Hello BetterSafe

If you have your restricted PAL, think about getting a handgun. If you are going to bug in after SHTF and you do have to leave your house to get something, it would be a good idea to have some protection that can't be seen. A 12 gauge might just stand out a little to much.

Ihwaz

The 12 gauge is the every gun.
You can shoot shot, buck, slugs, flares, bear bangers, etc out of them.

You can't beat a .22 for most small game, rounds are cheap and plentiful, and there is no mag limit.

When you get into rifles, my feeling is that if it can take out a deer, you are pretty much covered.
The biggest concern of course is ammo, and availability, unless you reload yourself.

For a bug in situation, that is probably a great load out, but since you have an RPAL, don't overlook a handgun.
They are fun to take down to the range and pop a few rounds off, reasonably cheap to shoot, and great in close quarters.

And ammo. Lots of ammo.

Actually, for a bug in situation your list of firearms is very good. The .270 is a very good firearm for long distances and has a very flat trajectory making it quite accurate. The Ruger 10/22 is an exceptionally reliable and accurate rifle. I have sold many of these firearms in my days as a firearms sales rep. The best thing about these rifles is that 30 and 50 round magazines are easily obtained. Last but not least the 12 gauge shotgun has commonly been a popular close quarters gun. since ww1 most armies have had one form of 12 gauge in service. I would suggest a pump action over a semi auto because there is less moving parts to go wrong making it more reliable. All i can suggest over and above this is to make sure that you have a good supply of ammunition. I would say a minimum of 100 rounds each for the .270 and 12 gauge ( 00 or 000 buck shot) and 1000 rounds for the .22 . I hope this helps you with your prepping. good luck

@ phuqd. shooting flares through your 12 gauge is not advisable. they will damage the barrel of your shotgun. you are better off just to buy a bear scare shooter with flares

@ phuqd. shooting flares through your 12 gauge is not advisable. they will damage the barrel of your shotgun. you are better off just to buy a bear scare shooter with flares

There are flares now that are specifically designed to be shot through your shotgun, as well as chemical tracer rounds.

http://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2011/03/09/fiocchi-cyalume-chemical-tracer-shotgun-ammunition/

There are flares now that are specifically designed to be shot through your shotgun, as well as chemical tracer rounds.

http://www.everydaynodaysoff.com/2011/03/09/fiocchi-cyalume-chemical-tracer-shotgun-ammunition/

these rounds are not flares. they are a training aid used to help improve shooting accuracy. so again, I would not shoot flares out of any shot gun.

Like I said, there are flares that are designed to be shot from a shotgun, as well as chemical tracer rounds.
I provided the link to the chemical tracer rounds, which would work as a flare if you were concerned about shooting flares from your shotgun, even ones specifically designed for it like these.

http://www.macecanada.com/canada/wilderness1/cartridges/12_gauge_comet.htm
http://www.macecanada.com/canada/wilderness1/cartridges/12_gauge_flares.htm

Of course you have to follow the safety instructions, which specify an open choke only, and with the proper converter sleeves.

I've thought about the handgun, but it's low on the list of priorities. They sure are fun to shoot though!

As for the 12 gauge, torn between saving for the remington 870, or getting a Stevens 350 sooner with the plan to upgrade later.

Yes phuqd these are 12 gauge flares. If you would read a little closer to the advertisement they are to be fired out of a 25 mm launcher. Go to any reputable dealer of these flares and they will agree with me. They are not recomended to be shot from a 12 gauge shot gun. Most of them will not even clear the barrel of a shotgun longer than a coach gun. I was going to invest in these type of flares myself last summer but chose not to after researching them further.

I see that the comet flares can be shot from an open choke shotgun only . But again I would not advise the use of these flares in your shotgun. they can be easily mistaken for normal ammo while in your pocket and unless you are absolutely positive about what kind of choke you have on your gun they are unsafe. I have been involved with shooting and ammunition for over 30 years. This is just my opinion based on my experience

I have not had issues firing flares from shotguns in the past, but my experience is only with the Orion 12 gauge flares.
They don't always cycle well, they don't eject with a lot of pop, but I have never had a jam.
I will say they are very dirty and wouldn't want to fire a lot of them without cleaning my barrel.
My Mossberg has an 18.5" barrel.

The only chance of a barrel being damaged, is if the bore is too tight, and the flare gets get jammed. This can cause the barrel to heat up, potentially affecting the temper, and making the barrel unsafe to use.
To suggest firing a flare, that is normally shot from a plastic gun, would do more damage to a barrel that can shoot hundreds of pellets or slugs made of steel or lead is ridiculous.

The obvious choice would be to use the plastic pistol that comes with most flare guns, but in situation where space and weight are an issue, I would not hesitate to fire one out of a properly barreled shotgun.

Hi,

So, for a guy in a bug-in situation, does a .270, 10/22 and 12 gauge seem like a reasonable armoury?

BetterSafe,

So, may I guess you only want a 3 gun armoury or only a three calibre armoury???

What, realistically, is your defence budget - now and in the near future?? (Please do not post your answer.) Make your plan to remain inside your budget, even if your budget is scaled over a number of years. You will need firearms, cleaning supplies, target ammo, range supplies and a reserve of defence ammo.

A .270 will take everything from Moose or Elk and everything else on down the food chain. As you probably already know, your .270 is a necked down .30-06. So, power is not an issue. In the BC Interior it is probably a common enough round, but not as common as .30-06 or .308. If you are able to stockpile a comfortable supply, this becomes a non-issue, but if stockpile light it may be more challenging to find more ammo in tough times. I just want to point that out. Possible options if this is an issue: Get more ammo set aside. Or. Get a second rifle in .308 or .30-06. Or. Get a spare barrel for your rifle that is in .30-06 and if really tough times come along, change the barrel of your rifle to a more common calibre. How much ammo is enough?? Target practice at a box a month = 120 rounds per year. For your defence supply probably another 100 - 250 rounds.

.22 LR. The Ruger 10/22 is a fine platform with many after-market accessories. You will want at least 2 spare magazines. As for ammo. 100 rounds a month for target practice = 1200 rounds per year. Even with the recent price jacking .22LR is still cheap in the big picture. For your defence reserve you will want between a brick (500 rds) and a case (5000). Just be sure to try many types of ammo in your 10/22 and find the best ammo for yours. Some 10/22 or other semi-auto .22's will cycle better with one type of ammo and not another. Once you find out which brand, weight and bullet style works best get as much of that batch of ammo as you can afford. There are usually price breaks at the brick and then at the case level of purchasing.

12 ga. The 12 gauge is the most versatile defence platform. If you have a quality pump action, by changing barrels and loads you can adapt one weapon for many targets - birds, deer, bear or other predators. No matter what you get semi-auto or pump try to get the option of getting two barrels, 26" - 28" with chokes for geese and ducks as well as a slug barrel. Now if you are able you may want to get a second 12 gauge that is for defence with either a pistol grip or a combo pistol grip and six position adjustable stock. The longest barrel you will want with your second 12 is 18.5". A 3 or 4 round tube will be the maximum size magazine for this second shotgun.

Pistols. Unless you are ready to invest a couple hundred rounds a month to train with a pistol, it is not necessary from a bug-in stand point. Unless you already have a pistol or you really, really want to have one, I suggest waiting to purchase one. Tactically, a pistol is only a little better than a knife for the primary purpose of securing a rifle or carbine from the enemy. In most situations a compact 12 gauge will serve you better than a pistol ever will. Just my opinion of course.

Best of luck.

Mountainman.

Hi,

If you were to have 3 guns I would get those 3 as well. I have a Tikka 270 that I use for hunting. I have a Ruger 10/22 Takedown I use for plinking and love it - so cute and small! Not sure if you can find a Takedown anymore due to backorders. And a Winchester 1300 Defender (no longer available).
If I was to get another 12G I would get a Remington 870 - lots of options.
I wouldn't bother with a pistol. Too much hassle in my opinion. Unless you can go to the range to practice once in a while (can be fun though) you can have hunting/defense covered with those 3 guns.

MountainMan, not set on 3 guns or those 3 calibers. They just seem like they cover all the bases. I've finally been able to start stockpiling ammo - I was shooting it as fast as I could buy it in the summer.