[zuren]

I'm a relative newcomer around here but have always had "survival" type ideas in my head. I just finished my initial assembly of a BOB. While I'm watching this financial crisis with great interest, I'm moving on to improving my stockpiles of provisions.

I own several firearms:

• 12 ga. w/ 3 barrels (bird, smooth slug, rifled slug with scope) - 1+ cases of shot; 1+ cases of slugs; few boxes of 00 (home defense) on hand
• .270 Win rifle (Remington 700) - 120+ rounds of ammo on hand
• 20 ga. (pump with adjustable choke) - couple boxes of ammo on hand
• 16 ga. (antique single shot - from my grandfather, has never been fired by me) - no ammo on hand
• .22LR rifle (semi-auto, scoped) - couple hundred rounds on hand
• .17 air pistol (pump, single shot, red-dot sight) - 500+ pellets on hand
• .50 inline muzzleloader - a few sabots, box of Pyrodex and cleaning supplies on hand

Should greater effort and money be focused toward the more versatile firearms (the 12 ga. in my case) or is the general consensus to buy ammo for all firearms one owns? I'm just trying to sort out if I focus on one gun first, or spread money across all of them equally?

Thanks!

 

[Brew]

The 12 and 270 are good. I traded the .22 for snares and traps. Seems like there are two options.

1. You have enough shooters for all of them, and need the ammo.
2. You need to add a semi auto mid range caliber with large mags and stock that as a primary.

See, I never said assault rifle since there is no such thing in our stores in the US.

Edit: I have the air rifle and several hundred rounds if needed.

 

[Cryptkeeper]

i would get rid of the 20ga. and get an AK and all the ammo your can afford. also as much canned food as you can get. keep the 16ga in honor of your old grandad.(and give it to your grandkid family heirlooms are priceless) but you do have a really good start on firearms good job :thumb: (good one brew )

i would stock up on the most expensivest ammo 1st cause if/when it goes up again (and it will) it will cost you the least in the long run. expample: all ammo goes up 10% and lets say a box of 270 did cost $15.00, and now cost $16.50 for 20 rnds and your goal is to get 1k rounds that just cost you $75 more for waiting. if you bought .22 was $12 and now is $13.20 a brick the goal is to get 20 bricks (11,000 rounds) cost you $24 more because you waited to buy it after it went up 10%. make some goals to where you want your stocks to be at and work on the highest prices 1st

 

[Gatorbait1]

That's a great start! The only thing that I can say is basically what Cryptkeeper was saying... You really need to think about adding some generic rifle caliber; either the 7.62x39 that the SKS and AK shoots, or the .223/5.56 that the AR shoots.. The bottom line is that .270 ammo after a SHTF is not going to be acquired as easily as the ones I just mentioned so even hunting would be hard for you after a while, let alone defending yourself in a hell storm..

As to your question about which guns to really stock up for I would say that we need a little more info.. Which guns are you using for what.. For example if you plan on feeding yourself with some birds/ waterfowl w/ that 20 ga. then stock up on several cases of Birdshot for that gun.. What are your uses for the .270? what would its uses be in a shtf scenario?? Plan and prep accordingly.. Feel free to add more if you are still curios about what to do...

Godspeed,
RJ

 

[Preacherboy]

I really liked the Cryptkeeper's suggestion of getting rid of the 20 gauge and getting an AK or AR, but I'd also like to recommend an SKS. A SKS with 1,500 rounds of ammo (500 to practice with and 1,000 to store) you should be able to get that for around $500. There is also no reason that you shouldn't have 5,000 rounds of various brands for your .22 rifle. O, and get at least one box of ammo for the 16 gauge you never know when you might need it!

 

[techo]

I would spread the money evenly across including the 16ga. I would not sell any, just add more. I would also add some handguns. FWIW

 

[blue123]

just get what you need for defence and to put food on the table and about 500rnds per and move on.......firearms are a poor substitute for other more important preps such as a place to stay..........

 

[MRbungle]

what blue said. if you have 20,000 rounds and no food, i bet that ammo will be used to secure food later.

buy ammo, FOOD, , a water filter and some food grade 55 gallon drums for water storage.

 

[JoeInSTL]

Are you in an Urban, Suburban, or Rural environment? If you live in the city and still have to go to work after TSHTF you need something you can conceal (handgun). Long guns will not be as important for you. How many scenarios do you see unfolding where your enemy is 200 yards away and you get a nice clean shot through your Assault rifle? If you are in the city get a handgun and lots of ammo. Also stock up on 12 gauge ammo for home defense.

If you are in the country - long rifles will be more important. The landscape is more wide open than in the city.

My go to weapons are a 12 guage, 8 shot Mossy 500 and my sig sauer 9mm. But I also have a .270 and .22. I've stocked all calibers but my priorities are the shotty and pistol.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[gunman]

ive kept things to a minimum
a couple .22 rifles and 1 small handgun
4 12ga shotguns 2short pumps 1 single shot and my hunting sem
1 9mm pistol
and a pairof .38 pistols my dad left me
im going to get a pair of hi point carbines and 1 more 9 pistol
i only need to store 9mm .22 and 12ga and a couple hundred rounds of .38
simple and effective and best of all the cheapest of each calaber or ga as they are the most prolific

 

[zula]

IMHO:thumb: I think you need to get a good balance. I would add a good handgun, and rifle(ar or ak). Then get to stock in food and ammo. Remember most people who have food stores also own guns.:

 

[zuren]

Wow, thanks for all the replies! I'm definitely not going to get rid of guns and I'm definitely looking to add more.

I'm looking to get 1 to 2 handguns that I've been thinking about for a while. I'm in love with the Springfield 1911 .45ACP in stainless for something capable of being carried and I had another thread a bit ago about a Thompson Center G2 Contender pistol with the .45/410 barrel as a "survival" firearm that I would keep in the BOB. The general consensus seemed to be that the G2 wouldn't be a bad choice for that specific role. Naturally, if I owned one or both, I would stock the necessary ammo.

My current issue is that lay offs have been announced at work, they just haven't said who or when. Best guesses are that I learn something next month but I expected this a year ago. I've been preparing and saving money for over a year. Also, in CT (that I just moved to 1 yr. ago for this job) you need to go through a course ($100+, 10 hr. safety course) to get a license (couple month wait based on what people have told me) and pay some other fees to purchase a handgun. I already know that the course is nothing I don't already know. So I'm waiting to see what I'm told. If I have a job, I'll take the course and get a handgun ASAP. If I get canned, I'll receive a severance check, go back to MI (where my friends & family are located), change my address to MI while I look for a new job, get a purchase permit and should be able to walk into any store and purchase a handgun (after a short background check period) without the BS or expense Connecticut makes you go through. As far as I know and remember, that is how it works in MI.

My current location is suburban/rural but I would ultimately be bugging out to rural MI. The shotguns would be valuable for gathering small game (their current roles). For home defense, the 12 ga. (Rem. 870) lives under the bed with smooth bore slug barrel attached, the mag loaded and more rounds on a holder on the stock (I'm not married, no kids). The .22 is for plinking and pest control but could be used for hunting (rabbit, squirrel) and the .270 is for deer. There are areas that I hunt where a 150-200 yd. shot isn't out of the question. As far as a defensive weapon, unless I had a good sniper position to defend a homestead (and I'm not sure that I would), the .270 probably won't be that useful. In a SHTF scenario and I decided I had to leave CT for MI NOW and could only grab 1 gun, it would be the 12 ga. with the barrels.

I also forgot my .50 cal inline muzzleloader that is scoped. Not that it adds much to the arsenal, but it's another rifle capable of taking a deer if a group of people were hunting and working together.

Thanks again for the ideas! I'm not terribly savvy with "semi-automatic" rifles (AR's, AK's and SKS's) so I have to read up on what is available and easily obtained. I never considered owning one but over the past couple months, it's hard to know where this country/world is going.

 

[haha49]

My plan is simple the more guns that fire the same ammo the less types of ammo i need..

currently have
3 .22 lr rifles (all grandparents and handed over to me)

i plan on geting a pistal that fires .22lr
and a shot gun with bird and deer slugs.. considering were i can hunt its bush and more bush so range not a big deal i might get a 30-06 though instead of the shotgun but i think i will get the shotgun and go bird hunting

 

[Irishwarlord]

What ya have is fine,

It's not so much what ya shoot, its how well. You have a good 12.ga for home defense, 270 for 200yards, practice and you have it covered.

Keep your senses sharp and your weapons loaded and ready.

 

[Lowdown3]

"bugging out" "CT to MI?"

Did I flunk geography? I thought CT was an upper northeast state? MI upper midwest. Awful far for a bugout. Unless they changed the maps or something

I would definitely look at a centerfire semi auto in a COMMON TYPE and caliber. I.e, .223, .308, 7.62x39

From what I've seen in the last 22 years, if you have something in these calibers, you ought to do alright in finding ammo, especially amongst like minded types.

Pistol- .45 or 9mm caliber, again something COMMON, i.e, 1911 style .45, Glock, Berretta or HiPower in 9mm. All these weapons are reliable and finding parts should not be an issue.

In general if you stick close to military type weapons, finding parts and accessories IN GENERAL won't be a problem. There's a heckuva lot more AK and AR magazines out in the world then there are Mini 14 magazines, ditto for parts.

Lowdown3