Lesser known calibers in this time of shortages

Save the money you’d spend in the pistol and use it but more ammo for a caliber you already have when it becomes available.

Just sold a CVA black powder .45 cal derringer cap and ball. I suppose something is better than nothing. If they miss it will make a good club.

To me, situations like this dissuade from purchasing the common. They may or may not persuade from purchasing the uncommon. I’ll not be buying a new 9mm for awhile. I’d only buy a .40, .455 Webley, whatever, if I actually like it and want it. I’d not buy with expectation I’d be able to shoot it more.

I picked up a used S&W M&P40 over a year ago for $200 that was only in need of a rear sight. I stocked up on plenty of 40 ammo then. In Maryland if I have to shoot somebody they will take your firearm so I would rather it be the $200 M&P than one of my other pistols. A friend advised me last year to start building up my ammo inventory and I am glad I listened. I constantly scour the online ammo sites and visit local gun stores looking to see what might be available. I just bought a 41 Mag Ruger Bisley but checked availability first before buying as I have never owned a 41. SGAmmo had plenty so I picked up a few hundred rounds. I plan on reloading this round but some reloading supplies are difficult to get right now

Thomasss said:

Just sold a CVA black powder .45 cal derringer cap and ball. I suppose something is better than nothing. If they miss it will make a good club.

Click to expand...

Dang funny

NIGHTLORD40K said:

Anybody had trouble getting .30 Carbine lately? Im well stocked on .223 and 7.62x39 but Ive been shooting the Carbines a bit more lately and saving the "front line" cartridges just in case.

Click to expand...

There is none to be had in my neck of the woods, except the Hornady Defense stuff, 20 rounds a box for $25 bucks...
Last 50 rounder I found was two months ago at the local Cabelas.
Still can find 223 and 7.62x39 off and on though.

If I want to pay the $45 price at my LGR for 100 rounds of WWB 9mm, then I only shoot the 100 rounds. I still have @1,000 rounds of Blazer Brass squirreled away. Since one of the LGR partners has a vested interest in having plenty of factory ammo on hand for sale at the range, I’m told that it could be 6 to 9 more months before the ammo shelves are stocked again next year.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/879503061 Ammoseek has surplus ammunition listed at .40 per round. $700 gets you a classic and interesting handgun and 1000+ rounds of ammo.

Tallball said:

This is exactly why I have bought cheap but perfectly serviceable LE trade-in and military surplus handguns whenever there's been a really excellent deal.

I paid $200-$300 for Beretta 81, Glock 22, Russian Makarov, Chinese Tokarev, etc. when they were widely available and cheap.

If there is any ammo for sale at all, I probably have something that will shoot it.

Something to think about before the next shortage.

Click to expand...

We've been spoiled by 9mm, expecting it to be about $10 or cheaper a box of 50, both online and in decent LGS's. Right now that's impossible to find.
Other stuff has normally cost a bit more; and some have not gone up that much. It does take a little more work to find, but it's out there.

I'd gotten into .32 acp handguns a little while back, and the first box I bought was at a pawn shop for some WWB, that was $20. The best deal I ever found was a case of Geco, from LAX. It was $169, $190 shipped. I bought that, not too long before the surplus Beretta 81's hit the scene. Afterwards, maybe the best I could find was around $12 a box for Fiocchi or PPU. Right now with zero effort, I can find it at about $16 a box.

I also have a few Eastern Bloc surplus pistols, in 9x18 Makarov. Steel cased ammo has almost always ran around $11 a box, best case scenario. Steel is fine since that's what the guns were designed around. Academy in-store stocks(ed) Monarch for $10.99, before this all started. Otherwise I had to order it online, for about the same price. I just pulled up the Academy website, they have Wolf, a case for $289, free shipping, estimated delivery would be Oct 1st.

Regarding my mention of affordable 9x18 and .32 acp, - no, they don't have the sexy ballistics of 9x19 and larger. I do think that gets overrated at times; it's not like a .45 acp = Phaser set to disintegrate. You may have to shoot more than once, regardless of caliber, from a handgun.

In the smaller (below 9x19) rounds, I've seen a lot of info suggesting FMJ is preferred, for better penetration. So the less-expensive rds are fine for that.

For the shooting platform, both the Beretta 81 (.32 acp) and the CZ 82 (9 Mak) are reasonably small, well-made, accurate and reliable pistols. You're looking at 12 rd mags for both. I know it's been said for other handguns before, but it's worth repeating: if you need more than 12 rds of .32 acp, you need a rifle or shotgun, not a larger caliber handgun.

lsudave said:

Regarding my mention of affordable 9x18 and .32 acp, - no, they don't have the sexy ballistics of 9x19 and larger. I do think that gets overrated at times; it's not like a .45 acp = Phaser set to disintegrate. You may have to shoot more than once, regardless of caliber, from a handgun.

In the smaller (below 9x19) rounds, I've seen a lot of info suggesting FMJ is preferred, for better penetration. So the less-expensive rds are fine for that.

For the shooting platform, both the Beretta 81 (.32 acp) and the CZ 82 (9 Mak) are reasonably small, well-made, accurate and reliable pistols. You're looking at 12 rd mags for both. I know it's been said for other handguns before, but it's worth repeating: if you need more than 12 rds of .32 acp, you need a rifle or shotgun, not a larger caliber handgun.

Click to expand...

The argument people have made as to why they won't go below 9mm is the price to power ratio. 9mm being cheaper, yet more effective than .380, 9x18 Makk, and .32 ACP is what drove people away from the smaller calibers. Improvement in bullet designs has turned the .380 and 9x18 into acceptable calibers for self defense, Hornady Critical Defense has been tested in both, and while the .32 hasn't changed, it's still better than .22 or .25 and near equal in recoil to those calibers.

The bottom line is some gun beats no gun, it's not like the the lesser calibers are incapable. I think people have taken to justifying the use of 9mm solely on the cost of ammo and that anything lesser in caliber "wasn't good enough" yet anything larger "didn't do anything more" that made it worth owning, let alone spending a few bucks more on ammo.

22 LR has been available and reasonably priced at LGS down to around 6 cents a round still while they have pretty much ZERO handgun ammo for sale other than for range rentals and new gun purchases. I have cut back a bit shooting 9MM and 45 while increasing 22 LR with my Browning Buckmark, M&P 22 Compact, and P226 with 22 Conversion kit. I find 22 LR still a lot of fun to shoot. I might pick up a Glock 44 too.

TTv2 said:

The argument people have made as to why they won't go below 9mm is the price to power ratio. 9mm being cheaper, yet more effective than .380, 9x18 Makk, and .32 ACP is what drove people away from the smaller calibers. Improvement in bullet designs has turned the .380 and 9x18 into acceptable calibers for self defense, Hornady Critical Defense has been tested in both, and while the .32 hasn't changed, it's still better than .22 or .25 and near equal in recoil to those calibers.

The bottom line is some gun beats no gun, it's not like the the lesser calibers are incapable. I think people have taken to justifying the use of 9mm solely on the cost of ammo and that anything lesser in caliber "wasn't good enough" yet anything larger "didn't do anything more" that made it worth owning, let alone spending a few bucks more on ammo.

Click to expand...

And that's fine, when we're talking about readily available $0.17 FMJ and approx $0.40 premium defensive ammo (the price I paid for Gold Dot 124 gr JHP).

As it now stands, I currently can shoot my 9x18 and .32 acp at the range, and replenish my stock CHEAPER than I can with 9x19.
I'm not yet at a point where that is an issue; I've got good reserve and I'm not shooting/buying like I was before this started. But if things remain like this awhile, I might reconsider.
Just to hedge against that occurring, I may look around for even better deals on 9x18 and .32 acp. If I can find "acceptably good" prices now, I might build up those stashes more, to further future-proof my position.

When the run on 9x19 started, it didn't initially hit .45 acp as hard, and I was able to get some extra in that. Some (a good bit actually) are "range loads", but I figure it would still ruin someone's day.

For that matter, I have a Chinese T-54 (Tokarev pistol) with a 9mm barrel, but with the magwell and ejection port appropriate for the longer 7.62x25 Tok rd. I have standard mags, the 9mm rides fine but they're designed for Tok. I literally only need to swap barrels to make it a different caliber. It's never been financially worthwhile in my case (I came in too late to benefit from the cheap surplus ammo), but I've often toyed with the concept. I'm considering it again, for the functional reason of having an additional caliber which may/may not be available. I see I can get some 7.62 Tok for around $0.40 a rd. Is that great? No,... but it's available. In checking the usual locations, I see I can get a 7.62x25 barrel from Numrich for $54, and a barrel bushing and link w/pin from Rtg Parts for $20. Even with shipping, it's still under $100... hmm. Toss in 560 rds of Tok for $240, ....

This would get you in the game, with 9x18 (Makarov):

• https://www.jgsales.com/cz-82-czech...-82,-good-condition,-c-r,-used.-p-102911.html
  
• https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/wo...fire-handgun-ammunition#repChildCatid=3100817

That's a cosmetically challenged CZ 82 from J&G Sales for $249 (comes with 12 rd mag, can get additional for another $30). And a 1k case of Wolf 9x18 for $289.

This might be the cheapest way to go from totally unarmed, to having a centerfire handgun and reasonable supply of range ammo, in 2 wks.

GEM said:

The local Cabela's had a good deal of 25 ACP and 357 Sig. However, I would prefer to have a decent supply of my primaries stocked before the next crisis:

1. Meteors
2. Martians
3. Zombies
4. Godzilla

Click to expand...

wiscoaster said:

GEM, you missed the Yellowstone Caldera eruption, which is going to wipe out most of North America. Might happen sometime in the next 50,000 years or so. Better stock up now.

Click to expand...

Add to those upcoming events the supernova created when Betelgeuse, the orange star that is the right shoulder of Orion blows up in about 100,000 years or so. Add 700 years more for the shock wave to hit Earth. Of course, we'll all be dead from COVID and be buried on a sphere charred by California fires , melted nuclear plants and Yellowstone eruptions by then.

I rarely buy factory ammo, and have managed to reload a fairly decent cache of 9mm, .40S&W, and 10mm ammo, and still have brass, bullets and powder on the shelf. I have seen that 9mm and 10mm bullets are pretty much unavailable, but I have found a box here and there of .38, but limited to 158 grain JHP. What I have no problem getting on the net is .41 Magnum brass and bullets, because not many people shoot it. Of course, nobody has had it in factory-loaded ammo on the store shelves since way before the current shortages started.

What is really slam-dunking the reloaders right now is primers. Doesn't matter what all else you can find, if you can't ignite the cartridge, you're reduced to pounding sand.

lsudave said:

This would get you in the game, with 9x18 (Makarov):

• https://www.jgsales.com/cz-82-czech...-82,-good-condition,-c-r,-used.-p-102911.html
  
• https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/wo...fire-handgun-ammunition#repChildCatid=3100817

That's a cosmetically challenged CZ 82 from J&G Sales for $249 (comes with 12 rd mag, can get additional for another $30). And a 1k case of Wolf 9x18 for $289.

This might be the cheapest way to go from totally unarmed, to having a centerfire handgun and reasonable supply of range ammo, in 2 wks.

Click to expand...

I bought a cosmetically challenged CZ82 last year. Mechanically in great shape and fun to shoot. This is my beater when I am in the field and sometimes need to administer the coup de grace to jackrabbits and the like.