Classics, State of the Art, & SHTF

At a gun show this weekend sitting behind a table resting, while a friend took a nature break. Two guys next to our table got into a pretty interesting discussion. The kind of discussion that only gun nuts would find themselves in.

One guy was an old fart like me, and the other guy was probably in his late 30's to early 40's.

So the older guy was a 1911 kinda guy, and the younger guy liked H&K's. The older guy was looking a very nice L1A1 build on an IMBEL receiver. The whole thing was built up VERY nice, wood furniture and a very nice SUIT(TriLux) scope; very cool cold war era rifle.

His bud was telling him that he could get a Colt AR with a Trijicon for that price. Older guy says, "That's cool, but it's not what I want."

Younger guy says, "If the SHTF, which would you rather have in your hand".
Older guy; "The AR of course, but if the SHTF, the L1A1 will get the job done"
Younger; "You'd willingly pick the lesser rifle"
Older; "Yes...Look, what are the chances I'll need a rifle for a SHTF? About 10x lower than being struck by lightning, so why not have the rifle you love, rather than buying the perfect rifle for an event that is extremely unlikely to happen"

So the other guy went into the predictable rant about "having the best" and why have something less than the best.

So anyhow, got me thinking about how anal gun people can be. There was another guy there who told the H&K guy, "I only own WWI era guns, mostly British. And if the S ever did HTF, that's what I'll call on to get the job done."

The H&K guy was incredulous.

I just found the whole exchange VERY entertaining. The reaction from the H&K guy was not an uncommon reaction. Go over to ARFCOM and watch those people debate the most minute details with a rabid intensity. Guys who think their choice of this 124 grain JHP vs. that 124 grain JHP is a "huge difference" and make the differences sound as vast as a .25 ACP vs a .357 magnum.

So, how do you feel about being armed with one of the "classics" in a SHTF scenario? Or do you only buy the latest & greatest?