Non-Peeve No 4, Calibre of the Month

[Jim Watson]

This one isn't exactly a Pet Peeve, but a warning to gun shoppers, based on many posts on this and other boards.

It is very common for somebody to read the advertisements, magazine articles (about the same thing) and rave net reviews about a particular cartridge or calibre, either new on the market or old but overlooked, and buy a wonderful gun. They then find out that it has liabilities and are searching for an easy way out.

A powerful cartridge that will stop a criminal assailant or a charging buffalo in his tracks often turns out to have more recoil than is enjoyable in casual shooting.

It is also uncommon on the market either because it is new or because earlier generations have passed it by. Read, expensive.

So the customer is looking for ammo that costs less and/or kicks less. It probably isn't there, there is not the demand yet if ever. Even if he is a handloader and would expect to be able to tailor practice ammuntion to his liking, he may find a shortage of components and data to give him flexibility.

All I am saying is, think before you buy. Will you really make use of the claimed extra capability? If so, do you mind paying for it?

Addendum: The same thing applies to old stuff. Once upon a time, the Communists were unloading their surplus guns and ammo on us. You could shoot a SKS or AK as cheap as a .22. Probably not hitting as well, but it made a louder bang. Now there are daily whines about the shortage of cheap 7.62x39 ammo. Think it through. Buy a surplus gun if you want cheap, but realize the surplus ammo will dry up one of these days and you will have a $90 rifle taking dollar a pop ammunition.

 

[cracked butt]

Buy a surplus gun if you want cheap, but realize the surplus ammo will dry up one of these days and you will have a $90 rifle taking dollar a pop ammunition

I hear you. I get sick of hearing people buying a finely made rifle like an M1, a 1903 springfield, a schmidt rubin, or a swedish mauser then compalin that surplus ammo is rare and costs more than $0.04 a round. Sort of like buying a '67 Stingray and complaining that premium gas and tires for the car are expensive.

 

[sm]

Well...this was supposed to be a secret -mums the word- but since I am amongst family here on THR and all...

...and since so many folks are concerned about loadings for certain types of "situations"...

...furthermore I feel even Mr. Jim Watson whom I have a lot of respect for would concur with some internet posters having a need for such loadings, and need to have such a loading with limited liability...

Gummy Bear Loads!

I appreciate the standing ovation - don't much care for the spittle on the monitor...now when ya'll get thru clapping, wiping monitors and such, I will continue...

Chiclets gum. Yep them itty bitty pieces of gum. Brilliant huh?

Inspired by the proven Popcorn loadings of course. Proven in "popping" them pigeons to get out of a barn without damage to interior of barn.

Yes these Gummy Bear Loads! work in all 4 shotgun gauges.

I mean to take of a Gummy Bear , you gotta use Gummy loads.

Added benefit : Since designed to take care of Gummy Bear - works on Gummy Pumas and Worms too.

You are welcome,

Steve

 

[Standing Wolf]

All I am saying is, think before you buy.

Yeah, and if we all did that, half the automobile manufacturers would be out of business by the end of the year. I'm not going to say anything about our elected misrepresentatives.

 

[The_Shootist]

AK Ammo Prices

The only thing keeping me from buying an AK right now (and you can get a decent Romanian AK-47 for about $ 320 or so) is the ammo price.

Ammo price that soars from $ 60 / 1000 to $ 140 / 1000 (if you can get it at all - ALOT of places are backordered) doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Lets face it - with the Iraqi army re-equipping, the Russian ammo factories aren't stupid. Excess production would be directed that way, rather than 'stateside - more bang for the buck (no pun intended ).

Will the supply dry up? Well, given that there are ...what...80 million AK-47's worldwide its unlikely availability of the 7.62x39 round will dry up. Just don't expect it to flow like water and at $50-60 / 1000.

I'm SORTA seeing the same thing in 9x18 Mak. You have to hunt a little harder for deals or your favorite ammo, but its not as free and easy as it once was.

Seems like the Mak being the best kept secret is no secret any more. And with all the former Com-bloc countries dumping their Mak's putting more in circulation doesn't help :<

 

[BigG]

Well, Jim, if we limited cartridges to just 22 LR, .223, .308/.30-06 we would have the rifle spectrum covered rather completely. 45 ACP and 38 Special would do for handguns and 12 ga would cover all our shotgun needs. This is pretty much my approach, btw.

But - for the sake of variety I have .44 Mag, 10mm Colt Auto, 9mm Luger, 40 S&W, .376 Steyr, and .458 Win Mag. Not necessary, but still fun, for me.

Skeeter Skelton (IIRC) used to talk about the picket fence of cartridges, lining up everything centerfire. They went up by 1 caliber increments. 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, no 29, 30, no 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, no 36, 37...

You could take one from the lower end and one from the higher end and kill anything that walks, moves, or crawls.

 

[Firethorn]

Will the supply dry up? Well, given that there are ...what...80 million AK-47's worldwide its unlikely availability of the 7.62x39 round will dry up. Just don't expect it to flow like water and at $50-60 / 1000.

I'll agree with this. You might not be able to get it at surplus rates, but if you check out the various russion manufacturers, it looks like you can get new for $140/1000, so it's not very likely to get worse than that unless wages go up in Russia or the dollar weakens even more.

I heard something about increases in port fees driving the price up a bit as well.

 

[ball3006]

Yeah, I noticed the same thing......

10mm comes to mind for a carry pistol......as for surplus ammo running out and/or getting expensive, reload. As the price of ammo goes up, some folks might even have to learn to use the sights and aim.......chris3

 

[Dr.Rob]

5.7mm Nato... .17HMR.... hmmmmmmm

Good fer squirrels and such but I can't see much use for a handgun in either caliber.

This is of course a recurring trend, what's old is new again.

Remember the 'wondernine' craze? Suddenly a nine wasn't good enough and we needed tens. But the tens kicked too hard so we got the forty, which wasn't so hot and blew up Glocks so it's back to the forty-fives, which don't penetrate as well as this new and improved five-seven...

It goes on and on.

And for the record SM, I load my scattergun with Certs over Tic-Tacs... why? Restin makes 'em poisonous.

 

[rchernandez]

After a couple of seasons you have to realize its all cyclical. Stocked up on 7.62x39 when it was readily available. Waiting for the next wave!

Here's a thought, spend the money you saved buying the "affordable" milsurp stuff (guns & ammo) getting set up with reloading equipment, preferably progressive, and reload your own when the supply dries up. Right now, I wait for 9mm to go on sale instead of reloading. For .45acp and .32s&w long, however, I only shoot my reloads. Someday, I may have to start reloading .223...

 

[Bridger]

Well if it is a Arisaka or something that's one thing, but us with AK and SKS rifles weren't buying surplus 7.62x39. We were buying new production commercial Wolf etc, not surplus! And now it has become hard to find and more expensive and there are only RUMORS of the iraqi army or a delay in customs etc.

I emailed WOLF and asked last month and they said it would be available again in December, but well, not much has changed.

 

[rchernandez]

Someone needs to get China off the list...so they can start exporting affordable ammo for Walmart to sell

 

[No_Brakes23]

The same thing applies to old stuff. Once upon a time, the Communists were unloading their surplus guns and ammo on us. You could shoot a SKS or AK as cheap as a .22. Probably not hitting as well, but it made a louder bang. Now there are daily whines about the shortage of cheap 7.62x39 ammo. Think it through. Buy a surplus gun if you want cheap, but realize the surplus ammo will dry up one of these days and you will have a $90 rifle taking dollar a pop ammunition.

Yeah that's why I quit buying milsurps. Even once common stuff like Argie Mausers and Springfield Krags are 'spensive to feed, (And sometimes you can't even find the stuff.)

I also realized that I need to just get into reloading so that I can have the ammo I want when I want.

 

[thereisnospoon]

refer to pic below