The only thing you need besides good iron sights is light. One set of batteries to worry about is enough. Yeah......I know...... 10 million hours from the batteries.....IRONS and white light: thats it!
Pretty much a center fire 22 Mag. Buy a Kel-Tec instead. And the ammo is EXPENSIVE.
"All other things being equal a good little hammer is better than a good big hammer........No?"
I'd try a pistol scope in the 2-8 variable range. Set it in some QD rings then mount it anywhere forward of the receiver you choose. You won't need to have it mounted all the time but you can carry it in your rifle case ready to go. See if Leupold or Nikon have what you need.
You guys are tough! I personally prefer either Palin and/or Bachman to what we've got now and to most people Russia and the Soviet Union are still interchangable terms. It just ain't quite that serious. Now if Bachman would decide to bomb Moscow and had decided it was in Indiana.....well...
Stay in the surroundings with which you are most familiar. Defending your home from the OUTSIDE may make more sense than being inside. Leave only as a last resort unless, of course, you're in the big cities. In that event I'd be thinking seriously of getting out NOW.
The only trouble I see with ANY auto is that the 1911 pattern and the Glocks have parts and magazines EVERYWHERE. If you're buying with hard times and scarce supplies in mind remember that there'll be parts and mags for 1911's and Glock's probably almost forever. The others, no matter how good...
For the price of the battery and the charging unit I think I'd go to Midway USA and get a bulk pack of Streamlight CR123's(or several packs).
Unless rechargables have come a LONG way I've never seen any I would trust.
What would you do if they came to your house?
Something to think seriously about because once people begin to get hungry they may well pay you a visit! Of course I've been accused of being supersticious.
How many times has a "No firearms Allowed" sign at the door stopped you from entering unless you were being electronically screened? Just out of curiosity. Might make an interesting poll question.
GP 100: if you shoot a LOT of cast bullets between cleanings(say, oh, 500 or so!) that front lock can get crudded up.
686: just the new ones: Smith seems to be having problems putting barrels on so they are not canted. Doesn't affect function but it looks BAD. Pick your 686 out of the showcase...
The stuff that's common to us now is the stuff that will be the most valuable for barter 'cause it's the most common NOW to everyone else and the stuff the uniformed won't have when they need it.
Nothing but handloads for any purpose for ohhhh........a LONG time. If the shoot is good it's good. When I carried for a living we were told it could easily cost 10K to get out of a GOOD shoot and that's been 40 years ago. The theory was, of course, the civil suit. Unfortunately Police were not...
Try the Penn Bullets site. Their premium bullets are rated to 1600fps without leading. If you don't get crazy with your powder charges you won't need the aftermarket barrel either.