Survival guns: Garand Thumb's top 5 end-of-the-world picks

Key points: Survival guns Garand Thumb's

• The selection criteria are multi-use, easily serviceable and plentiful parts — not raw power, and the five picks are presented as a set rather than a ranking.
• A 12-gauge pump is the most versatile single gun: buckshot for defense, slugs for large game and birdshot for birds and drones, with an 870 or Mossberg 940 running roughly $300 to $800.
• A Ruger Mark-series 22 pistol suppresses to near silence because a 4.5-inch barrel keeps most commercial 22 subsonic, and it doubles as a small-game gun new shooters can handle.
• A 9mm handgun earns its place on parts availability and concealability for urban movement, with Glock, Sig, CZ and Browning High Power all named and subsonic loads making suppression easy.
• The Ruger 10/22 is called the undisputed small-game rifle, practical to about 150 to 200 yards and cheap enough to stock deep in a cache.
• The AR-15 is the only pick treated as a true fighting rifle: 5.56 reaching 700 yards, parts that swap like Legos, spare bolts and bolt carriers as the main wear items, and battery-free prism or iron sights as the fallback.
• Both hosts pick the AR-15 if forced to choose one, with the suppressed 22 pistol named as the close runner-up.

About this Gun Review video

Survival guns for the end of the world: Mike Jones and Preston pick five multi-use, easily serviceable firearms and shoot each one on the range. A 12-gauge pump covers defense with buckshot, large game with slugs and even drones with birdshot. A suppressed Ruger Mark-series 22 pistol stays subsonic and quiet for small game. A 9mm handgun wins on parts availability when carrying a long gun is not an option. The Ruger 10/22 is the small-game rifle, and a well-made AR-15 is the fighting rifle both hosts would take if they could only keep one.

Transcript: Survival guns Garand