Ranking Handgun Value in a Zombie Apocalypse
 

Hello all. I'm just a guy with a minimal knowledge of firearms, but a recently developing passion for learning more about them. I also try to contribute to a wiki about Zombie Films and hypothetical survivalism. Most of the editors seem to be pretty young, and even more uninformed than me.

I wanted to try something new for a wiki article, and I was hoping you guys could help me. Quite simply, I'd like to get a top ten list for the best handguns to have in a zombie uprising. Now, obviously, if such a thing were to happen, we would advise using primarily rifles and shotguns and such, and have the sidearm just in case. But we loves our guns, so the question still stands. How would you rank common handgun types against zombies?

To clarify, we are talking zombies as in Night of the Living Dead, not 28 Days Later or Zombieland. These zombies are already dead. Only the destruction of the brain, or brain stem puts them down. They don't breathe. They don't bleed out. They have poor balance, and very low speed, but they are very strong.

Factors I would imagine to be important include (but are not limited to) stopping power, ammo availability, resistance to jams, recoil, and how much is involved to maintain it. I would imagine very few .22's will be on there.

Anyway, please post up your thoughts, maybe a few words why you like one gun over another. I'm going to try to find a consensus, and post it on our wiki, and cite these forums.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the great work on imfdb. Feel free to pay us a visit at zombie.wikia.com if you'd like to help set us straight - Lord knows we could use the help.

Smith 617 6''/

.22lr is the most common and easy round to find, zombies are rotting corpses and it will easily penetrate their skull, you can carry a lot. The 6'' gives a little extra velocity. A semi in .22lr is just not reliable enough. Also good to hunt small game to eat with mininum meat damage.

Really? What would you say is the max distance one could reliably shatter a skull with that?

Feel free to throw more gun types in there, BTW. Not just "the best" but common types that would work well, maybe even rank them like a top ten list. :D

Zombies are a rotting corpse, the skulls dehydrating and becoming brittle and easy to smash. Get some CCI Mini MAgs or Velocitors, good velocity, accuracy, and bullett construction. Reliable brand. Also, get a collapsable baton. Compact, easy to carry and will crack heads. A knife will get caught inside attacker and be ineffective for follow up strikes. Im sre a .22 revovler will smash a zombie brain within any handgun distance, beyond 25 yards you need a rifle.

While I appreciate the help, and don't mean to discourage or put you down in anyway, the "commonly accepted" standard for Zombies is based on a book - Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide - (and also World War Z, which is being made into a film next year - so you guys will cover it then ;) ). Those sorts of Zombies are infected/saturated by what is basically a super-alpha sort of virus. It is somehow so toxic, no other life can withstand any contact with it - even the microscopic stuff that decomposes organic tissue. In this way, and in keeping the zombie more solid altogether (for example, their wounds barely splatter, everything just clumps together like old jam), an undead, infected Zombie can survive for 5-10 years before it breaks down enough to be immobilized.

Besides, I'm no forensics expert, but I think before a skull naturally decomposes to the point of brittleness, it has to be dead for many months. That's not a safe assumption for all zombies one might come into contact with.

So yeah, I'm the authority on the fictional, useless half of this debate. I really rock. :rolleyes:. Also, I have a father was was a cop, and actually saw a man get shot in the head with a .22 (probably normal or short) from about a car length away, and it just lodged in the man's skull, doing no physical brain damage. So that would be bad against a zombie.

Gimme a Beretta 92 or Springfield XD-9 instead of that .22 LR crap. Both have penetration (stopping power would be kind of irrelevant) and high mag capacity.

I've been trying to put my own Zombie Weapons Tier onto paper for a long time, sheerly because Max Brooks missed a LOT in his book as far as firearms go......edited.....but I will have you know that you are using images from imfdb that MPM2008 made, and unless you have his permission, he's gonna be pissed when he finds out.

Wow. Great stuff. Totally using this info. Thanks guys. Anyone else? No votes of confidence for 9mm glocks or Sig Sauers?

Totally agree with handguns being a poor primary weapon. We make note of that in other places, but some of the editors really seem to want to get to the bottom of the "best zombie killing handgun" discussion. ::shrugs::.

In the end, a 9mm is a 9mm is a 9mm. What makes the gun better or best is what is available for it that isn't for others. If you do plan on using my information, I'd appreciate it if you cited me as well as show me where you post it.

Hey, if you ever do get around to it, we'd love to have it on zombie.wikia.com. We get decent traffic, especially on all searches for anything Max Brooks related. I'm known as Philodox on that wiki, so hit me up if you need anything there. Cheers.

My only problem with finishing it is that I need decent pictures and none of my friends are willing to draw for me a uniform set of images. I've scoured the internet for good ones but the only set I can find that I like are MPMs, which are off limits. Again, please cite me and show me where it ends up too, I can't strees that enough. My AIM address is ynh1911a1 too if you have any other questions.

I've gotta say, I don't really like the gun suggestions from Brook's Zombie survival guide. I read that guide and he really doesn't like the M16 and saids it jams a lot. Obviously the writer knows nothing about firearms in general. I'd take these recommendations with a grain of sand.

My thoughts exactly. I can't argue much with tactics as I am not a master tactical planner, but I know a thing or two about firearms, which is a thing or two more than his book illustrates.

No, he did absolutely zero research, such as shown by him ranking the M1 carbine (which you'd be hard-pressed to find ammo for) so high.

An AR-15 rifle or carbine would be an ideal weapon due to it being accurate with light recoil, lots of readily-available aftermarket parts to enhance performance and accuracy, and readily-available ammunition. Jamming likely wouldn't be much of a problem unless you're laying out full suppression fire, which anyone hoping to survive Z-Day wouldn't do if he/she had any common sense.

This would be my ideal configuration.
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...mbieKiller.jpg

Long range and CQB in one handy machine.

the zombie survival guide is a total joke. m1 carbine and machete? Come on. And theres too many ideas on type of zombie. Classic zombies that are slow dead and need headshots. Then theres 28 days/weeks that actually make sense since tehre an infected human and all you need to do is shoot them.

Well the most common would be a M9 since it's our main forces primary weapon. Should there be a Zombie day I'm pretty sure the army would respond. The M9 would be a good choice because it's reliable, easy to maintain, lowish recoil ammo, and the mags are everywhere.

Personally I would choose a SIG Sauer p229 sport. While I've never used one, I do know people that have and they say it's great for follow up shots, Something I would imagine to be very useful when attacked by the hordes. The gun has a heavier barrel, is compensated, shoots 9mm, has a large mag well to easier slide in magazines quickly and has larger controls than normal.

That looks like a very Hollywood configuration. I would want just an Aimpoint. If I can get a suppressor, the better

I would triple wield Desert Eagles. Preferably plated in diamond.
The third goes in your mouth, you see, and you pull the trigger with your tongue. With practice, you could maybe get two more hanging from your ears, and fire them by waggling your ears back and forth.

SO: Quintuple wielding Desert Eagle .50AE in diamond.

Only in your mind, but even that, it'll be a pain to reload. And we're shooting zombies here. They can't get scared and it isn't like you can aim with your mouth, the slide will smack you in the face. The recoil would blow your ears off. Now post a real suggestion

As far as Semiautomatic Handguns go I would have to go with a SIG-Sauer P226. It's a common highly reliable handgun that when set up with something like an M6 laser/flashlight and a sound supressor makes for an effective and quiet backup weapon.

As far as revolvers go while not as common as a .357 I have a preferance for the .44 magnum as it's flat shooting enough that an experianced user can shoot out to 300+ yards.

i would probrably choose an AR variant. there much more easier to come by.
as for a handgun maybe a glock .40 or the good ol' .45 1911. you can never go wrong with a 1911. and revolvers....the .38 special. yep, thats right im bringing out the ol' shitter. most people dont prefer it. but they have nice control and some good stopping power. hell, my mom even has one that she keeps in her closet for home-defense. we also take it to the range sometimes.

I wouldnt get a big caliber for the headshot only zombies, and even ones you need to hit in the torso, never a .40. .45 has more power and less recoil, ill just take a p220. Ar-15s are a good idea as you can take mags from military/le types. Whats with the aimpoint and eotec lined up in the pic?

Largely bare essentials. The magnifier can be flipped off to the side when the 3X isn't needed and you never know where the tac light would be useful.

The Aimpoint is a magnifier, not an RDS.

For shooting something as dangerous as zombies, a handgun is too close for comfort. I'd rather have a shotgun or rifle at distances, but if I need to have a handgun for use, I'd get one with as much ammo as possible in a standard magazine. I like the XDM in 9mm. 19+1 rounds. I might even want to get a Glock 17 and get the extended mags for 33.

A Browning HP and my 686 as pistols and my Stag Arms as my rifle, with a crowbar for melee

Crowbar sounds too heavy for something like a rotting zombie head. And you would need all your speed to run around. Too much weight is bad for you. I'll take a bat as a melee weapon. I'm debating if a sword or a bat would have less blood splash back on myself

asp baton, all day.

I don't have a baseball bat though. I have rock hammers and crowbars, but no baseball bats

Well guys, you´re in the US, so you have too many weapons to choose, but here you can´t buy semiautomatics...

So, let´s see:

Melee: Cold Steel Indian War Club

Handgun: Bersa Thunder .45 as main handgun or Glock 17.

Rifle: Sporter Mauser 1909 with bayonet for long range.

Small game rifle: Some Beretta local copy in .22lr

I inherited my Dad's M1 Carbine, and I love it. Easy to carry, good accuracy, low recoil, good magazine capacity, and I have no problems finding ammunition for it. Granted an M16, or variant would probably be a better choice because they are so common in the U.S. as one of it's advantages. Although I am a .45 acp man, I think that shot placement and ammo capacity should be considered. I would probably go with a Beretta 92. Like the M16, it is very common, so ammo, magazines, and spare parts should not be a problem. Also it is heavy for a 9mm, so the recoil is very mild.

As for movie Zombies, they are not really Zombies. George Romero has said that his creations aren't Zombies, they are the Living Dead. The Living Dead can be killed, a Zombie can't. The traditional Zombie is a reanimated corpse that is under the control of a person. The only way to stop the Zombie is to stop the person that is controlling them. The last real Zombie I have seen in a movie, was the HBO film "Cast A Deadly Spell".

David.

Real suggestion? For a ZOMBIE apocalypse?
Hmm.

Well, I suppose I would kit out everybody I knew with a Ruger 10/22. There are a ton of them available, as well as ammunition. Form up an old fashioned firing line, and advance slowly, shooting the crap out of everything. If using the whole large group wasn't feasible, I'd probably take a group of 3.

Sidearms though... I just don't know. If I HAVE to...
I'm taking a 1911. Screw you Zombie literature, the 1911 would do the trick.

I'd get an AR-15 with a .22LR upper or a .410 upper

Typical vietcong unit :p

http://pdmall.com/aagun/AUCTION/mechte~7.jpg

I´d take one of this ^

Rifle size with pistol power......hmm.....not feeling it. I think a Phillips and Rodgers Model 47 would be quite practical.

I would avoid 22 lr handguns as they lack sufficient penetration through a skull at the angles encountered during an altercation (may not be 90 degrees to the muzzle). I would go for a high capacity 9mm handgun and specifically a Glock 17 9mm. A Glock 34 would work too (fyi.....I don't like the way Glocks feel). Reasons are 9mm ammo is available (for now), and more importantly parts/accessories are available/interchangable. The 9mm has the ability to penetrate the skull. For zombies "stopping power" is not an issue. It would for be for other normal people trying to steal your stuff or otherwise harm you. Beretta, H&K, S&W hi cap 9mm's would be fine as well, but lack the parts/accessories availability. I doubt handguns would be a primary weapon in this type of event, but spare parts is always a plus.

Revolvers for the most part would be out of the picture. The weight to firepower ratio doesn't make sense.

Very interesting stuff, guys. I appreciate all of it. A few things...

Really? Shows what little I know. Roughly speaking, how far is the maximum effective range for skull cracking with a standard 9mm round?

Wait, wait. Why do you say that? First off, according to the "general consensus" (and again, please don't think I get off on declaring myself the zombie authority here, if anything, I see it as pretty lame, but I do put in the time organizing that wiki, so gimmie come cred here), zombies not only need a headshot, they need a substantial portion of the brain to be mashed up. Zombies don't bleed out. Yes, I know there are some movies where they do. But the zombies that some great literature (and the next big zombie movie) is built upon is trying to make a slightly more consistent standard to try and recreate the George Romero slow lumbering zombie. So they have gelatanous blood. This allows them to be alot more durable. Sure, scientifically, it doesn't have any precedent. Bear with me.

Anyhow, for this discussion, please assume that the skull is just as solid as any humans, organs other than the brain are ornamental, hydrostatic shock, nerve trauma, and decomposition are total non-factors. So I'm thinking, even if a body shot doesn't kill it, at least if there is stopping power, they are knocked down, buying you more time (they are known to have awful balance and coordination, which is the main reason they are slow. In close quarters, they are just as feral and strong as an engraged pcp junkie, or something).

Really? Doesn't the durability and reliability make them at least part of the discussion? I understand .45 is unwieldly, but maybe in a .357 or a .38?

Well, I agree alot of his firearms stuff doesn't fly with real authorities, I'm sure he tried. Without practical experience, and lots of access to experts, this stuff is very hard for a layperson to get a firm grasp on. Trust me. Gotta give him points for not endorsing the Desert Eagle, right?

Waita sec, you'd be hard pressed to find m1 carbine ammo? I could have sworn I read in the US military, it was widely available. Doesn't that mean it at least sells a little?

.30 Carbine is available, just not in as high volume as others. I could walk into any gun store or ammo depot and find 9mm or 5.56, but I'd have to look around to find even 1 store that had a decent amount of .30 Carbine.

I tried to stay away from the discussion but it seems you all have come to most of the conclusions I have without my input, so I'll put some of mine in.

Revolvers are generally a no-no unless you are and were trained on them. While they have high reliability and commonality, the cartridges they fire are either underpowered (.38 Special) or slightly or grossly overpowered (.357 Magnum and .38). You can get some that fire intermediate calibers like .45 ACP but then you need a steady supply of moon clips just to keep the gun firing, when you could have just grabbed a Glock 21 or 1911 and have higher capacity with a reliability drop that would more or less go unnoticed.

Moreover .45 ACP is NOT unwieldly at all, anything beyond .357 Magnum in a handgun is more or less "unwieldly".

While it's not nearly my favorite "zombie movie", 28 Days Later has the most realistic depiction of infected. The source of the infected is a mutated virus, they don't require headshots, and their blood can infect you if it contacts open wounds, which makes sense. Most Romero movies leave no explanation for zombies or why certain people aren't infected. Basically, the Boyle (28 Days Later director) zombies leave less plot holes and are easier to defeat.

I'd carry either an M16A1 knockoff or M4gery or their actual counterparts if I can get them (maybe work in an 11.5 inch barrel somewhere), with maybe an ACOG. A plain jane AK-47 is fine too. My sidearm would be a Beretta 92 Series (I just got an SB!) or a Glock 17 if I want to conserve weight. I'd try to work in a light attachment if I could. In all honesty I'd try to assemble a team and a base where I could hold extra weapons for different types of encounters.

As far as headshots go, it seems like a traditional Achilles heel put into a fictional antagonist to allow some kind of source of defeat, but in reality it just makes them harder to kill, especially if they can run. I can see why it makes some sense and why it doesn't, so I'm not really going to say that a headshot should be the only way to kill one, but I'd certainly hope not, because it's a lot harder than the movies make it out.

have you seen quarantine?
scary as fuck if you watch it for the first time without anyone else. or anyone else laughing or making fun of it.
it depicts zombies really well too.

Slow zombies-
I'd just chiil out on my roof with my dad's H&K SL7 in .22 Mag with a cooler full of RC and cap zombies all day after boarding up the house with our hurricane gear.

Fast zombies-
Loot some supplies, board up my house, wait 2 weeks and then shoot the now half decomposed/starved zombies with my AR while sitting on my roof

Oh, I forgot to add one little detail: I would do this while blasting heavy metal from my boom box