When the zombie apocalypse comes you'll need a weapon and your success or failure at survival may rest on the single decision of what weapon to choose from. This seems to be a topic of major debate and these are my opinions, however I'm always open to suggestions and additions. First of all I'd like to say that any weapon is better than no weapon. I don't care if you are the best MMA fighter in the universe, you're not going to bare-knuckle fight your way through a crowd of zombies if the situation should arise. Secondly, the best offence is a good defense. Best not to fight a zombie unless you absolutely have to. Running away is always the better option. Do not waste time, resources, energy, or risk possible injury trying to be a hero. So without further delay I'll kick off this shindig.
Long Range
By long range I mean 100 yards max. You don't need a fancy scope and a Barrett M82 .50 caliber sniper rifle. You have no business picking off zombies 3 miles away and if you need a scope to see them then they can't see you. For distances around 100 yards you could do it with a pistol but rifles offer a lot more accuracy. Surplus rifles can usually be acquired pretty cheap and they are definitely reliable, in my experience the older the better. Enfield, Springfields, Mosin, SKS, AK, M16/AR15. Just about any centerfire rifle will do the job. Shotguns, not so much. Long range it will do very little if anything just alert them.
Medium Range
I would consider this to be anywhere from 5-20 yards. Handguns are going to be your best bet here. Anything with a high enough caliber to pierce the skull will work. My personal favorite is the M1911, that thing will shoot in any condition and with a .45 round you can be sure you will get the job done. The only downside is that it has a single stack magazine that only holds 7 rounds but it's what I feel comfortable using and I feel pretty accurate with it. The M9 is a decent handgun holding 15 9mm rounds per magazine. In my opinion you don't need "The most powerful handgun in the world". *Dirty Harry voice* The larger the caliber, the more recoil. To me revolvers are sub par unless you just want to look like a bad ass Rick Grimes rockin the python.
Don't get me wrong, revolvers have their pluses. You can't find a more reliable handgun than a revolver. It's just the smaller ones tend to have less accuracy and the ones with longer barrels are usually chambered in .357, .44, or .50 cal which have a lot of muzzle flash and recoil which in turn reduce target acquisition time. An alternative to handguns can be cross bows or other archery weapons. They can be very accurate, provide reusable ammo, and produce virtually no noise. Arrows from compound bows have been clocked between 150-370 ft/sec. At those speeds you could definitely pierce the human skull. When the time comes any weapon is better than no weapon and you should use whatever you feel comfortable with.
Close Combat
This would be anything within arms reach and sometimes may be your best option if there are few zombies to take care of. You want to concentrate most of your damage to the head area since it's really the only way to kill a zombie. Anything you can use to pierce, sever, or cave in the skull will work wonders. Baseball bats, golf clubs, machetes, swords (not that cheap shit you get at the flea market either), bayonets (if you happen to have one on your rifle), pitch forks, axes/hatchets, crowbars, knives, or sharp sticks. If you insist on being that guy with the shotgun this would be the time to break it out. Gerber recently came out with a survival kit that has a plethora of blades for any situation.
Things Not To Use
Flame throwers, molotov cocktails basically anything that produces a flame. It takes a long time for a zombie to be subdued by fire and until that happens they are still running around trying to eat you. The only thing more dangerous than a zombie is a flaming zombie. Setting a zombie on fire will likely cause more damage than good as they are likely to set your surroundings on fire and possibly burn up supplies.
Chainsaws, don't be that guy. The biological mess created by using a chainsaw would be devastating. There isn't enough bleach in the world to sanitize everything that would be contaminated. If anyone in my group insisted on using a chain saw I'd probably off them myself.
Ninjitsu, KungFu, TaeKwonDo, Karate, Judo, MMA, boxing, wrestling, back alley brawler skills, whatever hand to hand you think you know you just forget that mess. If I have to explain to you why you shouldn't try to bash a zombie skull with your fist then I might as well let you use the chainsaw. The zombie plague is spread by body fluids, saliva/blood. When you bash your knuckles open and get zombie guts all in it you are a good as dead. Combined with the fact that your adrenaline is causing your heart to beat pretty quick you can forget cutting off your hand in time.
What it boils down to is using what you feel comfortable with and make sure you are proficient with it. Having a weapon you don't know how to use is just a good as not having one. Just because you have ammo doesn't mean you have to use it. Avoidance is always the best option. I personally would not use firearms against zombies unless there was no other options. This should be reserved for the living who aim to steal your goods which may very well be an even bigger threat than the zombies.
Long Range
By long range I mean 100 yards max. You don't need a fancy scope and a Barrett M82 .50 caliber sniper rifle. You have no business picking off zombies 3 miles away and if you need a scope to see them then they can't see you. For distances around 100 yards you could do it with a pistol but rifles offer a lot more accuracy. Surplus rifles can usually be acquired pretty cheap and they are definitely reliable, in my experience the older the better. Enfield, Springfields, Mosin, SKS, AK, M16/AR15. Just about any centerfire rifle will do the job. Shotguns, not so much. Long range it will do very little if anything just alert them.
Medium Range
I would consider this to be anywhere from 5-20 yards. Handguns are going to be your best bet here. Anything with a high enough caliber to pierce the skull will work. My personal favorite is the M1911, that thing will shoot in any condition and with a .45 round you can be sure you will get the job done. The only downside is that it has a single stack magazine that only holds 7 rounds but it's what I feel comfortable using and I feel pretty accurate with it. The M9 is a decent handgun holding 15 9mm rounds per magazine. In my opinion you don't need "The most powerful handgun in the world". *Dirty Harry voice* The larger the caliber, the more recoil. To me revolvers are sub par unless you just want to look like a bad ass Rick Grimes rockin the python.
Don't get me wrong, revolvers have their pluses. You can't find a more reliable handgun than a revolver. It's just the smaller ones tend to have less accuracy and the ones with longer barrels are usually chambered in .357, .44, or .50 cal which have a lot of muzzle flash and recoil which in turn reduce target acquisition time. An alternative to handguns can be cross bows or other archery weapons. They can be very accurate, provide reusable ammo, and produce virtually no noise. Arrows from compound bows have been clocked between 150-370 ft/sec. At those speeds you could definitely pierce the human skull. When the time comes any weapon is better than no weapon and you should use whatever you feel comfortable with. Close Combat
This would be anything within arms reach and sometimes may be your best option if there are few zombies to take care of. You want to concentrate most of your damage to the head area since it's really the only way to kill a zombie. Anything you can use to pierce, sever, or cave in the skull will work wonders. Baseball bats, golf clubs, machetes, swords (not that cheap shit you get at the flea market either), bayonets (if you happen to have one on your rifle), pitch forks, axes/hatchets, crowbars, knives, or sharp sticks. If you insist on being that guy with the shotgun this would be the time to break it out. Gerber recently came out with a survival kit that has a plethora of blades for any situation.Things Not To Use
Flame throwers, molotov cocktails basically anything that produces a flame. It takes a long time for a zombie to be subdued by fire and until that happens they are still running around trying to eat you. The only thing more dangerous than a zombie is a flaming zombie. Setting a zombie on fire will likely cause more damage than good as they are likely to set your surroundings on fire and possibly burn up supplies.
Ninjitsu, KungFu, TaeKwonDo, Karate, Judo, MMA, boxing, wrestling, back alley brawler skills, whatever hand to hand you think you know you just forget that mess. If I have to explain to you why you shouldn't try to bash a zombie skull with your fist then I might as well let you use the chainsaw. The zombie plague is spread by body fluids, saliva/blood. When you bash your knuckles open and get zombie guts all in it you are a good as dead. Combined with the fact that your adrenaline is causing your heart to beat pretty quick you can forget cutting off your hand in time.
What it boils down to is using what you feel comfortable with and make sure you are proficient with it. Having a weapon you don't know how to use is just a good as not having one. Just because you have ammo doesn't mean you have to use it. Avoidance is always the best option. I personally would not use firearms against zombies unless there was no other options. This should be reserved for the living who aim to steal your goods which may very well be an even bigger threat than the zombies.
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