My Practical Battery

[GoatGuy]

Noting the past threads on 4 gun and 2 gun limitations has made me rethink my firearm needs in the location where I am and at this time in my life. Known more as a shooter and "gun guy" than a hunter, and based on 50 years of gun ownership (including magnums of every ilk), reloading experience, collecting, shooting competitively, trading and selling lots of stuff during those years, I believe this is a true picture of my needs.

My centerfire battery limited to "need", if not necessarily to "want", would realistically require only the following which I have or could easily acquire:
Rifle - Model 94 (.32 WS or .30-30)
Revolver - S&W Model 67 (.38 Special)
Shotgun - Remington 1100 (or 870) 12 Gauge, or the equally useful to me 20 guage

My rimfire needs would include the following:
Rifle - Ruger 10/22 (Stainless/Laminate)
Revolver - S&W Model 17

The above are what could legitimately be declared as necessary for GoatGuy's needs at this time in his life. This battery would take care of hunting, both large and small game I'm liable to chase after. Farm use is covered as is home defense and concealed carry, if necessary.

Have any of you here really looked at your minimum requirements, have redundant inventory and truthfully come to any similar conclusions?

Please Lord, don't let me be the only one out there. I'd feel kinda lonely.

[Barcelona Rick]

GoatGuy.....I got more than I need also......if I really just kept what I would need/use it would be...

Remington 700 '06
S & W Model 28
Remington 870 or 1100/1187
S & W Model 17
CZ 452

Sometimes I look back when I was a kid just out of the Navy and I thought I could get by with....

Newport 12 gauge S X S
Remington 1100 20 gauge
Winchester 190 .22 rimfire
Winchester 1894 30-30 (this was a 1970 vintage......before I got educated about pre-64)
H & R 999 .22 rimfire

Duck hunted, dove hunted, quail hunted, deer hunted, squirrel hunted and plinked away (guess I didn't know any better)......then I start reading Guns & Ammo and Shooting Times and got myself gun savy......gun safe is plum full and I'm crippled up but at least I'm smart ???

rick

[tman]

Remington 870. Winchester .348. Glock 27 . AR M4. .22 pistol and rifle.

[rjohns94]

I'm mostly a gun guy for hunting. I think about this question ALL the time. My typical hunting year would include dove season, pheasants,ducks, Archery Deer, Early Muzzle Loader Deer, small game season, firearm season for deer, then late muzzle loader and archery for deer.

Out of my current inventory:

20 ga Rizzini sxs shotgun for dove, pheasants, ducks and sometimes small game.
My longbow for Archery seasons
.54 Caliber flintlock for early and late season Deer. ( I have used it many seasons for Firearm season also)
.22lr or 22Mag for small game season(Marlin TDS)or (9422M)
30-30 model 64 Takedown Delux, circa 1925.
CCW my Kimber Raptor II. (my .22 conversion kit would have to stay too)

My les Baer custom CAR-15 in .223 would be my bug out rifle


I probably could subsitute a .62 Cal flintlock for the 20 ga and .54. but I prefer the lineup as I have it above.
This would leave my Garand on the sidelines,along with a .22 , several handguns, a couple of shotguns and a flintlock.

I have to keep my sxs rifled barreled 12 bore that is regulated for slugs because certain areas in Pa allow only that type of shotgun, and there are many such areas where that rifled shotgun would excel.

[Chas.]

My Grandfather raised 4 boys (one of which was my father) and tended his farm with only a Winchester model 97. Later he bought a .22 single-shot. I guess anything more than that is just luxury.

BTW, I have that old '97 and it works as well as it did when he bought it.

[Bigahh]

My Bare Minimum would be in order of importance..

1. Benelli 12 ga. Auto...all my Bird Hunting needs

2. Browning BLR .308...75 % of my Big Game Hunting

3. Winchester Model 70 ..Western Hunting and Backup

4. Winchester 64A 30-30.. My still Hunting Rifle

5. Winchester Model 63 .22lr..A Mans gotta have 1 rimfire

[TMair]

Bare miminum, Winchester 348, Ruger Red lable 12 Ga. Uberti Cattleman target 44 Mag. Browning Buckmark 22, and my Marlin 783 22 Mag. But I hope it doesn't come that
Terry

[AJMD429]

I could reduce my 'Practial Battery' to just ONE gun...!

If I just had ONE gun, maybe I'd make it a M-2, tripod-mounted .50 BMG belt-fed, and 10,000 rounds of ammo.

It would NOT be practical for whitetail deer.
It would NOT be practical for concealed carry.
It would NOT be practical for putting down livestock.
It would NOT be practical for plinking.
It would NOT be practical for teaching new shooters.
It would NOT be practical for target shooting.

Those are all the things I do most of.

However . . . if I had a .50 BMG, I could probably use it (one way or another) to GET the Ruger 10/22, Marlin 1894, Ruger Redhawk, Savage 10, DPMS 308, etc., etc., etc., that I feel I really 'need'...

[L_Kilkenny]

Dang I like these threads!!!

Practical battery huh? Let's start with two 12ga's. One with a smoothbore slug barrel and scope for deer season. That's my 870. Then we'll have another with a vent rib and choke tubes. While I'd like a shorter barrel the gun fillin that role is my 28" Winchester 1300. The reason for 2, if it wasn't already apparent, is so I'm not having to sight in the scope every time I change barrels. Then we move into the rimfire long guns. Plinkin, bunnies, coon and squirrels being it's main meat. Ruger 10/22 for this one.

After these we move into handguns. Let me say this, I don't need a handgun for SD. While it's true that crime can happen anywhere I just can't see the need to CC even though I have my permit and at home I have the shotguns. To me handguns are convenience as much as anything. Being said, I'm still gonna keep one or two since the title was "practical" not "bare minimum". First is my 22/45 as a back up to my 12ga when hunting followed up by a centerfire as back up to my 10/22. Can't decide which. It may be my .32H&R Single Six but I'd have to say the front runner is my 4" Security Six.

You might notice that a centerfire rifle is conspicuously missin from my list to this point and it will very likely stay that way FOR THIS LIST. Iowa, with the exception of a late January antlerless season is a shotgun only state for deer and while I enjoy coyote/fox hunting the economy and the price of gas has relegated these predators to targets of opportunity. For me, a centerfire rifle is on the bottom of my practical needs. If I have to keep one on the list it would be a M7 Remington or Ruger Compact in .243, .260 or 7mm-08.

LK

[Bogie35]

I like AJMD429's idea!

All kidding aside, I could do fine with just:

Remington 870 or 1100 - 12 gauge
Marlin 336C - 30/30
Ruger SP101 - 357 Mag

bogie

[WCF3030]

336 30-30
xd 9mm
20ga pump

[2X22]

'Practical' battery, huh.....

I hunt deer, elk, bear and upland game. Rarely waterfowl. Lots and lots of high country blue grouse!

Lets just get out of state artillery out of the way. I hunt deer and elk out of state. I use only 1 gun for that anymore. Model 700CDL in .35 Whelen.

Rifle huntin' around the house. For deer and bear I seem to just use a Marlin Cowboy with cast stuff in .44 for the most part. For elk I use a Winchester in .348 much of the time. I'll go with that one. For upland game I've use the same shotgun for 30+ years and don't see any reason to change. A 28" Ruger Red Label in 20 gauge.

Pistols. I have hunted for many years with revolvers. Used to belong to SSK's HHI and even won 1st place with the largest mule deer one year. So I gotta have a hunting pistol. I'll go with one of Rugers new .44 specials. Many an elk have fallen to my pistols over the years but anymore I use a rifle. So the .44 special will handle the deer/bear requirements I have.

Small game can be handled with a Ruger 22 semi auto I have, slab sided 6 7/8" barrel with a 2X leupold. Durned near shoots .22 caliber groups

So...
Rem 700CDL .35 Whelen
Winchester 71 .348
Marlin Cowboy .44
Ruger Red Label 20 gauge
Ruger .44 Special
Ruger .22 semi auto pistol

2x22

[GoatGuy]

Thanks for the replies so far. Feels less lonely, somehow.

Been rethinking my centerfire handgun choice in my original post as I had to break-up a freak dogfight here late yesterday evening. One of my LGD's got out of the pasture and jumped our mature 6 year old, 64# Catahoula yard dog, Pepper. Don't know why it happened, but it did,... right in front of me as I was trying to coax the LGD back into the pasture wth some dog food I had handy. The LGD is about a 100+#, 14 month old female Anatolian Shepherd "pup". This breed doesn't physically mature until 18-19 months old, (still has some growing to do) and about 30 month maturity in all other aspects.

Think she was confused about another dog being in her "area of responsibility", since I don't think she really clued in to the fact she was out of her assigned pasture. Anyhow the fight was on in a blink of an eye and Pepper was getting the worst of it. I was swatting them with my work gloves, yellin' at them, trying to shove them apart with my foot and hands and making no progress. About that time my right hand found its way too close to Pepper's head and I received an accidental, somewhat (read really) painful ripping bite. Well there was no stopping them, so my next reaction was to pull my 9mm pistol and pop off a round into the dirt. Sure enough the blast broke their concentration and off they both ran in opposite directions.

Today, I've been thinking what would I have needed if I'd had to shoot the pup to get her to stop. Would a .38 special have done the trick? Probably, as it would have been a point blank shot. But just perhaps I would have been better off with something with more ooomph. Well it's all academic. If a .38 Special was all I had, I suppose I'd just have had to make do with it.

[olyinaz]

I could get by just fine with:

M1 Garand
AR-15
12 ga. auto
Lever gun in .357
.40 S&W full size
.380 pocket gun

Covers all the bases I actually run around. Everything else is "just because".

Cheers,
Oly

[M. M. Wright]

Interesting thoughts guys.
Since I hunt and shoot SASS, (including some side matches) I need quite a few.

Handguns: 2 Colt SAAs in COLT FRONTIER SIX SHOOTER (44-40)
Shotgun: Baretta SxS 12 Ga., 26" IC and MOD
Rifle: 73 clone in 44-40
Big Rifle: 86 Winchester in 45-90
Pocket Pistol: S&W .38 break top
22 Rifle: 74 Winchester
22 Handgun: Ruger single six
CCW: Colt Cobra .38 special

[RIHMFIRE]

When it come to firearms....I dont like to be practical....its boring...
I buy what I can afford and what I like....mostly traditional stuff
although lately....in this crappy economy I have cut back....
I hunt with every lever gun i have...some more than others...from 22 to 38-55
Last week at the skeet, trap and 5 stand field I used 4 different shotguns...
a double, pumps and a semi-auto......hunt with them too....20, 16 and 12ga.
I also hunt with handguns too...actually....I just like to carry them...
all my game so far has been taken by long guns....
I have bow season covered, muzzleloader season...duck season, small game,
turkey season.. big game...up to 06'...plinking, the shotgun sports and defence
all covered....even a couple of antiques..
The only thing i dont have is ebrs

[Grizz]

to me the minimum practical battery is what I can carry. when I'm in the bear's woods, whatever is left on the boat or home in the rack isn't practical.

so, a .22 levergun and a redhawk .44 in combination will make meat and handle dispositions and situations anywhere on the continent. the .44 with 200g hollowpoint specials will handle the 'social' situations, with hardcast will harvest anything that walks and will stop anything that stalks. to me this is a very practical combination. I have often carried the redhawk concealed in Alaska. Bulky clothes assist, and no one catches on.

what I actually carry in the woods is the redhawk and guide gun. but I would give up the guide gun in favor of the .22 rifle because the overlap is more useful than the redundancy.

in bad times I would rely on traps and snares to harvest food, up to deer size animals. saving the ammo and stealthing my operation. but from squirrels to polar bears, from ducks to dinosaurs, I'd be fully supported by those two firearms, and I can keep them with me.

it could work the other way, a centerfire rifle and a .22 handgun, but that gives up a lot in a bear attack because bears often disarm their meals before they eat them, which is precisely why I carry the redhawk. the .22 will take anything a shotgun will, if needed that way.

think about the earthquake in Japan. the only guns in the 'battery' that can help you are the ones you have with you at that moment. this defines practical for me.

Regards,

Grizz

[jeepnik]

I could reduce my 'Practial Battery' to just ONE gun...!

If I just had ONE gun, maybe I'd make it a M-2, tripod-mounted .50 BMG belt-fed, and 10,000 rounds of ammo.

It would NOT be practical for whitetail deer.
It would NOT be practical for concealed carry.
It would NOT be practical for putting down livestock.
It would NOT be practical for plinking.
It would NOT be practical for teaching new shooters.
It would NOT be practical for target shooting.

Those are all the things I do most of.

However . . . if I had a .50 BMG, I could probably use it (one way or another) to GET the Ruger 10/22, Marlin 1894, Ruger Redhawk, Savage 10, DPMS 308, etc., etc., etc., that I feel I really 'need'...

Except you would need a couple of friends to help move it and set it up. Now, if you had a SAW...

[fknipfer]

Availability of ammo most concerns me with a four gun battery, here would be my choice:

Marlin Model 60 22lr
BLR .308 Winchester
Win 1300 12guage two barrels 24" and 28"
S&W Model 15 38 Special.

I think having the availability of ammo used by the local governments or military would keep you in touch with where and how to get it. All stores and sporting goods will have these rounds. I did not choose the AR15 as I don't ever intend to gt into combat and the .308 has much longer range and heavier bullets to keep you and yours fed. Model 15 is one of the straightest shooting guns of all time for a handgun. 22 for small game. 12 guage for defense and really big game.

Anyway that my humble opinion,

fknipfer1