Most common ammo in US

[Zaydok Allen]

I am looking to ditch some of my guns in calibers I don't use any more. I want to replace them with more common and available (I know nothings available right now) calibers. I'm not thinking full prepper, but as ammo gets scarce what might I have an easier time finding at stores or in private hands?

I assume .22, .223/5.56, 9mm, and 12 gauge are some of the most plentiful ammo out there, but what about 30-30, 30-06, and .308. Out of those three, which one would you theoretically have the easiest time finding out in the wild? Any other common calibers I'm missing?

Id go 308, but I agree with MCB. Sometimes shooting uncommon stuff is a good thing during shortages, and it's just fun.

More importantly, learn to reload if you aren't already doing it.

 

[CapnMac]

May come down to just how you cast "find in the wild."
Personal experience says that, in a back-country store, all three will be at hand. And about equally.
As to abandoned farm house or barn, I've found old Peters boxes of 30-30 and 30 Govt. stuck in cupboards or tucked behind a shelf or next to a stud niche. Which may have more with not having pulled down any old barns or houses 'young' enough to have 308 in them.

In the present situation, 30-06 seems to still be on the shelves as it is deer season and Texas deer don't much need a 30-06, and if out west after muleies you will still have some of last year's box and more than you have tags for.

Your Mileage May Vary.

 

[Mr. Mosin]

If I had to guess, overall would probably be .22 rimfire. For autoloading handguns, probably 9x19mm, .45 Auto, .40 S&W. For wheelguns, .38 Spl and .357 Magnum. Rifles.... .223/5.56, .308, and then probably .30-30 Winchester.

 

[Dunross]

Well, after six months of The Panic what one can actually find on the shelves here in N/C Fla and what is popular overlap on pretty much just three calibers.

.22lr - may not be your brand, but it can be found most places that sell ammo.
.308 Win - this surprises me, but I can find it just about everywhere
.30-06 Not quite as readily available as .308, but a damn sight easier to find than most anything else.

"Not popular" cartridge types that I've been able to find pretty regularly are:

6.5 Creedmor - hands down.
.22-250
.300 Savage

Of the "popular cartridges" the ones you mostly cannot find are:

.223/5.56 - this has been getting better recently. I now know of several stores that have it, but you'll pay big.
.30-30 Dried up months ago and is still mostly not to be found
7.62x39 - steel cased is easier to find, brass cased/Boxer primed is thin on the ground.

Bird shot in any gauge has stayed available. 12ga buckshot has begun to reappear. 20ga buckshot still pretty much not to be found, though as of last weekend I did find one place that had a fair amount of Federal #3.

 

[Wildbillz]

List out what guns will fire each caliber. Cross that list with what you have or want. That should help a bit.

Of the three you asked about. Hard to go wrong with any of them. 30-30 and 06 have been around for ages. 308Win not as long but lots of different guns that use it and its been a popular round and there is still surplus ammo coming in from time to time.. So it sort of depends on the gun you want to shoot. You could probably add 7.62x39 to the list also.

WB

 

[Walkalong]

Just remember, the most common stuff goes out of stock faster when demand outstrips supply.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Life is too short to shoot common calibers. The funkier the better cause variety and strangeness is the spice of life.

And it's the only thing on the shelf.
I'm glad I reload everything except 9mm and 22lr.

 

[bikerdoc]

I have consolidated down to 5 calibers. 22. 357, 45, 9mm and 223.
That said, it is not about availability it is about what you have on hand. Back in the 70's I decided 1000 rounds each gun each caliber was sufficient.
In the 90's I updated it to 5 k each.
Over time it is easy as money allows buy 2 -shoot one, stockpile one. Whether it was box, brick or case.

 

[Hartkopf]

Growing up in a small farm town in Texas, in forth grade I must have heard the words "thirty aught six" ten times a day. Apparently EVERYBODY'S dad hunted with a 30-06.

 

[crestoncowboy]

Go to ammoseek.com and click show more. It shows the percentage of searches.

 

[rust collector]

Fascinating to see same percentage for 308 and 7.62x39.

 

[crestoncowboy]

Fascinating to see same percentage for 308 and 7.62x39.

I was pretty surprised 5.7 made the list. I know more who shoot 45 colt or 38 super or 41 mag or .25 acp or 44 spec. than 5.7. Im actually the only person I know who actually shoots 5.7 and it been years since I bought any

Id be interested to go back one year and see the difference. Id bet the 5.7 wouldn't be up there

 

[tubeshooter]

Remember - those are just search counts.

For something like .30-06, you know where to get it and the price point doesn't change much. No real "deals" to speak of in general. Same with .357 Magnum. I suspect people looking for 5.7 are trying a lot harder to find it.

 

[Robbins290]

Its one company for online sales. Not all ammo is funneled thru that ammo. And alot of ammo is still not bought online. All my 30-06 ammo i buy at walmart. $12-14 buck a box of 20 and no shipping needed.

 

[.308 Norma]

Growing up in a small farm town in Texas, in forth grade I must have heard the words "thirty aught six" ten times a day. Apparently EVERYBODY'S dad hunted with a 30-06.

Yep, same here. Except I grew up near Homedale, Idaho. And everybody else's dad might have hunted with a 30-06, but MY dad hunted with a 308 Win.
Whether he was right or wrong doesn't matter - I still remember Dad saying, "Thirty aught sixes kick too _______ hard!"

 

[d2wing]

I was cured of odd ammo when I forgot ammo on a deer hunt for my .35 Remington. Couldn't find any anywhere in the area.

 

[I6turbo]

LOL It's funny to see people talking about buying a gun based upon what ammo they might find when searching places like a half-burned-out general store or an abandoned farm house. Perhaps one might check to see what ammo they keep at Terminus or Alexandria and buy something chambered in one of those rounds.

More seriously, for the vast majority of applications, I don't think there's 10 cents worth of difference between most of today's trendy rounds vs. their old-school counterparts. Therefore, I tend to keep my chamberings in cartridges that I think will be readily available in normal times for as many years into the future as Americans can manage to keep their guns. That way, the people (family) that end up with my guns will most likely be able to enjoy them even if they have other things to do with their spare time besides chasing components and reloading. If they're negligent enough to go into a situation like we're in now (or even much worse) without ammo and needing to scrounge it (real-world ammo-scrounging is a highly unlikely scenario, IMO), me having left them a 6.5 Creedmoor instead of a .308 AR-10, or a 40 S&W instead of a 9-mm isn't likely to be a game changer for them.

 

[ChairborneRanger]

I was cured of odd ammo when I forgot ammo on a deer hunt for my .35 Remington. Couldn't find any anywhere in the area.

Same thing happened to me in the U.P. of Michigan many years ago during gun deer hunting season. Had a '94 Winchester in .32 Winchester Special and only found a box after driving well over 100 miles and blowing an entire afternoon going for store to store in one little town after another. Have since consolidated "down" to: .22LR, 9mm, .45 acp, .38 Special/.357 Magnum, .223/5.56, .30-06, 12 GA & 20 GA

 

[mcb]

Same thing happened to me in the U.P. of Michigan many years ago during gun deer hunting season. Had a '94 Winchester in .32 Winchester Special and only found a box after driving well over 100 miles and blowing an entire afternoon going for store to store in one little town after another. Have since consolidated "down" to: .22LR, 9mm, .45 acp, .38 Special/.357 Magnum, .223/5.56, .30-06, 12 GA & 20 GA

Can't imagine letting this fear stop me from using a unique cartridge. It just means I put things in place to ensure you don't forget my ammo if I know I can't get any where you are going. When I pack my hunting rifle for a hunt the ammo and magazines go in the same case, every time. If I get to hunting camp without ammo it won't matter I won't have a rifle either. I am hunting with a 30 Remington AR this year, ain't going to find that anywhere near hunting camp.

 

[BlueHeelerFl]

Of the 3 choices - I'd say 30-30 would be the one most likely to be found in the back room of a 1/2 burned out country store after the SHTF. Everybody either has had, has, or will have, a lever action 30-30.

I would have agreed a few months ago but not right now. I started keeping an eye out for 30-30 ammo (just out of curiosity as I don't own one) and it's currently just as rare as 9mm and 556.

I haven't seen any 30-30 at any of the big box stores in the last few months

 

[340PD]

Ruger makes single actions that will fire
9mm/38/357
45acp/45Colt
22/22mag
Get one of each and you have a lot of the field covered.
If you want one oddball that you will likely always find something to shoot, think 327 Federal as it will handle a number of 32 cartridges out of the same gun. You can shoot .32 ACP, .32 Long, .32 Short and .32 H&R Mag. ammunition in any .327 Federal Magnum revolver.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

I was in both Sportsman's and Cabela's today. Stripped completely clean of the most common calibers (and a lot of other as well.) Between the two stores: Absolutely no: 30-30, 30-06, 308, 223/556. Lots of the big, heavy hunting calibers (338, 300, 375 etc.) and the lighter, faster stuff (22-250 and 243 etc) The only hand gun ammo remaining was a few boxes of 32 S&W long. Cabela's had 4 boxes of 38 SPL LRN. No rimfire. One box of primers and a few pounds of what I would consider oddball powder, and even less of that than my last visit. Seriously, going to those stores has become a waste of time at this point.

It has been that way for months already. I do not expect to see a positive change anytime soon. I'm glad that a.) I bought what I could when I could and b.)I saw some ammo on the shelf for some of my guns. (Enough that I did't buy any.) Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

PS: I wonder if people will start seeking out guns in the afore mentioned list simply because ammo is available. Additionally, at what point will this steadily increasing rate of gun sales (is it a bubble?) collapse solely due to th lack of available ammo. (Who is going to buy a $600 paper weight?)

 

[.308 Norma]

PS: I wonder if people will start seeking out guns in the afore mentioned list simply because ammo is available. Additionally, at what point will this steadily increasing rate of gun sales (is it a bubble?) collapse solely due to th lack of available ammo. (Who is going to buy a $600 paper weight?)

I know that this is simply anecdotal, and because it is, it doesn't mean much. But as I've posted before, I bought a Ruger "American Rimfire" .22 from Sportsman's Warehouse a few week ago - it was for my wife's birthday. When I finished filling out the paperwork, and went to pay for the gun, the sales person asked me if I needed any ammo for it.
I said, "Why? You don't have any 22 Long Rifle over there on the shelf anyway."
He said, "Oh, we have ammo in the back for people who buy guns."
I didn't need any - I have plenty of 22LR. But it struck me as a little strange that Sportsman's would hold back ammo for gun purchasers. Not that I much care - my wife loves her birthday present.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

Panic buys are a swinging pendulum. You said you want ammo for things you may be able to find.

It's a catch 22.

Common calibers get picked because they are common. Odd calibers get neglected by manufacturers to focus on common calibers.

Get what you want as far as round and gun based on merits other than store shelves.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

I know that this is simply anecdotal, and because it is, it doesn't mean much. But as I've posted before, I bought a Ruger "American Rimfire" .22 from Sportsman's Warehouse a few week ago - it was for my wife's birthday. When I finished filling out the paperwork, and went to pay for the gun, the sales person asked me if I needed any ammo for it.
I said, "Why? You don't have any 22 Long Rifle over there on the shelf anyway."
He said, "Oh, we have ammo in the back for people who buy guns."
I didn't need any - I have plenty of 22LR. But it struck me as a little strange that Sportsman's would hold back ammo for gun purchasers. Not that I much care - my wife loves her birthday present.

Cabela's does the same thing, as does the LGS in my area. Seems like standard practice. And from a business standpoint it's kind of not a bad plan. They may have difficulty selling a gun if no ammo is available for it. So if holding back a box of ammo for every gun in inventory helps them sell guns, it's a win win for them. They're going to sell the ammo no matter what, so might as well use it to sell a gun, too. Some customers may get cranky if they find out, but oh well. And they keep it a secret. I just happened to be standing in the right place at the right time to see it all go down, not unlike a shady drug deal. Otherwise, I'd be none the wiser.

Now. back in the Obama drought, there was a girl working at my local Cabela's who was holding back ammo from the shelf, offering it for sale on facebook, then buying it on her lunch break and selling it for 2-3x the Cabela's price. THAT upset a few people.