Firearms For The Homestead

I am often asked if firearms are necessary for the self sufficient homestead and if they are, which firearm would be best to have. First, yes, firearms are necessary tools for the homestead. Like any tool, such as hammers, rakes and hoes, firearms play an important role on the homestead. Secondly, firearms are indeed tools. No one firearms will do everything you need a firearm for on the homestead. You wouldn't use a hoe to chop wood and you wouldn't use an axe to change a tire. Similarly, you wouldn't hunt grouse with your elk rifle and you wouldn't use a shotgun for long range range over 200 yard shooting. A rifle chambered in .22 LR will cause less damage in your garden when eliminating wild pests like rabbits than a shotgun. You can't carry a rifle or shotgun in your tractor, but a side arm can always be available. Like hammers, firearms come in many varieties and, like hammers, this is because each variety of firearm is designed to do a specific job. So, which firearm is best for the homestead?
You will need at least a few firearms types and to be totally equipped in your firearms tool box you should possess six types of firearms. These six types will keep your self sufficient homestead working more smoothly. First, let's look at the most necessary types of firearms. Those would be the first few that I mentioned at the top of the paragraph. Number one is the shotgun. The shotgun is an extremely versatile firearm. With slugs you can take large game out to 75 yards. Switch to bird shot for small game and you now have a firearm that will take any game in North America and most places on Earth. Buckshot and flechettes will handle self defense and defense of the homestead. Currently, I am recommending the Remington 1100, 870 and 11-87 for your homestead shotgun. You can purchase an extra barrel to shoot slugs in some of these longarms. In others all that is necessary is changing choke tubes. The above models are also repeaters, meaning that they utilize a tube magazine holding more than one round, allowing follow up shots.
Number two firearm type you will need is a rifle. If you are living on your homestead already, make this a hunting rifle. You will want something chambered in .30-06 for greatest versatility in the lower 48 united States. This will take deer, elk, black bear and even moose. For Alaska and areas with grizzly, polar and Kodiak bears, you will want at least a .300 Winchester Magnum. The .300 Win Mag can be loaded to take big bear, carribou and moose. It may also be used in long range shooting for mountain sheep and goat. Get a sling and scope for your rifle. The best choices for rifles is Savage, Winchester and Remington.

You now have the means for hunting large and small game and the ability to take large game at longer ranges as well as to provide yourself with some defense. So far, your firearms collection is becoming very versatile, but you'll need the ability to carry a firearm with you when you need it. Since you may need a firearm anytime, you should carry at all times. This is where a sidearm is very handy. It will fit in places a longarm can't and may be continuously carried on the hip without inconvenience. There is an age-old controversy over which type of sidearm is better; revolver or semi-automatic.  For homesteading and survival purposes I tend to reccomend the most versatile. In this case, the winner is the revolver.

A big bore revolver goes a long way in your survival and homesteading tasks. A handgun chambered in .44 Magnum can bag deer and elk size game using .44 Mag heavy loads out to 75-100 yards. Loaded with lighter kicking .44 special defense loads, the same revolver is an excellent defensive handgun allowing double taps and follow up shots. The revolver becomes even more versatile when cases are loaded with shot-shells. These are plastic shells that are seated in place of a bullet. The plastic shell is filled with bird shot or bbs. The shot-shell's load stays within the shell when traveling down the barrel. Upon leaving the barrel the shell is discarded and the shot travels to the target. This gives the revolver the ability to take small game within 5 to 10 yards. Big bores are better for this as they have better capacity to hold more shot. Beside the .44 Magnum, the .45 Long Colt also has the capacity for such versatility. The .45 LC is also the same diameter as the .410 shotshell and will give you some interesting rifle/pistol/shotgun combinations for survival and the homestead. Best revolvers for this purpose will be the Ruger Super Redhawk available in .44Magnum and .454 Casul/.45 LC.

If you must have a semi-auto and it is going to be your only sidearm, make it as versatile as possible. John Browning's 1911 design is tough and durable. It has been proven time and again over its 100 years of history. It's all steel design also gives it its versatility. By purchasing the .460 Rowland dropin kit you can give your .45 ACP 1911 the enhanced performance of a .44 Magnum. The dropin kit allows you to fire the .460 Rowland in you sidearm which has .44Mag performance giving you the ability to take large game like deer and elk at 75-100 yards. Sidearms capable of this conversion are limited to steel framed 1911 designs. Springfield Armory, Colt and some Para Ordnance sidearms are best for this purpose. Such sidearms are not capable of firing shotshells, but may be converted to .22 LR to take small game.

The above is your bare minimum firearms tool box. Our next entry will be concerning enhancing that tool box with three more firearms types that will help us with more jobs around the homstead and for survival. Don't forget to keep checking http://northwoodstraders.ecrater.com/. We are currently working to find more sources for survival tools and winterizing the smithy for winter production runs.