If you could only have five guns?

Among shooters the question is often asked, "if you could only have five guns, what would they be?" There is no single best answer to this question. But, it is often interesting to see what some choose as their favorites.  

Massad Ayoob listed his five guns in this video...Massad's Top 5 Guns: Critical Mas Ep 09 with Massad Ayoob https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR81MBvrocQ

Clint Smith listed his five favorite guns here... Clint Smith's Top 5 Guns: Thunder Ranch Edition  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW1-XzQFWDg

Cascadia Survivalist's five guns are....

 1. A general purpose rifle, in .308 Winchester. A "scout rifle" as described by Jeff Cooper would be ideal for this rifle. While no rifle can do everything perfectly well, this rifle would meet most of my rifle requirements.

 2. A .22LR, specifically the Ruger 10/22 would be the next gun on my list. I would also include a suppressor (silencer) on this rifle to allow quite shots on small game.

 

3. Gun number three would be a shotgun. I like a double-barrel, shotgun in 12 gauge, for its versatility, and the ability to use adapters (https://www.gunadapters.com/) to fire multiple other gauges and calibers. If price were no object, this shotgun would be exchanged for a Drilling (such as the Merkel 96K).

 4. My fourth gun would be a 10mm semi-automatic pistol, such as the Glock Mod.40. This is a defensive sidearm, capable of offering protection against dangerous game (bears), as well as allowing one to address other urban predators (zombies?).

5. And, gun number five would be a large caliber revolver. In this case a Ruger Super Redhawk in .454 Casull (which is also capable of firing .45 Colt cartridges). This is a hunting handgun, also capable of providing defense against dangerous game. 

I do recognize that both handguns on my list of five are large firearms that do not lead themselves to being easily concealed. In the remote and wilderness areas of Cascadia the need for a concealed firearm is less important than a highly-effective firearm. Most people carry openly, or carry only semi-concealed... and even if you don't see that a person is carrying a firearm, if you simply assume that they are you will likely be correct. Still, if I was in an area (i.e., often in town) where concealability became important, I might switch out the Ruger Super Redhawk for a S&W Mod. 629 in .44 Remington Magnum. 

Like Massad Ayoob and Clint Smith, I have avoided the 5.56mm/.223 caliber rifle platforms, as this round is far less effective than the .308 for individual use. I have also avoided the semi-auto rifles in .308, not because the rifles are not well built and functional, but because as Jeff Cooper wrote: "The primary purpose of a rifle is a first shot hit, whether the target is game or a human antagonist. Semi-automatic fire does not assure this. As a matter of fact it sometimes distracts from it by letting the shooter believe that if he misses with his first shot he can always make up with a second. This is a bad attitude for a rifle man."