.177 This caliber is listed because every home should have an air rifle in this caliber in the gunroom. It is a great training round and will put meat on the table without giving your location away to unfriendly individuals. The advances made in today’s air rifle are incredible, the day of the old spring loaded daisies are history, and my air rifle cranks out 1000fps and will roll a squirrel at 50yds.
.22LR Long Rifle: For many today, this was the first powder cartridge they ever fired from a firearm, this rim-fired cartridge makes a great training round and cost just pennies a round. Every major manufacture makes this caliber, so shop around for the best prices. This rim-fired cartridge has no center primer for ignition of the powder. A very sharp hit to the cartridge rims bottom base will cause this round to discharge, this round is very safe to carry and store. My advice here is to stock at least 10,000 rds (full case) away in a cool, dry place for each rifle of this caliber. The .22LR is the “jack of all trades” in the survivalist world, training, hunting and personal defense. Every one I know has a Ruger 10/22 in .22LR and is very proficient with it; we gave them as Christmas gifts throughout the years to all the family members to insure that they would have at least one good rifle.
.22 Magnum This rim-fired cartridge is a larger version of the .22LR and cannot be used in a .22LR firearm; this ammo is very expensive and limited in its range and use. Coyote and varmint hunters enjoy this round; personally I find little if any use for this caliber that the .223 (5.56) cannot handle.
.32 ACP Automatic Colt Pistol: this round and is made for pistol only and has saved several lives as a backup pistol for concealed carry purposes.
380 Auto If you own a pistol in this caliber, more power to you. I suggest that you stock up plenty of extra cases of ammunition.
.38 SPL This was a standard round for most law-enforcement agencies in the ’30, 40, 50, 60s. Today’ 38 revolve has come a long way in weight reduction, and design. I carry a 2 in Airlite by Smith and Wesson a loaded with CCI snake shot. The 13 pound 6 ft 4 in Eastern Diamond Back Rattlesnake mounted on my wall, reminds me to strap it on when I leave the back door. I don’t use this revolver for personal self-defense mostly because all of its five shot capacity and lack of accuracy at ranges beyond 10 yards due to the short barrel.
9 mm This is probably the most popular round on the market today. This round is made for pistol and rifle. This round was designed to operate in semi automatic firearms, and is used worldwide by elite units in full auto mode, due to its low recoil and stopping power. This cartridge is my personal choice for a sidearm in survival times. The 9 mm can be found in sporting goods sections and can be purchased in bulk by mail order.
The military and law-enforcement all stock this caliber and it should be easily found on the market for years to come. My advice is, stock at least 1000 rounds of fresh cartridges for each 9 mm firearm. The 9 mm got a bad rap in a shooting report from the FBI in a Miami shoot-out gone bad. The truth was, it was just bad marksmanship that got those agents killed and sloppy stake out procedures. In Los Angeles, the 9 mm failed to bring down a couple of bad guys wearing full body armor, even the fabled 45 could not have penetrated their body armor suits. Bad rap aside; it is still a great choice for a personal side arm caliber.
.40 SW Smith and Wesson: I have included this cartridge simply because of many police departments around the country have optioned to carry it. Ammo will dry up quickly during survival times, and once your supply of ammo runs out, your pistol will become useless metal/polymer.
.45 ACP Automatic Colt Pistol: this warhorse round has been on scene since WW1 to the present-day. This round is by far the most popular favorite of all veteran pistol shooters, and has stood the test of time. My favorite tactical pistol to date is an H/k sitcom Mark 23; the very side arm of our elite Special Forces and it uses a caliber designed 90 years ago. The Mark 23 is the only 45 pistol I’ve seen that is not a jammer.
The 2300 dollar price tag puts it out of reach for the average buyer. There are several makers of 45 pistols I can recommend, Wilson, Para-ordinance, and Gunsite, are just a few. This caliber is a great range paper puncher for ISPC matches. Spare parts are a necessity and when everyone is using the same model firearm, repairs are quick and simple. If the firearm is beyond repair, it can always be skeletonize for the rest of the group’s future repairs. If you and your family are proficient with a 45 pistol and feel comfortable with its recoil and performance, then use it.
.357 Magnum This caliber is a beefed up 38 special and is enjoyed by many revolver shooters for home defense. A 357 Magnum revolver will shoot 38 special cartridges, but not vice versa! When practicing on the range, 357 Magnum shooters usually fires low-profile 38 special cartridges and when they get home, they load it with the 357 Magnum cartridges. Thousands of shooters do this every day, I say practice with the load you intend to use for home defense in a real-time scenario, so their are no surprises, and it makes a difference.
Due to the number of 357 Magnum revolvers around today, this caliber will be around for a while still. The cost factor for this cartridge and recoil makes it a no go candidate. Yes, the 357 Magnum can penetrate a engine block, and that is great if you want to shoot engines all day, only a reloader will have cartridges for this caliber when supplies dry up.
.44 Magnum I have included this caliber solely because the power it delivers to the target. I must give credit to Elmer Keith for bringing the 44-caliber cartridge to the forefront for today’s shooters. His ballistic research and data kept this cartridge alive in revolvers. Fact, Mr. Keith could hit a target at 400 yards with his 5 in. 44 revolver every time at demonstrations he put on to promote the 44. Where this cartridge has a role in survival times is not sure.
.223 Remington [5.56 mm]: Only after reading the U.S. Army ballistic reports on this caliber and its origin was I able to grasp why the U.S. Army adopted this caliber for their main battle rifle. The m-14 [. 308] Lost out to the lighter/smaller colt 16 in 223 only because the weight and recoil of the 14 was too much for our smaller allies to handle. Mr. Stoner originally designed his rifle to fire the 308 caliber, the Army brass told him to tone down the load. The 223 [5.56.] round found a home in the civilian market due to Colts market strategy in AR- 15 models and the copycats that followed. If this is your choice for a survival rifle, then stock up on SS 109 armor piercing cartridges for your .223 rifle. They will punched through light metal and heavy wood items, and still have enough energy to penetrate an opponent. Setup for 500 yards shots, which is really this caliber's limit. Setup a larger caliber rifle for longer ranges and night use in 308 and 30.06 calibers.
.308 NATO [7.62x51]: I have become a big fan of the 308 caliber rifle. I have a FN-FAL and a Remington 742 carbine in 308 and have found it to compare with the 30.06 in ballistic performance. The military and police units worldwide have adopted the 308 caliber for their main battle rifle. The 308 is going to be around for a long time and may be plentiful, but difficult to obtain in survival times. With availability in mind, I would have to advise all to make their large caliber rifle a 308. In 10 to 20 years from now you will thank me. Surplus military 308 ammo will be on the market and hopefully cheap, I wish I could say the same about the 30.06 cartridges.
30.06 Springfield The M1 rifle and the Browning 1918A1 proved this caliber as a true man stopper. Why the military ever gave up this round is beyond me. I firmly believe that politics and cost, not the soldier’s safety, played a major role in changing our main battle rifle to .308. Ammo in the 30.06 will dry up someday, I love the 30.06 and wish that its future was brighter, but in the order of things I can’t say the 30.06 caliber will survive. And NO!, you cannot shoot .308 ammo in a 30.06 rifle!
.50 BMG Browning Machine Gun: this round was developed by the military to use against planes, light tanks and light armored vehicles. It was mainly used in the M2 machine gun or ma-duce as the troops called it. Barrett makes a model 82 in semi automatic that is extremely well built, but carries a 7000 dollar plus price tag. The 50BMG cartridge is a specialty round that will hit its target with such a degree of precision that it would amaze most people, even at ranges out to a mile. One round of 50BMG can cost over five dollars, military surplus 50BMG ammo gets it down to about 2.00 dollars a round, for a very expensive afternoon of shooting, this is not a plinker round. This will be the next round to be removed from the civilian market due to its power at extreme ranges. This caliber will be around only because of a large stockpile the military has put away for the troops, civilian ownership of this round looks bleak.
12 Gauge The 12 gauge is probably the most widely used shell in the shot shooters world. The 12 gauge shot shell comes in every variety imaginable and then some. From No. 9 shot trap load to armor piercing slugs, to flachette [30 plus Dart’s], Dragon breath [flame thrower], bean bag rounds, the list goes on. I highly recommend having at least one 12-gauge firearm on your survival list, and stock as much ammo as you can afford. I recommend having a minimum of 500 rounds of No. 6 shot loads, 500 rounds of 00 buck and at least 250 rounds of slugs. The 12-gauge shell can always be used for trade or barter even in the worst-case scenario. The 12 gauge shot shell will be around long after the 410, 16, 18, and 20, 10’s have dried up and disappeared from shelves.
Conclusion: All the calibers listed , in a true breakdown of common goods trade, will dry up faster than you can say “new world order”. I own several firearms in these dying calibers and plan on passing them out to those around me who thought things would never come to this. When the ammo for these specialty firearms runs out, they will be useless metal. Unless you plan on learning the fine art of reloading and stocking plenty of reloading components, you are hanging in the wind. Study what the United Nations military uses for ammunition and you can’t go wrong when using a firearm of the same caliber! I believe in the near future you’ll see United Nations military troops or other "peacekeepers", keeping us safe, using the calibers I have mentioned in this article, on the streets of the United States of America.
And remember ANY GUN WILL DO!
