The right tool for the job...

There is an old saying that goes, "when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail".  This holds very true for a lot of situations, especially firearms.  I bring this up because while going through some safety briefings at a recent training outing a couple of friends and I were talking about what we carry, and own, and why.  I was surprised by what I consider a over reliance on the AR15, and the 9mm Glock.  Now, don't get me wrong, both of these are excellent weapon systems, and I own several of each, and they are my go to weapons, but only in certain circumstances.

The reality is a survival situation may not be the urban gunfight portrayed in movies.  It more then likely will be long hours of hiking or if you're lucky use of some other sort of manual transportation like a bicycle. In those cases a AR could work, but may not be the best thing.  Well, this is my "right tool" for that job.  Its my hiking camping and survival rifle, the Ruger 10/22 Takedown.

Now I'm not going to go into a review of the rifle, there are a ton of them on the web already, and I can't add much to that discussion. Its the philosophy of use and practical application of firearm that I want to focus on.  While without question a weak round by comparison, the 22lr has an advantage in that its light, so you can carry plenty, if you're accurate it can be deadly to both man and hunting, and its cheap enough that you can practice until your fingers cramp up, and thus can actually be good with it. Compare the weight of a 22lr to a 223 Remington round. Now multiply it by 200, or better yet 500!  Add that to all the gear you already need to hump for a 5 day hike, and thats where things get challenging.

As for the rifle itself, the 10/22 takedown splits in half, as the name implies.  It fairly light, it fits perfect in most back packs for hiking, but the pass through slots in the Kelty backpacks are a perfect place to carry it.

To increase my range and accuracy in hunting, I have outfitted mine with a mini-red dot scope.  I can carry enough gear to rough it for a long time, and the 10/22 would be perfect for rabbits and other small game.

There are other rifles that fit this bill, the first one that comes to mind is the Henrey US Survival rifle, and its also an great choice. The reason I prefer the Ruger is while it is a great pack/survival weapon, but its also a lot of fun to shoot, and its a great rifle for my son to use.  Its versatile enough to fill a few rolls, but when i think of a survival rifle, the 10/22 Takedown is the right tool for the job.