Notably off the list

There were also a few staples of the Zombie/Gunshow/Red Dawn/post-TSHTF culture that were left off of the list.

MBRs – No main battle rifles were included on the list because these rifles are specifically designed for combat with living adversaries. A great weapon for home defense and a real post-SHTF scenario, but the larger round would be overkill (LOL) on an undead adversary. I came really close to including a M1 Garand rifle (it’s almost a rifle, club, and pike all in one), but alas . . .

Double Barrel, 12-gauge shotgun – Though personally I would probably opt to have some type of double barrel shotgun strapped to my back in an Evil-Dead-style rig, it would never be my primary arm. Absolutely devastating on anything in short range and extremely high on the cool factor – you just can’t reload fast enough to take down all of your recently reanimated friends and neighbors.

Ruger Mini-14 Ranch or Ruger Mini-30 rifle – Despite all of the love that these weapons got in the A-Team, I have never been a big fan of the rifles. A Mini-14 is not a bad rifle per say, but although it has the look – it has never been a military grade rifle and I don’t think it is rough enough for the sustained use one would see in a zombie war situation. A hunting buddy of mine had a Ruger Mini-30 that was unable to fire surplus 7.62x39mm ammunition because the firing pin wasn’t hard enough! I can’t imagine buying anything in that caliber and then not being able to fire surplus ammo – the cheaper ammo being one of the primary reasons to even get the rifle to begin with . . .

.22 caliber rifle – Though a good, lightweight .22 caliber rifle should be the core item in your wilderness E&E kit or Bug-out bag, it can never serve as the primary dispatch weapon for an undead adversary. Perfect for hunting small game and other animals, it lacks the definitive thwack needed to take out a ghoul.

Pistols – Pistols have a few disadvantages in this scenario. While great as a back-up weapon, they are usually hard to use effectively at any reasonable ranges (remember – you want to keep the zombies at bay, not get into some zombie CQB scenario), the ammo is usually underpowered, and you can’t effectively use a pistol as a club – with some exceptions.

Crossbows – I, too, love the scene in Resident Evil 4 when Alice takes out the zombie at a distance using her OSS-inspired folding crossbow, but unfortunately they are not efficient enough (size of ammo vs. weapon size) to justify the extra weight. With proper training, a crossbow can be just as accurate as a rifle, but since zombies either group together or they don’t – use a melee weapon for a single slack or a pair, and then use your primary weapon for a larger group.

Is this list controversial? Hell yeah, it is! Everyone has their favorites and the weapon they grew-up hunting with and undoubtedly would be their primary arm in a post-TSHTF zombie scenario. I am certainly not advocating anyone getting rid of their weapon of choice just because they saw a list on someone else’s website.

As adapted from an article on Orion Woods Brigade.

Continuing our discussion of good guns for the undead . . .

9. Lever-action rifle in .357 magnum or .45 Colt – Just like the last few minutes of the theatrical release version of Army of Darkness, you too can go after the undead with a modern replica of the frontier classic. Check out Cimarron Arms in Fredericksburg, TX for a great selection of extremely well-made western-style leverguns. Some of the longer barreled models even hold up to and include 10 rounds, which should put a significant dent in a squad of undead baddies. The benefit of a lever-action rifle is that you can shoot and cock the weapon without taking your eyes off the target, the guns are generally light and carry well, they have an unobtrusive look that makes you look less dangerous to the shell-shocked humans you would encounter on your scavenger journeys across the Wastelands.

Why not the .44 Magnum? Overkill . . . both on the zombie and your shoulder.

10. Pump action riot shotgun – Ah, we all love the classics. The pump-action shotgun – ubiquitous weapon of urban self-defense – is also a good choice for the undead. It provides a mess of firepower in a easy-to-use, easy-to-carry package. With a ‘00’-buck load, you also have the added benefit of taking out both the zombie you are aiming at, and the one next to him. Detractions include limited ammunition capacity (even with higher-capacity weapons you can still only hold so many rounds in your kit) and a hard kick (worse for new or younger shooters).

The good news is the scroungability of the 12 gauge shell. It’s so common you’d likely even find a few boxes of shells hidden away in the closet of even the most ardent gun control supporter.

As adapted from an article on Orion Woods Brigade.

Continuing our discussion of good guns for the undead . . .

7. Pistol-based carbines – This is a general category, but there are so many variations that you just need to play around and find the system that would be right for you – hopefully mated to your primary handgun choice. For example, if you were a Beretta 92/M9 user, then you would use a 9mm CX4 Storm carbine that uses the same magazines. Another example is the Marlin Camp Carbine, which uses the S&W 59 magazines.

This allows you to use the same magazines for both the pistol and the carbine (less gear to have to keep track of) and also means that if one of those was to fail, your accessories wouldn’t be automatically rendered obsolete. There are also complete “upper” kits to convert Glock and 1911 lower receivers (etc.) to full-size carbines, but I don’t have a lot of experience with these.

Because we are talking about taking out the undead and not a big game animal, the typical arguments against the diminutive size of the pistol round are not at issue.

8. The Uzi – The semi-auto version of the notorious sub-gun of the Israeli army, the Uzi is a robust, reliable weapon that feels great in the hands. With its future-from-the-1960s look, the Uzi is so ugly it looks good. It aims well and is a pleasure to shoot. The “clip in the grip” loading style is natural and easy to load under the pressure of an undead invasion.

This probably should have been included in the pistol-caliber carbine section, but the Uzi is such a classic, it needs its own number. The Norinco version is much cheaper than its IMI counterpart and some of the parts will even trade out for field repairs.