My Arsenal's (de)evolution Due to Crunch

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Cosmoline

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I realized recently that my arsenal has shifted very dramatically since the Big Crunch began. Before it started, my main guns were:

AR-15 carbine
AR-15 retro
M-1A scout
Various .357's and .44 Mags
One Mosin-Nagant
Some black powder cartridge rifles

Now I have:
Six Mosin-Nagants
Makarov
AK-74 clone

The AR's and M1A were sold off along with the ammo because they just got too expensive to feed and the selling prices were good. I still have the .357 revolvers and some single actions, but my use has declined as I cannot get resupplies of even basic powder. I figure I have enough for maybe 200 more .357 reloads and then I'll be completely out of suitable powder. The powder shortage has also curtailed my handloading experiments for things like the 8mm Lebel, since if I use the rifle powder for those I won't be able to use it for my main rifles.

The only thing I can still find reliably for cheap locally is 5.45, 54R and 9mm Mak. So that's what I've gone over to. I still shoot the BPCR's as well since they run off BP which I can find. 5.56 has come back in supply but it's pricey and the stock tends to vanish.

But I've also noticed there have been hoarding runs on 5.45 as well. One man bought about 15 cans of it a few months back and we just now got another barge of it. That in turn encourages hoarding by the rest of us. 54R has yet to be hit by this, but I've increased my reserves just in case.

Alaska is an extreme case, so I'm not sure how widespread this sort of thing has been. Anyone else had that level of change in the gun closet?
 
My local Academy now limits only 22lr ammo. Ammo prices are still high enough to warrant a reduced shooting schedule. I limit mysef to just 100 rounds a month now. As far as primers go Academy has them @ $3.99/100. I don't know about powder or cases as only one place in town carries them but last time I checked prices were high and product was limited. Thats it from the Desert of West Texas.
 
It sounds like you are unfortunately at the end of the supply chain.

Here in the central part of the mainland most calibers of factory ammo are back in stock. Curiously enough I have purchased more reloading supplies, bullets, brass and powder and misc. items like shotgun shells at regular prices than the previous 2 - 3 yrs. so all the "Banic" did was too motivate me.

I will say that reloading supplies are still very much hit or miss.
 
What surprises me most is that I'm scared to reload a lot of the experimental stuff. That in turn has had an impact on what firearms I buy. I had intended to build up a WW1 French collection but I would be forced to burn precious powder fiddling with those obscure cartridges. So when push comes to shove I just end up back in Mosin land where I have thousands of rounds in spam cans. My handloading for the Mosins has well over a decade of data behind it, so I can be assured that I won't burn powder in failed efforts.
 
I realized recently that my arsenal has shifted very dramatically since the Big Crunch began. Before it started, my main guns were:

AR-15 carbine
AR-15 retro
M-1A scout
Various .357's and .44 Mags
One Mosin-Nagant
Some black powder cartridge rifles

Now I have:
Six Mosin-Nagants
Makarov
AK-74 clone
That's how far I got and realized... Well, ya got me up until then!
 
Powder has become impossible to find here, both at LGS, big box and online. Sucks but feels just like live ammo was 6-12 months ago. Everyone freaked out, bought everything available and many new reloaders were born. Think we're just seeing the fallout from the reload part - it'll come around just like live ammo has.
 
Anyone else had that level of change in the gun closet?

Nope, but then I'm a patient person not prone to perturbations (and a had "enough" of everything before people got silly).
 
I think you're just using this as a way to justify 6 Mosins! :neener:

On a serious note: It definitely has prevented me from attempting any more 8mm loadings. First 2 efforts were failures... :banghead:
 
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i am selling about 10 of my ~50+ that i never shoot to raise cash for a new truck. 1 of my 4 m1a, several of my 10 colts 1911. a few of my 2 dozen+ S&W. it was to the point i couldtn get my safe door closed.

before i had kids ( 2 in 3 years, oldest is 5) i was buying probly 1 gun every 2 months or so.

i still have plenty of .22s and shotguns and bolt guns for hunting and SHTF and glocks and sigs and S&W and ruger revolvers, i just have so many it was hard what to decide to offer for sale. family heirlooms and gifts were not even considered. ammo availability was not an issue. so i have sold some and traded some for other guns + cash my way and all the cash is being earmarked in a savings account for a new truck.

so i still have so many rifles. how many 30-06 scoped rifles do i really need ?
we are getting mandatory long gun registration on purchases (new and PPT) next year here in the PRK so rifle demand may go up in the next 2 months.
 
Anyone else had that level of change in the gun closet?

No changes here. I had a hard enough time getting what I have, I see no need to cast them off. I eventually get around to shooting everything that I have at one time or another.

I do reload and keep an inventory of supplies on hand to smooth out the panic shortages.

Fortunately, i have not been in a position where I have trouble putting food on the table or keeping a roof over my head.
 
Have not changed my guns, but have changed my shooting. I used to shoot rifles, pistols, and shotguns. However, now I only shoot pistols, and then only with cast lead bullets, as I can't find any jacketed bullets. I'm basically limted to 2 calibers right now, .38 special and 9x18 Makarov.

Can't find any factory ammo for anything I shoot, but then again I shoot some odd-ball cartridges like 9mm Largo, and .30-40 Krag. Even before the panic factory ammo was hard to find for alot of my guns, but now it's impossible.

.22LR or .22WMR are impossible to find in a store around here, can find them online for crazy-high prices (and that's before S&H charges) but it's so expensive I can shoot center-fire for cheaper.

I have found primers at several shops near me, but powder is impossible to find, only thing I've found recently was IMR 4895, but they only had it in 8 pound cans, and I didn't have the $$$ to buy that much at once (I only ever buy 1 pound at a time).

Hornady WAS my favorite bullet maker, but they've dropped all my favorite products so they can focus on producing more of the common stuff. So no more 9x18 XTPs for my Mak or 220gr round noses for my Krag. Grrrrr...

Honestly I may have to stop shooting period. It is becoming a major pain in the rear, and it is getting increasingly expensive. I don't know if I want to spend money I don't have for a hobby that is no longer fun.
 
No change as I was well stocked up with ammo long before any of the panic buying/hoarding cycles got started.
 
I think you're just using this as a way to justify 6 Mosins!

They are my perennial fall-back guns, for sure. I can always rely on them.

I loaded up some 54R last night for my best shooting Mosin, and the Varget container is getting way too light. It's a disconcerting feeling because I haven't seen any of it for over a year. We already had a powder shortage before the big crunch. I've actually been able to scrounge more than enough primers, but it's the powder that just doesn't get replenished. In the future, I will get the big containers of my primary powders for a stockpile. In a real pinch, it's not the brass or the bullets, but the primers and most of all the powder.

Cabelas is opening a super store here in the spring, and I hope they have their own sources for powder. If not, I fear things will be going full zombie up here next summer. I'll have to figure out how to use black powder for smokeless, and start re-learning how to shoot a bow and arrow like Darryl.
 
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Anyone else had that level of change in the gun closet?

Yes, but not because of the economic crunch, sort of. It all started when I sold my AKs off because the value had gone up so much. I used the funds to add a Winchester 1897, a Type II Richards conversion, and a S&W Lemon Squeezer. I started reloading blackpowder rounds for the 1897 and the Type II and I'm now hooked. I've sold off my Garand, my Mauser, my M44, my Hakim, my Tokarev, my 1895 Nagant, and my XD. I've replaced that all with a Remington Rolling Block, a Martini-Henry and a Winchester 1886 (plus a mess of reloading supplies). So essentially, I've found my firearms niche and consolidated the collection around it.
 
Anyone else had that level of change in the gun closet?
Yes, fortunately to afford to be off for surgery I sold off all the P08 Lugers, P38 Pistols and K98k Mauser Rifles from the collection. That and some miscellaneous other stuff got me thru that and being terminated for being out sick too long.
 
No changes here. I did sell off a couple of revolvers, but it had nothing to do with ammo availability.

With scarce and expensive ammo, rather than a change to different cartridge, I just switched to a different hobby for the summer. I still did some shooting, but mostly played with RC cars this year. $30 for 2 magazines that last 2 minutes versus $30 for a gallon of nitro fuel that lasts 2 weekends is pretty easy math when figuring dollars/entertainment ratio.
 
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