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For a true "do it all" firearm, it must have these two qualities (IMO):
1. Be able to be with you at all times
I know most of us don't have LTCs, but if you felt your life was truly in danger it's better to have a gun with you than not, even if you're breaking the law. Carrying a rifle around in most places is going to attract way too much attention, so all long guns are eliminated.
2. Be able to adequately defend yourself
This means it must not be single shot, and must not be a .22 (IMO neither of those are particularly good defensive weapons). Any centerfire caliber above .380 or .38spl meets this requirement.
Keeping these two criteria in mind, a small-mid size centerfire caliber handgun would my choice if I could only have one gun. Something like a Glock would be an obvious choice, for its excellent reliability and durability.
Personally my choice would be a S&W .357 revolver, something like a Model 66 or 686. With the revolver, you're giving up capacity and some durability to something like a Glock, but since we're limited to 10 rounds in CA a 7 shot 686 isn't that much different than a 10+1 Glock. I like the .357 for an "only one gun" scenario because I think it's more versatile than the Glock. You can shoot ammo that is loaded so light that new shooters would be able to shoot it easily, or hotter loads that'll kill any animal in North America. You can shoot it rapidly in DA, or cock it and get a nice light trigger pull if you needed to make a long distance shot. .38/.357 can be reloaded easily and you don't have to worry about chasing brass around if you're in a ammo constrained scenario. So IMO it makes the best "all around" firearm.
1. Be able to be with you at all times
I know most of us don't have LTCs, but if you felt your life was truly in danger it's better to have a gun with you than not, even if you're breaking the law. Carrying a rifle around in most places is going to attract way too much attention, so all long guns are eliminated.
2. Be able to adequately defend yourself
This means it must not be single shot, and must not be a .22 (IMO neither of those are particularly good defensive weapons). Any centerfire caliber above .380 or .38spl meets this requirement.
Keeping these two criteria in mind, a small-mid size centerfire caliber handgun would my choice if I could only have one gun. Something like a Glock would be an obvious choice, for its excellent reliability and durability.
Personally my choice would be a S&W .357 revolver, something like a Model 66 or 686. With the revolver, you're giving up capacity and some durability to something like a Glock, but since we're limited to 10 rounds in CA a 7 shot 686 isn't that much different than a 10+1 Glock. I like the .357 for an "only one gun" scenario because I think it's more versatile than the Glock. You can shoot ammo that is loaded so light that new shooters would be able to shoot it easily, or hotter loads that'll kill any animal in North America. You can shoot it rapidly in DA, or cock it and get a nice light trigger pull if you needed to make a long distance shot. .38/.357 can be reloaded easily and you don't have to worry about chasing brass around if you're in a ammo constrained scenario. So IMO it makes the best "all around" firearm.
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