I don't put up with people in the real world telling me how many guns I can have, I'm sure not going to put up with it in a fantasy world.
Two ruger SR22 handguns, a ruger 10/22 tactical long gun with tons of the ruger 25 round mags, a Glock 19 and 23 (maybe even a 42), Colt 1911, snub nose .38, 5 ARs in various configurations, Mosburg 500A with 18.5" barrel, bolt action rifles with long range scopes in .243, .270, and 30.06.
Vehicle would be my FJ Cruiser. Go anywhere a jeep can go but provides more protection. Roof rack for carrying water, fuel, food, and ammo. Of course a stocked bunker with access to spring water would also be nice.
My plan would be to hole up for a few years with family and close friends.
Of course this whole thing is totally ridiculous.
Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid.
John Wayne
NRA Lifetime member
This is actually a pretty good question, but the answer depends on the type of 'zombie'.
If it's a TWD zombie, any weapon will do, especially those with large capacity magazines. Paraphrasing another poster, one zombie isn't really dangerous, it's when they show up en masse that things get interesting, hence the need for weapons with large capacity magazines. I never really did like double-barreled shotguns for this exact reason. Yes it's better than nothing, but in a firefight with no backup, not a great situation to be in. A .22 rimfire would be fine because you could take the time to aim at the "T" made by the eyes and the nose or through the (open) mouth to the cerebellum. Almost any bullet will penetrate the eye/nose "T" easily and enter the brain. If you hit teeth, or the skull, especially at an angle, the bullet will probably deflect with no kill.
If it's a WW-Z type zombie, then you'll really need all those rounds because you'll have much less time to reload. You'll also have to shoot sooner, at longer range, and a 22 probably won't cut it. The real problem here is that you won't stop them with anything less than a lethal head shot if they're running at you, and it will be much harder to hit that target running full speed at you. If it's more than 1 Z-Zombie, you're probably not going to make it unless you're one of those really fast and accurate competition shooters who competes (and thus stays in 'shape') almost every weekend. I've seen guys with .40 cal SA handguns making their targets look like they were being peppered by a shotgun, because of their AIMED hits which were all over the target. Then I look at my target with a fist-sized hole center of mass or center of head because I was actually able to be accurate with a 9mm. If you can't put the bullet where it needs to go, what use is having the gun? If it recoils so much that you can't shoot straight, what good is it?
And now to the real problem... We won't have any TWD zombies, if anything, it will be 'zombies' as shown in World War Z. It will be the Watts riots, and Ferguson type riots taken to an extreme level with large numbers of DEMONstrating crazed 'people' who will be looting, burning, assaulting, raping and murdering (with bare hands even), anyone and anything in their path. It's happened before. All it would take would be a large natural disaster (or several), combined with weak leadership at all levels who refuse to 'offend' the DEMONstrators, or protect the public.
We've all seen this just recently, and I can give real-life examples of such DEMONstrating using current and fairly recent events, but that would probably be off-topic, and I suspect the point is made.
The other problem was illustrated early in this post. If you're alone and the only one fighting a mass of demonstrators, you'll die. Fighter pilots fight in pairs so that the one who is attacking is protected from attack by their wingman. If you don't have at least 1 person covering your back, you won't make it. If you're not shooting a ton of bad guys as a team as all hell is breaking loose, you're going to die, period.
Better to avoid that battle if at all possible if you're alone and if you're the only one capable of protecting your loved ones and property.
Even a sniper killing 'zombies' at long range will be detected sooner or later and will have to bug out and probably end up fighting their way back to their home... unless he takes a round to the back of his head, because he had no one covering his back.
I'd like to think I can take out several with a .270 if I had to. But even shooting and moving over and over again, with no one covering your back (forget a spotter, using a spotter will get you both dead), will end badly, sooner or later. As for using a .270, ammo is easy to get and much better ballistics than a .223/5.56, 30-06 and .308 given the targets currently under discussion.
For up close and personal, I'd recommend a 9mm for it's lethality combined with low-recoil and greater accuracy compared to larger calibers (.357, .40, .45) when used by the average person.
So really, it doesn't matter what you use as your CHL carry gun in a zombie apocalypse. If you're forced to use it against several zombies and you're alone, you're not going to make it.
Given current events and trends, it should be easy to see that it's coming.
Here's a tip: As long as the 'zombies' are not wearing body armor protecting their hip region, put 2 rounds into their pelvic area and shatter their pelvis. The zombie will drop the very next step they take. They'll still be alive, but they won't be able to walk, let alone run, and you can finish them off after you've taken care of the more immediate threats.
I personally would use a ruger 10/22 or a s&w M&P 15-22. Add a 50rd (plus more mags/drums) drum and you're good to go. I can also switch out optics if I need with bigger caliber platforms.
Weight is key, especially being nomadic. I agree whole heartedly that a 22lr would be king in this case. Also you can carry a lot. Larger caliber means more weight. I'm sure 500 rounds of 22 is nowhere near weight as, let's say.. 500 rounds of .223/7.69/30.06, etc. Same goes for 9mm, 45, 40, etc.
Also, firing a 22 with no ear protection is tolerable. Even indoors. Which I think is also a lot better. You can easily put anything in your ear to help reduce the noise. A piece of cloth from your shirt.. A napkin. Anything.
Recoil is very minimal, and follow up shots would be easier to accomplish without batting an eye.
I agree that velocity and penetration would lack in a 22, but I don't want to shoot from 100 yards away so I can give off my position, and attract more. Also, one more thing I dislike about a 22 is reloading a those little rounds. Time consuming and annoying, but meh.. Not so much a con to me.
I would keep bigger calibers in my arsenal too, but it would be more of protection from the living or any other 'need it' situation.
This meaningless opinion is only directed towards Romero zombies and not Snyder (running) ones. If we have Snyder zombies, were all doomed.I'm surprised no one has said they would prefer the shotgun yet. I know it's just bad all around, but you always see it in a zombie movie.
