Superior SHTF Rifle Caliber

[ArmasTermin]

It's all going to hell--nuclear holocaust, zombie uprising, alien invaders, whatever it is you can only bring one rifle when you get the hell out of dodge. Do you pick the one in .308 or 30-06?

Since this is hypothetical, don't base your decision on what you have in real life. Say you have a rifle in .308 and 30-06 and the same number of rounds for both, which would you bring. Now feel free to nominate another caliber if you think it's superior, like 7mm, 8mm Mauser, 7.62x54R, .300 Win. Magnum, whatever.

Also, first topic!  

[Freak_090]

.308Win by far, it has a flatter and more stable flight path than the 30-06 is smaller and lighter. Not to mention easily found at any military base which would/may also render more guns chambered for the .308win.  

[OberFeldwebel]

Hmm...
My pick would be BAR Lightweight Stalker in .308 Win.

If possible with a high enough scope so that I could use iron sights as well.

Or if we're giving close(r) up a miss...

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?value=002B&cat_id=031&type_id=538


Hopefully a raid on an abandoned base would yield an Armalite AR-10  

[Crash Maniac]

outside of ballistics... i'd pick 308win. reason being is that its a more common caliber among military and police forces. easier to find, and you'll probably find more weapons available in that caliber.

for my choice, i'd pick something like a M1A. You'll have range, capacity, reliability, and common parts. you'll be able to find replacement parts.  

[Fresnel]

Ah lieks mah .223. It's extremely common, and the parts for an AR are easily found too. It's also not as dirty as people say. Not to mention I could just gank a STANAG from anywhere and use the ammo in it. It's small, it's light, capacity is large, and a single decent shot could drop anything short of a bear.  

[ArmasTermin]

Fresnel

Ah lieks mah .223. It's extremely common, and the parts for an AR are easily found too. It's also not as dirty as people say. Not to mention I could just gank a STANAG from anywhere and use the ammo in it. It's small, it's light, capacity is large, and a single decent shot could drop anything short of a bear.

I don't have a lot of praise for the .223, but I'm not detractor of it, either. Still, I have to bring up that "a single decent shot" isn't always and usually isn't possible. I mean, if it was all about single decent shots, we'd all be using .22s as carry pieces.

.223 is light and cheap and adequete, though. I will say that. Hollow point heavier bullets are available for it that can make it more effective in close encounters where you can't make that single, decent shot.  

[Fresnel]

ArmasTermin

Fresnel

Ah lieks mah .223. It's extremely common, and the parts for an AR are easily found too. It's also not as dirty as people say. Not to mention I could just gank a STANAG from anywhere and use the ammo in it. It's small, it's light, capacity is large, and a single decent shot could drop anything short of a bear.

I don't have a lot of praise for the .223, but I'm not detractor of it, either. Still, I have to bring up that "a single decent shot" isn't always and usually isn't possible. I mean, if it was all about single decent shots, we'd all be using .22s as carry pieces.

.223 is light and cheap and adequete, though. I will say that. Hollow point heavier bullets are available for it that can make it more effective in close encounters where you can't make that single, decent shot.

I realize I have quite a bit of marksmanship training, but the only time I've fired my AR at a living creature I hit a coyote at about 100 yards from offhand with a steel-cored round and an imperfectly-sighted scope while experiencing a good dollop of buck fever. It went straight through its heart and probably both lungs, dropping it more or less where it stood. A standard NATO ball round at 55 grains is suitable out to about 300 yards. A 62 grain SS109 could be extended to 500 or 600. A heavy, match-grade 90 grain bullet can be pushed out to 1000 yards, and I know people who do so, shooting competitions at well over the effective service range of their rifle.

And it's extremely common ammo with low recoil. If you can't get a single decent shot, triple-taps are easy and affordable.  

[Inquisitor Brock]

.22  

[Fresnel]

Inquisitor Brock

.22

I find .22s have reliability issues. It's tough to get quality ammo for cheap. I never go through a box without a handful of misfires, and if you're betting your life on that shot it better go bang.  

[Buki_Actual]

Fresnel

Ah lieks mah .223. It's extremely common, and the parts for an AR are easily found too. It's also not as dirty as people say. Not to mention I could just gank a STANAG from anywhere and use the ammo in it. It's small, it's light, capacity is large, and a single decent shot could drop anything short of a bear.

You can probably drop a bear if you hit it dead on in the eye wink  

[Fresnel]

Sgt Buckner

Fresnel

Ah lieks mah .223. It's extremely common, and the parts for an AR are easily found too. It's also not as dirty as people say. Not to mention I could just gank a STANAG from anywhere and use the ammo in it. It's small, it's light, capacity is large, and a single decent shot could drop anything short of a bear.

You can probably drop a bear if you hit it dead on in the eye wink

Dunno, I've heard of eye shots failing to drop elephants, sooo...


Though I must say, it was probably the most hilarious day of my hunting career when I put a pellet in a rabbit's left eye, and out his right eye, because it curved around his skull. Fastest I've ever seen an animal drop.  

[Barru]

I shot a squirrel straight through the heart with my .22.

It was running up a branch going from tree to tree, I had a bead on it, followed and when it stopped.
Blammo.

It went backwards and dropped off the tree falling about 50 or so feet, never even twitched. Insta-kill.

I looked at it and there were blood spurts or droplets on the leaves in a near straight angle from where I shot it.

Excellent display of marksmanship if I do say so myself...  

[Fresnel]

Barru

I shot a squirrel straight through the heart with my .22.

It was running up a branch going from tree to tree, I had a bead on it, followed and when it stopped.
Blammo.

It went backwards and dropped off the tree falling about 50 or so feet, never even twitched. Insta-kill.

I looked at it and there were blood spurts or droplets on the leaves in a near straight angle from where I shot it.

Excellent display of marksmanship if I do say so myself...

I'm impressed. Usually nothing short of decapitating a rodent will make it stop. I've seriously shot them in the head and they run away, think about it, then drop dead.  

[Hydraulic Fluid]

Honestly, if it's only one caliber I can take, it would have to be the .223. It's more than adequate to drop someone at reasonable ranges, it's a relatively accurate cartridge, and it can be found just about anywhere in the world in almost every configuration. There's some shots that you're simply not going to be able to take with the lil' guy, but I don't why I would be trying to take down elephants or making that 1200 yard shot in a SHTF situation. It would really have to depend on the scenario I guess, but if I'm caught with my pants down and I'm not sure what's ahead, I'd go with my gut and grab my AR.  

[OberFeldwebel]

Fresnel

Barru

I shot a squirrel straight through the heart with my .22.

It was running up a branch going from tree to tree, I had a bead on it, followed and when it stopped.
Blammo.

It went backwards and dropped off the tree falling about 50 or so feet, never even twitched. Insta-kill.

I looked at it and there were blood spurts or droplets on the leaves in a near straight angle from where I shot it.

Excellent display of marksmanship if I do say so myself...

I'm impressed. Usually nothing short of decapitating a rodent will make it stop. I've seriously shot them in the head and they run away, think about it, then drop dead.

Wow, they're that hardy? damn.

I've shot one in the gut before, didn't try to I just jerked a bit when making the shot.
It rolled over, skittered a bit and then died.

Perhaps it's you that has radioactive super squirrels.