In a Dead Tree magazine (ergo no link, sorry), I remember reading that Tami Keel talked about ammo shortages and one’s preparation for them, and I’ll talk about that in another post after I find the mag.
She also addressed the issue in an earlier piece in Shooting Times (talking about the Great Covid Ammo Panic) and noted:
Retail stocks of common handgun calibers, such as .380 ACP, 9 mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP, were quickly depleted.
Which they were. However, she went on to discuss other, less popular calibers, and noted that stocks of stuff like 9x18mm Makorov were less affected — and swapping out the .380 barrel in a Glock 42 for a different one in said chambering meant that one might be less affected by ammo shortages.
I myself saw that when I went to the local Scheels store during the Great Covidiocy, among the otherwise-bare shelves were plentiful supplies of esoteric calibers like .460 S&W, which makes me ponder the question (as Tami did):
Is it worth getting a gun chambered in an offbeat caliber as a backup for one’s regular (for example) 9mmP or .45 ACP?
It’s an interesting thought. Ordinarily, I myself would not be in the market for a gun chambered in, say, .44-40; but faced with a shortage of my regular ammo, that venerable cowboy boolet would sure as hell make a decent backup — especially if one had a rifle chambered for the same cartridge.
So let me look at a couple of “companion” options.
I’ve written before about budget-gunmaker Rossi’s R92 lever rifle, but specifically about its desirability when chambered in .357 Mag — one of those calibers that were severely affected by the Covidiocy shortages.
However, the R92 can also be had in .454 Casull (which can also handle the .45 Colt easily), and when paired with a Magnum Research BFR:
…that’s a hell of a combination. Manly, even. (And .45 Colt is another cartridge that may not be too vulnerable in a supply shortage, but maybe more so than the .454 Casull.)
How about the .350 Legend? (Also known as the .45-70 Govt’s little brother.) I also note that Hornady makes a subsonic variant…
Here we have two outstanding choices — the S&W Model 350:
…which can be coupled with (say) a semi-auto Ruger AR556 MPR rifle:
…or the bolt-action Howa Mini-Action:
All three look quite toothsome, don’t they?
Remember, in both the above two calibers, we’re not talking about an “everyday” shooting gun: we’re talking about having a gun, or pair of guns, that will do duty in a pinch and which will probably not fall foul of ammo supply shortages during a period of panic. (That the .350 Legend is not a bad choice for close-range hunting is a feature and not a flaw.)
Feel free to add other such cartridge choices in Comments. I’ve talked about a rifle / handgun pairing, but that’s not a prerequisite for this exercise. You can go with handgun-only or long gun-only.
Afterthought: I know, I know; one should always have enough ammo to withstand a temporary shortage — exactly how much, I’ll cover in that follow-up post — but hey, it’s a nice exercise anyway.
in 2023 I worked at a big box outdoors store. One week I put out about 12k of 9mm and that was off the shelves within a day and a half. that week my coworkers put out 23k 9mm on a Friday and it was gone by the time I closed on a Saturday evening. .40S&W was about the only handgun cartridge that was regularly available.
Having an odd ball cartridge available might be good in the short term but if you’re out on a citizen’s patrol, will another neighbor have the oddball cartridge that you need? unlikely.
Buy a box or two each week. Buy two at a time, one for the range and one to put away. It can build up over time.
+1 Supply follows demand, not the other way around. I’d rather stock up on a common caliber and have multiple guns that shoot the same caliber than have an odd-ball super expensive caliber that nobody uses. Yeah, it may be available during a temporary shortage, but that’s only because it’s not very desirable.
What I saw is that the uncommon calibers you saw at the beginning of the ammo shitstorm was store stock that was there from before. And once that was gone, it was GONE. Almost all major ammo manufacturers transitioned all their lines to the most common calibers and cranked out mostly 9 mm and .45 auto. Nobody but nobody was making the uncommon calibers simply because there was no money in it, not when you could sell every 9 mm round in seconds.
As an example, I went thru a period where I was looking at a purchase of a rifle in an unusual caliber about halfway thru the Biden era ammo shortage. (Just a range toy, nothing practical). During my research into the subject, I found that not only could I not find any loaded ammo anywhere (I checked every single store and website), but I also couldn’t even find the components and roll my own.
In terms of .45 Long Colt, there was almost zero on the shelf for the longest time. Luckily I had stocked up on components and could load my own, but had I not stocked up prior then my fancy Eye-Talian replicas would be nothing more than expensive paperweights. Again, no manufacturer was going transition a loading line to an obsolete caliber when they could sell all the 9mm they could make at astronomical prices.
This is pretty much what I found. I have a .44 bulldog. .44 special was unobtainium. Still sort of is. I look every time I hit a brick and mortar store. If there’s a box, I’m lucky. And it’s nearly always a box of defense rounds rather than plinking ones.
I buy ammo like any other item for my pantry. Use one, buy two. See a good price, pick some up.
The other thought is that if things went pear shaped, the only rounds around (to barter for) would be the common ones.
Kim, don’t you have the ultimate alternate caliber gun? The ruger model 5050 revolver 4 inch stainless in 45 colt and 45 ACP? That’s a damn good gun
No moon clips needed for 45 colt.
And moon clips are cheap and easy for the 45 ACP
If ACp is not available for for the colt ammo.
I think runner up gun to that – would be the rifle ammo and shotgun ammo . During the ammo shortage I could always find 12 and 20 gauge shot gun shells and tons of 270 ammo
But I understand a handgun is easy to carry and this article is more about handguns.
10mm is making a comeback. There are great revolvers in 10mm. I’m saving up and want one. I really like the gp100 match champion and runner up 2nd choice would be the 610 smith and Wesson.
Another good gun for this category is the ruger Alaskan 454. Can use 45 colt or 454 casull. Expensive. But a nice chunk of steel.
I’m thinking that buying cases of ammo now, to equal the cost of the “uncommon caliber “ guns shown above would be more advantageous, unless you can get the guns super cheap. For these kinds of situations, I do wish the old Medusa multiple caliber revolver was still available at a reasonable price. I also recall seeing chamber inserts that would allow you to use sub-caliber cartridges in break action 12gage, always wanted a full set of those, but could never justify the price.
Is it worth it? IMHO, not really. Use the money to buy more ammo for what you already shoot. Or use it to get set up to reload. Yes, I realize not everyone can do that, and there are supply issues there as well. Primers mostly, but that has improved somewhat recently.
Just throwing this next one out there. It sorta strikes me like the old joke about watching your mother-in-law drive over a cliff. In your new Cadillac.
https://gunsamerica.com/digest/taylors-company-1873-tc73-review-9mm-lever-action/
https://gunsamerica.com/digest/taylors-company-1873-tc73-review-9mm-lever-action/
That is a nice 9MM lever gun but good god damn dude, 2000 fucking dollars???
Henry is a little less than that and a good known quantity.
Nice, but FUCK dude, you could have another gun and many extra boxes of ammo.
Re: .454 Casull
I currently have a carbine version (16″ barrel) of the Rossi (sold as Puma) in SS. Kicks like a mule on steroids, so I had it modified by adding a peep rear, and a Kick-EEZ magnum recoil pad. Still jumps, but no deep bruising on the shoulder. However, a real bonus is that, if you can line up two or three targets, it can potentially hit them all. Recently looked at the Rossi site, for the 20″ rifle version, and there are none available for sale, via internet search. I tried for the same in various years previous, and the same was true each time.
The ammo was similarly mostly unavailable during COVID. Found some Hornady Handgun Hunter 200gr monoflex, and it is supposed to come out at 1900+ fps, out of a pistol test barrel. Hopefully, it is not as flinch-inducing as a 300gr SP or JHP. Remember, this ammo is HEAVY, maybe more than four or five 5.56 rounds per each.
Reload and you will not be short on ammo. Also have a pistol and rifle in a boutique round that has a common projectile. I have a Glock 37 45 GAP. It was a common LEO weapon 25 years ago until it got hard to find ammo during Obama’s reign and they all traded them in for 9mm. I have an AR in 6.8 SPC which is a .270 caliber. It is based on the .30 Remington cartridge and I have the dies to convert it. I have a couple gallons of spent .30 Remington cases besides the brass I have already loaded up.