[99z28monster]

KISS!! Just use a .22lr and be done with it.

[Deersniper]

Probably alot of the reloads I make. I made some .45 Winchester hollow points that group well at 17 yds. Wicked expansion. Been making some 69 gr .223 loads to top my SS 109, and the 180 gr N BT .308 are to be respected.

[Mandarax]

Really interesting discussion! I guess you could sort of build yourself a chart of important characteristics, put them in order of importance, and systematically narrow down the pack until you find the best compromise. A list of criteria might be...

Affordability
Availability in quantity
Weight/portability
Firepower/accuracy
Compatibility with guns you already have
Commonality outside of stores
Reuseability of casings
Etc

For the .22LR, you'd have high marks for affordability, availability, weight and commonality, but you'd take a serious beating in firepower.

Buuut, if you were lucky enough to already have a Winchester .270, you'd be doing well with .270 ammo for compatibility with your existing gun, firepower and accuracy, reuseability of the casings, but you take a hit in affordability, weight, commonality and more.

It depends on you which criteria are the most important to you, so perhaps you guys should make your own lists, see what you come up with, and report your findings. Perhaps you'll make a good case for something nobody else has made. I'll get started.

Compatibility with my guns, #1. I can't afford/store another gun right now, only more ammo.
That gives me .30-'06, 7.62x54R, .22LR, 12 Gauge, .38, .45ACP.
Firepower/Accuracy, #2. I don't want to scare them, I want to stop them. Cold.
That gives me, in order, .30-'06, 7.62x54R, then trailing behind are 12 Gauge, .22LR and the handgun rounds. I may as well knock them down to "secondary ammo" status, ending their run in this race.
Availability in quantity, #3. If I don't have it, I can't shoot it.
This gives me, in order, .30-'06, then 7.62x54R ~150gr since I shoot a PSL. Both come in bulk, but only one is available at the local gun stores.
Affordability, #4. Oh yeah, I need to buy food too...
This puts them back neck and neck. I can get bulk 7.62x54R for $0.17 a shot. Best deal I've found on .30-'06 is about $0.25 a shot, and that's for Korean surplus I've heard bad things about.

Then, the other things. .30-'06 is more likely to be laying around. 7.62x54R is lighter. .30-'06 can be reloaded, if I reloaded. 7.62x54R goes with my magazine-fed semi-auto scoped rifle, instead of my five-shot bolt action. So, it's pretty much a dead heat between them.

I think I'll just buy them both!

[2dogs]

Short range and rapid semi-auto fire from .22 rifles already bought and stored in location along with 5000 round cans of .22 hollow point ammo, long range slow fire from Russian and Finnish Mosin-Nagant rifles along with over 6,000 rounds of steel core ammunition in sealed metal cans, some of us have been preparing for the SHTF day for quite a while and will not be moved from our location without one dilly of a fight.....

[2dogs]

In regards to availability of so called obsolete ammunition, 7,62X54R for any Mosin-Nagant rifle is readily obtainable for $80 to $100 a sealed can for 440 rounds and 8MM mauser ammunition is available for 99.95 delivered for 340 or 380 round sealed metal cans,,,both the Mauser and the Mosin-Nagant rifles will get the job done, most have excellent accuracy except maybe the carbines and the steel core projectile will definitely do the trick on almost any target, both rifles are fairly cheap and even a couple can be purchased to use as spare parts supplies just in case.....SEMPER FI

[lowercase]

99z

I like your tagline. I had to do a double-take when I saw to whom it was attributed.

America is all about speed,hot,nasty,badass speed.Eleanor Roosevelt, 1936.

LOL.

[mdj696]

Been reloading for about 25 years. Got more 30 cal carbine ammo than I will ever be able to shoot. Went step further, make my own black powder bullets, molds, etc.. Youngest son manages Big Ten Tire get all lead weights I want. Friend of mine told me once in the old days, hunters would wait for a deer to get between them and a tree in case round went through deer, they could dig it out of the tree, melt it down for reuse. Black powder isn't a rapid fire but you hit someone with a 50 cal. they aren't interested in you anymore or anything else.

[runstowin]

In a worst case scenario extra ammo may come in handy for barter or as a currency.