# What's the best combo rifle/shotgun?



## bahramthered

What's the best combo rifle/shotgun?

And where the heck do I find it.

If bad things happen I don't want to carry multiple guns.

I was just thinking on this and remembered I use to have a neighbor who had one of these guns. I was just a kid. I know I need to learn guns better, but I don't want to buy lots just to figure out what I need. 

I have a lot of questions like; Can these things handle higher caliber rounds or are they just good for smaller rounds?


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## Jezcruzen

The Finnish-made Valmet may be what you are seeking. Very high quality, but no longer produced. I see them at gun shows periodically. I had one once. It was a 12 ga. over 30.06 topped with a Leupold 2X7 compact scope. I killed both deer and turkeys with it. I also had a set of 12 ga. shotgun barrels for it and used it rabbit hunting. 

Savage produced their Savage 24 in various caliber/gauge combinations. Cheaper and more spartan than the Valmets, but they are no longer produced, either. One in good condition demands a premium.


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## ms_a2gwus

I'm not that familiar with weapons, but I've heard of a Franchi SPAS-12. Maybe more experienced members might be aware of this, it's pros and cons, and if it's available?


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## bahramthered

The Franchi SPAS-12 is a combat shotgun, not a combination gun.


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## ms_a2gwus

bahramthered said:


> The Franchi SPAS-12 is a combat shotgun, not a combination gun.


Thank you! I learned something new today! :wave: What about the Rossi Circuit Judge for small game? :scratch


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## DKRinAK

*H&R*

Harrington and Richardson (now owned by Marlin) make several shotgun/rifle packages.

You can buy a 12 ga/308 combo or make up your own. I ordered a 308 bull barrel with a 223 bull barrel - both with factory rails. Both were hand fitted and they both shoot very well.

Rossi makes a copy of these as well.

Savage made a 24 series, with variations of 12, 20 and 410 bore shotguns and 22lr, 22 winmag and 30-30, 223 and such in a rifle barrel on top of the shotgun barrel.

Both of these weapons systems are single shot.

Is this what you had seen earlier...?


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## fedorthedog

Jezcruzen said:


> The Finnish-made Valmet may be what you are seeking. Very high quality, but no longer produced. I see them at gun shows periodically. I had one once. It was a 12 ga. over 30.06 topped with a Leupold 2X7 compact scope. I killed both deer and turkeys with it. I also had a set of 12 ga. shotgun barrels for it and used it rabbit hunting.
> 
> Savage produced their Savage 24 in various caliber/gauge combinations. Cheaper and more spartan than the Valmets, but they are no longer produced, either. One in good condition demands a premium.


The Valmet was imported by savage as the 330 and 333 12 ga. there were combe rifle shotgun barrels available but they are hard to fine now.

The mod 24 is 4-5 hundred at the gun shows.


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## kyhoti

This is like asking a carpenter which hammer is the best; remember, a gun is only a tool used to reach out further than your hands. What you want it to do helps determine what constitutes "best". OP said the defining factor is not wanting to deal with a bunch of guns when things go sideways; my question, for clarity, is "What do you hope to accomplish with your tool (the firearm)?"

Hunting? A shotgun can do it, a rifle can sometimes do it better. That's where I see the "combo" fitting. Self defense? A single shot combo is asking for a world of hurt in that eventuality. The Circuit Judge may be a decent compromise, but I wouldn't trust the .410 shells for much beyond snakes or bunnies. A 12 or 20 gauge pump or auto shotgun could cover, but weight and cost of ammo has been a concern for me personally. The upshot is, trying to make one tool do all things is pushing it.


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## NorCalSurvivalist

For rabbits, squirrels and such my savage 24 has been pretty solid. I would carry it with me in a bug out scenario for sure. It's a .22lr over 20 gauge model.


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## bahramthered

kyhoti said:


> This is like asking a carpenter which hammer is the best; remember, a gun is only a tool used to reach out further than your hands. What you want it to do helps determine what constitutes "best". OP said the defining factor is not wanting to deal with a bunch of guns when things go sideways; my question, for clarity, is "What do you hope to accomplish with your tool (the firearm)?"


MY philosophy for just about everything has always been maximize and then optimize. this has made me reconsider a combo gun.

Why I'm here is complex:
Last year taught me I should be at least a little preped.
I like walking and hiking.
Rabbit, squirrel, and grouse taste good. I'd like to try someday for a wild pig. Free Ribs .

I don't have money to by every toy I want so back to my motto. I would like to buy one one gun good for hunting and home defense.

I just didn't know all these guns seem to be single shot. Hard to maximize or optimize that.


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## kyhoti

Well, the small-game species you mentioned are well hunted with a shotgun. Home defense is possible, in the close-range, with a shot gun. Pigs generally die well if hit by a shotgun slug. Hm, Seems like your "combo gun" may be drifting towards a shotgun, and a varied selection of ammunition. I am pretty much a non-shotgunner, so maybe we can steer the responses towards answering "What's the best cost:quality ratio for a shotgun?" and see if that gets you the info you need.


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## Wanderer0101

Kind of depends on your application. I've been thinking about this for a while and primarily I want a .22/20 gauge followed by a .308/12 gauge. With slugs and barrel inserts those two would cover about anything I'd want to do. I would consider a .22 Magnum with the 20 gauge as well. As far as where you find it, that can be tough. There are quite a few older Savage models around in the 24 series but they have some accuracy issues because of the way they are built and some of them are way over priced for what they are. Savage does have a new model 42 that just came out with a synthetic stock that looks good and the price is OK, probably around $400 on the street. The first one is .22/410 so it's not what I want but I believe they plan a .22/20 gauge in the future. Haven't heard anything accuracy on the new Savage. 

The European ones are very good but also quite expensive. Baikal is making some decent stuff for a semi-reasonable price, about $550. They've got the .308/12 gauge but the newer ones are only available in .22/410 which I don't want and I haven't been able to find one of the older ones.

I've been looking for a while and haven't found exactly what I want at the right price. For about $12,000 I could by a real beauty.


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## scorpiorising

The M6 scout. It's a break action over and under with a .22lr on top and a .410 on the bottom. It's very light, you can break it down easy and throw it in your bug out bag and it holds extra ammo in the buttstock. Bear in mind this is only what I've read about this particular gun. I don't own one but I'm looking into it. Since they're not in production anymore they can be tricky to find.


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## Diego2112

Personally, a combination gun is only good for hunting. CAN be used for home defense, but if you've got multiple bogies inbound, you need something with a 20+ round mag, and enough stopping power to put 'em down. OR a decent pump scatter gun.

Without getting into the nitty gritty details of all my gear (never show your full hand)-Long gun, scatter gun, hand gun. The three I have chosen are easy to carry at the same time, and ammo is fairly inexpensive. At my BOL I would also have a .22LR Rifle and .22LR Pistol.

Some suggestions on caliber for you:
.223/5.56-Cheap, and virtually everyone and their GRANDMOTHER owns an AR-type weapon.
7.62x39-ALSO cheap, and usually, if they don't on an AR, they own an AK or one of it's bastardizations.
.30-06-A great hunting round, very popular in my neck of the woods.
.308-With the right ammunition and fella behind the glass, it can reach out and TOUCH somethin'
7.62x54R-Not cheap, but the Nagant 91/30 is only about $100, so for the price of an AR, you could have a decent long gun (bolt action) and a freakishly large stockpile of ammo.
.22LR-Cheapest by far. Effective if shot placement is good. Most kids get a .22LR firearm when they successfully potty train, so ability to scavenge parts/ammo is high.

Scatter Gun:
.410-Cheap, small, effective.
20Ga-Cheap, light, effective.
16Ga-Hard as hell to find 'round my parts.
12Ga-The most sold shotshell. A slug can stop a truck.

Handgun:
9mm-Cheap, popular, used by police and military alike.
.380ACP-Also cheap, and, according to MI6, has a delivery like a brick through plate glass.
.40S&W-Not too terribly high priced, decent stopping power, though lacks the range of the 9mm. Is also used by police and military around the world.
.45ACP-Because shooting TWICE is just plain silly.

I could get into the .44Mag, .357Mag, and all those others, but we'd literally be here all day, and the debate between them are ENDLESS.

My suggestion remains have three. No one tool for the job in this case. It'd be better in the long run, AND in the event you've got a wingman, toss 'em the extra scatter gun!

Final thoughts:

AR or AK for long gun (or the 91/30 if cost is an issue-granted, you can get a decent bastardization of an AK for right around $400-that SHOULD net you a WASR-10. CONTRARIWISE, you can get yourself a Hi-Point Carbine in a pistol caliber, they run right at around $250, AND if you get the matching caliber for the handgun, they take the same magazine).

9mm, .40S&W, or .45ACP for handgun (Hi-Point makes some decent ones for under $200, so in THEORY, for less than you'd pay for an AK Bastardization, you could have yourself a Carbine AND handgun in your choice of 9mm, .40S&W, or .45ACP, they also have a lifetime warrenty-granted, if things go t*ts up, that don't much matter, does it?). PERSONALLY, I'd say .45ACP, because it's just a darn good round.

Scatter Gun:
12 Gauge. End of sentence.

Hope that helps you out, and I hope it don't start TOO much of a debate as to what's what in the firearm world. :flower:


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## Kenny78

Scorpiorising; the m6's that I have found are as much as a entry level ar15!!!!! I bought one while they were being produced and wish I could justify getting one for the dw. I have wanted a model24 and finally found a .22/.410 I love both guns for what they are, BOB and the 24 for walking around the property. 

However I throw my opinion in with khyoti for a shotgun. I suggest a pump, and a mossberg 500a. Mavericks are Mexican mossbergs with a cheap safety, so if pinching pennies they are worth a look. The 500/88's have two magazine length choices, short for hunting and weight or longer for home defense. Pumps are cheaper and more reliable as long as you "train" enough to not short schuck it.

If you live in an apartment I have been told to load up birdshot to minimize wall penetration. Slugs could take deer or bipeds at respectable ranges and most shotguns are tacticoolable if so desired


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## Magus

Mossberg is importing a nice Turkish over and under for under 500$ it comes in 12 gauge. I'd go for that and have a sub barrel made for the upper tube in the rifle caliber of your choice.


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## bahramthered

I admit it, Last time I was the combo gun thing was in the show "Out of the Wild" Alaska. Fit with what I vaguely remembered as a kid. But that show was heavily scripted.

So new list;
12g Shotgun with bird shot and slugs.
Later a rifle and 
then handgun that can use the same ammo as the rifle. 

Sorry everytime I imagine having lots of guns I flash to an old monster movie. Beastie is ripping down the guys wall and he runs for the gun rack. The whole thing falls over and the guy is desperately trying to find rounds for his chosen weapon. Gives up and grabs a round, grabs the appropriate weapon and turns to find the thing in the house about to eat him. I don't know guns well enough to know what he chose or gave up on but suffice it to say it didn't work. I don't know if it was suppose to be underpowered gun or overpowered monster. 

But lesson learned; keep the ammo to a minimum of types and well organized. I think that's a good lesson for fighting aliens (or was it a demon???) or well fighting anything.


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## Diego2112

bahramthered said:


> I admit it, Last time I was the combo gun thing was in the show "Out of the Wild" Alaska. Fit with what I vaguely remembered as a kid. But that show was heavily scripted.
> 
> So new list;
> 12g Shotgun with bird shot and slugs.
> Later a rifle and
> then handgun that can use the same ammo as the rifle.
> 
> Sorry everytime I imagine having lots of guns I flash to an old monster movie. Beastie is ripping down the guys wall and he runs for the gun rack. The whole thing falls over and the guy is desperately trying to find rounds for his chosen weapon. Gives up and grabs a round, grabs the appropriate weapon and turns to find the thing in the house about to eat him. I don't know guns well enough to know what he chose or gave up on but suffice it to say it didn't work. I don't know if it was suppose to be underpowered gun or overpowered monster.
> 
> But lesson learned; keep the ammo to a minimum of types and well organized. I think that's a good lesson for fighting aliens (or was it a demon???) or well fighting anything.


Clearly you are not of the Burt Gummer school of thought.

I DO agree that you need to have a base of simple. But never forget-the one with the most/biggest guns/firepower wins!


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## bahramthered

Diego2112 said:


> Clearly you are not of the Burt Gummer school of thought.
> 
> I DO agree that you need to have a base of simple. But never forget-the one with the most/biggest guns/firepower wins!


I love Burt Gummer. I love when that graiboid broke into his rec room. Heck I'm watching the first movie tonight. But that crazy **** kept his guns loaded, against basic safety. And when it hit the fan he had to bail on 90% of his guns and 100% of his preps.

Tremors in 4.5 mins 





Course I don't need to link it but burt proves over prepping is bad in the second movie. That truck he drags around and barely uses? Till it goes boom? And almost kills him. Earl and grady where doing better with just a few sticks of dynamite and where useless with their small arms.

And of course when he has the right too he's exactly the right lethal in the third. Least with the anti carcraft gun. Debatable when swallowed alive and with the toy cars.

So I think I can be called a student of Gummer. I think he highlights my case. The correct tools for the correct job.

I rather have a few guns I can grab and run with versus a mildred. If sh1t hits the fan I want to run to my gun stash grab a gun and swipe a bunch of boxes into a bag and go. Or better yet grab a gun and matched bag and go. Not run to a rack grab stuff and discover I have a weapon and a pile of ammo that it can't fire. Might be nice to have a hundred guns if your staying still and expecting the crazy but I'm not expecting the crazy or staying still after a while.

I've just started on this and for now have been buying food and survival gear. As I move into guns and rediscover hunting (did it as a kid, just lost touch with it). I want to follow my usual philosophy. Optimize then maximize. So I want a good gun for self defense and hunting. Shotgun with differnt ammo seems to meet that at first. I'll go from there.

Course I already know how to make a number of bombs. Least in theory. And wern't they Burt Gummer's best weapon?

But to your point after my rant, I figure shotguns will be more useful before a is Bazookas. I can drop an attacker and a rabbit both with the shot gun. Bazooka might not be idea for the first task and sucks for the second.

"YOU BROKE INTO THE GODDAM WRONG WRECK ROOM
DIDN'T YOU BASTARD!

WE KILLED THAT MOTHER HUMPER!!!!!" - Burt Gummer (sorry had too)


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## Diego2112

Whereas I'm lacking the time to give a proper response to all that (and I really wish I could right now, but I've got about 4 bottles of Guinness Draught in me, so yeah), I will say that as Burt had no kids, there's nothing wrong (in my opinion, YMMV) with keeping his guns loaded. They were set and ready to go when he needed them.

A gun does you precious little good if you cannot use it when you need to.

Also, Tremors is quite possibly my favorite movie franchise. And it was a pretty damn good TV show!


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## Kenny78

I will refrain from delving into one of my favorite movies, but burts truck helped him survive when the enemy changed and ended the threat(It's gonna be BIG) Guns are expensive clubs if not loaded. Loaded is different from properly guarded from untrained persons. I personnaly would avoid a rifle in the same caliber as a pistol, unless you are accesorizing an otherwise flush gun collection.

Very few sub rifles use interchangable clips with hanguns so you are back to different magazines. I know that you are in a big city, but without group specialization, you are leaving too much rifle on the table with a hangun caliber. If you arent familiar with guns my usual suggestion is to save up and buy a full size etc. A 5" 1911 is my choice for me but I steer beginners away from the 1911 platform and stay with a Sig p22--, beretta 92, Glock(it hurts to type but the gun has its merits) If (my opinion) you buy a pocket blaster it will be uncomfortable enough to shoot often enough to be proficient. YMMV


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## bahramthered

So that doesn't work either? I down to at least three different guns with different ammo? Dam I hear that thing clawing at the door.

Alright my delusion of universal ammo seems to be out. 

So If I take a 12g shot gun and spend the next year or so hunting with it and hoping I don't have to use it for self defense what should I buy next?

From the defense and hunting perspective? As a kid I was a good shot with a 22. Well Now I'm alot bigger. Stick with the shotgun and see what I learn? Or keep asking? 

I should say my prep plan is my house has a 14 day supply of gear and I can bug out. Either with just my bug out bag (couple days) and whichever of these arms gets familiar or with my car with everything. If I have time.


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## Diego2112

As I said, Shotgun, Long gun, Handgun, .22 Rifle.

The closes thing to a universal ammo (and some on here have voiced a dislike) is a rifle chambered in a pistol round. You can go with the Hi-Point, or you can go with a bit of a "western" feel, and get a nice levergun in .44Mag.

The choice is really up to what you're comfortable with. Myself, I like an AR/AK as my long gun, a 1911 as my hand gun, any sort of Mossburg shotty, and a Ruger 10/22 or one of it's variants.

There really is no magic bullet (everyone knows that it was Eddie Blake [The Comedian] that killed JFK. The opening of "The Watchmen" shows that! It's a movie! It MUST be true).


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## Kenny78

I am not an expert and hope I am not coming off jerky. You can get a few rifle/pistol combinations that use the same magazines and ammo, but most are unusual and pricey. The one I dont know about is the beretta px4/cx4's but they are new age and I dont play in that price range. But like I said, sub guns leave too much on the table unless you are specializing. 

I think the shotgun plan is best for where I assume that you are in the gun world. Slightly out of left field:If you get a mossberg and want a pistol grip then get a birds head, not the vertical kind you see so often(My opinion)

If your prep outlook doesnt exceed a 14 day disaster, I think a shotgun fills the most roles in the disaster and before.


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## Kenny78

I am not going to bad mouth hipoint, as there are fanboys and I have limited experience. They are american made, but I cant/wont recommend them to stake your life on. As per the .22, Ruger 10/22 all the way. However, you can pick up a marlin 60 or some old bolt action rifle for $60ish dollars and rock on.

Supposedly(I have never verified the stories) the .22 kills more people than other calibers. You could cheap out on an old .22 cause its intended purposes are different than your primary sidearm


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## bahramthered

Kenny78 said:


> If your prep outlook doesnt exceed a 14 day disaster, I think a shotgun fills the most roles in the disaster and before.


Kinda. My prep plan is geared for 14 days. I guess it's just it's my current goal since I'm printing pages on long term survival and asking these questions. I hope my current preps will be good but at this point they seem to be goals before I expand. Who knows I might end up a hard core prepper or survivalist. Hopefully I just rediscovered hunting, I liked it as a kid.

When I figure out my gun I'm getting a hunting license... Wait I have an old cheap crossbow.. Can I play with that? Never mind Peta should endorse that thing, it can't hit cans.


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