Stockpiling One Caliber: Which one?

[LanCaster]

OK, so the baloon goes up and there's chaos in the streets. No electricity, natural disasters, war blah, blah...You've got an opportunity to stockpile Ten Cases of factory load ammo in ONE caliber only. Which do you choose? Some things to consider:

1) Barter
2) Shelf life
3) Demand
4) Hunting
5) Self defense
6) Concealment
7) Storage

EDIT: I'd probably go with 12 gauge XXXXX considering the variety of ammo available (bird shot, buck shot, slugs)

[SSGF109]

9mm. All around public use.

[Robert Kayland]

Good question, interesting post.

My gut at this point says 9mm... but I like the idea of shotgun shells too... and I suppose .22, for small game and such, wouldn't be a bad idea, especially since they're light and I think a lot of younger children (10 to 15) will be depended upon to bear arms (during times of extended catastrophe or the complete breakdown of civilized living as we currently know it)... both for small game hunting and supply/cache guarding duties, so they'll be out there with their .22 rifles too. From a distance, thieves won't know what caliber it is, all they'll see is that somebody is standing guard with a rifle.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know the accepted shelf life of your various shotgun and rifle shells and/or various handgun calibres, e.g., say, garden variety 50/box Wallyworld Whitebox or Federal American Eagle?

[RoyJackson]

I'd stock 9mm for handguns, .223 for long arms.
Both should be readily available after a catastrophy of any ort.

[MirandasPits]

I'd personally go with 9mm it'll shoot a bit further than shotgun rounds. You can't exactl go hunting for squirrel with a shotgun that thing will just be gone

[tobyking8773]

I'd stock 9mm for handguns, .223 for long arms.
Both should be readily available after a catastrophy of any ort.

I don't understand this....why stockpile that which there is ALREADY stockpiles of. All you need is something to use to GET TO those stockpiles

[LanCaster]

I'd assume that shelf life would be better if stored in a cool dry place. No idea how long the stuff would be good for. A couple of decades?

My relatives are out buying gold and silver coins. I figure ammo would be just as good. Come to think of it a box of 9mm ammo would be small, portable and tradeable. Can I change my answer?

[Robert Kayland]

I don't understand this....why stockpile that which there is ALREADY stockpiles of. All you need is something to use to GET TO those stockpiles

And to avoid getting hit by what the stockpilers have stockpiled when you go to raid their stockpiles.

I've often said that bullets for barter will be the true coin of the realm when the balloon goes up... the heck with buying gold and silver. Brass and lead will be the new precious metals.

[Guns4Fun]

Me, i will not barter with ammo. You never know when they may shoot it at you. I'd stock up on TP, smokes, canned goods and booze and barter with that.

I'd never want to supply a stranger with the ammo he needs to shoot me or my family.

EDIT to add, i'd also stock up on things like toothpast, water, asprine and any other meds. If you are buying precious metals, i'd stick with silver coins. Gold is too expensive so you couldn't trade it for smaller items.


As far as shelf life on ammo goes, i'm still shooting SA battle packs (5.56) from the early-mid 80's. It all goes bang.

[LanCaster]

Good point. How many rounds of 9mm ammo could be traded for a carton of cigs, a bottle of Jack Danials, 10 MREs, 5 gallons of distilled water, 5 gallons of gas, a full propane tank, 10 lbs of venison....

I'm in the process of stockpiling enough stuff for about 2 months. Plan to drop 3 grand on ammo, food, firearms, essentials and barter items. With the current global financial meltdown I don't think I'm being too crazy.

Along the lines of this thread I've narrowed down my calibers to 22LR, 9mm and 12 gauge.