Some of you may remember I bought a Browning 1895 lever sction rifle in 30/06 caliber a few weeks ago from a friend, it had a Leupold fixed 2X long eye relief "Scout Scope", installed. It worked good, but the weight of the scope and mount forward on the rifle made it kind of cumbersome, so I took off the scope, put the stock rear sight back on, and tried it today. Found it shoots just as good or better than with the scope, still gets 1.5" groups at 100 yards with factory 150 grain jacketed bullets. Better yet, raise the rear sight two steps with the elevator and it hits dead on with my own home cast 200 grain lead round nose bullets (1800 FPS or so). My cast lead rounds cost me about .06 cents apiece.

Removing the scope made the rifle much lighter and handier. I filled in the holes for the scope mount with filler screws, with the rear sight installed only one screw is visible to ever show the rifle had been scoped.

So, I got to thinking, could this be the perfect survival combination, a fixed sight 30/06 rifle and a fixed sight .38 special revolver? Hard hitting repeating rifle, easy ammuntion availability, no scope to fog or get wonky, reliable revolver, with this combo you can defend yourself or gather every type of game from rabbit to elk. Anyway, here's some pics:

Indiana Jones, eat your heart out! Revolver is a 4" Royal Hong Kong Police marked Model 10-7 with an El Paso Saddlery flap holster:





With my survival vehicle, 1992 Ford F-150 with dual fuel tanks, 300 six cylinder engine, camper shell, 21 MPG, 600 mile range:






So, what would be your perfect survival rifle and handgun combination?

Your rifle looks great, I can't handle the looks of a scope on an old time lever gun even though I sure shoot better with them. The 30-06 lever action seems like a great survival gun since every Walmart and small town hardware store stocks the round and you can shoot home made cast bullets out of it that might jam an auto loader. Same thing with the .38 special, and both guns should have all the power and versatality you would ever need.

Actually, in a survival situation, it would be a Marlin Model 60 .22LR with 200 rounds and a Charter Arms Tracker 2-1/2inch .357 Magnum with 100 rounds of various loads. Oh, and a GOOD fixed blade knife and not a "Rambo" special, either.
These two firearms will cover pretty much everything.

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The Last Standing Knight

Canoe, I think you have got if figured out. There is no place, in my view, for a scope on lever gun, just defeats the purpose. A good model 10 with the right man behind it will be able to handle any situation that a handgun can. Your's look great.

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NRA Endowment Life Member

Though I do have a 'few' other weapons I agree that a .22 rifle, in my case a 10/22, and a .357, pretty much gets you covered.

I think I might go with a Model 94 Winchester in .30-30 for self defense, big game, etc., and a 6" K-22 for small game and other day to day survival needs. Maybe even a Garand in place of the .30-30.

Blued metal and wood stocks don't always stand up terribly well in the elements.

Glock 19 (it's actually easier to find 9mm ammo than .38 lately) and some type of reputable AK in 7.62x39mm with lots of delightful chrome internals and a synthetic stock. Those will hold up to most anything and the Glock can be cleaned of gunk more easily than a Model 10. I keep the G19 and AK running by cleaning them with my shoelaces and diesel and oil them with automotive motor oil.

Canoeguy; Looks like you've got it all figured out. I love the old Model 95's, had 5 at different times. I put a Williams Fool Proof peep on my hunting .35 WCF. Sure knocked a bull Elk on his butt. Also S&W M&P will last forever & shoot just as well.

Note to self:


Definetely make room for a .22 rifle or pistol. I have found shooting CCI Standard Velocity ammuniton is almost as quiet as a silenced .22 rifle. I think CCI Standard Velocity is a little slower than normal standard velocity, 1074 FPS. It's also extremely accurate, so squirrels, look out!

I'll have the wife carry the .22 rifle....

I knew GatorFarmer would weigh in with an AK rifle, but they don't have enough punch for me, and you can't shoot cast lead bulllets in them. They are sturdy rifles though...

They're not that bad. I've got a 92 year old Winchester 1906 that is still perfectly functional that looks like it led anything but a pampered life. My 40 year old Remington 870 that I bought new as been soaked the the bone more times than you can count and it still looks fairly close to new.

I like to eat birds. I'd probably take the above mentioned 870, some #00 shells, some #6's and some #8's and a big handgun, probably a .44 with some full bore and some popgun loads.

Fun stuff, and great lookin' guns...

In a survival situation, if that is your choice and it's workin' for you...those tools are the perfect companions to you, Amigo...

But you should at least add a knife that compliments both guns...

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Non gratum anus rodentum

Gizamo,

Yep, got a knife, actually two, a Buck 110 Folding Hunter and a Swiss Army pocket knife.

The Buck knife I bought with my first paycheck from the Navy when I got out of boot camp in 1979.

Next time I break out the camera, I'll throw the Buck knife in the picture....

canoeguy,

Good doin's.... I always look for a companion edged tool to go with any gun posted. Nothin' like handguns in leather or knives wrapped in a sheath to make a pairing...

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Non gratum anus rodentum

I would use a 1894 Marlin .357 and my 4" 686. Can shoot either .357 or 38 Spl...using a 125 grn HP or 158 grn HP...both in cast bullets. I would put it up against almost anything in N. America using heavy loads. Also would carry my 317 .22 kit gun in pack.

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You'll shoot your eye out kid

Nice combo. Mine is a BLR in 308 and a mod 66 or 14. Mine is scoped as I consider at a 400 yd gun and the antelope @ 360 yds can attest to that.

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Front sight and squeeze

My choice-my Marlin M1894 and Virginian Dragoon, both in 44 Magnum. Depends on what you want to survive of course.

I love the 1895!!

Saigas can be had in .308 and "de neutered", or even used as in. They're sort of a bargain when available.

Curiously, there are people that shoot cast bullets out of AKs though. One guy was even reloading his steel casings, using cast bullets, and black powder. That was in a cheap Romanian gun. Not that I'd suggest doing so, but still... Enough people have tried to convince me that it is possible if the situation were dire enough. Clogs the rifles with gunk eventually, but still gets off more shots than most muzzle loaders will before they need to be scrubbed.

Not that I don't love that .375 Marlin that I got a while back. I just know it'd be easier to "kill" if mother nature were really acting up.

Oddly an 870 Police Model I had (from back when they were only chambered for 2 3/4" shells, so it was older) rusted on me, despite being parkerized, one winter after only a few days in my trunk. Though I did have a Krag sporter that I'm not sure was ever reblued that left the factory in the 1890s and was still functional... Still...

There's something to be said the simple innards of some semi auto designs with a military ancestor. Tolerances tend to be a bit looser and odds are that the engineers took muck into mind. I've cleaned military pedigree guns in the shower and toweled them off quite literally, then used them. (Good way to wash gravel out.) I'd be less... comfortable... popping the side plate on a revolver or stripping down a lever action in the rought.

Not that the original choices aren't fine guns and fine for their intended role - sort of a Depression era throw back walking around/utility combo to put meat on the table in hard times and explore the woods sort of thing and should work fine with moderate care.

But the time the box my new Beretta was in (some years ago) broke taking it out of the drunk causing it to bounce off the driveway pavement and into a nice mud puddle full of gravel and gunk... That left me with an uncomfortable feeling that when out and about I'd want a hedge against ... misfortune ... should my survival come to it.

That said, humble WD40, as much as some gun owners loath it, works very well to remove the wetness from a dunked gun and keep it running until better measures are possible.

Sir, nice setup. Would make a great hunting combination, but long-term survival in the field I'm not so sure about.

Mr. GatorFarmer makes a good point about maintenance. Back when I was a grunt, I had all sorts of bad things get inside my weapons: water (both salt and fresh), snow and ice, sand, dust, mud, gravel(!), plant debris, and on and on. None of this was on purpose--it just goes to show what can happen. If you want the gun to keep working, you need to be able to take it apart and thoroughly clean it, as well as make small repairs. DA revolvers and lever guns are not well-suited to this.

That being so, my choices would be a 1911 and an '03-A3. All the benefits of your combo, plus easy maintenance. Both can be field-stripped with no tools, and adding just a punch and screwdriver to your kit allows complete disassembly. Add a few small parts such as springs and firing pins, and you should be good for a long while.

JMHO, FWIW.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

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Wishin' don't make it so.

I'm a bit fond of a #4 Mk. 1* Lee-Enfield .303 British. Aperture sights for 300 and 600 yards, and fiberglas-like "zytel" stock, 10 round mag. Shoots as well as I can with Hornady 150 grain bullets, bombproof.

The 300 six cylinder is a good choice, too. Drove one for years.

Here in the Eastern US where I live I would probably pick my Rossi pump in 22 mag and my Ithaca 1911A1. The 22 mag rife is light and easy to carry and so is the ammo. There are no large 4 legged animals to worry about here.

Canoeguy I like the way you think. BUT......
Two guns-I would go with a 870 18" and a 617. Three guns-add a 681. Four guns add a Model 94 in 30-30. I just made the agrument for owning only 4 guns
Got to have something in .44mag/spl, .45ACP, 9mm, 30-06, .223. 20 ga to cover the bases for ammo availability-also various platforms in .357/.38 for carrying issues-like the 337 Smith or the NA .22 mini -that tales care of the other 40 or so guns I own
Whew...that was close.

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Forum consigliere

My K-22 and plenty of the most accurate ammunition. No rifle.

But canoeguy, I too have a Browning 1895 in .30-06 and a M10. My Browning also will shoot very tight at 100 yards with no scope.

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

Well, I guess the perfect survival rifle and pistol combination is the one you have on you in an emergency, one that you have practiced with and know where it hits and know it's limitations. I agree with all that has been posted about the sturdiness of military type rifles and pistols, ease of maintenance and disassembly, etc.

But, this Browning 1895 has realy struck me with it's versatility. Most lever action rifles are not chambered in stout rifle calibers, and thier sights or cartridge essentially make them 100 yard rifles. With the 1895's ability to fire full house 30/06 rounds and mild cast lead bullets, it makes it a 50 yard small game getter or a 250 yard large game rifle. Here's some pics I took today of some groups fired at 50 yards with 170 and 180 grain cast lead bullets, cast from Lee molds with straight wheel weight lead with a gas check installed, propelled with 16.5 grains of Unique pistol powder, around 1700-1800 feet per second:



The comments about exposure to the elements are valid, and something I take into consideration when going afield. I almost always take a rifle and revolver canoeing with me, sometimes for weeks long trips. In bad weather, the rifle goes into a nylon case, revolver into a dry box. I have been canoeing with a rifle in a nylon or canvas case when it rains for days, the rifle may get damp but not soaked. That is a good time to choose a rifle that can be easily dis-asembled from the stock and dried/lubed thouroughly. I guess if the elements are making me worried about my rifle and revolver, I'll be seeking shelter for myself and my guns...

I do have some other rifle and pistol combinations, some are what other posters mentioned:

.22 rifle and pistol, Marlin Model 60 and Ruger .22/45, holster is an El Paso Saddlery "1927" thumb break:



Marlin 1894 "Cowboy" in .357 caliber, and 4" S&W Model 66-4, holster is a Bianchi #5BH:



Winchester "Ranger" 1894 in 30/30, with a 1954 vintage 4" S&W .22 Combat Masterpiece, period leather holster marked on the back "S&W Combat":

A lot of fine Americans survived some pretty tough times with a M1 and 1911. And now the M4 Carbine and M9 pistol are the dependable survival tools.
Thanks to all who serve. Their sacrifices are what we remember today.