What i have done. IF i had to leave in a hurry i would not be taking my battle rifle (to heavy). I would grab my 10 22, it has a synthetic stock, inside is extra ammo 20 rounds, firing pin,extractor and spring,oil bulb,patches,bolt buffer. Just repair parts that take up no room or weight.
The above are in the front under the barrel.
Lots of room left over in the back of the stock for a small knife,matches,lighter whatever you see fit. Just an idea some preppers have had before me. Be warned the ruger 10 22 cap on butt stock (on mine) is clued on not snapped in place.
Maybe do the same to my Mossberg 500 💡

Hey Grouchers, long time no see!
great add in post as well!!! The Ruger 10 22 is probably one of the very best survival rifles out there.

for peoples info ... History of the .223 round in synopsis

.223 round was originally a tumbler round
problems with it, soldiers and Geneva Convention issues
changed to a drilling round.

So, neither options old ammo or new ammo good for hunting. The .223 will drill right through the animal or human, as it is designed to due to wound as much as possible and penetrate lightweight armour on vehicles, metal doors and body armour.

Go with a hunting round, it is what it is designed for when hunting. .223 is a defensive / offensive round for para-military and military options, do what it is designed for.

Survival Rifle to my way of thinking is for survival, hunting small game, perhaps defending from larger predators. I would rather take a hunting round which will down an animal on the spot or in a few yards, etc. Than take a military Drilling round, have it go clean through with minimum damage, only wounding animal and have that animal take off for miles. That is a lot of tracking!
.
As stated a few times before, like a knife there is no perfect One all round solution, there are combos of or close to the perfect rifle and knife. It all depends on the situation, the location, type of terrain, so many variables. Then of course you get into skill levels, backgrounds and all other kinds of variables.
quick example, bullet trajectory vs different and varied terrain.
so a bullet with a high arc trajectory would not be very good in dense or semi dense bush
a flat trajectory bush round and rifle would be much better there.

* what is your need
* what is your location
* what is your skill level
* what is your size (people come in all sizes and shapes, men and women)
* what is your end result for the firearm
* what is your mode of travel
just a few of the questions you should be asking yourself, write them down on paper, then go find out the answers.

I wish there was a like this post button..
Some damn bright people on here.
Good post Wildernessreturn.

One thing I have to say about "tumbling" rounds.
They are crap for just about any use.
The reason they tumble is because they are unstable and too light. Which means they will tumble if they hit a small branch..
It may not be practical for survival but a nice 30.06 will go right through a tree; Forget tumbling.
The 223 tumbling rounds were meant to deflect when they hit anything solid like a bone.
It means if you try to hunt with them where you hit may not be where the bullet goes..
Expanding bullets are much better for hunting. At least they go in straight lines.

And learn how to take care of them.
You may not need to be able to strip them blind folded but practice with them.
I've seen people lose parts.. Sometimes I was thankful they did..

My rule for teaching people to shoot was
If you can't clean it and you can't sight it in, You Can't touch it.

When you are talking about the .223 as a military cartridge do you mean the 5.56x45 ? They are pretty close but technically not the same. The 5.56 was derived from the .223. The 2 chamberings are potentially interchangeable, but you are best to do some research on your particular make/model before you start using 5.56 in .223 and vice versa.

I would think it wouldn't be hard to find a decent hunting/survival load for the .223. And it does seem to get some play as a varmint round. Cartridges of the World by Barnes is a great resource for the serious gun crank.

And for the record the "perfect all around survival rifle" is a 12 gauge shotgun 😀

Not really getting the disrespect for the .223, while it may be derived from an ineffective military round, it's life as a hunting round had been quite successful.

Its extremely accurate to 300 yds. It carries killing velocity and kenetic energy beyond even that. You can handload with some very impressive expanding bullets and there are quite a few commercial options available now too.

Regardless, for hunting it is ideal for head-shooting. A head shot on anything from gopher to moose is going to be a kill shot because of the penetration values already mentioned. Even if you're using a hard nosed bullet, the impact compression, skull fragmentation, etc is all lethal.

Typically headshots are frowned upon when hunting game species, but encouraged on coyotes/wolves loping 200 yds away, etc. I say what's good for the goose is good for the gander. If you're in a survival situation, hopefully you're firearm tool of choice is like an extension of yourself. Meaning your rig (gun & scope) and yourself should be able to make insta-kill shots whenever possible. Most .223s could be that for most shooters.

I think my personal choice would be a trip barrel combo 20 or 12 gauge.

What are the reviews from those who own a CZ 858
Just something I may add to the collection the price of ammo is good!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=evr_tP9cJWY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wqgSSAh8Cqs

http://www.shtfblog.com/internet-armchair-commando-warriors-your-biggest-threat-wtshtf/
an interesting discussion on another blog that has merit.

There are a lot of factors to take into account in selecting a perfect all-round survival rifle.
1. Your environment including topography, vegetation, elevation, climate;
2. Your skill level such as shooting the weapon, loading it, cleaning it, storing it;
3. Your skill level in making ammunition for it, obtaining the materials to make ammunition, storing those materials;
4. Your ability to repair and maintain the weapon, obtaining and maintaining the tools for these activities;
5. Your budget to buy the weapon and the other related equipment and tools for all of the above;

We live in rolling farmland in Eastern Ontario: fields, forests, swamps, creeks and rivers. About 750 - 900 feet above sea level. -30 to +30 temperatures; fairly dry in winter and fairly humid in the summer. Even though I have some skills in items 3, 4, and 5 above I am not an expert.

I have a Savage 24 with the .22/.410 combination. I might be cheating a little here because this is sort of like 2 guns in one, but, it's still one weapon! lol The .22 can take virtually any small game and, in certain situations, can take medium-sized game. The .410 is great for small game and fowl. The gun is fairly simple (granted I am used to it) and is easy to clean and repair; ammunition is fairly easy to make with straightforward tools.

under the assumtion im bugging in, the right tool for the right job, shotguns are great inside of 50 yards, even 75 with slugs, its hard to beat a .22 for rabbits but i wouldnt want to try it on anything big and angry, a good centerfire bolt action or semi auto is nice for reaching out and touching something at long ranges but, well it just doesnt do rabbits and partridge very well.
you can buy a single shot 12 or 20 guage, a mosin nagant and a decent .22 fairly cheap.
For a total of around 500 dollars you have a combination you can use to harvest any game in northamarica as well as self defense, 300 rounds birdshot for the 12guage is another 90 at walmart and bulk boxes of rifles slugs are about 15 for 15, 350 bucks will get you an 880rnd box of surplus for the mosin, 550 rounds for the 22 is around 30 bucks.
On the other hand, bugging out with only one gun, or only able to afford one gun, my personal choice is the shotgun, i can handload with promitive tools and a candle, and its the only gun you can buy that will the leave meat still on the rabbit and maintain the ability to drop an angry bear.
but hey, hate to use this phrase but its not what youve got its how good you are with it,,,
reloading link for the shotgun here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ4IBv0Bg9U

Would a .22 be enough to drop a coyote? Failing that, would dog spray or bear spray be effective in driving them off if needed? We seem to have a lot of them in my area.

I would be carefull buying the surplus mosin I recently had a box and about 30% were misfires, so if you buy it make sure you practice with it to make sure it is OK, so when the time comes that you NEED it.

With the Mosin it could be that the firing pin isnt adjusted properly. Maybe you know about that already and the ammo is the probem but for those who don't, the Mosin Nagant firing pins are adjustable and usually the rifles come with a takedown tool with notches in it for the min and max firing pin protrusions. When you pull the trigger, if the firing pin is adjusted back too far, it wont impact the primer enough to ignite. If it's set out too extreme, it could pierce the primer and send all the hot gas and possibly bolt parts out into your face. So if you get a Mosin Nagant, which is a great rifle for the price, make sure you look into that and with any old rifle, check the headspace or have a gunsmith do it for you. Lots of vids on Youtube to show you what to do.

I was having the problem on 2 different rifles, but i did not know that about the firing pin adjustment i will have to investigate that, Thank you very much for the info.

Justin

I'm sure you can kill a coyote with a .22 but it isn't very ethical. Use something large enough for a clean kill. I don't hunt them but I would think something like .223 would be better.
They have very sensitive noses, pepper spray would certainly get their attention. It gets mine when the wind is going the wrong way.

I'm sure you can kill a coyote with a .22 but it isn't very ethical. Use something large enough for a clean kill. I don't hunt them but I would think something like .223 would be better.
They have very sensitive noses, pepper spray would certainly get their attention. It gets mine when the wind is going the wrong way.

wind direction doesnt matter with buckshot;)