Tips for choosing the best gun for off grid living
When you are looking into the purchasing of a gun for hunting in a wilderness survival setting, there are several factors which should be considered.
Price should not be the main factor but rather the functionality and the compatibility that you have with the rifle.
Here are a few tips to help you choose the best rifle for hunting.
What is your level of expertise?
Some rifles require a bit more experience in shooting and maintaining.
Where you may want to have the biggest, baddest gun available, it will do you no good if you cannot use it.
Does the gun have a scope? If so do you know how to calibrate it and keep the lens clean?
Regardless of what people may think, guns are not just a mechanism where you load the bullets, point, and pull the trigger.
You need to determine your level of experience with guns first so that you can determine the best gun for you.
What is the caliber of the gun?
The second most important factor in picking a gun for your disaster plan/ wilderness survival is to determine the caliber of the gun. .22 rifles have little to no effect in the wilderness game hunting.
Sure, you can get a squirrel or maybe a rabbit with this gun but that is about it. You might as well have rocks to throw at them.
A .30 is not much better but can take down a deer, though a 7.62 is more apt for that. If you really want to go for the power a .300 will bring down about any animal you come across and is commonly used to hunt bear and other large game.
Any caliber higher is just overkill as there will not be safari animals roaming the wilderness.
Consider, bullets leave an exit hole and firing a high powered rifle at a small animal will all but obliterate it.
You want to get a powerful rifle that does not leave a large entry of exit point. This way you can hunt both large and small game as the necessity requires.
Does the rifle take a clip or not?
Remember, everything that you need to bring with you must be in your emergency preparedness kit.
This means that if you need to have clips for the rifle, then they will need to be stored somewhere in your bag.
If the rifle takes bullets without a clip, then you will need to have a place where you can store a few boxes of bullets.
It is more realistic to find a rifle that takes a clip which can easily be stored in your survival gear then trying to find a place to store hundreds of individual rounds of ammunition.
If you prefer to have a gun that does have loose bullets, consider storing the boxes in the side pouches of your survival pack or carrying a few boxes in the pockets of your pants (as it is hoped for that you will have jeans which have several pockets and not just blue jeans).
How heavy is the rifle?
Yes, your physical strength will gradually increase as you become more self-sufficient living off the grid.
However, in the first few weeks or months, you are going to be getting used to the wilderness environment.
It does no good to get a rifle that you cannot hold for a long period of time or one that you cannot stabilize to take the shot when needed.
Know the limits of your strength and find a model which is appropriate for you. There are several different models that accommodate the caliber needs you will have.
A good test it to hold the rifle straight out in front of you for 2 minutes or so. If your arm gets weary quickly, then the gun is probably not a good fit for you
. If you find that the rifle can be held steady and that you are comfortable with the design then check the quality of the manufacturing and purchase it.
How loud does the rifle fire?
In normal hunting situations, the noise put off by the rifle is not that big of a concern.
You are hunting and you have found the game that you are going to kill, so what does it matter if it is loud or not.
Yet, in a survivalist situation you do need to consider the noise of the rifle.
Why is this?
The main reason is that you are in a survivalist situation and do not want to give away your location.
Where it is true that you will probably not be able to shroud your location entirely, a gun that is too loud is like a beacon telling others where you are located and that “there is food here”.
How does the rifle handle outdoor storage?
Ideally, guns are stored in a dry place where there is little to no moisture or dirt which can come in contact with them.
Realistically, your campsite may not have these accommodations.
If the rifle that you purchase requires special maintenance or else it jams or parts break, then it is not a very effective gun for your wilderness survival.
You want to pick a hunting rifle which can be kept in moderate conditions and requires minimal maintenance.
Keep in mind that with any rifle you purchase there will be pros and cons.
You may have to sacrifice the weight of the gun for the proper caliber to get the job done, a clip may be sacrificed to loose bullets on a gun that has a higher precision rating.
You may choose to purchase a blot action rifle and a spare bolt mechanism over a self-loading rifle.
There are many considerations that you should take in to mind.
Above all, you need to ensure that you can carry the gun over the course of your survival navigation and that you can use it properly when required.
