.38/.357 Rifle-Revolver Combo As Ideal for the Prepper

[Boerrancher]

If things ever fell completely apart and there was a total breakdown in civilazation I would not want to have to depend solely upon a 357 rifle pistol combo for my survival. As I said in my last post I think it is a great combo for working around the farm and going for walk abouts.

In a total break down I would have caches stashed all over my AO. My primary side arm would be either a 1911 or a 357 mag and my rifle would be the M1A or an AR in 5.56 and they would accompany me everywhere. I would keep the RUMs at the house because from there I have a good vantage point and can take full advantage of the RUM's extended range to protect the only ingress to the place.

Relying on only one weapons system in times of trouble will be a huge mistake, unless you plan to acquire more as you go along and are skilled enough to do so with out getting killed. I have been in fire fights up close and personal and it isn't very fun. It is much nicer to have them at several hundred yards away and the .357 doesn't have enough of a maximum effective range to be considered a good defensive weapon in a total break down of society where you could be confronted by roving gangs, and you will need the ability to engage multiple targets at a distance, and there again the 357 just won't cut it.

Best wishes

Joe

[preparehandbook]

I just stumbled on this thread.

I am in the middle of a similar project.

My father in law lives on a very remote homestead and does some trapping and smallish game hunting. He recently told me he was looking for a good .357 sidearm for day to day use. I found him a used stainless Taurus with a 6" barrel.

Then the pistol/rifle combo idea hit me and I managed to buy a new-old-stock barrel from an IMI timberwolf (.357 levergun). I am about halfway through mating it to a 1910 single shot break open shotgun by carving away most of shotgun barrel until it is just a ring at the breach and a ring at the front of the forestock and then turning down the .357 barrel to slide in.

I'll upload some pics when I'm done.

[Arctic Blues]

I prescribe to the 5.56/9mm school.

Practally the most popular ammo in the world.
Even in this day and age, it is still cheep. If you can find it.
Lots and lots of brass ect around.

Keep the '06 and .308 ect at the house.
Lots of that stuff around also.

Best of luck fellers!

[preparehandbook]

I prescribe to the 5.56/9mm school.

The problem I see with this combo is that shooting 9mm through a 5.56 creates insane chamber pressure and the old no-bullet-coming-out problem. 5.56 through a 9mm takes a lot of force to close the breech and the bullet to bore fit is a little loose and tends to blow out the shoulder and neck of the case...

On a more real note...

Here in Eastern Washington 9mm is in very short supply, my LGS has not had any in over a month. I am stocked up sufficiently for my carry gun (6906).

[olafhardt]

The closest thing to a do it all is a shotgun although it is lacking in range. I am kinda decrepit and I feel my most likely option if SHTF is to just die besides the woods is going to be full of preppers looking to shoot something. Therefore I ain't worrying about it. Those of us that like wheel guns and levers have an opportunity to pick up a lot of 38/357's and 30-30's being traded in.

[Outpost75]

The closest thing to a do it all is a shotgun although it is lacking in range. I am kinda decrepit and I feel my most likely option if SHTF is to just die besides the woods is going to be full of preppers looking to shoot something. Therefore I ain't worrying about it. Those of us that like wheel guns and levers have an opportunity to pick up a lot of 38/357's and 30-30's being traded in.

I agree with you on the shotgun, if you are willing to accept its distinct limitations.

I started a separate thread on it. Comments welcome.

[shaper]

I am 70 years old, retired and trying to make it on a small retirement check and social security. I read about these very expencive black wounder weapons and just turn the page. In my position, as well as a lot of other people doing the same, the best I can do is use my hunting guns, a tried and true 30-06 and a 12 ga. pump. And with being able to do my own reloading and casting, each one of these guns will be able to give a good account of their abilities when the time comes to use them.

[Outpost75]

I am 70 years old, retired and trying to make it on a small retirement check and social security. I read about these very expencive black wounder weapons and just turn the page. In my position, as well as a lot of other people doing the same, the best I can do is use my hunting guns, a tried and true 30-06 and a 12 ga. pump. And with being able to do my own reloading and casting, each one of these guns will be able to give a good account of their abilities when the time comes to use them.

I am only a few years younger than you, but agree 100% with your assessment.

The youngsters focus too much on the equipment when they should be establishing the mind set.

Don't mess with an old soldier, he'll just kill you.

[ironhead7544]

I agree with this concept. I would add some heavy cast flatpoints for larger game hunting. Whatever bullets used they should feed 100% in the rifle.

[preparehandbook]

Years back when I worked on a ranch in Northern California we had a lot of problems with pot growers. One of our neighbors was one and spent his spare time doing meth.

One day he saw me out tending livestock and decided to shoot me with his fancy plastic rifle. We were about 400 yards apart and he stood there with no particular shooting form banging away, his groups were about 40 feet across. Being a pragmatic sort of guy I stepped behind a large water tank as even a stray shot can kill. As he got more and more frustrated his groups suffered and after about 30 shots he gave up.

This experience tended to reinforce what I have observed at shooting ranges. Most folks don't have the discipline to shoot accurately while sitting at a comfortable bench with their rifle resting on a shot bag and peering through a $400 optic, let alone standing, running, under pressure and out of breath.

That being said I still have no intention, regardless the size of any calamity, of using it as an excuse to play John Wayne and scamper about exchanging bullets with my fellow citizens.

[Outpost75]

Did you report the incident? What was the law enforcement response?

Where I live the Sheriff has no sense of humor regarding such matters.

[preparehandbook]

Did you report the incident? What was the law enforcement response?

Where I live the Sheriff has no sense of humor regarding such matters.

I laughed pretty hard at that.

In the emerald triangle region of northern california a rapid response time is 4-6 hours, a slow response time is never. Shots fired without an injury is a big nothing there. The police would not show up to a known pot grow without a helicopter and maybe half a dozen deputies, so it has to be worth it, if there had been an injury they would have shown up. This is disregarding the whole corruption aspect.

I chose not to fire back because I was able to move to a position of safety, and not firing was a very legally defensible position.

When the owner of the ranch I worked at returned I told him and he visited the shooter's ranch, he carefully explained that shooting people attracts helicopters, helicopters mean the two other neighbors would lose their million dollar crops. At that point the neighbors would kill everyone involved in drawing police attention.

Such is the crazyness of pot growing regions and the reason why I got paid good money as security on a llama ranch. I couldn't care chicken lips if they want to grow their weed, but it brings a lot of crime and violence with it.

[Outpost75]

Thanks for the explanation. I forgot that California is like a different country. My own county on the other side of the country looks better to me all the time.

[preparehandbook]

Now that I live in Washington state I will never even visit California again.

[Jack Stanley]

After owning three of the "combination calibers" 38/357 , .44 and .45 Colt I got a chance to try the accuracy angle with them . I've found it tends to work better to try and get good accuracy with the handgun first . With all three of these calibers the carbine accuracy was very good or better with the same ammo .

Bullet style is very important at least for the lever rifle and you know the revolver could care less as long as the cylinder can turn . In the small bore combo the "cowboy" bullets work pretty well . Oddly enough I found a Lyman mold that makes acceptable bullets and they shot better than the LEE offering . Niether one however is as accurate as the LBT hundred eighty-five grain flat nose bullet I use . I've never had a chance to poke a hole in an elk with one of these bullets . I would however like to see how deep it could drive into such a beast , Veral was rather postive in his praise for this bullet loaded hard and fast . I'm currently fooling with loading some very heavy 358430 round nose , accuracy is getting good at ten point eight grains of 2400 in the magnum case .

I do know that this type of a setup is limited in range especially when compared to an M1A . Fortunately we don't have bears big enough to eat ya but if there was I'd probably want bigger power package nearby ........ ummmm maybe I could try a 45/70 combo ?

The concept of having a 38/357 because it can be fed cheaply though , I really can't find any fault with at all . Most everything in this area can be put down with a heavy weight .357 including motorcyles and small cars . Though I think I'd stay away from the buffalo farm across town , I think he has some pretty big guns too . If these combos were to be used to defend against others armed with semi-auto stuff one would have to rethink the way of doing battle . Could it be done ? I think I'd ask one of these guys that's been in a gunfight .

Nice post by the way .

Jack

[preparehandbook]

I have been in more than a couple firefights in both military and police context. In my experience the vast majority of people regardless of level of training pretty much shoot in roughly the general direction of their opponent. The few individuals who manage to remain calm and take an aimed shot do much better regardless of who has the larger magazine or more gadgets on their weapon.

Give me a single shot rifle of fair to middling accuracy and something thick to hide behind and I would not feel under gunned against the typical "tactical guy" and his souped up AR because when he figures out his video game skills don't count in the real world he'll loose his nerve and start spraying and praying.

Why fire a whole magazine full of bullets? Just shoot the one that is going to connect with the bad guy and save the rest for game animals.

I know this post sounds all tough, but I'm no bad-***, I'm just a fat old bastard that doesn't want any trouble.

[Outpost75]

I have heard the same arguement from every retired lawman I know. It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the will to fight in the dog. Ankle biter who can grab your balls and hang on wil prevail.

[joecz858]

My 1894 in .357 is one of my favourite rifles, I love the calibre.

[Superfly]

10 grns of blue dot under a 170 grn plain base with a mag primer and there is no one that would want to play catch with it. I use this in all my 357 rifles and pistols

[220]

Never really given the SHTF scenario to much thought, don't know about everywhere else but around here there is a lot more small game than large. I would be relying on small game to keep my stomach full and 357 is going to leave more meat to eat then the larger cals.