SHTF Ammo

If I had to speculate. The most plentiful or common ammunition to obtain if shit went down would be 12G. Almost every enthusiast young or old has a box or two on hand. That being said, we live thank god in a "gun society", that IMO is here to stay.

If it did actually ever come down to it, I'd wager the average conscientious NESer would & does have enough ammo to take care of any immediate "defensive/survival" situation
Accordingly. If you don't, you should. Without a secure compound & small troop, you'll never use 10,000 rounds.

Now providing the worst case senecio actually did occur, I firmly believe neighbors & good people of the community would come together to get through whatever situation become of us & if shit really does go south, there will be PLETNY of ammo on the open market for the survivors post apocalypse.
 
I have plenty of 9mm, so I have no idea what you're talking about.

If you're planning for a SHTF gun right now, being a little late to the party, I'd immediately go by a few SKS's and a Mosin or two. There's plenty of Russian ammo around, Cabela's never ran out of 7.62x39.

Remember a pistol is a terrible self defense weapon in relation to a rifle. Your sidearm is a SECONDARY weapon. Should you be proficient and well supplied to use one, yes. Should you be planning on your 9mm being your doomsday go to gun? NO.

Listen to the man!! [thumbsup]
 
Listen to the man!! [thumbsup]

Everyone should own an SKS. It's an excellent rifle. Do I prefer my AR? Yes. But my AR didn't cost $400 and M855 isn't $260/case. I pay a very large premium to have an AR. Anyone on a budget should buy an SKS for each adult first. Build a nice AR later.

Yes I realize you can build a shitty AR, even now, for about $600. A shitty AR is worse than an SKS. Not everyone knows how, or has the inclination to build their own rifle either.
 
I started getting semi serious about ammo when our current president was elected. I wish I had started earlier. Like others have said , I love my AR15.

Frankly , the only reason I bought an AK was to make a statement when Deval Patrick got elected. I was one guy on a crowd at 4 Seasons the following Saturday. On & off over the following years I'd put away a thousand ( case ) of 7.62 for it but never spent the time with it that zi have with my AR15.

And recently I realized that I have way more ammo for the AK than I do on hand for the AR15. And I have blown the dust off the AK and gained a great appreciation for this rugged little piece of crap. It's really a thing of beauty in its own right.

I have a crapload of components to reload the 5.56 brass , but prepping NATO brass sucks. I might be about to relegate the AR to backup gun and promote my AK as "go to " gun.
 
I'm not saying six isn't fine on a PC, just saying six is not a lot, especially if you're alone. I always bring up the magazine quantity in these ammo threads because how much ammo you have means jack shit if it's not preloaded in mags ready to use. You're better off with 100 mags fully loaded than 10,000 rounds of ammo and only 6 mags.

People spend thousands of dollars on ammo, $300-$500/case, but they won't buy 30 PMAGS at a time for some reason despite the fact you can get them for $10 each.

And yes even if you live in a state with a ban you should own Pmags. Take a drive, buy them, load them and store them somewhere.

Personally I carry eight on my PC. Pistol I carry with two spare mags, not on carrier.

I agree. I'm looking to keep it as flexible as possible. Mags should be loaded at all times and ready to go. Extra ammo on top of a plentiful amount of mags isn't a bad thing. Especially make sure you have lulas so even kids can reload if need be.
 
PC = Plate carrier.

FYI Kyle Lamb, you know the badass special forces guy, trains in all of his classes that One mag equals one kill. Not one MA cripple mag, one standard capacity 30rd AR mag.

One mag per kill was his units average in Mogadishu. That's one mag per person for a group of hardcore fighters with lots of experience.

If you have only six mags you're way under prepared unless you've got a bunch of other guys with you.


It appears as though the Mogadishu units may have opted for full auto often. I'd be curious to know what the magazine to kill ratio was when firing semi auto, verses full auto. Lots of noise doesn't knock down many bad guys. It is difficult however to keep your cool and lay down some version of accurate fire, while under fire as well.
 
2000 rounds of 7.62x39, 2000 rounds of 5.56, 500 rounds of 9mm and 500 rounds of slug at the house. I won't divulge what I have at the "compound". The house stuff is just to get out of dodge and get to the "compound".
 
How are roads going to be blocked? There isn't enough man power for a ton of check points and as for other shit I'm planning on running with the plow on. The whole point of having enough people is to maintain a perrimiter and keep it from being compromised. It is also a matter of knowing the terrain and having it in a good spot. Burnt is always a risk but isn't that always?

The guys who can afford to lay down suppressive fire are in a much better position than those who are running light and attempting to capitalize. But if you have perrimiter teams rotating throughout and highly trained dogs you stand a chance. There is a reason I have a west german blood lines Shepard coming from the czech republic in a week or so. My buddy also has 2 dobermans that are ready.

To each their own but I'd rather be planned heavy with supplies and a convoy that can run at night and have to scale back then be the guy who needs to run light and end up screwed.
if you're running with plow in summer, make sure your cooling is backed up with electric fans, the plow will block airflow.
 
I got a whole case of pre ban rape whistles. I'm set.

Can we hand them out to the antis at the next hearing? I was so pissed after the last one that I said I was going to do this to those that were straight up *******s[laugh]


if you're running with plow in summer, make sure your cooling is backed up with electric fans, the plow will block airflow.

Deleted diesel. I completely agree as gas trucks hate the plows even in the cold they tend to drift up in temp. I've run with the blankets completely closed (forgot) and only realized it when my tranny temp was creeping up. CTD run cold as it is... the only good part of the truck[thinking]
 
Forgive my ignorance - I buy what I can and when I can - but I've been focusing on range ammo and not hollow points (but I have a bunch of that).

What type are you buying?

Tony P.
 
HP is more effective on soft targets, I.e. humans.

Steel core, like M855, has better barrier penetration.

My personal preference is ball pistol ammo for barrier penetration (walls, thin sheet metal such as cars, etc). I use ball for EDC.

For AR I'd stock 77gr BTHP only if I could afford it. That said I steer towards M855 for bulk reloading due solely to price.

Larger calibers like .308 I'm not convinced it makes a difference unless you're talking .30cal AP. hit a human with .30cal or larger rifle rounds and odds are you're doing serious damage.

The main thing is to know the ammo you stock. Stock what you shoot, know your guns and what you are capable of when using them.
 
How much ammo will you really need? How many fire fights do you think you will get into? How much ammo can you really carry if you have to move on foot?

I have a lot of ammo but the truth is all you need to have is decent amount full mags for you SHTF handgun and rifle.


All extra ammo is good for pratice

If you get into any firefights during a SHTF scenario, you're doing it wrong.
 
I still think mosin nagants are best shtf rifles. Powerful round, ammo is plentiful, ammo is cheap.
good if the wife shoots and the kids are old enough to understand they are shooting for their lives. if its just you doing the shooting in CQC then I would want an ar or ak with a high cap sidearm too. I like the idea of being able to drive while laying down some good suppressive fire.
 
I asked this over in the "Carry Ammo" thread, but I guess it doesn't cut it for some.

I am guessing for "SHTF", most anything available would do.

Would this stuff be any good?

AMM9mm.jpg

Thoughts? As compared to, or in conjunction with 115 FMJ?
 
How much ammo do you really think you need if SHTF?

Some people think the only disaster worth planning for resembles a cross between Red Dawn and Walking Dead.

I live in the real world, and think anything more than a couple guns and a couple hundred rounds is more of a liability than an asset.

I reload and buy components in bulk because the economies support my training & competition hobbies, but I'm able to separate (both physically and mentally) the guns and ammo that are for a hobby, and the guns and ammo that are tools.
 
For me, SHTF hinges on one thing: if there is uncontrolled or unmitigated violence or looting. If there is civil unrest in your neighborhood, then the S has definitely HTF. I'd rather err on the side of caution to maintain 1K rounds per caliber that is of use for your firearms--a mix of target\ball\hp\whatever blows your hair back. I keep everything in cans for easy movement if necessary and 2 cans of a mix in case the time it takes to GTHOD is of the essence.

In a long term paradigm or societal shift (less Rawles and more Spirko), I can see keeping popular calibers I may NOT use as barter items\currency, but I see that situation as a real long shot...no pun intended [grin]
 
I think not being able to shoot more then once or twice a year because I can't afford to buy new ammo due to a bunch a retards buying up everything they see in stock every time our ******* president says the words gun control, is just as much of a reason to stack ammo tall and deep, having it for what ever gay zombie fetish you can come up with is just a bonus. I am not going to get caught like that again.
 
I asked this over in the "Carry Ammo" thread, but I guess it doesn't cut it for some.

I am guessing for "SHTF", most anything available would do.



Thoughts? As compared to, or in conjunction with 115 FMJ?

I've never seen 95gr 9mm, but I'd imagine it'd work just fine. It's all about poking holes. Lots of them.

Again, remember your side arm is a secondary weapon. In SHTF you should be carrying a rifle. Everywhere.
 
.40 is not as popular as 9mm and .45. ive found more .40 during the crisis which is why i bought a G23 as my first purchase. its what i have the most of currently and will continue to add.
 
If it comes to a shooting war, the Garand is going to make some noise. So is my 30.06 Remington, AR, Mini-14 and Mosins.

on the range at at our house, all 4 of us can fire for effect. I hope we can be as effective if someone ever shoots back. I think I will (just mad), my wife probably will...the kids...not as sure.

Rifle calibers are 30.06, 5.56/.223, 7.62x54r and 7.62.39

Stock Windex deep for corrosive primers.

Magazines, lots and lots of magazines. Clips for the Garand and Mosins

Wish I had something that fired 50BMG
 
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I wish I could own a supressor for SHTF. Not making noise could be a real asset. Guess I'll have to wait until after the SHTF then I can have it if I can get it.
 
Day 1 of SHTF, ammo will be worth its weight in gold... day 10 it'll be free because everyone stocked up on ammo instead of canned beans.

Realistically, both are the best savings account you can have. Food and ammo inflation is outpacing any savings vehicle.
 
But Goliath was not driving an MRAP or bearcat

I bet your 556 will go through an mrap right? Nor will 762 nor 50 cal if you were wondering. If you are using a sling shot against armored vehicles you deserve to die. It will work fine on people though. Especially when the bullets and arrows are gone. Even the Romans used slingshots/slings to crush their enemies..just saying
 
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