American Survival Blog

Smith & Wesson have generated a good deal of buzz with their Emergency Survival Kit, which is basically a waterproof box with a a selection of camping gear style “survival” supplies (Blast Match, Mylar space blankets and what my generation used to call a rape whistle) topped off with a snub nosed revolver in .460 or .500 S&W. It also comes with a book on bear attacks, which is available on Amazon.com for $12.71.

S&W sells the book along with gun and some basic camping gear for $1469.

The .460 S&W is considered a little less uncomfortable to shoot than the .500, so I expect most people considering the $1469 MSR priced box of goodies will go for that caliber, which has the added bonus of being able to chamber both .454 Casull and the venerable .45 LC rounds. But the .460 is still, in my humble opinion, too much gun for the average survivalist. Unless you spend all your free time at the range, and have an enormous tolerance for recoil, these new mega calibers are not for you. Just how much recoil are we talking about? Watch this vid and see what happens to this guy shooting a .460 around 19 seconds in:

Yeah, that’s alot of recoil. Granted the .460 is bear gun strong but people have been killing bears with guns for a long time now without using calibers that will make the casual handgunner develop a flinch that will affect accuracy and allow the bear in question to get a good mauling in before your next shot.

You’ll also note that the above video is of a much beefier handgun than the snub nose in the kit, which will have more kick to it due to the loss of weight. In a life and death bear attack, accuracy and fast follow up shots are what’s going to save your life, and a snub nosed .460 won’t give either to anyone but the most accomplished big bore handgunner.

Here’s what passes for rapid firing a .460: imagine if you will that a bear is charging the shooter who missed the first shot, and wounded the brute on the second (strong language warning):

A gun is a tool, like a hammer or a knife, and like a hammer or knife it is great for self defense, but its main purpose, for the survivalist, is to put meat on the table when you can’t go to a store. In bear country big bores may make sense but for the majority of us in the lower 48, who are looking for a gun to take us through some Katrina-style rough patches, the .460 is a dead end.

A revolver is an excellent platform for a survival gun, because it’s simple, reliable and less likely to break. In an emergency anyone can be taught to operate one quickly, and a misfire won’t stop the gun from working. But in a TEOTWAWKI-style disaster, you’re not just going to be defending yourself against huge omnivores, you’ll be hunting small game like squirrels and rabbits, fending off packs of feral dogs and you’ll need to have stocked up on bulk ammunition which means going for a reasonably priced caliber. The .460 excels at none of these.

The best all round survival gun is probably the shotgun, with 12ga being the top dog, though I admit to owning and being quite happy with an NEF Survivor in .410/.45. In the sprawling megalopolis of the Northeast, the little .410 does everything I need it to do. When I need to “load for bear,” I grab Federal’s 225 grain semi-wadcutter hollow points.

But in terms of a survival handgun I’d choose either a double action .357, .44 or .45. The .357 is best because most of them can also chamber lower powered .38 specials. While not an ideal bullet for small game, you could conceivably kill a rabbit without wasting too much meat, and still have plenty of oomph left in the other cylinders.

.44’s and .45’s aren’t going to leave much behind but a smear on small game, though deer and similar sized animals are routinely harvested with these calibers. But if it’s stopping power you crave these are more manageable than a .460. If you don’t mind damaging the rifling of the barrel over time (and we are talking about emergencies), I’ve seen plenty of .44 shot loads for taking small game, but I’ve never even met someone who has used them so I can’t recommend them. Taurus offers a .45./.410 revolver in various configurations that’s just eccentric enough to pique my interest. They’re actually being made to fill a demand for anti carjacking guns in Latin America, so I’m not sure how suitable they are for survival use, but let’s just say I’m still hoping for a Judge for Christmas.

Remember that you may be a weight-lifting, gunrange owner with a high tolerance to recoil, but your family, who may need to fire your hand cannon in extremis, are not likely to spend countless hours at the range to get proficient with one of these pocket monsters. And the majority of preparedness-minded people aren’t going to either. Add to that the price tag, for which you could buy multiple revolvers and dozens of Blastmatches, and what you have is kitsch in a can.