What would you all recommend for a first time long gun for property protection and if shtf, on a budget?
depends where you live. i see your in the states so you guys get all the cool stuff
but you need to ask your self some questions. do you plan to hunt with it? what animals do you plan to hunt with it/use on? shotgun, rifle or muzzle-loader? next what caliber, rim fire, center fire or shot gun GA
now people are going to say sks, now its not a bad option there like 250CAN at cabelas, semi auto (5 rounds here as that's all that is legal on semi auto center fires rifles) but you guys in the states get 10 rounds (in the sks) i believe maybe even more on your semi auto guns. the round is close to a 30-30 (which is a great deer round and yes it can take down a moose, guys in the north do it all the time) now i like them my friend has one but it can not shoot straight if his life depended on it. (plus if you get one not in working order, example covered in oil its some work to get it in shooting order) i also like the mosin-nagant its close to a 30-06 which is my dads favorite hunting round.
next, for my opinion depends what your after, i shot a rabbit with a 30-30 while deer hunting (its legal where i live to hunt rabbits with a center fire rifle and any time of the year) it um well left just a leg i was maybe 10 yards and took a shot killed it thought it was still living and shot again leaving nothing but a leg (it was tasty though) how ever an sks or other center fire rifle would be great for animals such as deer or wild pigs. would not use it on small game. just my opinion though.
now for my opinion on a gun and caliber, i would either get a shot gun (12, 20 or .410) single shot (am getting an H&R pardner from my grandpa when i get my fire arms licence in 20 GA, great duck, upland game bird and small game shot gun) it shoots good the only thing i added was a recoil pad on it. but there are more small game animals out there then big game (squirrels, rabbits, beaver, muskrat, grouse etc..) all of which i can use a .22lr on with out damaging too much meat. (and where i live its legal to hunt upland game birds with a rim fire) also am a trapper so i am biased for the rim fire guns as i can carry them on a snowmobile during normal trapping operations on my trap line. (when i get my fire arm licence and i get to actually do some trapping this year) i like the marlin 795 or marlin model 60 (am going/getting a marlin 795, they shoot great though as my grandpa has one that am getting)
