Survival guns – now available at your local . . .
Apparently all of the recent unpleasantness has created a bit of an upsurge in “survival-rated” weapons. Although I was pretty young at the time, I remember a lot of gun ads in the early 80’s really angled towards the “survivalist” user of weapons. I have a great ad on the wall of my office of a blue-jean and flannel-clad outdoorsman with his backpack and AR-7 survival rifle – ready to defend home and hearth against the communist menance. And of course everyone remembers Robin William’s HK 93 in “The Survivors” – never shoot a man in his gun. Figuratively or otherwise.
Anyway, here are some recent offerings from some major gun manufacturers:
Mossberg – JIC: Just in Case
I first saw this item at the big gunshow in Houston. It includes a Mossberg 500 shotgun (with pistol grip), a small survival kit, and comes packed in waterproof burial tube (or submersion tube is maybe the right term here). It doesn’t come with ammo – or maybe it’s folded up in the small metal container?
Smith and Wesson Model 460ES – Emergency Survival Kit
I was at Cabela’s when I glanced across the counter and noticed the hand cannon in the bright yellow pelican case.
Here is what the kit contains:
– Smith & Wesson Model 460XVR, 2 3/4″ Barrel with Bright Yellow Hogue® recoil reducing (! – Ed.) grip – Waterproof Storm® Case
– Blast Match™ Firestarter and WetFire tender
– Saber Cut™ Saw with fabric sheath
– Jet Scream™ whistle
– Star Flash™ signal mirror
– Polaris® compass
– Two MPI Mylar Space® Emergency Blankets
– Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops Liner Lock Folding Knife with Black Sheath
– “Bear Attacks of the Century – True Stories of Courage and Survival” book by Larry Mueller and Marguerite Reiss
Extra credit goes to anyone who can write a short story using all of the above items . . .
The two space blankets are a nice touch, but after you tag the bear with the hand cannon, you could probably just climb inside the carcass all TonTon style. I also think it’s good that there is a picture of an angry bear and a book of antecdotes on taking the suckers out. You never know in what circumstances you may need the kit and its nice to know you’ll have the right info in case you don’t have your wits about you.
I kid, I kid. The dude at Cabelas said they had sold a few, but I can’t imagine what you’d need it for around here. Seriously, though . . . I want one of those things. 🙂
Here is more info on a similar set-up:
There have also been at least a small number of Model 500 “survival guns” produced. These guns, with a 2 in (51 mm) barrel and no compensator, are intended to be kept in survival kits carried by bush pilots and pilots operating in Alaska and similarly hostile environments. The purpose of having such a heavy round with a snub-nosed barrel is to give survivors of an airplane crash a weapon capable of taking down an attacking bear or other hostile wildlife at point blank range, while conserving necessarily limited ammunition. The short barrel allows the gun to take up less space and weight in the survival kit.