Assuming equal shooting ability and equal ability to keep a "cool head" in life-threatening scenarios, the person with an M4 will do a lot better against "zombies" than a person with a 12-gauge shotgun.
A typical AR-15 magazine holds 30 rounds and even including the magazine, it's smaller and lighter than a box of 25 12-gauge cartridges. A fully-loaded aluminum (GI-type) 30-round AR-15 magazine weighs about 1 pound, while 25 rounds of 12-gauge cartridges weighs about 2½ pounds. For a given amount of space and weight, you can carry a lot more fully-loaded 30-round AR-15 magazines than 12-gauge cartridges. You can also rapidly fire 30 or 31 shots without reloading, while you're limited to about 9 at the most before you have to reload with a typical tubular magazine 12-gauge shotgun.
An AR-15 in its standard chambering (.223 / 5.56) has negligible recoil, while 12-gauge has a lot of recoil, so you can put more shots on target in a given amount of time (recoil inherently moves your sights off target, and it takes time to reacquire the target after each shot).
With an AR-15 you can make head-shots out to several hundred yards, which is good for maintaining distance between yourself and the threat. Good luck doing that with a 12-gauge shotgun.
In a very specific scenario a 12-gauge shotgun could be better than an AR-15, i.e., a group of 9 zombies or less that are between about 10 and 30 yards away. In that case, the spread of e.g., 00 buckshot pellets makes it easier to hit the targets, perhaps even hitting more than one target per shot if the zombies are close together. In all other scenarios, the AR-15 is better.
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BuckleBilly (1149)
9 hours ago
No thanks. After 12 years of dealing with the M9, M4, M16, M249, M240, M19, AT4, .50Cal, Bradley's, and Abrams, I wouldn't waste my time with them for a zombie situation.
You'd be better off with an Ak47. Especially if you can't clean it every day. My Remington 12 guage is good enough. I don't engage in unnecessary conflicts where 30 rou is are required.
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MaximRecoil (4614)
9 hours ago
"You'd be better off with an Ak47."
No, you definitely wouldn't. Again:
The AR-15 is the most popular rifle platform in the US, plus it's used by the military and police, so that helps with finding ammunition, magazines, and spare parts if you need them.
That doesn't apply to the AK-47; not even close.
"Especially if you can't clean it every day."
That's a myth. There are countless AR-15s that have gone thousands of rounds without any cleaning and without any malfunctions. AR-15s also beat AK-47s in mud tests. See the ones that Ian McCollum (Forgotten Weapons channel) and Mike Jones (Garand Thumb channel) have done for example. That's because its action is better sealed from the elements than an AK's is, and its "direct-impingement" gas system (which isn't really a DI system, but in this context it might as well be) blows crap out of the action like an air-compressor hose, as well as through the gas vent holes in the bolt, which clears stuff away from the ejection port before the action is very far along in its cycle.
"I don't engage in unnecessary conflicts where 30 rou is are required."
In a "zombie apocalypse" scenario you can't count on having the luxury of choosing what type of conflicts you will engage in. A 12-gauge repeating shotgun is one of the most ill-suited firearms imaginable, only outdone by such things as single-shot shotguns, muzzle-loaders, and pocket pistols like a Davis or Raven .25 ACP or a North American Arms mini-revolver. That's because of its very limited ammunition capacity, very limited range, and the excessive size/weight of its ammunition.
A lever-action .357 Magnum carbine would be far better than a pump or semi-automatic shotgun for someone who doesn't trust an AR-15.
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BuckleBilly (1149)
7 hours ago
You're hilarious dude. Do you actually own guns or just read survivalist blogs? Cause this reads just like my old army buddies. Nearly word for word.
True fact, I never had an issue taking them out in war games and paintball.
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MaximRecoil (4614)
3 hours ago
"Do you actually own guns"
Obviously.
"or just read survivalist blogs?"
I've never read a "survivalist blog;" the topic doesn't interest me in the least. The only part of this survivalist topic of yours (a topic about surviving in a fictional Hollywood scenario no less), is guns; a topic I've been interested in since I was a kid in the early 1980s when Dad bought me my first rifle, which I still have.
"Cause this reads just like my old army buddies. Nearly word for word."
Uh huh. I'd be surprised if they knew any more about guns than you do.
In any case, since you didn't address, let alone refute, anything I said, your tacit concession is noted.
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