Thursday, July 14, 2011

I've Said it Before

I've said it before, I'll say it again.  Never use a shotgun as your goto zombie weapon.  Foolish.  I should know.

It's great for onesy twosey, but zombies travel in hordes.  The reload time is murder and the ammo, while effective, is heavy and bulky.  Even 100 shotgun shells in magazines (thinking Saiga) is monstrous to carry compared to 100 rounds of .223 in magazines.

Oh, but you plan to hole up in the perfect shelter on cement stilts and take potshots at the shamblors gathered around your compound?  You need reach-out-and-touch ability of a rifle.  And would you rather have a storeroom full of cased rifle ammo versus 12 gauge in boxes?   You'd cram 3 times as much rifle ammo in there.

A shotgun is a backup weapon at best.  For the pot and to repel boarders in a desperate last stand type of thing before you dog the blastdoor shut.

Though the linked article does detail some interesting survival accoutrement that could apply to many long guns.  The mini-bayonet might not be the most effective in that configuration, admittedly.  Like your primary weapon.  Your rifle.

10 comments:

Marty said...

What you need is a stilt cabin with a ladder you can raise up. Then about 300 yards away you need a loud speaker on a poll with a speaker that you can cry into to draw the shamblers away from your stilts.

You don't want a pile of rotting bodies under your cabin.

Hide inside and make sounds. Eventually they get drawn away.

Bubblehead Les. said...

As I've commented elsewhere, I think that the most effective Zombie Removal tool available to the masses today is the M1 Garand with the LONG (16") Bayonet. 8 rounds of guaranteed Brain Scrambling Ammo, same ammo capacity as an extended tube 12 gauge pump, much faster reload, much easier to carry ammo on the body, durable, easier to clean, solid enough for CQB in case of a jam. With the old pre-WW2 16" Bayonet, you have a much sturdier Head Chopper than a Machete, plus once it's mounted, it allows you to easily pierce the skulls on those Zeds who are crawling towards you w/o their lower torsos, yet who can still grab your legs and infect you through an ankle bite. Atlanta Cutlery sell quality repo's for around $80 plus the cost of the scabbard sets you back another $30. And once you start shooting, the "TING" from the clip ejecting gets lost in the muzzle blasts of Combat, as Larry David showed in one of his Tactical Arms shows.

The only problem is that most of them came in 30-06, and the days of buying mass quantities of MilSurp at a cheap price are long gone. However, for those who have a Navy Garand in 7.62 Nato can use those German 200 round Battle Packs from CheaperthanDirt at $86 a pack plus shipping. Wouldn't happen to know anyone who has a Navy Garand, do you?

Andrew Sarchus said...

I always thought it was some campy fear of inhaling aerosolized zombie goo or getting it splattered in your eye, but you make a very good point.

NotClauswitz said...

Bubblehead Les - One can get a CMP field-grade Garnad for $495 and re-barrel/chamber it in .308 for kicks.
As for Zeds maybe a M1 Carbine is enough.

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

I wish M1 Carbines and .30 carbine ammo were as plentiful now as they were 20-30 years ago. That would indeed make a handy Zed gun.

Anonymous said...

AR15 with ten 35 round mags and a Good, cold steel, Katana would be my tools of choice.

Bubblehead Les. said...

Brother T-Bolt: As the proud owner of 2 M1 Carbines, it has gotten to the point where they are getting too expensive to shoot. And since the Ammo Fairy refuses to airdrop a resupply during a Crisis (as Clint Smith likes to say), I'm keeping them for Emergency Use Only.

Brother Dirt Crasher: I know. Very Tempting. And since Camp Perry is just an hour and a half from my house... maybe My Buddy the Gunsmith has some spare time....

Anonymous said...

Totally off topic. You said you were jonesing for a Southpaw Ruger Scout rifle. Go to gunbroker, guess Ruger forgot to put it on their homepage

45er said...

I like a shotty for a nice backup when you need some instant devastation. It's all about the mag-fed carbine as your primary. A friend gave me a shotgun scabbard ala "Zombieland" and I don't use it much, but it is awesome for our zombie runs to pull that in the middle of a string.

Timmeehh said...

.223 won't kill a zombie, you need at least a 30-30 for close range and 308 for medium.

If the zombies get real close, you better have a 12 ga. Nothing puts 'em down faster and you need to put 'em down fast when they get close, or you'll be doin' the zombie shuffle.