one gun into the wilds of the backwoods, what would it be?

I live in the wilderness. Not like the Alaska frontier, but with its own set of challenges given that this is the 21st centure. Two tin cans and a string would be better than this phone company, and the water system is down half the time. The roads are dirt and gravel, and I count myself lucky that I live in what you might, roughly speaking, called paved. But it's quiet, pretty in all 4 directions - nothing ugly to look at, no one can find you except those you give the directions to, and no one bothers you.

I haven't read that book, and likely won't, but I get perturbed with the media when someone lives through something tried to do that was completely unnecessary and stupid they, like climbing Everest, and then calls the person a 'hero.' IMO, heros don't start out to do stupid stuff to begin with. Sometimes those stupid acts will cost the life of a responder trying to rescue them. If they had just stayed home............

Guns kept for self protection only.

 

[Skull Pilot]

The Henry Survival rifle.

ultra-compact, ultra lightweight rifle that quickly dissassembles into 3 parts, and fits inside its own buttstock.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

The Henry Survival rifle.

ultra-compact, ultra lightweight rifle that quickly dissassembles into 3 parts, and fits inside its own buttstock.

I always considered those emergency rifles. Maybe something you would throw in the trunk.
If you're out in the woods you would never disassemble it so you might as well bring a standard rifle with a scope.
Sure as shit,right about the time you packed it away you'd need it.

 

[Missourian]

The wife said take a pump action shotgun with slugs and #6 shot for medium/large game and birds, trap and snare your small game.

 

[Missourian]

The Henry Survival rifle.

ultra-compact, ultra lightweight rifle that quickly dissassembles into 3 parts, and fits inside its own buttstock.

As a part of a two gun solution, I would agree...but I wouldn't want to face a bear with a 22lr.

I'm not sure there is a one gun solution.