Assaault Team

[OVERKILL]

 This is a bit of a long one, but please hear me out. Remember, this is just hypothetical
 
 We have a very secure base set up and zombies cannot get in (but we have a contingency just in case). We are all members of a zombie assault team that go out in 3 person groups (or cells) and gather essential supplies and sweep for zombies, but eradication the undead is our main goal.
 Each of us have a handgun (even the ones who had no previous experience were trained in safety and marksmanship), a main ranged weapon and a melee weapon.
 The questions are:
1) What is each persons description (body type, size, special skills, personality) and specific role in the group.

2) What type of handgun each person carries. (They don't have to be the same, you can also give descriptions of how they carry it).

3) What main ranged weapon each carries.

4) What melee weapon does each member carry.

 Feel free to make 2 teams if you like, maybe one "real" comprised of the two people you would like to have watch your back and an "ideal" team, or even a fictional "dream team", just remember, each group only has 3 people, each with a sidearm, main weapon and melee weapon. Please, take your time and think about this one and post as many different teams as you want.

[OVERKILL]

 All right, I guess I'll put my answer up if nobody else will. My 3 members would be composed of A "SHOTGUNNER", AN "ARCHER", and A "RIFLEMAN"
 
 THE ARCHER would be the main fighter in the group. They would be armed with a mid powered recurve or longbow (40 to 50 pounds) and would carry as many arrows as practical, at least 6 on a bow quiver and at least 2 dozen on a back or hip quiver (Possibly both). If need be the other 2 members could carry extra arrows and possibly keep stashes at safe points around our extended area (like I've heard the Iraqi insurgents do, they'll be walking down the street, normal and unarmed, pop inside a building and come out with an AK or an RPG). The reason the archer is so important is because they would be quiet and not alert every zombie in the area to our presence and as such would probably take point.
 For a melee weapon a wakazashi or a machete would be good. As the handle of a bow is held in the off hand (left hand for right handed people), the archer could use either blade type strong handed without dropping the bow, which could possibly be used to block and parry.
 For a sidearm the archer would carry a high capacity (15 or more) semi auto in 9mm Parabellum. Brand or model would not matter and would be a personal preference as to what fit the hand the best. The reasoning for the specific caliber is because the round is first of all chambered in semi autos. Rapid fire capacity and rapid reloading would balance with the relatively slow rate of fire of bow. At a range the archer could take their time and pick targets off, but when the fighting was at closer ranges rapidly engaging targets before they got close enough to be a threat would be more of an asset. The second reason is recoil, the Parabellum is a relatively mild round which would aid in faster shooting (faster recovery time, quicker to get back on target). Lastly, 9mm Parabellum, AKA 9mm Luger, AKA 9mm NATO, AKA
9x19mm, AKA THE 9mm (possibly even "Beretta Bullets, Thumper should get that one) is the most popular round worldwide, so it should bbe easier to scrounge ammo if need be.
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW. MUST SLEEP. FINISH LATER.

[Robin Holmes]

Now, I have read up on tactics, and strategy, and I've learned that flexibility is key. Hence, if everyone CAN work in the three ranges, those being short, medium and long, then everyone SHOULD.

Individual load outs vary, but I tend heavily towards thrown weapons, if my crossbow isn't available. For mid-range, I'd use knives, or axes. For close in, I'd use my longsword.

[OVERKILL]

 That's basically the same reasoning I have with my team, the rifleman for long range, archer for mid-range and the shotgunner for in close. Likewise each individual is a microcosm of that theory, main weapon for long range, sidearm for midrange and melee for close range. But YOU didn't answer the question, what would YOUR weapons be (specifically, and your reasoning behind them) and ASSUMING you were going out in a 3 man team, what would the other guys have. Even if you pick stuff because you saw it in a movie and it looked cool, I still want a 3 person team.

 Shotgunner
Main weapon- 12Gauge pump shotgun. Specific brand or model is up to shooter, I prefer the Mossberg 500 series because of the tang safety being easier to operate left handed, and I just don't like cross bolt safeties at all (which disqualifies the Maverick 88, being almost exactly like the 500 but with a crossbolt safety, at least for me personally). I prefer a barrel of 22 to 24 inches for balance and feel. A model that takes 3 1/2 inch shells would be good, since 2 3/4", 3" and 3 1/2" ammo could be used if found while out on missions. Loadout would be abut 6 breaching rounds for doors, possibly carried in a side saddle on the receiver. A dozen slugs (1 oz) carried in the military type pouches that attach to your ammo belt. The remainder would be #1 buckshot, 2 3/4 with a 15 pellet load. Probably one of those cheap ammo belts with 25 loops full of buck, a sling with shell loops and anywhere else for a total of 50 or more.

 SIDEARM for the shotgunner would be a 357 magnum with a 6 to 8 inch barrel. Double action preferred, but a single action would be acceptable as would a Coonan or D.E. Any shorter and you give up too much velocity, any longer and it might be a little "unwieldy", but longer would be better than shorter. The reasoning being that the shotgun is more of a close range gun, so the shotgunner would need a pistol with a longer range. The 357 Mag was chosen due to energy, flat trajectory, and ammo availability. There may be cartridges that are better in one respect, but I don;t think there's any that beat all 3. The load would be the old standard 158 grain jacketed hollow point, I've never favored the light police loads with a 125 grain JHP at the same 1250 fps, but they would do in a pinch (110 to 180 gr loads would do too, but my preference is for the standard weight of 158 gr). Loadout would be around 50 rounds, eight spare safariland speedloaders for swing out DA's, 6 magazines for the rarer autoloaders, or carried in a pouch or bandoleer if the single action is carried.

MELEE weapon would be a crowbar, reasoning being that the shotgunner would do double duty as the door opener, with the crowbar, shotgun, or a lockpick set being his keys. The crowbar would not be the best weapon, but since the shotgunner would preferably be a stockier guy to handle the stout recoil of the shotgun and carry the heavier ammo load, he would have a pretty mean swing.

 The RIFLEMANS main weapon would ironically be a rifle. Caliber would not be too important, but it should be capable of headshots from 100 to 250 yards MINIMUM. This knocks out the pistol caliber carbines (at least for this purpose of this team, they still count in the best rifle caliber poll Thumper ). I know zombies are not a threat at those distances, but the reasoning being that you may find survivors running from a horde and need to pick off pursuing undead shamblers, or survivors that have gone insane and attack you with weapons at a distance. A lot of people put down the bolt actions for being slow, but accurate AIMED (not just putting as much lead down range as fast as possible and hoping something hits) shots from an experienced rifleman are about the same from bolt, pump, lever, or semi auto actions. A single shot 30-30 Winchester would be good too, the Rifleman would be more concerned with precision than speed. An AR-15 with a 20 to 26" barrel (OPINION, why in the world would anybody in their right mind chop the barrel to 14" {16" civilian model} to give an already underpowered round even less velocity) loaded with cartridges with 62 to 77 grain bullets and a pouch with 3 extra 30 round magazines would be a good choice. An SKS with M43 ball or 123 soft/hollowpoints and a bandoleer with a dozen stripper clips, a milsurp with tangent sights and stripper clips or a Winchester 94 with extra ammo in a pouch, pocket or belt or bandoleer with cartridge loops. The main thing is something you shoot well, even more obscure calibers would be acceptable, since the rifle would be the one gun where you carried all the ammo you would ever need and then some (maybe double or even triple the round counts above). You wouldn't rely on scrounged ammunition because for accuracy at long ranges you need consistency, as in all your ammo exactly the same and a load that fits your specific guns twist rate, barrel harmonics, etc.
 
 SIDEARM- The rifleman wouldn't need much range (read as a cartridge with flat trajectory, energy at a distance), so my choice for them would be either a 45 ACP or a 40 S&W, with a slight nod to the 45 ACP for a couple of reasons, first is there's probably more ammo out there for it (although the 40S&W may catch up with it's rapidly growing popularity, or may have already) and most of your ammo will either be 200 grain or the original, more popular 230 grain so you'll be more apt to have the same point of impact than with scrounged ammo for the 40, which has ammo with bullet weights of the original 180 grains, or 135, 155, 165 are all three pretty popular with a few more weights thrown in here and there ( I know there are a large variety of weights for the 45 ACP as well, but the vast majority seem to be 200 or 230 grains with 185 grains a distant third, but the 40S&W loadings seem to be more equally distributed in the various weights). Single action, double action, single stack, double stack, action and magazine capacity would not be as important as the rifleman (or riflewoman, I just used rifleman because it was the name of an old western that starred a SWEET Winchester '92 in 44-40 with a Spanish El Tigre for a stunt double) as most threats would be taken out at a distance, with the pistol only being used if a zed was sneaky and got behind you or when indoors (kinda like the military did when we had smarter people in charge in charge: the '06 or 308 for long range, go inside or in a fox hole and sling your rifle and take out the old 1911, now we use chopped down carbines that are still too unwieldy in tight places and don't give any power downrang either, that was just opinion by the way).
 
 For a melee weapon I could just cheat and suggest a rifle with a bayonet or using the gun as a club r the steel buttplate on your old military surplus rifle. Those are all good ideas, but since I gave everbody else a melee weapon our rifleperson gets one too. A tomahawk seems good, i saw one on the military or history channel that would be good. It could chop and could be thrown like a regular tomahawk, but it had a hawkbill (for lack of a better word) on the back that they used in a demonstration to slash tires and cut hunks out of car bodies like a can opener. Those uses might not be needed in a zombie apocalypse, but it may be of use to get into metal cabinets that are locked or climbing (something I saw in a movie called The Vikings, it SEEMED like it would work, but you would probably just end up with broken bones AND cuts if you really tried it, if I get a few tomahawks I'll try it. If I live I'll tell ya how bad I was hurt).

[Robin Holmes]

(Ps. I've done it. It works real well on ice. And trees.)

So. For long range, I'd carry a sling. For midrange, knives. For close, the longsword.


I'd have a sniper with me, or at least a marksman. He'd have my crossbow for extreme range, a colt 45 revolver for midrange, and the back of the crossbow doubles as a club. A heavy club. And it comes off.

The other guy would be the "shotgunner."

Long range for him would most likely be some sort of hunting rifle. Medium range would be either a 16 gauge shotgun, or a machine pistol. Close range would most likely be one of my collapseable staves, or a sturdy length of pipe.

[OVERKILL]

(Ps. I've done it. It works real well on ice. And trees.)

So. For long range, I'd carry a sling. For midrange, knives. For close, the longsword.


I'd have a sniper with me, or at least a marksman. He'd have my crossbow for extreme range, a colt 45 revolver for midrange, and the back of the crossbow doubles as a club. A heavy club. And it comes off.

The other guy would be the "shotgunner."

Long range for him would most likely be some sort of hunting rifle. Medium range would be either a 16 gauge shotgun, or a machine pistol. Close range would most likely be one of my collapseable staves, or a sturdy length of pipe.

 Bravo on those two choices. Any more info on the collapsable staves?

[Robin Holmes]

Yes. They collapse down to a cylinder about 4 inches all told. Spring loaded activation. Most likely illegal. I've been working on modifying one to give it a spring loaded spear tip. Mine was a present, so I don't actually know where one would find it.

[OVERKILL]

 I think where I live they would only be illegal if carried concealed, which there is a license you can get but it's just a money racket, but carried on a belt it would be fine. I'm not real big on the weapon aspect of such things, but the tool aspect. It sounds like it might make a good hiking staff to be carried in a pack or pouch. How strong is it? Like could it be used for light prying?

[Robin Holmes]

Not entirely sure. I think it might be an aluminum titanium alloy. Mainly because it goes through a five pound brick with no problems. It might just be what you're looking for.

[Robin Holmes]

Also, though I haven't tested it out, the fact that it's spring loaded might be of some benefit opening a locked door. Or alternatively, keeping a door closed against an invading force.

[OVERKILL]

 Sounds better and better. If you ever find out where to get on, let me know.
 

[Robin Holmes]

Will do. I might have another one. I've got them twice. As presents. Hence, I believe there is somewhere that sells them legit somewhere in the city. Where that would be, is beyond me.

[Duncan2474]

It team situations weapons could vary is type but calibers should be universal between all members for praticality on primary weapons.  For example here is what I would think.

Weapons stockpiling is key to have a variety of weapons of different chambers availble for all 3 at the same time.  Ideally though here is what I am thinking.

All 3 carry AK-47 family assault rifles
each of the 3 should vary their hanguns on ammo for ease of use of what is scavenged.  Say a .45, .40 and a 9mm here
Each should carry a Machette or hatchet
One member in addition should stow an emergency .22 Cal rifle, like a Ruger 10/22 with at least 2 mags and a box of 500 rnds as its lightweight.  These are small, and could easily be tied to a pack.

[Juggajoe524]

Well... first of all, my name is Joe... i'm nineteen at about five foot ten... weight 217 lbs... My handgun of choice are two 1911 STI colt custom pistols... my main ranged weapon is a Mossova 500 pump-action shotgun, with clips instead of single shell rounds... my melee weapon of choice are twin hatchets in side holsters... that's about it on me... 

[Kilal45]

UUMMM...I Am about 6'1 (tall i know) i am 165 pounds and im only 15...I would carry 2 high caliber sidarms i perfer 2 over one (twice as many rounds toward the enemy even if its not that accurate) I would also carry A katana or ninja-to and A silenced lang range weapon like a .22 but only with a silencer.

My team would be comprised of me an assault and someone with medical experience and mabey someone like a rifleman

My weapon choices may not make sence at first but I am pretty experienced in using dual postols i can even hit 2 targets at once which is usefull if im fighting a hoard of enemies.....Think about it.