Buy them BEFORE the Evil Aliens land

I have been asked to write a short piece on firearms suitable for food-gathering in a SHTF scenario and for defense- obviously in the event evil aliens land, as it would unthinkable to use a firearm in self defense in the Socialist Republic of New Zealand. All laws are out the window when the rocks fall from the sky!

Obviously, the best firearm for both situations is the one you have. You had better have one, preferably more, before the shops board up their now empty windows.

You can't go wrong with a good bolt action .22 rifle for gathering food.

Don't bother with a semi-auto and do get one with good iron sights. No backup sights and a busted scope and you have something suitable for killing livestock in the yards. If you can, get one with a silencer. You probably don't want to advertise your hunting, lest you become the hunted.

Ammo is cheap and portable. If you can, get an after market peep sight and PRACTICE.

The other food gatherer is the shotgun, if noise is not an issue. Get a 12 gauge, as ammo is more common. If recoil is a problem, use trap loads. You will have to get a little closer to your game, but that is what real hunting is all about and in a survival situation, ducks on the ground are a sure meal.

If you want a centerfire for hunting, get a common caliber such as .308, 7-08, .223, 7.62x39 or .243. they would be the most popular in NZ. If you can afford it, do get an over the barrel silencer. It will bring the report down to about the level of a .22 magnum, plus reduce recoil, flash and it will not be obvious to tell where the shot come from. Stick to a simple bolt action, unless you have a military background, or a lot of expensive training in how to maintain and use a semi-auto. As before, do get one that has iron sights fitted.

OK, You need to DEFEND from the evil aliens, now landing with barbecue sauce and a taste for you.

Their physiology is much the same as ours. Air goes in and out, blood goes round and round- anything else is a bad thing for them. The military version has body armour, the others do not. Their firearms shoot projectiles and only the big ships have lasers. OK, our bullets kill them.

We far outnumber them, but they control communications, so we are unorganised- a weakness they do not have.

But we are on our home ground.

Every time they used to walk down a street, a .22 slug comes unheard and hits one of them in the face. They had no idea where it came from. They don't walk down streets much anymore.

In the home, it was soon found that a shotgun blast to the face was an answer to body armour. A short barrelled shotgun is best- preferably a Remington 870 or a Mossberg. Every home should have one. Follow up shots are fast, should you have multiple intruders or heavy body armour to deal with.

The centerfire rifle you use to hunt deer is also very effective. Just shoot one or two into a patrol and get the hell out of there to a pre-arranged hiding place. The common hunting rifles mentioned above will all take care of business at a decent stand off range. About a thousand bucks will buy a good piece.

As before, I recommend a bolt action for simplicity- if you are looking for ideas here, you are probably new to the game and should avoid military style weapons, as they require quite a bit of training and maintenance. It is a good idea to have a firearm in your inventory that is in the same caliber as your military uses.

Don't be shy about picking up the enemies weapons. If you can, they don't need them anymore.