need a gun thats not in a common caliber.

During the last Great Ammo Drought my local WlaMart had the same lonely two boxes of WWB .357 SIG gathering dust on the shelf for months.

Instead of spending $$$ on another gun invest in reloading gear. People are still leaving plenty of brass behind.

.410 ls the only thing left on the shelves, here.

Saw the same thing at my local WM, .357 Sig may be a good choice for you. Plenty of good SD choices, too.

I don't think it makes sense to shoot a more expensive caliber all the time just to avoid the hassle associated with infrequent supply problems of the cheaper ammo. You are essentially trying to insure against a supply shortage by buying expensive ammo.

With the money you save by shooting a cheaper caliber you can afford to keep a small inventory on hand so when shortages hit...you have a stockpile to see you through until supply comes back to normal.

Yeah...it would be a tough time to be starting out. I was in a similar spot back when i began reloading. I got all my gear and then Obama got elected and i couldnt find components for months. talk about a buzz kill

You can still find 9mm, 40 cal, and others online. We just bought a few thousand the other day at great prices. Do some shopping...you can find it.

Where would one begin with reloading Fishslayer? I've never considered breaking into it.

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Lot of info online. Also you could search "Reloading" on Amazon -- demand might have skewed supply there as well recently, but last time I looked you could get used copies of various guides and references there for pretty reasonable prices. Either avenue can get you acquainted with equipment requirements and such.

What're some guns that are decently priced, practical, and suitable to a student that doesn't hunt much? (I do love a good bolt gun though!)

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Some of the replicas out there for the Cowboy Action market are pretty fun to shoot, and come in calibers that may not be so thoroughly scrubbed off the shelves and online.

I love .357 SIG and there are plenty more companies beside SIG Sauer and Glock making guns in this caliber.
Great caliber!

If you want to buy something sure, buy a 12ga shotgun.
In most states it's legal to hunt deer with it and so far there was always 12ga ammo.

agree, .17hmr and .22mag are where it's at. I guess the pmr-30 is questionable quality, and impossible to buy for less than 1000$. Maybe we;ll see a surge in Grendel sales EDIT: make that amt automag sales

.327 Mag SP 101 would be pretty sweet...

a good bolt gun ? any short mags, 270-wsm, 7mm-wsm, 300-wsm, or a 7mm-08.

a good lever gun in 35rem is nice too,

I agree with the reloading angle. When you reload the brass is always readily available in the common calibers and you have many choices with what the components will be to MAKE your rounds. If one particular primer, propellant, or bullet is unavailable today just find something else that will work. I equate it to eating. When going to a restaurant you only can choose from what they decide to manufacture and when they run out-------sorry. If you eat by going to the grocery store and manufacture your own meals at home then if you can only find say beef or pork and really wanted chicken you can deal with it, but the beef will still provide a good filling meal while you wait for the chicken (that you prefer) to come back to the store shelves. Just my take on this subject. Plus the quality will be better if you take your time to pay attention. Also a good reloading setup will cost less than a new firearm and with extra dies work with ALL of your center fire firearms----that's a win-win.

I like .357 Sig Smalls, but would I be restricted to Glock or Sig products?

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I've seen Springfield XD, S&W M&P, H&K USP in .357. One real advantage is that you can convert a .357 to .40 or a .40 to .357 just by swapping barrels. So if you already own a .40 you can also have a .357 for $100 or so.

But regardless of the caliber, reloading is the best way to make sure you're never without ammo. THere are tons of places on the web to learn but you can start in the reloading subforum right here on THR.

There's no ammo shortage at my local Wal-Mart. The gun case is no longer full but ammo is plentiful in most common calibers. There were even five different brands of .380. Interestingly, .410 was the only caliber I didn't see

If you do it just don't get too obscure, trying to buy 9mm off the shelf now is easier than trying to find .22 WRF on the shelf at any time.

I've seen Springfield XD, S&W M&P, H&K USP in .357. One real advantage is that you can convert a .357 to .40 or a .40 to .357 just by swapping barrels. So if you already own a .40 you can also have a .357 for $100 or so.

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Boom, you said it all. You can find .357 sig conversion barrels for a ton of different pisols. The barrel is literally the only thing you need to change. They take the same mags and use the same extractor.

I just had a similar shortage example take place. I went out a couple weeks ago and bought hi-cap mags for guns I plan on purchasing in the future. This is because I feel that if any gun control does get passed it will be a magazine ban. So i went into the LGS and asked if they had any Glock 23 mags, they said they were sold out. Then I asked if they had any Glock 32 (.357 Sig) mags, to which they said they still had two left. So knowing that those two mags are exactly the same I bought them.

I thought about getting a 10mm glock myself. While sportsmansguide has been out of all the common ammo, there seems to be plenty of 10mm to be had. Its just expensive.

I agree with Elkins. I own a .40 Glock and a drop in barrel would get me .357 SIG. I've read that there are 9mm barrels for the G22 (.40), so a used G22 and two additional barrels plus 9mm magazines would get me three calibers.

Probably do it for under 600 bucks too.

The 45 colt and 45-70 always seem to be fully stocked at academy. Ban or no.

Instead of spending $$$ on another gun invest in reloading gear.

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+10,000

In 1979, I decided that I couldn't afford to shoot factory ammunition. It hasn't gotten any cheaper since then.

There is no magic solution. The only way to not get caught short is to be prepared.

If you shoot factory ammo then you MUST keep a supply on hand.

If you reload then you MUST keep a supply of components on hand.

There are a lot of responses here telling you to get into reloading. Before you buy your equipment do a quick search for components.

You are at a big disadvantage no matter what route you decide to take at this point in the cycle. You are obviously aware of the ammo shortage in your area. But...go to the big retailers and look for primers...a vital component in reloading.

MidwayUSA is out of just about every type of primer made. Graf and sons have very few left. Without primers you don't have ammo.

Bullets too are disappearing. If you go searching for .223 components you'll find that the only thing still in stock are the most expensive components.

I reload for perhaps 10 or 12 calibers and if I need ammo I can go to my garage right now and make it for just about anything I shoot. BUT...the reason I can do it is because I've got hundreds...perhaps thousands worth of reloading components sitting there waiting for me to use them.

If I just decided to go to the store today and buy components I'd be completely out of luck.

You can still find 6.5x55 available at a reasonable price:

Link

Seems like 243 Win, my favorite caliber is still pretty available. I see this in both factory ammunition and reloading components. Personally, I control the ammo thing by reloading. 223 is hard to find as is 308, but I have plenty of stuff to make 243, 357, and 44 mag. So there's lots to do, and plenty of supplies to get it done.

Reloading is a personal choice. Some think the time is not worth it, and the results aren't materially better than factory ammo. Obviously I disagree on both counts, but it is an opinion. The saying with reloaders is you don't pay less, but you shoot more.

FWIW, a decent manual reloading setup from RCBS, Hornady, or mixed equipment of those and LEE and/or Dillon will cost about the same as a low to mid range bolt gun. Think of it as $400-$500. You could probably beat that a little, but not by a lot once you are done getting the equipment and components for one caliber.

Some think the time is not worth it, and the results aren't materially better than factory ammo. Obviously I disagree on both counts, but it is an opinion.

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As you know, it's a profoundly stupid opinion.

The ONLY load I shoot out of my Savage 112BVSS not only isn't equaled by a comparable commercial load, no comparable commercial load EXISTS. Just about the ONLY available commercial .30-06 target loads use the obsolescent 168gr. BTHP. My ONLY .30-06 load is a 200gr. Sierra MatchKing over IMR4350. There is simply no such commercial load, AT ALL.