Budget SHTF Firearms

By Tin Hat Ranch

When we use the term budget SHTF firearms, we don’t mean cheap. A better word to use is inexpensive. We are not going to recommend some garbage gun to you based solely on price. We are only recommending quality firearms that give you the best bang for your buck. We have owned or still own all of these guns.

In our recent article SHTF Firearms, How Many Are Enough?, we recommend everyone have at least a long gun and a hand gun. We also mentioned at the end that you could outfit yourself with the recommended styles of firearms for under $500 a person. This article will show you that you even have options you can pick from that will fit everyone’s needs. Now, lets get to the budget SHTF firearms. (all prices listed where the cheapest online at the time this was written)

Hand guns

Heritage Rough Rider. Revolver. .22LR-.22Mag $152

The Heritage Rough Rider is a single action cowboy shooter. It comes with 22lr and 22mag. drums. They come in endless varieties with different barrel lengths and are great plinkers.  This is one of my personal favorite guns to shoot!

EAA Windicator in .38 special. Revolver. Price of $261

The EAA Windicator is a solidly built wheel gun. They are well balanced and quite accurate. If you would like to have a little more power, you can get it chambered in .357 for $277 which will allow you to shoot both 38 special and .357.

Diamondback DB9FS in 9mm. Semi-Auto. Price of $289

The Diamondback DB9FS is a newer offering from Diamondback. It has good ergonomics and functions well. The slide has very heavy serrations that make cambering a round very easy. The only drawback is it comes with one 15rd magazine. Almost every other semi-auto fire arm comes with two.

Sig Sauer P250C in 9mm. Semi-auto.  Price of $323

The Sig Sauer P250C is the compact offering of the P250. The build quality for the price cannot be beat. It come with two 15 round magazines. The smaller size also means it conceals easier. These are fantastic guns for the money.

Rifles

Rimefire:  All of the firearms listed below are chambered in .22lr and are semi-auto’s. There are many good bolt guns in .22lr and even a few lever actions, but it will take its own article to cover all of them. With the proper ammo they are all capable of sub M.O.A. groupings at 50 yards out of the box. Let’s face it. .22lr is still the cheapest to shoot with and to stock up on…when you can find it. We have owned or currently own the models listed below.

Savage Model 64. semi-auto in 22lr. Price of $136.

 The Savage Model 64 is a good little plinker that can be very accurate. There are many different variants offered by Savage. The trigger is just ok, but good enough. Get the base model with iron sights and plink away. Only 10rnd magazines available.

 Mossberg Model 702 semi-auto in .22lr. Price of $142.

 The Mossber 702 will run on just about anything you feed it. It has been my experience that the factory triggers leave you wanting. That being said, this is a very capable and good running gun.

Remington Model 597 semi-auto in .22lr. Price of $171.

The Remington 597 comes from Remington is many forms. I have found these to be accurate, but the trigger needs help. Thankfully it has  the second strongest aftermarket following following the Ruger, so a trigger upgrade is not a problem. 25 round magazines are plentiful.

 Ruger 10/22 semi-auto in .22lr.   Price of $199.

The Ruger 10/22 is the gun all other plinkers are measured against. It also comes in many variants from the factory. Very accurate out of the box. It has one of the strongest aftermarkets of any firearm this side of the AR-15. You can even get an aftermarket stock to make it look like and AR. Every single part of this gun is offered by the aftermarket. The sky is the limit when building one of these. I have built many ranging in price from $250 all the way to $1500 for a complete custom target gun. 25 round magazines can be found just about anywhere. You can even get a 50 round drum.

 Centerfire: We here at the Ranch have owned all of the models below plus a few we would not recommend. While you can fine most of these chambered in just about any centerfire round, we are listing only .223 or .308. There is not normally a price difference for the models listed below and if there is, it is usually only a few dollars.

Savage Axis in .223 or .308. Price of $242 or $298 w/scope.

 The Savage Axis is Savages base model in bolt actions. They are no frills firearms that function very well. They are based off of an old Savage long action and are also available in left handed versions at no extra cost.

Remington 770 in .223 or .308. Price of $281 w/scope.

 The Remington 770 is Remington’s base offering in a Bolt action. These are available in many variants from the factory. They have a semi strong aftermarket following, so upgrades are available.

Mosin Nagant 7.62X54R. Price of $119.

 Ah, the Russian Mosin Nagant. This firearm has probably killed more men than any other. There seems to be an endless supply of them. They are not as cheap as they used to be, but what is anymore? If you can find a clean one, they are actually very capable firearms. They is a growing aftermarket that now offers stocks to bring them into this century. Surplus ammo is still plentiful.

Shotguns: 

For shotguns we are only going to offer 12 gauge models. In keeping with getting you outfitted for under $500 that restricts us to single shot or pump models. Again we are recommending ones we have owned or currently own.

H&R Pardoner Pump. 12Ga. Pump action. Price of $162.

The H&R Pardoner pump is a great budget shotgun. It is very well built and modeled after the Remington 870 so many of the aftermarket parts from the 870 will work. This is a defense shotgun with a short barrel length of 18.5 inches.

 Interstate Arms Hawk 12Ga. Pump action. Price of $179.

 The Interstate Arms Hawk is a Chinese copy of the Remington 870. This is an exact copy that is well built. Some even say it is better built then what it copies. All of the aftermarket 870 parts will fit.

 Rossi break action 12 Ga. Price $142

The Rossi break action is a single shot, break action shotgun that is a good first shotgun. They are solidly built and work every time you need it to.

 Under $500

So there you have it. You can actually put together 3 quality budget SHTF firearms, one from each category, for under $500. If you went with the Heritage Rough Rider ($152), the Savage Model 64 ($136), and the H&R Pardoner Pump ($162) you still have $50 left over for ammo. Much like any part of prepping, with a little research it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

This article originally appeared HERE at the Tin Hat Ranch