Your main problem during a collapse of our society would probably be gangs of people looking to take your food, meds and anything else they deemed necessary to their survival.You want to engage at a distance so the rifle would be the first choice and a semi-auto with high capacity mags would be ideal.Defending yourself at home you might want the shotgun or semi-auto pistol. Anyone serious about self defense is not going to use a lever gun unless that is all you have. You will be avoiding contact with any military or leo personnel at all costs.