In the book, How to Survive in the Woods by Bradford Angier released in 1969, the author asserts the following about a survival firearm: “The best survival weapon, it follows, is a flat and hard shooting rifle. There is no need to append that it should be rugged, accurate, and durable.” Angier, considered to be one of the foremost voices in the survival community prior to the explosion of internet survival stars, formulated a very logical argument for carrying a rifle as a tool to put meat over the fire. In 1969, the leading .22 rifles on the market were the Armalite AR-7, Marlin model 60, Ruger 10/22, and Remington Model 66.
Even today, despite a couple of them being out of production, these firearms are among the best available, and countless used gun racks have excellent working examples of these durable wilderness tools. Angier was a prolific writer and had dozens of titles to his name. In an even earlier book, he advocated for a centerfire rifle, shotgun, and .22 for long-term living away from society. This practical combination will work just as well today as it did in his era, though the cost of feeding them has made practice with the centerfires much more expensive. Angier’s survival firearm recommendations also added fuel to the “if you only had one gun” campfire debate. Would it be better to have a .22 for taking small game to fill the pot once and also allowing you to carry more ammo, or would it be better to have a larger centerfire rifle to take
