My Auto Ordnance M1 Carbine

by Keith
(College Station, Texas)

I choose the M1 Carbine because it seems to possess the benefits of both worlds or extremes if I may call them that. The rifle itself is lightweight at 5.7 pounds unloaded. The ammunition is lightweight. The rifle itself is not excessively expensive (or mine wasn't) at $500-800. Now - the weak point is that the ammunition is not as inexpensive as I would like it at around .50 cents per round. That being said - how much ammunition would you carry on a "Survival" mission?? My M1 has a folding stock which makes it small enough to even place it in a backpack or BOB for easy carry and travel. The M1 Carbine shoots the .30 caliber carbine round with the velocity/power of somewhere around a .357/.44 magnum. This being the case it is readily able to take on most (NOT ALL) North American game, any and all aggressive intruders and yet take out smaller game such as squirrel and racoon. It is and has been documented as amply accurate as well. SO - from my experience - I humbly submit the M1 Carbine with the collapsable stock as a prime survival weapon. As a side note: I would also point out that the very cheap little Hi Point 9mm carbine could possibly be a good survival weapon. As is obvious from a ballistics report the velocity and "knock down power" of a 9mm rifle is exponentially greater when fired from a rifle than in a pistol. Also the availability and access to cheap yet powerful ammunition is another plus in it's favor.