Early obn in my shooting career (um, last year or 2) I was going to standardize and only get into 9mm. Well, after adding a 1911 in .45 that I just can't get rid of and falling into a shitload of .40 rounds, I have changed my thinking.

 

In a SHTF scenario (unlikely but we always contemplate here), my new logic is having handguns in multiple calibers. 9mm, .40 .45 possibly, .357 .38.

 

My logic is if you have several different calibers, you will be able to use a wider range of ammo that you may come across.

 

What if you come across an abandoned police station and they are issued .40's. No weapons left, only ammo. But you only have a 9mm. Now you have to scrounge for a .40? In an apocalyptic event you might be able to find one, but if you already have one, you are much better off.

, .45 and .40 in my arsenal.

 

Anything to justify

SO, I have decided to keep 9mm

yes.... but when you have 20 different calibers it becomes hard to hold on to that justification and its such a PITA....lol

 

But I do use it as an excuse

Anything to justify is right. I think in the (very unlikely) event the world goes Mad Max, your chances of finding an abandoned police station that hasn't been raided is even more unlikely.

 

But what the hell, I'm guilty of using that excuse too.

Major Pistol calibers: 9mm/.45acp/.357mag (and .38 spc)

 

Easy, done.

Your premise is wrong, consequently your reasoning fails.

 

In a SHTF situation, there will still be a government of some kind asserting control.

 

There will always be a group of people who will control your life, disabuse yourself of this notion that any scenario will turn this country into a scene from Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"

 

Even in the most war torn, collapsed societies, some group will always be there, demanding tribute. These people will be your "government". They will control the resources.

 

The number one thing for SHTF is simply availability. Use popular ammunition.

 

Now, there are some slight caveats.

First would be an EMP. If we were to get EMPd, 100 million people in the US are going to starve to death within 6 months unless there is a worldwide food airlift.

Canary Island Tsunami? East Coast will turn into a no go zone.

Yellowstone Super Volcano? The entire planet will depopulate as the skies will be occluded for years and nothing is going to grow.

Captain Tripps?(or Contagion, in theaters, this week) Even the worst epidemic known to man only killed 33%. It's still not Mad Max.

Meteor, or Comet strike (Lucifer's Hammer) either it's an extinction event or it's not. There's not much of a middle ground here. Any area that is affected will be wiped out, and if not wiped out, will resume normal society.

 

The problem with SHTF is all the people. They're not going anywhere and when they do, they're taking everything they can.

A few calibers would be good for shtf unless you were constantly mobile. If you were on the move you would want to stay as light as possible and have as few calibers on you as possible.

 

I think the best caliber for shtf and being mobile is a .22. You can use it in a pistol or a rifle. 250 rounds of .22 is about the same weight as 50 9mm rounds.

 

.22 might not be as lethal right away, but in shtf with lack of medical care you def would not want to be shot with it as almost any center mass or head shot would be lethal, even a limb shot will mess you up without proper medical.

As Malsua stated, depending on the situation, immediately after SHTF, everything will most likely be wiped out. Gun shops will be cleaned out immediately, IF it is pure chaos. If it is not, and someone is still 'governing', stores will still be open and people will still have to go to work.

 

All in all, the only way to know you are prepared is to not rely on other people's surplus or gun shop surplus or police station ammo, or anywhere else your going to...what, break in to? It's to have your own.

 

4-6k of every round you own, and some. And still keep on adding.

 

Edit: In general, to own quite a few handguns with holsters and extra mags is mandatory. Don't expect to be walking around with an AK in most SHTF scenarios. Handguns are concealable and easy to transport on your body when going out, AND you can carry extra mags/ammo easily as well.

Id never walk around with an AK!!!!! Im not a peasant so it will be an AR!

 

My line of thinking is in the "as few calibers as possible" track. That way its easier to maintain surplus ammo or components to make ammo. All four of my pistols are 45. Two rifles are 5.56 and one AR and my bolt gun are 308. So basically 3 calibers. And they cover a pretty large spectrum of roles. I think about adding a 9 because it would be so inexpensive to stock pile ammo for. And if ammo goes back through the roof, I can keep shooting through those times.

I'm a big believer in streamlining one's calibers, if concerning one's self with SHTF scenarios. In any situation where I might need my firearm, I don't want to be worried about trying to pick the right ones (weight-per-damage, ease of use, rare-or-not, if they match my shoes, etc), I just want to grab something reliable and I am reliable with if need be. I feel that scattering over every known caliber in the world in trying to cover all the bases is detrimental. Detrimental in the sense that unless a person is going to take the time to become proficient with every single firearm of every single caliber, the ability to become proficient (or an expert) is wasted.

 

With that said, it is a good excuse to go out and spend some money

Mikey, I think your best firearm you should have stockpiles for. Also should have 2 pistols in that caliber. Just incase spring or something breaks.you have something else to use that ammo with.but I agree that havibg a variety of calibers is good. You never know what might happen. What if tornado wipes out your stockpiles of ammo. Highly unlikely but possible. Then you may only be able to find ano in .40 but stocked 9mm abd now your stuck empty handed.i think is not a bad thing to have a variety but st the same time stockpile 1 caliber for your best firearm.

Like others have said, pick a few calibers you will rely on and stock up. For me, i buy 9mm and 5.56 when ever i can. If i get another caliber probably .357 ill start stocking up on that too. Ammo will always be hard to find in the event the world turns to ****. The stores will be cleared out by the owners/workers and the cops will take everything they can from the stations. Nothing is going to happen where people just bolt out the door leaving stock piles behind. Like others have also stated, it is very unlikely that everything will just turn to **** over night, the govn't will hold strong for as long as they can, and chances are shelves will be cleaned out far before the "looting" stage takes effect.

 

I can only think of a few events where people would just up and go leaving usefull stuff behind and that is nuclear or biological attacks, in which case i would not be hanging around either.

Don't you see I am just JUSTIFYING my purchases

 

I don't think for 1 second in my lifetime there is much of a chance of that type of SHTF sitch, lol.

Don't you see I am just JUSTIFYING my purchases

 

I don't think for 1 second in my lifetime there is much of a chance of that type of SHTF sitch, lol.

 

I think a devastating natural disaster or economic collapse will definitely happen in my life time before some sort of SHTF situation does(large bomb, EMP, biological attack, etc). That doesn't mean that stuff might hit the fan in the event of a natural disaster or something of the sort, but I think it is still good to prepare for any situation mentioned above.

Your premise is wrong, consequently your reasoning fails.

 

In a SHTF situation, there will still be a government of some kind asserting control.

 

There will always be a group of people who will control your life, disabuse yourself of this notion that any scenario will turn this country into a scene from Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"

 

Even in the most war torn, collapsed societies, some group will always be there, demanding tribute. These people will be your "government". They will control the resources.

 

The number one thing for SHTF is simply availability. Use popular ammunition.

 

Now, there are some slight caveats.

First would be an EMP. If we were to get EMPd, 100 million people in the US are going to starve to death within 6 months unless there is a worldwide food airlift.

Canary Island Tsunami? East Coast will turn into a no go zone.

Yellowstone Super Volcano? The entire planet will depopulate as the skies will be occluded for years and nothing is going to grow.

Captain Tripps?(or Contagion, in theaters, this week) Even the worst epidemic known to man only killed 33%. It's still not Mad Max.

Meteor, or Comet strike (Lucifer's Hammer) either it's an extinction event or it's not. There's not much of a middle ground here. Any area that is affected will be wiped out, and if not wiped out, will resume normal society.

 

The problem with SHTF is all the people. They're not going anywhere and when they do, they're taking everything they can.

 

hmmm...your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

Just some food for though.

I dont know about walking around with any long guns. If your out and about with a long gun I think it sort of makes you a target. Either someone wants to neutralize the threat or someone wants your weapon. I think I'd be a little more low key on the street whenever possible. I think the biggest threat would be the Govt. They would just want order and control and the constitution would go right out the window. If they spotted you with a long gun it would be gone or you would.

Jeff Cooper said it best: .22 LR is wampum! Can be used as money to barter for anything else you need. Or the guy with the 12 ga. (like me) just takes it.

 

Any of you kids know who Cooper was??

 

Or Bill Jordan for that matter?

If this situation hasn't happened in Argentina it's doubtful it would happen here.

 

That being said, the logical thing to do would be to make sure you can manufacture your own ammo as opposed to scrounging. That would mean being able to cast your own bullets and possibly experiment with reconditioning primers to work again. That's also assuming you can still get access to modern powder.

 

Hmmm....Maybe a blackpowder firearm may not be a bad investment.

The reality I've eventually come to with SHTF theorizing is that any scenario that results in an environment so dangerous that I can't get by with 500 rounds of ammo in a few select calibers is a scenario I'm unlikely to survive anyway.

 

The most I feel that I could realistically prepare myself to survive would be something like Hurricane Katrina, and I think even those who needed firearms to get through that were not using a significant number of rounds. It was just that they had them and were prepared to use them if need be.

Jeff Cooper said it best: .22 LR is wampum! Can be used as money to barter for anything else you need. Or the guy with the 12 ga. (like me) just takes it.

 

Any of you kids know who Cooper was??

 

Or Bill Jordan for that matter?

 

Yes and Yes

 

I'm a 12 gauge ammo hoarder, big time.

Never barter ammunition to strangers.

Never barter ammunition to strangers.

 

Yeah, because they'll shoot YOU with it.

Yeah, because they'll shoot YOU with it.

 

That is correct sir.

Id never walk around with an AK!!!!! Im not a peasant so it will be an AR!

 

Is ok. Peasant Dan will shoot Komrade Shane when Komrade's AR goes tits up. Then Peasant Dan will have AK for defense and AR for feeling like not peasant.

Oh I dont know about that. Reportedly Travis H. formerly from magpul has over 90k on his. In fact its still on the same barrel and bolt it left the factory with My other AR is designed to run with no lube or cleaning for 2k rounds WITH a supressor!

Peasant Dan has had conversation with actual real honest to God fire-fight participants who would rather use the AR-15 as a doorstop than as a defense weapon due to failures (some catastrophic) requiring serious attention... Thanks, Peasant Dan will take somewhat inaccurate but utterly reliable, AK47 for SHTF (or Garand or M14).

 

I'm not against owning an AR - I will get one in time...

To each their own but I have talked with many real deal Dboys and SF that swear by theirs. I demand reliability and accuracy in my equipment. If it isnt hammer reliable, I dont own it anymore. But the fact of the matter is that the higher end AR's I buy have highly proven track records in combat and none of them has given me even a single malfunction. I will concede that MY personal ARs dont see much hard use but the brands and models I use have.

Peasant Dan has had conversation with actual real honest to God fire-fight participants who would rather use the AR-15 as a doorstop than as a defense weapon due to failures (some catastrophic) requiring serious attention... Thanks, Peasant Dan will take somewhat inaccurate but utterly reliable, AK47 for SHTF (or Garand or M14).

 

I'm not against owning an AR - I will get one in time...

 

Wait, so you don't own an AR or AK but have an opinion on both?

Yes mr mossberg.

...My other AR is designed to run with no lube or cleaning for 2k rounds WITH a supressor!

 

...and Bryco Jennings / cobras are designed to shoot, too!