the shotgun barrel is just a huge waste of time and effort. NOISY, short ranged, and pointless. All animals and birds stop moving SOMETIME, and a silenced .22 rifle costs no more than the O/U jokes, and it can be both concealable and an AUTO rifle. In fact,it can be FULL AUTO, as in the Norrell, cyclic-rate-reduced1022. Instead of it firing at 30 shots a second, as do all "normal" semi-22's, when converted to full auto, it cycles at 15 rds a second. That means that you can fire 2-3 bursts per second, making a 30 rd mag LAST a while, and laying a LOT of shock and destruction on a guy's chest, out to 100m, from the bipod, in fact. You can carry 11 subsonic .22lr's for each one of 12ga shells,you know. same wt and LESS bulk. Each .22 can, and should, drop a cow, dog, or man, making a few hundred rounds go a LONG ways indeed. Plenty far enough,actually, since you will be recovering guns and ammo from nearly every man that you shoot.
shtf will mostly be about avoiding-killing other PEOPLE., and packs of starving dog. Just "foraging" is not an option, and NOISY single shot .22's or shotguns plain suck for such use.
Having the OPTION of the 10x greater power of the 223, 4x the effective range, much more penetration of cars, wood, etc, makes having a canned CAR-15, with a .22lr conversion unit, a FAR better bet than just having the .22. The CAR can be full auto too, ya know. A LOT easier than can the Ruger 10-22, in fact.
shtf will mostly be about avoiding-killing other PEOPLE., and packs of starving dog. Just "foraging" is not an option, and NOISY single shot .22's or shotguns plain suck for such use.
Having the OPTION of the 10x greater power of the 223, 4x the effective range, much more penetration of cars, wood, etc, makes having a canned CAR-15, with a .22lr conversion unit, a FAR better bet than just having the .22. The CAR can be full auto too, ya know. A LOT easier than can the Ruger 10-22, in fact.