Ranking Handgun Value in a Zombie Apocalypse

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

Originally Posted by oddjob

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. The 9mm has the ability to penetrate the skull.

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

For zombies "stopping power" is not an issue.

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).

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

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?

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.

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?

[Yournamehere]

.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.

[Zulu Two Six]

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.

[S&Wshooter]

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

[S&Wshooter]

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

[k9870]

The only zombies that make sense are the ones in 28 days later or something that are a crazy person. Seriously, muscle function (movement) without anything but brain working? And if digestive systems gone, whyd they want to eat people? I say, zombies can be taken down with a torso shot. Get whatever gun youd use against your regular old home invader/other unneeded bipedal.

[S&Wshooter]

Originally Posted by k9870

The only zombies that make sense are the ones in 28 days later or something that are a crazy person. Seriously, muscle function (movement) without anything but brain working? And if digestive systems gone, whyd they want to eat people? I say, zombies can be taken down with a torso shot. Get whatever gun youd use against your regular old home invader/other unneeded bipedal.

But I suck with pistols

[Spartan198]

Originally Posted by Yooka

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.

I don't have as much practical experience as you might be thinking (I fired a .22 LR rifle once or twice when I was 5 and two rounds from a friend's Kimber TLE a few months ago, and that's pretty much it), and I can still do a better job at weapon selection that the ZSG author.

Gotta give him points for not endorsing the Desert Eagle, right?

That's pretty much all I can give him points for.

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?

Nothing in the current US military arsenal uses .30 carbine.