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Ammo availability if TSHTF
slumlord44
Member Posts: 3,702 ✭✭✭
Ammo is tough to find and expensive just because of who we have in the Whitehouse. Any thoughts on what would happen if the whole system of government collapses? Banks close. No food in the stores. No gas at the gas station. Maybe the guys with insanely large stockpiles of ammo are not insane after all?
Comments
Ammo is not the only thing you should have on hand. Know how is one of the most critical things to have. Know how to do all (or as many as you can) things that other people do for you now. Know how to fix things, know how to use tools, know how to catch and clean game, know how to.........
Also stock or have on hand other things to make it though too. Tools, food, water, parts, anything you have to rely on someone else to get now. Of course most of us do not have enough money to do it all but get what you can.
Also prep for what YOU expect the SHTF will look like. What works for one person may not work for another. Say you live in the south and worry about flooding and storms in the south a generator and lots of fuel might be a good idea. If you are planning for a real long term SHTF I would not even consider that but put that money into good hand tools that will last for years of hard use.
There are whole websites dedicated to this kind of stuff so there is way more then can be said in a few paragraphs.
Lance
We may not need it, but those that are not prepared will wish they were. One of the biggest things we can do, however, is pool our knowledge and resources. As someone above just said, you can't do it all yourself. A band of people with different skill sets working as team will be much more likely to survive IMHO.
The strong sales of pistols and lack of availability in pistol caliber ammunition leads me to believe that many people are worried about rising crime and are arming themselves. This is consistent with the up tick in people taking concealed carry courses. One has to wonder if the same lines that produced pistol ammo have been converted over to rifle calibers and if we are destined to see shortages in one or the other for some time to come.
Finally, the recent sales explosion in firearms and the sudden lack of availability in the market should be a lesson to anyone sitting on the survival fence. Do not put off your preparations any longer. A sudden change can suck all the supplies out of the pipeline and result in months of backorders for long term storage food, water filters, medical supplies, etc. The just-in-time supply situation is a precarious one and any small shock can upset the balance, resulting in shortages and price increases.
Have been stockpiling shelf stable long term foodstuffs- dried corn.
And since I will not be able to hire a plumber, have made sure I have a supply of copper pipe, so that I can make any repairs I need.
And to be able to bake bread, a good supply of yeast.
Now if I can just get a supply of charred oak barrels laid in........
[:p][}:)][8D][:I] Barter, anybody?
whats the matter w/ you
I need to go get some buckets and dry ice for the 350 pounds of wheat I bought.
NRA Lifetime Benefactor Member.
I have a few hundred rounds war reserve and before those are gone I guarantee either I will be dead or I will have captured additional arms and ammo. No way around it.
Be smart with your money. Buy yourself a steak instead of a hotdog. Go on a vacation (you can't capture one of them), or build yourself a Furhrer Bunker.[;)]
Getting outfitted to reload is great for cheap peacetime practice too.[:)]
IMHO basic essentials, and a good plan is worth 100 times more than all the whiz-bang, gee-whiz items people are buying like mad.
Yeah, most people are idiots. So what if you have 20,000 rounds of ammo, it only takes one shot to kill you and then someone else will have 20,000 rounds of ammo.
While a do agree with this it is not the only point. If you only have a limited amount of ammo how do you plan on staying proficient and training new shooters, either new members of your group or young ones growing up?
I dont have a stock of ammo to fend of hordes of attacking zombies, I have it to use for many reasons.
I disagree on the .22 rifle being the best all around for such a situation, I would pick 308 or 223.
That is what is great about the United States, the ability to disagree! My supressed 10/22 will fetch me small to medium sized game without much noise or fanfare.
One other thing, do not underestimate how much food is required for a family. To supply a family of four adult sized people for one year you would need, 600lbs of wheat, 100 flour,110 corn,100 oats ,200 rice, 100 pasta. 52lbs of fats and oils; 150 lbs of legumes; 240 sugars; 300 dairy. that is a lot of food to store
quote:Originally posted by entdoc
I disagree on the .22 rifle being the best all around for such a situation, I would pick 308 or 223.
That is what is great about the United States, the ability to disagree! My supressed 10/22 will fetch me small to medium sized game without much noise or fanfare.
If I could ONLY have 1 gun it would be my suppressed 10/22 as well. It can and will so many things (not all) that larger guns can do plus a lot the larger ones can not. I would like to have a second gun in a larger gun though too.
quote:Originally posted by p3skyking
Yeah, most people are idiots. So what if you have 20,000 rounds of ammo, it only takes one shot to kill you and then someone else will have 20,000 rounds of ammo.
While a do agree with this it is not the only point. If you only have a limited amount of ammo how do you plan on staying proficient and training new shooters, either new members of your group or young ones growing up?
I dont have a stock of ammo to fend of hordes of attacking zombies, I have it to use for many reasons.
Easy, you keep a "war reserve" of a certain number of rounds. You can expend and replace anything else. If you shoot up all of your training ammo and don't have the cash to replenish, you are SOL. You do not touch your WR ammo until you are ready to go to war.
Let new shooters aquire their own ammo.
If we can't even get food supplies from normal sources...one of the first things you should do in an SHTF scenario is raid a pharmacy and steal all the antibiotics, BP meds, insulin, anti-virals etc that you can carry.
Even if you don't need BP meds (although I bet some of our older members do) you can barter meds...especially antibiotics. When conditions turn absolutely septic, life will start sucking without modern medicine.
You can't really stockpile your prescription meds (unless you are Dr. House and write your own)
Well, if everything collapses, think I may be OK.
Have been stockpiling shelf stable long term foodstuffs- dried corn.
And since I will not be able to hire a plumber, have made sure I have a supply of copper pipe, so that I can make any repairs I need.
And to be able to bake bread, a good supply of yeast.
Now if I can just get a supply of charred oak barrels laid in........
[:p][}:)][8D][:I] Barter, anybody?
You don't need charred oak barrels, charred pieces of oak in a bottle accomplishes the same thing. Search the internet and print any info that can be of use, the internet will be one of the first things shut down!!!!!!!
You are correct on the use of a char stick if white is not your color. And yes, am looking at barter. The material is dividable, transportable, sought after, multiple uses, does not spoil, and improves with age! And while Foxfire did print a basic guide, I learned from the folks that did it. [:p]
As was said not a huge amount of ammo, but if what I have does not do it them I'm dead anyway. Have enough to load all my Mags for my Ar to include the new ones coming in.
I'm a little low right now:
Got about 50 lbs of danish Krag, 8x58RD
Got about 75 lbs of .45/70Gov't (Federal Classic and Remington)
Plus whatever I have in 12 gauge and .22LR (CCI Standard for when using silencer and MiniMag for anything else) - pretty much 50-60lbs there also.
I'm low... I know.