To answer someone's question, I've done two combat tours to Iraq with 2/3 Marines (Infantry) ... Combat Action Ribbon, Purple Heart ... and I sold my Armalite Middy in between tours. I'm not a single shot guy, but I don't favor gas or piston operated firearms for shtf scenarios. For reference, I've been in a uniform since 87, was an armorer, carried the M16A1,2,3 and M4, as well as the 60, 240G, SAW, 209, etc.
As the good book says, where your treasure is there your heart will be also. The more "stuff" you require to survive, the less mobile you are, and the harder you have to work to protect your "treasure." So I go the other way ... light, mobile, self-sustainable. I am learning how to make things rather than buy stockpiles of things. I am learning how to live comfortably with less, so my survival requirements are as close to minimal as possible. For me to treasure life most (especially my family's) means to treasure things less. YMMV.
Consider that a worst case scenario may be you on foot for as long into the future as you can see. A combat loadout for an infantryman is 6 30rd mags (loaded to 27 most likely, and maybe another spare in your pocket JIC) for approximately 180rds. I can use that up in about 6 minutes or less, with controlled well aimed shots from cover alternating for movement, depending on the size of the opposition. So you are on foot, for most likely the rest of your life, with no guarantee of resupply from another ammo source, is 180 enough? Of course not, since the primary justification for carrying an AR/AK is defense against larger armed forces. Also, is your party trained in how to use an AR effectively, or just shoot it? After all, we do not employ any weapon in the Marines as an individual; even snipers are coordinated with unit tactics. If defense against a larger force from a fixed position is your worst case scenario, then make sure you are self-sufficient for combat medicine too.
