category, but wth? Let's deal with the Savage and other Over-under rifle-shotgun combos, that are supposed to be the cat's butt for "survival", farm-ranch use, etc. They are of course single shots, most of them require thumbcocking of the hammer for each shot, with a flip of a switch to change from the shotgun to the rifle, etc. They run pretty close to $500 each, by the time you pay the sales tax.
I submit that these things are quite inferior to a pair of good pistols. The long arm is a pain to always have handy, the pistols are not. For the .22, if you want max accuracy and range on small game and birds, you might want to add a scope. The lightest pc that has enough barrel and size to have some real accuracy is the mostly-polymer Mountain Eagle. At 26 or so ozs, with say, 8 ozs of scope, it's quite capable of 1" at 25m. That will suffice to take rabbits, etc to 50m, or a bit more. That's plenty of gametaking potentialj, right up there with what can be done with the iron sighted o/u combo gun. If you scope the o/u, you ruin it for use as a wingshooting gun.
Taking birds on the wing is not necessary, and birds aren't worth a shotshell in a survival scenario, unless it's a goose or turkey, or if you can groundswat a bunch of them with a single blast. 2-3 ducks with one shot is a fairly good return for the noise, and the bulk and wt of the shotshell.
No more range or power than a 20 ga slug has, a good, lw autopistol, in a powerful caliber-load, like, say, the 38 Casull, or the 40 Super, or the 460 Rowland, would have as much range and effectiveness on deer sized game. Such a gun can weigh as little as 32 ozs, with an alloy frame, a 6" barrel, and a compensator. 26 ozs for the .22, and 32 ozs for the centerfire add up to a touch over 3.5 lbs, while the o/u combo is 7 lbs. The holstered pistols are a lot more out of the way than is a slung longarm, and the repeat firepower of the autopistols is worth quite a bit, too. I've hit animals with followup shots before, either an escaping cripple, one I missed completely, or another animal after I downed the first one with the first shot. There's also the potential for having to handle a dog pack, a rabid animal or men. No single shot is much help for such situations.
I submit that these things are quite inferior to a pair of good pistols. The long arm is a pain to always have handy, the pistols are not. For the .22, if you want max accuracy and range on small game and birds, you might want to add a scope. The lightest pc that has enough barrel and size to have some real accuracy is the mostly-polymer Mountain Eagle. At 26 or so ozs, with say, 8 ozs of scope, it's quite capable of 1" at 25m. That will suffice to take rabbits, etc to 50m, or a bit more. That's plenty of gametaking potentialj, right up there with what can be done with the iron sighted o/u combo gun. If you scope the o/u, you ruin it for use as a wingshooting gun.
Taking birds on the wing is not necessary, and birds aren't worth a shotshell in a survival scenario, unless it's a goose or turkey, or if you can groundswat a bunch of them with a single blast. 2-3 ducks with one shot is a fairly good return for the noise, and the bulk and wt of the shotshell.
No more range or power than a 20 ga slug has, a good, lw autopistol, in a powerful caliber-load, like, say, the 38 Casull, or the 40 Super, or the 460 Rowland, would have as much range and effectiveness on deer sized game. Such a gun can weigh as little as 32 ozs, with an alloy frame, a 6" barrel, and a compensator. 26 ozs for the .22, and 32 ozs for the centerfire add up to a touch over 3.5 lbs, while the o/u combo is 7 lbs. The holstered pistols are a lot more out of the way than is a slung longarm, and the repeat firepower of the autopistols is worth quite a bit, too. I've hit animals with followup shots before, either an escaping cripple, one I missed completely, or another animal after I downed the first one with the first shot. There's also the potential for having to handle a dog pack, a rabid animal or men. No single shot is much help for such situations.