5.56 and 7.62 both provide excellent ability to provide stops if you are using a properly configured weapon system. To me the impetuous to chose once caliber over the other is, like most gear choices, mission specific. The all around "SHTF Carbine" is always going to be the 5.56 16" carbine with a 4x ACOG or a Aimpoint PRO with irons, but 7.62 would be a viable option if you had an additional body to provide perimeter security and assist with spotting and carrying additional 7.62 ammo. Unless I was working in a very urban area, I'd chose a 7.62 rifle with a 20" barrel, 16" minimum and and either a 3-9x or 10x optic with a pair of offset irons or MRD for emergency CQB. With effective ranges pushing out past 500m, as long as you can move and communicate effectively without getting spotted, small groups of hostiles should be easy to engage as long as you have a gas 7.62, good dopes for your round, and good range to target. If other members of your party can keep you secure as long as you're on the glass, you can take full advantage of 7.62, and you should have time to pick up your brass.

I would not run 7.62 as a CQB gun because of ammo weight and muzzle rise (especially pronounced on short barreled gas guns). I think 5.56 has proven to do great here and if you're not comfortable with 5.56 you can up gun to 6.8 SPC, but there are ammo availability issues with non NATO calibers.

This is my survival shotgun: http://survivalcache.com/survival-shotgun-mossber...

I just had to replace the magazine spring in September, but my round count is around 6,350. I used the same Wilson spring I had my smith put in when it was first worked on in '06. I used a butane torch on the receiver because the magazine tube was secured with red loctite, something I repeated because it worked great for me.

I'm not aware of any ACOGs that don't have some sort of tritium element, but most are bosted by a fiber optic light pipe, sometimes too much so. I've see and sometimes applied a bit of 90 MPH tape over the tube to limit the amount of ambient light to prevent the reticle from washing out or being overly bright on a bright background and remain sharp.

On the other hand I have a TA01NSN that is tritium lit only and it is 12+ years old and the illumination is only visible with the naked eye after dark. It was meant for use with NVD so the output of the tritium was reduced to work with amplification tubes. For day use I don't even treat it as a light reticle and just a fancy rugged 4x scope with stadia markings that don't quite work for my rifle (TA01NSN is calibrated for a 14.5 using M855, I have mine zeroed on a 20" with M193, but I have a feel for the BDC.)

I worked for a departments who's used Trijicon TA47 with an amber triangle fixed to a (removable) carry handle. While these were 2x, not 3x, new officers who had never handled a rifle before (Chicagoland metro department) could print decently well and pass the patrol carbine state qual after 3 hours of hands on training. I and several contemporaries disliked the setup, but they were purchased with Federal Asset seizure funds so they were a rush job. Bushmasters with a 1:9 barrel, TA47 ACOGs affixed to a removable carry handle. A lot of work was put in to make these reliable rifles and every knob was witness marked because bored patrolmen would spin the windage knob 30 clicks while drinking coffee and reading messages on his toughbook or iphone.

Anyhow, if a student could pick up on BAC, he could get faster, more accurate hits. I used a personal carbine with a carry handle and a NM front sight and wrecked everyone on the pop-up range except an officer with a AR-10 with an ACOG that was calibrated for .308 ball. He also had a bipod and I was shooting standing in a pit.

My experience with 4x ACOGs on 20" rifles has been excellent.

EOTech warranty is 2 years. The Aimpoint warranty is 2 years for professional or competition use, 10 years for personal use.

Let me share my experience with CCOs in regards to Aimpoint and EOTech.

EOTechs have to realistically be looked at as a system with a limited operating life. I've heard more experienced shooters describe them as "disposable". EOTechs have improved over the years, but people I know that run EOTechs run the 516/517 or the 556 if they require NV. The side mounted buttons and built in rise mean you can get a lower third cowitness without a LaRue riser or other rails. I don't know anyone that runs the transverse battery models and I have personally seen two XPS units die during training due to how recoil affected the battery. This is the main downfall of the EOTech; recoil eventually will disrupt it's operation. You may have a very old EOTech in perfectly good working order; there is nothing deficient with you or your optic, but high volume shooters who depend on their carbine will eventually, on a long enough time line, see a failure. But the advantages of the EOTech are many, so it's worth the possibility this failure to run one. The standard layout I see EOTechs setup with is an M4/carbine upper with a fixed FSB, a 516/517/556 forward on the upper receiver, and a fixed rear sigh, typically an LMT A2 rear sight. This allows you slightly adjust your head and have an iron sight picture instantly while running an EOTech. Also, the irons may have a standard 300m BZO and the EOTech is zerod for 200 yards; I might not do this personally, but a Marine spent lunch break during training explaining why he did this and some of it was compelling.
EOTech PROs: Value, very fast reticle, 1 MOA dot can be precise, reticle has built in hold overs for height over bore, battery life is good with lithium AAs or CR123s, side buttons easy to access, lightweight, no mount to buy
EOTech CONs: Bulky feel, large optic windows collect dust can be difficult to clean, sensitive to recoil, TCO high

Aimpoint has been making high quality CCO for a long time, and as a example of their quality, a close associate's department received an allotment of 120 early generation DRMO M68 CCO (CompM2s circa 2003-4is) They were sandy, scratched, but they all lit brightly and had they chose too, could have been mounted on the patrol carbines. I snagged a complete set, including a carry handle mount, for my "Blackhawk Down" carbine build I have planned for a rainy day.
The Comp M3, T1, and RCO are all very serviceable, rugged optics. They all have outstanding battery life (3 years for the RCO on setting 7). The advantage over the EOTech is they are extruded aluminum tubes with coated glass optics and decades of experience in the CCO/RDO industry. The detriments over EOTech are cost, the requirement for a mount, weight (excluding the T1), and the reticle (simple 2/4 MOA dot). The simple Aimpoint dot reticle may be slower than an EOTech, but Comp RDS have been used for decades in competition to speed up sight acquisition, so it's something an individual needs to test.

A final point, the EOTech warranty is 2 years. The Aimpoint warranty is 2 years for professional or competition use, 10 years for personal use.

As the writer of the article, who pounded out every word except the specs of the knife, I'd like to know too. I find it odd.

I have a pair of SI FLAK JACKET XLJ POLARIZED that I am really happy with, and they do offer prescription replacement lenses for all colors except polarized. I thought about getting clear lenses for these for indoor ranges, but I just toss on some cheap clear goggles and keep the oakes for outdoors.

Thanks Dan! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. I appreciate the feedback.

Great article. My rule of thumb is to use soft cases to transport weapons from home to the range and hard cases for air travel or long trips (like driving hundreds of miles). The exception to that rule is when a firearm is a precision weapon or has a particularly high value; then I use a Pelican case for transport at all times.