Gun and ammo question

[MossRoad]

A 22lr in the back of the truck used to be before/after school deer hunting here in florida. By show of hands, who here has had a gym teacher or your coach help you skin a deer at 6am before school? Mind you this was many, many moons ago.

Not me, but he did help us kill a 12 pointer.... oops, I mean a 12 pack.

 

[/pine]

It's the same price as an AR. I'd go for the AR. Bigger round. Bigger hole. etc.... I do like the .22 magnum round. I have a High Standard 9 shot revolver that has interchangeable 22LR and 22WMR cylinders. I'd like to pick up a 22WMR bolt action rifle some day. But if I'm going to buy a rifle for the collapse of society as we know it, I'd stay away from that round. It's not that common of a round and will be hard to find (in stores or on dead zombie soldiers) compare to other rounds. And its good out to 100-150yds, etc... while the other one is way farther out. That's what the OP said he was looking for.

Some worthy points...and granted .22WMR is only rim fire primed...

What makes the combo most attractive IMO is both arms use the same clips/magazines...also the weight factor makes .22WMR easy to move bulk ammo without any real heavy lifting etc...

in a SHTF scenario methinks ammo will be worth as much or more than gold...in an evac/bug out situation I'd bury heavier 9mm and .223/5.56 vacuum sealed in hidden bunkers and carry something lighter maybe...30 rnd. clips for an AR aren't much good if you can only manage to carry so many of them with all other gear etc...fuel will be gone before food so it will get down to what can be carried on ones back...

 

[MossRoad]

That is one of the reasons I am looking at 223/556. Easy to find ammo for. If the SHTF should still find ammo for it. Odd ball loads you will have even more trouble finding.

Exactly! Go with something that is very common. .223, 22LR, 12ga, 9mm

Even with that said, stockpile yourself several thousand rounds. IF you survive the apocalypse, I wonder if there'll be any wild game left. All of the milk cows and beef will be long shot and gone.

I was watching some survivalist prepper-type show and this one guy was raising rabbits. He had it all figured out. Rabbits reproduce at some ungodly rate. He was feeding them some type of grass that he was growing hydroponically in soil pots suspended in solution. The soil was made from rabbit droppings, as was the solution. Anyway, it was pretty much a closed loop thing. He also was raising some talapia in above ground swimming pools under plastic hoop-type greenhouses. I think he was heating with geothermal and solar, and rabbit droppings. It was pretty interesting.

My mom was born in '27 right before the depression. They lived in inner-city Cincinnatti. They raised chickens for eggs, rabbits for meat, and turnips and rutabaga for vegetables and rabbit food. They survived, but I never ate rabbit. She said she ate it for 10 years and never wanted to eat it again.

 

[MossRoad]

Some worthy points...and granted .22WMR is only rim fire primed...

What makes the combo most attractive IMO is both arms use the same clips/magazines...also the weight factor makes .22WMR easy to move bulk ammo without any real heavy lifting etc...

in a SHTF scenario methinks ammo will be worth as much or more than gold...in an evac/bug out situation I'd bury heavier 9mm and .223/5.56 vacuum sealed in hidden bunkers and carry something lighter maybe...30 rnd. clips for an AR aren't much good if you can only manage to carry so many of them with all other gear etc...fuel will be gone before food so it will get down to what can be carried on ones back...

Yep. I agree. You can also get a camp 9 carbine (I think that's what its called) and a 9mm pistol that use the same magazines. I think there's 45's too. I think they are only what, 7 or 10 round magazines, though. But again, the OP is looking for something to hit targets out farther than those rounds are able to do as well.

 

[MossRoad]

Some worthy points...and granted .22WMR is only rim fire primed...

What makes the combo most attractive IMO is both arms use the same clips/magazines...also the weight factor makes .22WMR easy to move bulk ammo without any real heavy lifting etc...

in a SHTF scenario methinks ammo will be worth as much or more than gold...in an evac/bug out situation I'd bury heavier 9mm and .223/5.56 vacuum sealed in hidden bunkers and carry something lighter maybe...30 rnd. clips for an AR aren't much good if you can only manage to carry so many of them with all other gear etc...fuel will be gone before food so it will get down to what can be carried on ones back...

Also, I think in my situation (the OP lives out a bit further, a bit more rural than me), I'd be hard pressed to be able to leave the area without getting into an altercation. There's just too many people. And as bad-arsed as I am (hahahaa) I doubt I'd be able to fight my way through a mass crowd and survive. But I'd sure take a few with me (again hahahaa).

Let's hope it never comes to that.

 

[Garandman]

I don稚 particularly care if it is a 都cary looking gun. I am after utility of having a good gun I can grab and go. I like the idea of having a 30rd mag and not the 5 you get in a shotgun.

It would mainly be varmit killing but I figure while SWMBO is in the mood to let me buy get something that can help against 2 leg creatures.

That is one of the reasons I am looking at 223/556. Easy to find ammo for. If the SHTF should still find ammo for it. Odd ball loads you will have even more trouble finding.

Don’t understand where you are coming from.

A bolt action .22 with a scope is available used for less than $250 all day. An AR will cost $600-$1,200 plus optics.

Sounds like you and your wife do not agree over what the biggest threat is to your family and how to prepare for it. “SHTF” usually refers to a prolonged period of time where government has lost the ability to provide order. That’s not going to be a good time to be buying ammo. What folks consider sufficient ranges from two or three magazines full to a soldier’s basic load of 200-400 rounds to thousands of rounds.

Sounds like you live in an urban area. The reason why urban and suburban homeowners buy shotguns in lieu of something like a 5.56 Rifle is that bullet will go through pretty much everything g in sight. #3 or #4 buckshot will not. A pump action shotgun like the Mossberg 500 is also simpler to teach your family how to use.

Someone mentioned 20ga has less recoil. Not necessarily so. A 20ga Gun is usually lighter so the impulse might be just as bad. There are much wider choices for 12Ga Home Defense ammo than 20Ga. This includes “tactical” rounds which often have less recoil than hunting rounds. We have both and though we’ve kept the 20Ga, I’d buy another 12Ga in a “do over.”

 

[paulsharvey]

Don’t understand where you are coming from.

A bolt action .22 with a scope is available used for less than $250 all day. An AR will cost $600-$1,200 plus optics.

Sounds like you and your wife do not agree over what the biggest threat is to your family and how to prepare for it. “SHTF” usually refers to a prolonged period of time where government has lost the ability to provide order. That’s not going to be a good time to be buying ammo. What folks consider sufficient ranges from two or three magazines full to a soldier’s basic load of 200-400 rounds to thousands of rounds.

Sounds like you live in an urban area. The reason why urban and suburban homeowners buy shotguns in lieu of something like a 5.56 Rifle is that bullet will go through pretty much everything g in sight. #3 or #4 buckshot will not. A pump action shotgun like the Mossberg 500 is also simpler to teach your family how to use.

Someone mentioned 20ga has less recoil. Not necessarily so. A 20ga Gun is usually lighter so the impulse might be just as bad. There are much wider choices for 12Ga Home Defense ammo than 20Ga. This includes “tactical” rounds which often have less recoil than hunting rounds. We have both and though we’ve kept the 20Ga, I’d buy another 12Ga in a “do over.”

Now I'm sure someone smarter than me can chime in but I've seen repeated thing showing that 556 actually will travel through far-less barrier and air after the barrier than even a simple 9mm. I would be interested in seeing more things on YouTube and all where they see what the bullet does after it's gone through at two layers of drywall or something I see a lot where it shows how many things that can punch through but not what happens 10 feet after

 

[/pine]

Also, I think in my situation (the OP lives out a bit further, a bit more rural than me), I'd be hard pressed to be able to leave the area without getting into an altercation. There's just too many people. And as bad-arsed as I am (hahahaa) I doubt I'd be able to fight my way through a mass crowd and survive. But I'd sure take a few with me (again hahahaa).

Let's hope it never comes to that.

Agree with that 100%...

And like any "war" etc. plans...They all usually go south after the initial commotion...(SNAFU)

But to get technical and back to the OP he actually said:

...I am looking for something to dispatch small woodland creatures around the farm. For example Raccoons and horses do not mix. So a 22 LR would be nice.

However I am also thinking about some more self defense if things head south in the country.

So IMO .22WMR is still a worthy option...but I do like the 3 way idea of a revolver and rifle in .22WMR as well as an AR15 etc...

 

[MossRoad]

For me it's ! squirrel. !

On a side note, I was in a boiler room today and found a little dead animal. We initially thought it was a chipmunk, but, on closer inspection, it was a little, dried up flying squirrel. It's only the 2nd one I've ever seen. The other was alive. Hate to think what a 12ga would do to that!

 

[MossRoad]

Agree with that 100%...

And like any "war" etc. plans...They all usually go south after the initial commotion...(SNAFU)

But to get technical and back to the OP he actually said:

So IMO .22WMR is still a worthy option...but I do like the 3 way idea of a revolver and rifle in .22WMR as well as an AR15 etc...

Yeah, if he's just looking to dispatch small animals, I'd still go with the .22LR over the .22WMR, just for the fact that it IS less powerful. It's almost ridiculous how much more powerful the WMR is over the LR. Plus, the WMR is painful to shoot without hearing protection. Absolutely painful. It's such a sharp crack. I took one of my daughters out shooting with it this summer and we loaded up LR in the revolver and fired off a few cylinders worth. Then I swapped in the magnum cylinder and it really took her by surprise. You'd never think that much noise could come out of such a tiny casing.