It's become almost an axiom that when choosing firearms you should always try to acquire the more common calibers on the theory that these will be the easiest to find ammo for during and after a major disaster. I myself have repeated this on more than one occasion. But I find myself questioning it now, at least a little.

Imagine this scenario: a small asteroid (>100 meters) is projected to strike the earth within 48 hours. You are near to, but not in the projected blast zone. However, the authorities expect hundreds of thousands of evacuees to shortly pour into your area. You decide that you better have another hundred rounds for your favorite hunting rifle. You scurry down to the local Walmart and get in line at the Sporting goods counter, only to find that the first 20 people ahead of you have bought out all of the 30.06 ammo. You are out of luck. But the guy behind you gets the 3 boxes of .280 Remington he needs because nobody else in line has a rifle in that caliber.

Some will argue that this is a good reason to stockpile. I'm not going to dispute that here. But it's just as easy to stockpile uncommon calibers as the common ones.

Others may argue that the reason to acquire the more common calibers is that it will be easier to find them after TSHTF. I can't argue with that either, but it seems to me that if you are worried about having to rely on others to supply you with ammo you might be better off increasing your own stash beforehand.

I guess maybe what I am trying to say is that the warning to stay away from uncommon calibers might be a little overblown. Comments anyone?

Reload your own.

An excellent suggestion. Cast your own as well if you can! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Interesting point. One could do a cost-analysis comparing the cost of a rifle in a less common caliber versus spending the same amount of money on ammo for a common-caliber firearm. My choice was to stock up on ammo but only because I shoot military surplus (7.62 x39 & 54) which are relatively cheap. More expensive rounds might swing the math to adding a different rifle.

Hmmm, maybe you could use such a math-analysis to win over a reluctant spouse. "See, I actually save money if I buy XXX rifle!" <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

-Blast

Interesting post. After thinking about your post I would argue that having a common ammo rifle & a more uncommon one would cover both your bases. Assuming you could afford it. If you really can only justify one then I think the more common one is the way to go. But you have brought up an excellent counter strategy that may pay off in the rush on ammo scenario.

That never worked for me. I prefer: "Actually honey, this one is for you!" (Come to think of it, that one doesn't work either..... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />)

That's an interesting and different take. But what I was mildly decrying was the tendency of some to discount the rarer calibers as good survival choices in favor of the common ones. I guess my advice would now go something like: "If you are looking for your first scoped hunting rifle, buy a 30.06. But if you already have Grampa's old .257 Roberts then you don't necessarily need another."

Let me just say this about reloading. Yes it is much cheaper if you reload......just don't use it for self defense if you have the option of using commercially manufactured ammo. Just imagine getting to court and the defense attorney presenting you as the "psycopathic survivalist" who just could use 'ordinary' ammo but had to go out and manufacture his own 'super deadly ammo'.

LE has in its numerous databases all the ballistic info they need to confirm your story about how far you were when you fired and where you fired from. Just like highway patrol can determine your speed from the skid marks...so can the forensic team determine if you were telling the truth. Use handloaded ammo and all bets will be off......Practice with it. By all means. Load a bunch to the same load as your commercial load.....you'll get the same feel. Just leave the reloads for the range.....

I think that you need to plan on having or reloading any ammo you will need.
That is one reason why .22LR is such a good choice for some firearm needs. You could literally store hundreds of thousand rounds if you needed. Yes it will not fill all roles but it is a good way to conserve the other more expensive and perhaps rare calibers for more specific applications. You could hunt with the .22 and save your .357, 9MM, .30-06, .270 etc. for other stuff like defense and larger game.
I would not expect to have a chance to buy ammo during a crisis even at the very onset. It is like thinking you will be able to buy gas but there will be lines and not enough to go around. Does anyone remember the last 2-3 months before the end of 1999? I worked at a large REI and we were super busy and kept running out of EVERYTHING.
Whatever it may be; if you don't have it "before" you will not be able to get it "during" or "after" and you probably would be more safe if you didn't.
Stockpile anyway.

Only another hundred rounds??? By no means am I a survivalist, or do I shoot more then once or twice a month but I like to keep a few thousand rounds on hand for just such an emergency. The wife thinks I am nuts for this, but damn near everything I do just gives her one more reason to think I have took one more step over the line.

I will agree with Blast on the mill surplus 7.62x39, it is a good round and still can be found a good prices at gun shows and your big outdoor stores ( Cabela’s) and local gun shops

I keep hearing that but I have yet to see any evidence that this is occuring at all, much less on a widespread basis. It so happens that I mostly use factory ammo in my .45 ACP, but when I carry my Mtn Gun I load my own hard cast Keith-style bullet. If I'm confronted with a threat I'll happily unload the cylinders with a clear conscience. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I've heard that .22 LR does not seal as well as centerfire ammo. If I were storing that much I might look into some sort of climate-control system.

Ammo boxes work fine.

Don't get me wrong.....if I had something loaded with only 'reloaded' ammo and a life/limb threat challenged me....I wouldn't hesitate to use them.....I'm just saying that there exists the possibility that you could have a legal problem on your hands. I don't know of any cases where it has actually happened YET.....but you know how sue-happy our legal system is getting.

If factory loads are not available, relaoding supplies will not be available. So either scenario involves stockpiling, and requires a shelter in place plan. Will a survival episode involve expending a lot of ammunition every day, or one round per day for food. i suppose it depends on your choice of survival weapon: a ma deuce has a bigger appetite than a 10-22. Perhaps the best compromise is a firearm you like and as much ammunition as you can comfortably carry, anticipating that you can use the firearm to obtain food, provide security...and to obtain other firearms and ammunition. Or maybe flintlock backup is the right way to go, cuz you can make gun powder (many of us have already, I suspect) cast projectiles and chip flint. a loaded flintlock is lots more useful than an unloaded Uzi. I guess it all depends on your scanario, its duration, and its scope. Remember that Mel Tappan misjudged his firearm-related survival needs.

I suspect that folks who already reload will have a pretty good supply of ammo plus ther reloading supplies. Reloading tends to require some advance planning.

During the crisis is a very poor time to begin learning to reload. But I venture to say that learning reloading is a worthwhile investment in time because it adds depth to the firearms knowlege base you'd have. And, the usual excuse offered for reloading is that it lets you shoot more cheaply. In practice you spend as much money or more on shooting but do a LOT more shooting (which is good).

unimogbert

True, to a point. If you have numerous calibers, stockpiling commercial ammo can take up space. However, if you reload, some of the components, e.g., primers and powder may be used for different calibers. I know it's not always a huge space saver, but here we tend toward numerous small gains adding up to large ones.

My 2 cents:

Reload for practicing, stockpile the commericial and surplus.

Right now you can get tremendous deals on 7.62 x 54r and 8mm. Therefore, I also have several Mosin MN91/30's, M44 and M38 (7.62x54r)as well as a Turkish Mauser and a CZ24 in 8mm. I have 3k rounds set aside for the AK's and SKS's but prices has more than doubled for that caliber. .308/.223/9mm/45acp are other standard calibers that should be stocked and reloading components too. And 22's.

Think of all the odd ball calibers that will be laying on the floor in a SHTF situation: 7.62x54r, 9x18, 8mm, 7.62x25mm that you could scoop up and used if you had a weapon that used it. Now I know that your local Wal-Mart won't have these calibers but gun stores and pawn shops have a tendency to buy surplus calibers.

Regular military ammo cans with seals still intact are your best storage option. That is why they were used that way originally. Just make sure to check that seal. You can get just about any size imaginable to store stuff in.

Those 1 pound powder bottles will fit in ammo cans nicely for stockpiling powder. Just keep the primers in a different can, ha-ha.

Defending yourself with reloads is not a good choice. Always keep your home defense weapons loaded with commercial rounds. It will be used against you in a trial. Nothing could be worse than the criminal getting more rights than you because you used a handloaded round and somehow violated his civil rights to be a thug. We all know that anything we make is far more evil than just using a commercially made round. Now, in a SHTF scenario, all bets are off. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I agree with you about sticking with the common calibers. I have 0mm and 45 AGP handguns, a 12 g shotgun, and an AR 15 in .223. I have 2000 rounds of .223, 2K in 9mm. several hundred rounds of 45AGP (actually, I have another 1000 rounds, but I found that my XD 45 won't feed it), as around 200 rounds of 00 Buck, and 100 slugs. I'm not done, I intend to have at least 5K rounds of each caliber in defensive ammo. I'm also doing to get a Socom II in .308, which means that's 1 more caliber to stockpile. I will probably add more rifles as I go. I obviously believe that stockpiling is important. But, there may be ammo available that you can use, so having a platform for it doesn't hurt. And, the more ammo you have, puts you in a better position for bartering. Others will want to feed TEIR guns, and won't have prepared.

These are "odd-ball" calibers?? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hardly.

If you're storing ammunition, don't forget about humidity. Pack that ammo away in a sealed can in the summer on a low humidity day. Wear gloves to keep the fingerprints off. Also, put in some of those dessicant paks. If you're using stripper clips, cardboard sleeves & cloth bandoliers, dry them out in the oven or clothes drier first. Otherwise, you may open the can to find your precious brass covered with green corrosion. I speak from experience.

"odd-ball" to relatively most shooters that go in there for ammo. Can't remember last time someone went in and said "I'm going deer hunting, give me a box of Ballistic tip 7.62x 54r or some of that Yugo 8mm".

Not "odd-ball" to me. As I have thousands in each caliber.

<img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Vacumm sealer...

I think that a lot of the buying ammo for a non-common caliber thing depends on where you are, and where you plan on being. While WallyWorld may well have those three boxes of .280 Rem, Mom and Pops stop and rob in Podunk may not.

Re reloading, a couple of things to keep in mind: Reloading gear is bulky (unless you happen to have an old Lyman 310 tongtool), and the components must be more securily stored than loaded ammo. A little moisture won't hurt most ammo, but it will wipe out powder and primers...

Hundreds of thousands of rounds? You'll be busy!<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

For saving space try a Lee Hand Press . Since I got mine I have retired my bench-mounted press. It takes up no room at all, and I can load while sitting in front of the tv or at the kitchen table. I wish I'd have gotten mine years ago.

Wow, thanks. I have been out of the reloading business for a while, and want to get back into it. But, we are living full time in a motorhome, and space is tight. I looked for Lyman 310's and the old Lee Loader, but both are out of production. I had no idea the Lee Hand Press even existed. Something new to ask Santa for!!!

Well, with the open ended rolls of bag making stuff, you could make a bag long enough to hold ten bricks or so, that would speed things up a bit...

Storing any ammo in "potentially" damp environments can be problematic. Steel cases, such as commonly used in surplus 7.62x39, can rust. I had 5 bricks of Winchester Super X .22 ammo laying on the floor in the basement. Sump pump quit working and got an 1" of water in that area before I got a new pump installed. Got the 7.62 ammo dried out OK, but I thought the .22 would be OK. Turns out whatever coating Winchester puts on the .22's turns really waxy when exposed to dampness. Even the ones that weren't immersed, but the boxes got damp from the water wicking up. Now the .22's won't feed after about a box of 50 are run through my Ruger 1022. The rotary magazines gum up and won't feed. This is a major nuisance. They work better in my son's bolt action, but they still get harder to extract after enough are shot. I'll probably have to pitch the two rotary magazines after I am done with the ammo. I don't think they can be taken apart and they don't seem to clean out all the way. I am finally down to my last brick. I won't be buying anymore Winchester .22's.

Keep your ammo dry and look closely at any ammo you are storing for long term use.

I have also used the Lee Hand Press, it works fine. It takes some arm strength. I also have the Lee priming tool and a Lee powder measure; they work great! You also need a good powder scale. I went with the Dillon Precision Eliminator Loading Scale, it is excellent! The Lee Hand Press takes standard dies, unlike the older hand reloading tools.

There use to be a company called Quentics, in San Antonio, that made a great hand held powder measure. I wish I could get another one. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

During my years in a gunshop, on several occasions local / national events have triggered "panic" buying eposides.

The "buyers" fall into roughly fall into three groups:

Profiteers : You know (or should know) these guys.

"Regulars" : Buy what they are low on - or "need", but haven't bought because of monitary considerations.

People trying to buy salvation : True panic buying ; Demand purchase - against council ( "No Mam, I don't I woulden't recomend a .25 auto as your primary defefsive tool" , "No sir, I don't think that 350 Rem mag ammo would be a good barter currency", "I'm afraid, in good concince that you should not be making this purchase","No sir .38 super will not fit your 38 special) ,buy every thing in sight, that has any hope of firing a cartridge, or the cartridge firing in their gun.

In the situation that you outline, you may have a slight advantage, by the ownership of an unusual caliber firearm, it would be a slim one, if ITSHTF, mabe a day or two.

YMMV, just my obv.

I don't necessarily think it would be an advantage. I'm just saying that it may not be the disadvantage that a lot of people make it out to be.

Carry what the local police or military carry. They will have ample supply and maybe you will be able to get some from them.

With all due respect, I seriously doubt that.

"...I seriously doubt that..."

Me too. I was a weapons officer for my department for about 25 years. We had to keep track of each and every round, and every time a round was issued, fired, lost, you name it, I had to document it five different places. Once a year bean counters from HQ would do an audit, and check my records as to who fired what when with the officers records of what he/she did that particular date. No way I could give ammo away...

I currently work for a sheriff’s office and I can guarantee that if SHTF that they won’t be passing out ammo at the door. Unfortunately we will probably have to fight for it too. That is why I make sure I have plenty on hand for what I shoot.