Nov 03 2005
Zombie Survival Manual - Part IV (Weapons!)
The zombie menace appears to be growing, established authority appears to be on the verge of collapse. You’ll need some weapons to counter the zombie hordes growing around you.
What weapons will you need?
We’ve given this alot of thought, and we’ll try to give you an overview of the sorts of things you should be shopping for. Frankly you should have thought of this well before the undead started knocking at your door, but now that you’ve come around here are a few suggestions.
It is my opinion that melee weapons are to be considered a “hail mary” option in the zombocalypse. Better than nothing, but only just. While there are those that are trained and skilled in their use, they seem particularly unsuited to battling the undead as the engagement range is uncomfortably close. Edged or impact weapons are best used only when the option to out-run or otherwise evade the undead is unavailable. They should be abandoned for firearms at the earliest opportunity.
Pistols: A pistol excels as a close range personal defence weapon. Pistols are particularly suited for close enviroments (building interiors, alleys and so forth) where a long gun would be cumbersome and unwieldy.
Recommendations:
- Select a handgun that uses a common calibre (9mmP, .45 acp, .38 special). These rounds are popular for good reason, and will be easier to find than their more exotic counterparts.
- Semi-automatic? Revolver? It’s a matter of personal preference, any pistol you’re proficient with should suffice.
- Practice with your handgun regularly (any craftsman unfamiliar with his tools will make mistakes and waste time) practice shooting, reloading and clearing malfunctions until all are second nature).
(Join the IDPA or IPSC for more practice) - Buy the best handgun you can afford (don’t forget to factor ammunition into this equation).
- Remember that your handgun is a “backup” or secondary weapon, and if all goes well it will stay happily holstered for the entire event. Consider this when budgeting the money you’ll spend on it compared to your long gun.
Shotguns: Shotguns are excellent for anti-zombie operations. They do, however, suffer from two specific shortcomings. The first is that they have limited range, and while this can be mitigated with the use of slugs, they still fall well short of rifles. The second shortcoming is the size and weight of the ammunition they use, occupying up to 4 times the space of a similar quantity of rifle ammunition.
Recommendations:
- A 12 gauge pump action shotgun is probably the best choice when considering cost, reliability and ease of use. Two tried and true examples are the Remington 870 and the Mossberg 500.
- Practice, practice, practice (is this sounding familiar?)
- Conserve ammo, anything you can’t reach accurately with a slug shouldn’t be shot at.
Rifles: If you’re only going to have one firearm for the zombocalypse this is it. A rifle gives you the most versatile combination of range and power available, allowing you to address a wide variety of situations and environments.
Recommendations:
- Semi-automatic would appear to be preferable over manually operated rifles. Allowing the operator a higher volume of fire should circumstances require it.
- The rifle should be chambered in a common cartridge (as with the above examples), based on local availability and personal preference.
- Understand and practice complete takedown and maintenance of your rifle. Carry an appropriate selection of essential spare parts (better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.)
- Practice, practice, practice (Are we getting through to you?)
(Note: If you’ve not already made up your mind about what rifle suits, I highly recommend the SKS as an excellent entry-level rifle capable of fulfilling this role)
Does SKS really need an unofficial spokesman? I trust you have arranged some sort of elaborate kickback scheme.
Contrary to certain beliefs, it seems 5.56×45mm can actually pop a skull and effectively eliminate a brain-pan. A real bonus as it’s so common and easy to carry. I’m not quite sold on an AR variant, yet, as I like a the thought of a gun that turns into a club.
Admittedly, I would still grab my 870, as evidence has proven time and time again th shotgun is an almost mystically effective AZW.
SCORE. I was waiting for something like this.
Would a .22LR work as effectively as a larger cartidge against the skull of a reactivated corpse or is it simply too small?
It would be much cheaper on the ammo side of things and you can carry much more of those than the ubiquitous 12 gauge shell w/000 buck.
Ian: Uh….no comment.
Mike: I dunno, I admit the shotgun appeals to me on a few levels (psychological being one of them), but the SKS or the AR still seem better choices.
What genuinely concerns me, and what we should test on our next outing to the range is the effectiveness of various loads at various ranges.
It’s probably just me and my lack of experience with shotguns in general, but I certainly lack the confidence that the target is going to receive a sufficient dose of shot to put it down. At least with rifle rounds (either 5.56×45 or 762×39) I’m confident that what I hit gets hit properly.
Clearly some serious experimentation is called for here, I’m gonna need your help (and your 870) for this.
Mike2: Thanks man! This one has been languishing in the “drafts” folder for some time, along with the next installment “anti-zombie tactics”. Both need some polishing, and I need to add case studies to each, so there will be some changes as we go.
Patrick: I dunno, it’s a conversation I’ve had more than once, but since I sent Byron my little Cooey .22 (when I thought I was picking up a Ruger 10-22 to replace it, and didn’t) I’ve been unable to set my mind at ease about the reliability of the .22lr.
Frankly if I was bunkered somewhere I’d like to have a .22 in the battery, ammo is cheap and plentiful (hell I still have a few hundred rounds sitting in my ammo locker)and the report is nominal compared to my other rifles.
Yeah, shotgun ammo is a pain… reminds me I need to pick up a digital scale some time to do a proper comparison of the relative weights of large quantities of different ammunition types.
My preference, although I’m starting to get ideal world here, would be a mixed fire team, with a shotgun in it for utility, backing up a few 5.56mm riflemen. The SL-8 almost seems like a good pick, as it’s lightweight, relatively simple to break down and clean, but lacks old-fashioned iron sights. The stock is one solid piece, so the last-ditch club idea holds. If it came to that, I’d probably dig up an WWII entrenching tool, they sell ‘em downtown.
I’ll cut off the rambling by saying I’ll try to make the 870 available when you need it, however, I’m on afternoons, then graveyards for two weeks.
For Patrick:
I’ve always regarded the .22 as a decent weapon, not the best but it will get the job done. I could see it being quite effective being used in an elevated position, say a second story window shooting at zombie right below, why waste higher cal ammo for that. Also would be great for teaching others how to use the guns you have.
Mugwug: I hope to see the tactics come up some time. These pages and just cruising the internet makes me really want to write my own version of zombie survival guide, because I think Brooks fell short. Keep up the good work.
For the examples of Shotguns In Use, as well as others…
Check out the Box O’ Truth…
http://www.theboxotruth.com/
Very interesting stuff.
Especially comment # 4 from the first shotgun tests:
“4. I “racked” the shotgun several times during the tests, and no bystanders lost control of their bowels.
Conclusion: Racking a shotgun will not make the bad guy faint.”
Freddy the box of truth is one of my favorites (kinda shocked I’ve never thrown a link to it from this blog in fact), and the quote you mention was definately a high point!
I, however, suffer from a not altogether uncommon syndrome sceptic-itis, if I haven’t personally tried something I’m a little leery of it (lets take the exploding coconut range tests as a prime example).
To quote a movie;
Bluto’s right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.
And we’re just the guys to do it..it’s time for another coconut session!
Would a .22LR work as effectively as a larger cartidge against the skull of a reactivated corpse or is it simply too small?
A .22 will do a human skull arguably more effectively than most other of the common cartridges out there. The .22 has enough power to get through a human skull once. This causes it to “bounce” around the interior of the skull, shredding the brain until it either peters out or it bounces out of the entry hole or the eye/ear canals. In my experience, it leaves the person’s brain looking like Swiss cheese.
Rounds like the 9mm or .40 will punch through, then hydroshock through the brain and punch out the other side. In a human being, the hydroshock effect will generally kill as effectively as the “bounce-around” effect of the .22 bullet. For a zombie, I’m not sure that the zombie brain would suffer the same effect from hydroshock, but I’m pretty confident the “bounce-around” effect would, as it would be physically destroying the tissue.
I need a new hobby.
Exploding Coconuts at a Toga Party? I’m in.
What happened with the M-14, Erik?
Semi-auto, large mags (OK not in Canada), nice punch, and a good old fashioned wooden stock.
I would also go with a hunting round that is not full metal jacket. Just a little more tissue damage for knock down power. With the undead, I would think that it takes a little more tissue destruction to get the job done. I’m not sure about the availibility of 5.56 hunting rounds as all I ever see is military issue but I have used both kinds of 7.62 with my M305 and I have not seen much of a difference with accuracy. That being said, I would forget the pistol and go with a C-8 in FIBUA situations.
Dan: Oh don’t get me wrong, I love my M14, but considering the cost of 762×39mm or 556×45mm compared to 762×51mm my M14 has fallen into a little disuse (this likely also stems from my recurring problem with optics on that damn rifle).
I suspect I’d grab the M14 in the zombocalypse, but only if the AR15 and the SKS-D were missing.
It’s a shame really, it’s one of my most accurate rifles at this point.
In times of a Zombie resurection one must keep in mind ammunition availability. It is all fine and dandy to have semi-auto’s and full rock’n roll but in the end it comes down to how much you can carry and how much ammo you’re willing to waste on poor marksmanship.
The more I think about it I like the sounds of a lee enfield with bayonette. If they get too close I’ll cut they’re legs off, if I have time to kill I have stripper clips and the worlds fastest bolt action battle rifle. Not to mention a 174gr bullet that has felled every large and dangerous game on the planet (past and present).
Plus in Canada .303 brit factory ammo is litteraly at your neighyborhood Canadian Tire.
I thought 5.56×45 is more expensive than 7.62×51. Maybe I had a good deal.I can’t argue that 7.62.39 is dirt cheap but at 200-300 meters I bet you won’t get too many head shots. Too close to the undead would be a bit stinky. .303 brit is just too pricy, what is it $1-$2 a round? Nice round though. Be a #2 on the C-6 to see how much ammo you can carry.
Hi All,
Man, I love this site! Greetings from a little south.
Is the first pic a mosin/nagant? Given the (ideal situation) choice to have multiple points of defense, the nagant 7.62×54r would seem like a stellar round to have as a first, long-range defense. If your zombie defense “doctrine” was to start out sniping, this would be a good thing to stock up on. 200gr at 2700 feet per sec is not something to trifle with. It seems like that round would functionally impair the host body/corpse enough that it won’t get closer.
Then if your doctrine is based on distance, you fall back to the next line of defense, which would be the 7.62×39 or .223 area. Subjectively, if they’re 200+ yds/mtrs, they’re far enough that you can pick them off w/your sniper rifle. So maybe 50-199 mtrs you take your ar/ak/sks variant out and blast away. Here in Colorado, I can usually get about 500 rds of 7.62×39 for about $60 (USA). I probably keep about 1500 rds on-hand, and at the range I start with the oldest first. I have a wasr10 (ak) and 2 yugo sks’s (1 is primarily for spare parts). But while I go with 7.62×39, here in the US .223 might be more readily available “on the move”.
Then you get to Jeff Cooper’s def’n of “tactical combat”, or conversational distance, and this is where your shotgun/pistol can come in handy.
I have the Rem870 syn/express with the hogue pistol grip and 18″ barrel. The important thing that you’d learn from the box o truth is that even at close range, it IS possible to miss. Whatever the range, every shot counts. And despite the 1 oz slug’s effect on body armor, it would be a zombie defense weapon that would (again, subjectively) work well by destroying mass of the host body and impair its function. I’d go with 00 over birdshot.
I also carry a Springfield Armory XD40, which is nice because in the 4/5″ barrel .40 cal, you can get conversion barrels in 9mm and .357SIG. Speaking of which, I’d take .357SIG over 9mm any day. Stock up!
Hope this is helpful.
Anyway, I’d be glad to hear other comments.
Steve: The first rifle pictured is a Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk.I, sporterized and scoped.
I think you’re leaving out an essential part of the zombie weapons. Guns are the obvious choice but eventually depending on the seriousness of the infection you’re going to run out of bullets I think you should add a sword or bat to the list.
Rick: Delayed response here, apologies.
Melee weapons are “hail mary” options, nothing else. I realize ammo runs out, as I keep say “Meh, ammo runs out, blades break, muscles get tired…welcome to the zombocalypse“.
Ammunition will run out, and then I will likely grab a baseball bat, or a crowbar and pray for the best. I’m not trained in the use of a sword, and I am leery of using any weapon I’m not familiar or experienced with.
The dangers, regardless of the melee weapon involved, remain the same. You are TOO CLOSE to the zombies for safety.
I for one intead to enjoy the protection offered by firearms for as long as possible. Should I be forced to carry melee weapons be that more likely to run (even with firearms I recommend avoiding them and only shooting when required).