The Rough List of Homestead Firearms. Part 1

In a post-apocalyptic world, where survival and defense are paramount, an off-grid homestead requires the best weapons to ensure the safety and well-being of its inhabitants. With limited resources and the need for self-sufficiency, choosing the right tools becomes crucial. The top ten weapons for an off-grid homestead post-apocalypse are carefully selected to serve both defense and food gathering purposes. These weapons include versatile firearms such as the AR-15 rifle, which offers accuracy and reliability, and shotguns that can be used for hunting and protection. Additionally, crossbows provide a silent and efficient method for hunting game while conserving ammunition. Tools like machetes and axes are essential for gathering food, clearing brush, and building shelters. Lastly, a reliable compound bow allows for a skillful and stealthy approach to hunting. With these top ten weapons, an off-grid homestead can stand strong in the face of adversity.

Okay this tripe was AI generated where I put in few keywords and it spit this out. Sounds more like something from a novel than a useful list. Put the AI put to bed, and lets talk what we feel MAY be useful for your homestead.

As firearm lists go, this is one of the more difficult ones. Why? Well there are different types of firearms. Long guns. Side arms. Rifle and pistol caliber of each.Type of action. Shotguns. Auto loading pump bolt lever double or single shot. Then ammo. Rim fire or center fire. Okay now add in primitive weapons. Flintlock or percussion. How about primer fired inline? Confused yet? I am! Now to add more lets talk stringed weapons. Bows. Compound or Re curve Crossbows? Gods of Asgard this is enough to make your eyes cross!
But we’ll whittle it down and give it our best………. Shot!.

Before we dive into the meat of this. A word on safety.
I don’t care if it is WW3 , Mars, Venus and monsters from Sirius A are invading, gun safety is FIRST and FOREMOST on your mind. I was a combat medic for a lot of years. Played out in the woods jungles and the sandbox with my grunts. While it is hard to believe, there are less accidental shootings than one would believe. Most injuries NOT in combat and are not gunshots, are the results of soldiers, well being soldiers. Why? Safety is drilled into us from day one of basic and until the day we retire or die. As my drill sergeant, SSG Eugene C. Cobb said over 42 years ago, (1981) “Why am I a hard ass on safety? Because you boneheads can’t kill the enemy if you kill each other first by being STUPID.”

4 Primary Rules of Firearm Safety

• Always Keep Firearm Pointed in a Safe direction. Never point your gun at anything you do not intend to shoot. ...

• Treat All Guns as Though They are Loaded. ...

• Keep Your Finger Off the Trigger until You are Ready to Shoot. ...

• Always Be Sure of Your Target and What's Beyond It.

Now that that is out of the way let's trot this pony out and see how the brand reads.

Rifle.

Rossi RS22 / Mossberg 702 Plinkster. About as bullet proof a rife you can get for under 140 bucks. For 150 you can get one with the threaded barrel. And for 249 you can get the take down version. Lots of aftermarket magazines and goodies. Not as much as the 10/22 but enough to keep you occupied. The Mossberg and the Rossi are the exact same rifle made in the same factory in Brazil. Only difference is the name on the barrel . We have 2 Rossi’s. 2 of them for the price of one Ruger We've put about 2 bricks though each one.

And never a malfunction. Almost as accurate as the 10/22. to a point. But does not feel as “robust” as the 10/22. Other than it feeling not as expensive as the Ruger, (It isn’t) it is a well made rifle. Even has a full floating barrel. This means accuracy. At 50 yards, laying prone and no rest, I could get 1.25-1.5 inches. The Ruger? About the same. With the Winchester white box, Rossi got one group at ¾ of an inch. The Ruger liked the CCI Mini Mags and clocked in at about 5/8ths of an inch. An 1/8th of an inch difference for twice the money. Both shot with open sights on a calm South Carolina spring day.

So where are the AR15’s and AK’s? SKS? FN-FAL? Are they not part of the homestead arsenal? Well yes. Yes they are. Hell I have an AR and a very old SKS. And what about the bolt action rifle? Fine. We’ll list them also.

Hell talking about the AR15/SKS/AK is as volatile a conversation as Ford, Chevy or Dodge. All do the job very well. As I said above they are a touchy subject. They do have a use, heck I have an AR, and yes, I use it for hunting. I swap the upper receiver to one that is a caliber for deer hunting in South Carolina, and I have a 4 round magazine. By the DNR, there is no magazine capacity limit. I just do it to be a good neighbor

Bolt Action

We could spend days on each different rifle. You can pick up a decent bolt action at most Walmart's for under $300. Or spend over $30,000 for a hand built one. So in this instance I’ll not say what rifle I like. I’ll talk about what caliber.

The .308 Winchester / 7.62x51 Nato. And now the why.

• It WILL drop, with proper shot placement, EVERY animal on this continent.

• It is in EVERY Mom and Pop hardware store, Walmart, Academy, Sportsmans Warehouse etc etc. Try to find 7mm Weatherby, or 338 Lapua in Windsor SC.

• For Rifle ammunition, it is reasonably priced.

• For a marksman, shots in excess of 500 yards are fairly easy and still has enough power to drop the target.

Well I told a fib. I've been looking into a new bolt action for my self. My neighbor, Joey, has one of those Savage Axis II rifles in .308. He paid $369 bucks at a local box store in the area. It is not as pretty as a classic M700 Remington, nor is the trigger as crisp. But for under $400 bucks it is a shooter! After sighting it in, Oh we topped it with a real REAL cheap and old Tasco 3x9 scope, and just blasting a box of FMJ to break it in, it came to life. We cleaned it and got a box of .308 Hornady American Whitetail in 165 grains. At 100 yards it was shooting 3/4 inch size groups. We didn't try any other ammunition. For a sub $400 rifle , it is a value and deserves a spot in the homestead safe.

The Lever Action

Sigh. My true love of the rifle world. And currently there is an empty spot in my safe for one. The lever action is the best of the bolt action and the battle rifle world. More capacity and faster reloading than a bolt action. Much more power and range than a MBR (Main Battle Rifle. I will NOT say As..Assa Assau… Oh y’all know what I mean!) Chamber in calibers from pistol to the AWESOME 45-70. The lever action in the hands of someone who knows their business, is damn near unstoppable. The venerable 30-30 Winchester. Not quiet the ompf of the .308. But more than the 7.62x39. The sweetest all around rifle cartridge ever made. It’s hard to do better and very easy to do worse than a lever action.

Pistol Caliber Carbines

Kel-Tec Sub 2000 & Hi-Point 995TS The Kel Tec Sub 2000 is a 9mm or .40 S&W carbine, The Hi-Point carbine comes in 9mm, .40S&W and .45 ACP. Some call these pistol caliber carbines a solution looking for a problem. I think they may have a place in a preppers pack. In the 1870-1900 time frame, The Winchester rifle was the king of the west. And it was NOT chambered in 30-30 WCF until 1895. Prior to that it was commonly chambered in pistol cartridges. .44 rimfire, .44 Russian 44-40, .45 LC, 32-20 etc. It was a companion to the Colt, Remington and Smith and Wesson pistols of the time.

The Kel-Tec is the more pricey of the 2. But its HUGE advantage is, if you have a Glock 17,19,22,23 you can get it chambered to fit those mags. The Hi-Point uses the same magazines as it’s pistols and you’re limited to those only.

Both fire well, not tack driving accurate as any of the .22’s . BUT the punch of a 9mm at 25 yards is MUCH more than the .22.

Kel-Tec Sub 2000

Hi-Point995TS

Next time.......

We'll talk about Shotguns and Handguns. And in future posts one of my favorites. Primative weapons. Flintlock, Percussion and bows. Let us know what YOU think we should add into this blog post. Again Thanks for subscribing to us and following us here on Hearth!