Superior SHTF Rifle Caliber

[Fresnel]

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.

It was rodents in general. Woodchucks, mostly. God-DAMN those ******** are hardy. My mom managed to corner one with the baseball bat and had to bash its head in... it was just shrugging off the blows. Another time my dad emptied two mags of .22 into a woodchuck and it was crawling away, dragging its intestines behind it. Every time I'd shoot a squirrel it'd run like hell and then think about it for a minute before it realized that yes indeed, it's dead, and flop over.  

[Shadow Deadeye]

.338 Lapua, even though it would probably be a b***h to find and the rifle to fire it would weigh a ton.  

[Hydraulic Fluid]

Fresnel

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.

It was rodents in general. Woodchucks, mostly. God-DAMN those ******** are hardy. My mom managed to corner one with the baseball bat and had to bash its head in... it was just shrugging off the blows. Another time my dad emptied two mags of .22 into a woodchuck and it was crawling away, dragging its intestines behind it. Every time I'd shoot a squirrel it'd run like hell and then think about it for a minute before it realized that yes indeed, it's dead, and flop over.

Ever try a .204 Ruger?  

[OberFeldwebel]

Fresnel

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.

It was rodents in general. Woodchucks, mostly. God-DAMN those ******** are hardy. My mom managed to corner one with the baseball bat and had to bash its head in... it was just shrugging off the blows. Another time my dad emptied two mags of .22 into a woodchuck and it was crawling away, dragging its intestines behind it. Every time I'd shoot a squirrel it'd run like hell and then think about it for a minute before it realized that yes indeed, it's dead, and flop over.

My brother shot this monster toad in the back about 6 or 7 times with this Co2 BB gun, damn thing still managed to hop away under the propane tank for the house.

I think it's time you step up the caliber.
Get a .22 Magnum or .17 HMR.
I suggest the .22 Mag, better flight, longer range.
Well, relatively speaking that is.  

[Hydraulic Fluid]

OberFeldwebel

Fresnel

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.

It was rodents in general. Woodchucks, mostly. God-DAMN those ******** are hardy. My mom managed to corner one with the baseball bat and had to bash its head in... it was just shrugging off the blows. Another time my dad emptied two mags of .22 into a woodchuck and it was crawling away, dragging its intestines behind it. Every time I'd shoot a squirrel it'd run like hell and then think about it for a minute before it realized that yes indeed, it's dead, and flop over.

My brother shot this monster toad in the back about 6 or 7 times with this Co2 BB gun, damn thing still managed to hop away under the propane tank for the house.

I think it's time you step up the caliber.
Get a .22 Magnum or .17 HMR.
I suggest the .22 Mag, better flight, longer range.
Well, relatively speaking that is.

I've honestly never had a problem with the .22LR taking out small rodents, even those b*****d jack rabbits that never seem to want to die. Then again, I use hyper-velocity hollow points almost religiously (the ones made by Aguila).  

[Fresnel]

Hydraulic Fluid

Fresnel

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.

It was rodents in general. Woodchucks, mostly. God-DAMN those ******** are hardy. My mom managed to corner one with the baseball bat and had to bash its head in... it was just shrugging off the blows. Another time my dad emptied two mags of .22 into a woodchuck and it was crawling away, dragging its intestines behind it. Every time I'd shoot a squirrel it'd run like hell and then think about it for a minute before it realized that yes indeed, it's dead, and flop over.

Ever try a .204 Ruger?

This was back in Massachusetts. Nowadays I use .177 to decent effect. If I could ever get around to sighting the thing in, I might do better.  

[OberFeldwebel]

Hydraulic Fluid

OberFeldwebel

Fresnel

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.

It was rodents in general. Woodchucks, mostly. God-DAMN those ******** are hardy. My mom managed to corner one with the baseball bat and had to bash its head in... it was just shrugging off the blows. Another time my dad emptied two mags of .22 into a woodchuck and it was crawling away, dragging its intestines behind it. Every time I'd shoot a squirrel it'd run like hell and then think about it for a minute before it realized that yes indeed, it's dead, and flop over.

My brother shot this monster toad in the back about 6 or 7 times with this Co2 BB gun, damn thing still managed to hop away under the propane tank for the house.

I think it's time you step up the caliber.
Get a .22 Magnum or .17 HMR.
I suggest the .22 Mag, better flight, longer range.
Well, relatively speaking that is.

I've honestly never had a problem with the .22LR taking out small rodents, even those b*****d jack rabbits that never seem to want to die. Then again, I use hyper-velocity hollow points almost religiously (the ones made by Aguila).

Well, there yah go.
I use Thunderbolts mostly, I don't think they're hollowpoint but I have used hollowpoint, which I think is the round I used to shoot that other squirrel, the one on the ground.  

[Stoic Socialist]

I think a .223 would be pretty hard to beat, for the above reasons. It hasn't been mentioned (I think) how you can carry more for the same weight/bulk, though.  

[Wolf Nightshade]

I go with my AK but in all honesty I would keep an eye out for whatever is most common during the situation. If I have to engage and have the chance I am taking my enemies weapons and stashing as much as I can. If I can't take it with me or don't need it im going to trash it or sabotage it then leave it as a trap.  

[Man of the Demoneye]

Though they are heavy and bulky, I like mah 12 ga. Reasons for this are you can find it damn near anywhere, and really, what CAN'T you hunt/shoot with a shotgun?  

[Mr Savoy]

I'd say 7.62x54mmR would be the best SHTF rifle caliber. It's cheap as hell, the Mosin you shoot it with is tough as nails, and it's powerful enough to protect you from anything. Live in Alaska? Bears are no match for you. Moose will provide you with a week's worth of food. Deer will provide you with wonderful jerky during the winter months. (Of course, most people don't live in Alaska, but I'm just pointing out how great it is to defend yourself from ANY threat.)

If you've got wolverines, wolves, coyotes, etc., then the mere sound and giant ******** fireball will scare them away. Also, your gun doubles as a spear. The only animals too small for your Mosin to take down can be trapped. Except for birds. (Its one weakness.)

And since 7.62x54mmR is cheap as hell, you can afford to shoot it when you want, and have some stored for the off chance that SHTF.

And when it comes to being able to carry more .223/5.56...

You're really ******** if 300 rounds of x54 can't fix whatever predicament you're in.

But that's fine, because you should be able to carry 600 rounds of x54. xp  

[Variola Major]

What about an atlatl? Spears to throw with it aren't terribly difficult to fashion with primitive hand made tools, and it can hit a target with the force of a .357 magnum. It used to be used to kill ******** MAMMOTHS, after all.

Yes, I AM only posting this because I want to be a b***h and not pick a gun at all. If I weren't being a b***h, I'd go with .30-06, because it's effective and it's common as all hell. Add an M1 Garand, and you are good to go.  

[Fresnel]

Variola Major

What about an atlatl? Spears to throw with it aren't terribly difficult to fashion with primitive hand made tools, and it can hit a target with the force of a .357 magnum. It used to be used to kill ******** MAMMOTHS, after all.

Yes, I AM only posting this because I want to be a b***h and not pick a gun at all. If I weren't being a b***h, I'd go with .30-06, because it's effective and it's common as all hell. Add an M1 Garand, and you are good to go.

Atlatl were used to kill mammoths because it had to be that ******** big for an atlatl to hit it. Also, humans were pack hunters at the time. Try to hunt deer with an atlatl and you'll starve.

Also, probably 90% of modern .30-06 will damage or short-stroke a stock M1, and those adjustable gas plugs are fiddly ********.