"What's the ultimate zombie apocalypse firearm?" Topic

OK, on the whole 'what's the ultimate zombie weapon' train of thought, what would be the ultimate fire arm to have in the apocalypse? Answers of course can be from the down right practical (9pm pistol cos they are everywhere) through to 'give me Arnie's minigun'. I suppose the human factor is a big one to consider too.

Personally I'd be mr practical and go with a light pistol such as a Glock or a Baretta or something, what would you have?

This does have a practical reason as I have written my own zombie game set around 'now' in middle (physically) America, very much Walking Dead, and would like to guage what people might have to hand through to a bit of a wish list. I'm in the UK too so last time I saw anyone with a gun was, well, several years ago at an airport.

Cheers,

Ark3n

AA12 Automatic Assault Shotgun … YouTube link

I'm another vote for the shotgun.

Whatever you have ammo for, know how to use well, are good at maintaining, and are a good shoot with.

For me, that is my M1 Carbine. YMMV.

shotgun

flamethrower

Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range.

Only what ya see, pal.

I'd go with a shotgun too. I know how to use it, I'm not a bad shot, with one shot you can pretty much know that you are going to at least disable a zed and it does not go through ammo that quickly. Plus shotgun shells are plentiful and easy to make.

Depends on the zombie doesn't it? For the World War Z book zombies I'd go M1 carbine. Light, the round will go through a zed's head (the part you need to get) and ammo is pretty common.

Otherwise a semi auto shotgun, auto I worry that I'll go through too many rounds.

Well out of instinct i will say shotgun. And yes the AA-12 comes to mind. Love that weapon as well.
BUT first I need to ask this. Are we talking fast zombies via Resident Evil or slow zombies via Walking Dead and Romero movies?
You mentioned Walking Dead above but i took it as to describe the area of the setting and not specifically the type of zombies.
Sons of guns did a episode sort of on this idea. Two sides. One choose the M4 with all the gadgets. The other side choose a .22 rifle with attachments. For me, the .22 would be fine for the slow zombie apoc and the 5.56 for the resident types.

Grimm

Custom 12 ga. pump, with clip magazines. Steel receiver with a heavy duty stock bolt so you can tell the odd leaker to 'butt out' without damaging your piece. Clips because they are quicker on the reload than a regular tube mag, the balance of the piece does not change & if you damage the mag, just chuck it & load in a new one, which is not possible with a tube mag. Most of the upgraded combat shotgun designs in the last 30plus years have used them, only tradition keeps the tube mag guns in service.

Shotgun would be nice to have for those really tight spots, but for everyday Zed killing I would go with a good old reliable .22 semi automatic carbine. Sufficient penetration, easy availability of ammo, and easier on the shoulder than a 12 gauge in protracted engagements. This weapon was also listed as a good all around choice in The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks.

Yup, .22 rifle, although I'd be more comfortable with this: link

Sam Crossfire 7.62 rifle with 12ga shotgun combo 20+7 shots.

If it's the shoot in the brain type zombies, this puppy could come in handy. Nice, compact and enough rounds to keep you going for a while.

Though I guess that an AR15, AK47 or an M14 would do the job most of the time.

Patrick R's P90 or the AA12 Automatic Assault Shotgun.

I'd probably plump for my HK300 in .22 magnum. It is light, has a good magazine capacity, is incredibly accurate, and has a bit of oomph on the recieving end. I bought it brand new in 1988 and it's the one gun I will never sell. If getting ammo is no object, than the HK UMP in .45 with plenty of gubbins attached please.

being a Brit I've never fired a gun in my life so I imagine I'd be a crap shot. I'd have to go with something more in line with my upbringing…..

another vote for shotgun…

Agree with flamethrower. Make yer own that you can charge up the pressure with a bicycle pump. Make yer own fuel in the postapoc world, too.

Calico Light Weapon Systems carbine… in either 9mm (for general ammo availability) or .22LR (for ammo carrying capacity)

Compact size and folding stock, for use in enclosed spaces, but carbine layout for longer-range shooting from the shoulder, rifle-style.

50 and 100-round helical magazines – which you can leave loaded without spring compression problems.

Integral quad rails for mounting sights 'n lights.

Fully ambidextrous controls, no-tool takedown, straight down ejection for easy brass collection, if you have reloading facilities.

(Edited to add) Easily suppressible, too.

As guns/ammo are pretty difficult to get a hold of in the UK, I'm going to have to make this up as if it was easy to get. I would say some form of sniper rifle for long distances. I guess a shotgun would work close up :) But maybe some form of silenced pistol, as you don't want to attract attention!

Styr.

It all depends upon the "rules" that the zombies work under.
-Kle.

A can of instant foam crack sealer should do it. At close range, squirt the stuff in the zed's face. It thickens and hardens right away. Zed threat drops remarkably if the zed cannot see you.

Medusa Revolver Model 47

Produced by Phillips & Rodgers that have the ability to chamber multiple calibers in the same revolver.
The Medusa chambers, fires, and extracts 25 different cartridges in the .38/9mm/.357 ammunition range.

EDIT: listed as being able to fire:380 ACP, .380 Revolver, 9x18mm Ultra, 9mm Browning Patronen (long), 9mm Export, 9mm Glisenti, 9mm Kurz, 9mm Largo, 9mm Long, 9mm Luger, 9mm Mauser,9mmx19 Parabellum, 9mm Rimmed, 9mm Steyr, 9mm Win Mag, .38 ACP, .38 Auto, .38 Colt Super, .38 Long Colt, .38 Mid-Range, .38 Short Colt, .38 S & W, .38 Special "Plus-P", .38 Special "Plus-P-Plus", and .357 Magnum, among others.

When you are scrounging for ammo, this is the gun to have!!

Another vote for the crack sealer: if you can seal shut the mouth and possibly dull down the claws the threat level decreases even more.

Also, that would be the first step to domesticating them.

.223 m4 AR carbine as ammo is plentiful, but my old trusty 12 gauge mossberg will come in handy when hunting for the .223 rounds! . Course my last resort weapon is the sig sauer .40 ….ammo isn't as common as .22 or 9mm, but it is reliable, easy to shoot, and is a definite one shot, one problem solved from 0-50m!

.22LR pistol with a suppressor and red dot optics.

Nice selection here.

Another vote for shotgun/AA12. That P90 is nice, but I'm going to opt for my Ruger10/22 with hi-cap mags and my trusty Sig 229 in 9mm.

Crack Sealer is brilliant, but only as a last resort. I don't want to get that close.

This assumes that zeds are drawn to commotion

Support – Semi auto rifle with silencer and scope. Park sniper in a safe location and have them clear threats.

A Vickers, SAW, or other machine gun set up for sustained fire can make a mess out of any zombie crowd

Personal – Silenced pistol – allows a machete or other one handed melee weapon to be out and ready.

Tactical weapon – either a nimble assault rifle or tactial shotgun.

The reality is that any reasonable equipped and tactically sound group should be able to survive Romero or Walking Dead zombies

To me an issue would be ammo

Shotgun is a great idea but the shells are bulky and I wonder about how easy it would be be to make new ones

A nice accurate .22 would be a good idea – you can carry lots of shells and you can make your own fairly readily

Well, I *would* say a Ruger Mini-14, or M-16/variant ("most familiar/ease of maintaining" principle), but I'm out in California, where "non-removable" low capacity magazines are law for those types of weapons.

So, still keeping with the principle, I'll go with my M870.

The best firearm is the one that has the most ammo handy…preferably accompanied by a silencer, scope, flash suppressor, and a locked rooftop with a large supply of food, clean water, and a bathroom.

Remington 870 with eight round extension. you can find ammo at almost any big box store.

That said I am very well qualified with hand guns of all types and I would go with my custom M1911 as back up. I carry 9-10 magazines in my bag so that is about 100 rounds of pistol ammo loaded and ready to rock and roll.

VR
James Mattes

etotheipi on 13 Dec 2012 3:10 a.m. PST wrote:
Agree with flamethrower.

Not a good idea see the opening of 28 days. running burning zombies is not the way to go.

VR

James Mattes

This is a trick question. Firearms are noisy in general and would draw more and more zombies to your vicinity. Silencer can mitigate this, but you will still eventually run out of ammo, and it probably will affect your aim on the move some.

A flamethrower is also a poor choice according to most manuals as the target does not just flop down, but in all likelihood will continue to advance, and could quite possibly set fire to you location or surrounding environment.

Modern Crossbow is a good choice. Bow and arrow less so.

Claymore mines with your favorite firearm as back-up.

A Bv-206 vehicle with a mini-gatling remote nount, just carry a lot of ammo.

The sentry guns from Aliens.

Willy Peter grenades for a grenade launcher

Legion 4 on 12 Dec 2012 8:30 p.m. PST wrote:
AA12 Automatic Assault Shotgun … YouTube link

Piece of junk the designer claims it can reach 200 yards BUT that is only with the special ammo not currently in manufacture. Conventional Shotguns have a max effective range of 50 meters.

Now the BIG problem with the "TV" gun is it fires from the open bolt. Not a weapon for the military or dusty dirty enviorments.

VR
James Mattes

1. If the zed is mroe than 25 yards away, you move away from it. range not needed

2. If it is close you do not want to miss, espeically if you are surprised, or jumpy.

3. Hence, 12 gauge shotgun. Pump, reduces chance of jamming. pretty industructable.

oh yeah, just NOT a sword!

I'm going with a Semi-Auto .22 Rifle with a high capacity magazine and a scope. While they don't have the extreme range of a larger caliber, they are still deadly out to at least 400 yards, even though you aren't likely to hit what you are shooting at in those ranges. They are fairly accurate at shorter ranges and can penetrate a skull to get that brain shot needed to bring down a zombie. That makes them good against any dead and any living who would want to take anything from you. Don't let anyone tell you that a .22 isn't a deadly weapon.

They are the most common rifle in the US and any store that sells ammo will have tons of 22LR ammo in stock. There is also a good chance that homes will have ammo for it as the rifle is so common. The rifle and ammo are also inexpensive. You can easily find 250+ round boxes of the ammo which doesn't take up a lot of space. They are quieter than other bigger guns and can be fired for longer without shoulder fatigue. They are also easier and less intimidating for smaller people to use, unlike more powerful guns.

After that I'd then look at some kind of handgun for backup.

AR-15 series 5.56 type weapon. It's what I have fired the most and it's what I know. There is scads of ammo and parts available here and it does a good job of dropping a human sized target out to 300m. Probably does good head shots out to 150m with my eyesight, still a decent standoff for Mr. Zed. As for a backup? Anything in .45. Even if it doesn't KILL Mr. Zed, it will put them down long enough for me to get away.

If they're nice and slow a 30-06 as ammo should be easy to find up here. A shotgun would be nice as well. If it was "don't worry about ammo or parts" I'd say a Lewis gun because they just look cool.

Chaingun…

"Now the BIG problem with the "TV" gun is it fires from the open bolt. Not a weapon for the military or dusty dirty enviorments."

That being said, quite a few military weapons fire from an open bolt. The trade off being generally simpler construction and better cooling vs better protection against the elements.

On my SUV, with another couple of them inside, and the trunk filled with ammo. Preferably the density sensitive HE rounds.

The problem with a Flame Thrower is you only have about 10-20 seconds worth of fuel and short range. And it's bulky to carry and move with. The AA12, not only do you have range (200 Yards), but the shot can have mulitiple projectiles … so it's easier to get a head shot … all you need is one metal ball in the brain. And most likely you'll get more than one and if they are close together, you could get a two for one shot. But of course the whole thing about zombie killing (from what I gleamed from TWD, etc. (??)) is have enough ammo and try to avoid Close Combat, in most cases … And you'd have to have a few back up weapons, a couple of good 9-10mm automatic pistols with high round capacity mags. Plus I think the Samurai Sword is also a good back up blade for close combat, if you have to go into it. As well as maybe a K-Bar, Sykes-Fairbaine, or Gurkha Kukri as back up Blade(s). And I like that rig Jovian ! On the other hand, you may have experience with the AA12 vojvoda/James, so if it is a piece of junk … I'd go with a P90 or AR-15/M-16/M4 … with lots of mags …

Don't forget the swiss army knife with cork screw!

VR
James Mattes

I got that too ! Of course as both you and I know, you better that me (you have over twice the time on active duty as I !), as former Grunt types, you also have to be aware of the weight we have to carry too if moving dismounted … so stay near your vehicle when you can … And of course most cars, trucks, SUVs, etc. can make a good weapon … just run the "Sum'beeches" over !