Quote:
|
Originally Posted by simonrichter
A handgun would definitely be a nice addition to the survival pack and a good reassurance should push come to shove.
|
As true as this is, the more prepared you are, the more of a target you'll become. In other words, if you have something worth having, others will be motivated to relieve you of it.
I have a friend who has tried to protect his car from an electromagnetic pulse. As wonderful as it would be to have a car after such an event, having it is one thing and keeping it is quite another. Even if you could protect your car from the rifraft in such an event, could you keep it from being confiscated for emergency services? And if you have a bugout bag, and someone else thinks you have something useful, it's going to take some planning to keep them from ending up with it. If they have a bigger gun, or if they're just faster at producing it, you can lose everything in just a few moments; and the worst thing about it is that those who would relieve you of your carefully prepared supplies might be otherwise good guys. Like the neighbor up the street.
So getting back to firearms, getting the right ones (plural) is only half the battle. Just a gun like a Glock could create all sorts of problems. Unholstered, the gun is like a ticking time bomb. If you have to take the time to cock it, it can cause problems and if it's all ready to go, it's very easy to accidentally discharge. So it has to be holstered wherever you keep it.
I've always liked the Beretta 9mm pistol (probably because I wanted one so much when there weren't many other hi-capacity pistols available). I finally settled on the stainless steel
Taurus 92 because it's beautiful, it has a rail, was more attractively priced and, finally, it has a cock-and-lock safety, which I think is superior to Beretta's safety. For a bugout bag, it would be a top contender.
But a gun isn't much good if you don't have ammo for it, and have you ever wondered what the situation is going to be if there's ever a societal breakdown? There's going to be a lot of people who have a handgun and the first box of ammo they bought with it. Can you imagine a guy with the beautiful S&W Model 13 his dad gave him, still in it's blue box and with a nearly full box of ammo his dad had purchased with the pistol? My dad was like that. He'd go out and run a few rounds through it, clean it and put it in his drawer. So with ammo a consideration, my first choice for a bugout bag gun would be a
Ruger Mark II 22/45 auto with a small bull barrel and lots of magazines. Then for good measure, I'd get another one and put it in my wife's bugout bag. A good .22lr Beretta mouse gun or two also would be good choices as backups. When I first shot my little Beretta, it jammed every now and again. I didn't trust it. But then someone told me to only buy CCI standard .22lr or the Yellow Jackets. So I did, and I suddenly went to 100 percent reliability.
So that's my take. BTW, what kind of knives do you plan putting with your pistols?