The perfect survival rifle

Many blogs and gun writers will have you believe there is this mythical creation known as "The Perfect Survival Rifle" 

I'm sorry but that is bushwah.

There is no "Perfect" weapon for every situation.  There are too many factors involved to ever make such a determination. 

What are those factors?

The person using the rifle is the major determining factor.  Their height, weight, are they left or right handed, do they wear glasses, how strong their hands are, how strong they are, how much they can carry, do they have any disabilities.  There are a whole plethora of factors which would determine what would be the best rifle "For Them"

Not everyone is the same, and not everyone has the same needs for their rifle.  Some might need a small easy to carry or store rifle, other might need a rifle that is hard hitting with lots of power. 

An Alaskan hunting guide needs a heavy caliber to protect his clients from the wildlife that is hunting them while they are hunting.  A suburban mother or father of 2 needs a rifle that can be stored where small hands can't get to it, that is capable of being used to instruct said small children in safe handling.  Do they really need a .338 Remington Magnum bolt action rifle?  Or would a Ruger 10-22 be best for them?

There are many people who claim "You NEED this rifle with THESE accessories to survive"  And many people believe the hype and buy themselves too much gun.  They find it difficult for their whole family to use, ammunition is expensive, storage unless you already have a gun safe is difficult as well.  And also it's unsafe without proper storage.

So what is the perfect survival rifle?

There is no such thing.

There is however the perfect survival "Weapon"

And that is your mind.

Use it.

Decide what best fits your needs and budget.  Yes you can read all the posts and stories from the gun magazines and websites.  But do not let those sway your judgement.  Just because XYZ company came out with the whiz-gee -7mm superannuated magnum dust fribbler, doesn't mean you have to have one.

Use your head.

Define your needs

Define your budget

Ensure you can store it properly

Read all the literature you can get on it.  Be sure to look for the bad reviews, almost every firearm out there has at least 3 bad reviews.  Even if the author of the review was nit picking, some of those nits might pertain to you.

Locate someone or a range that rents firearms, that has one.  Try it out.  I don't mean two or three magazines full of shooting, I mean put several hundred rounds through it at the range.  Is the recoil manageable, are the sights easy to use and intuitive, are the ergonomics good for you, is it easy and comfortable to reload, is it accurate, those are some of the questions you need to answer.

Now that you've done that, see how available accessories and replacement parts are for it.  If there is a dearth of accessories and replacement parts are hard to come by you need to reconsider if the weapon is right for you.  Also is the weapon easy to work on in the field if you had to.

There is no easy answer to these queries, but you have to know the answer to all of them BEFORE you decide to buy that weapon.

Remember, there is no "Perfect" survival rifle.  There is however a perfect weapon.

If you train it and if you use it.