When you think of a hero, the image of your ideal self comes to mind. A person of high moral ground, kind, fair, decisive, strong, capable, and charismatic perhaps.
What weapon does the hero carry? This is a reflection of your own backgrounds and tastes and ideologies.
The American hero is, naturally, armed with a Winchester 92 or 94 lever action. In a modern setting maybe a scoped .30-06 or an AR like pic related. For an explorer type hero I'd suggest a double barreled rifle in a caliber like .450-400NE or .375 Flanged Magnum. If you're planning on having some sort of war setting a gun like a cavalry carbine or a Mauser C96 with stock might be interesting.
The most dirty, wood rotted bolt action rifle you can find.
Benjamin Brooks
a) enough thermonuclear bombs and missiles to drown japan in holy fire and deltete the islands off the fucking map just like elugelab
b) any combination of the following: m1 garand (possibly with bayonet), babypoop painted FAL, 1851 navy (brass frame) or 1911, a bandolier grenades, IEDs or molotovs (possibly mortar shells (possibly WP) repurposed for throwing), flamethrower
3: pipegun (with a knife ducttaped on as a bayonet)/ 3d printed/ homemade lower AR with bayonet, 1851 navy/ smaller pipegun (possibly 12ga pistol)/ 3d printed gun, RC radio, box of molotovs and IEDs
My personal pic would be an M14 with a coast guard brake. But I don't trust Springfield Armory, so I would probably have to custom build my own to 1950s specifications.
I bought it at a pawn shop for $500, I don't know what's with the trigger guard besides that it's new. Everything else metal (as far as I can tell) is original. No idea how to authenticate the stock though.
Julian Hughes
Some sort of doublestack 1911 with a 100-200 yard round. Maybe the .460 rowland Marcus aurelius, vegetius, plato(non socialist) and not even a guy that planned to be philosopher but James Jerome. Learned about him in "the incredible bread machine".