Which calibers are most common for pistol/rifle/shotgun?

[Jaltered]

Which ammo calibers are considered "most common"? Or in other words, when the SHTF, if ammo becomes scarce...which will be easiest to find around?

I know that the 9mm is one of the most commonly used pistol calibers, but what about rifle calibers and/or even shotgun ammo?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Bumper]

Handguns

9mm
.45ACP
.38/.357


Rifles

.223
7.62x39MM
.30-06


Shotguns

12 gauge

[Cliff]

Bumper nails it again.

[APachon]

I might add .308 to the rifle mix.

[Bud White]

Handgun
9mm
45 acp
38/357

Rifle
30/06
308
223


Shotgun
12 20 gauge

lot more 20's out there than most people would think

[coma]

Hand Gun:
1) 9MM
2) .45 ACP
3) .38/.357

Rifle:
1) 30-06
2) .223
3) 7.62 x 39 / .308 winchester mag

Shot gun:
1) 12 Ga.
2) 20 Ga.
3) and believe it or not .410 Ga.( i know people who still use them to hunt and shoot trap with)

[APachon]

What are your takes on the 44Mag for the pistol category??

[Bud White]

Yes i supposed 44 mag would be fairy easy to find and even the 40 by now

[APachon]

I forgot about the 40. I try to make my pistol and rifle purchases based on calibers I already own so that when I go to buy ammo, I am not buying 30 different calibers.

~A

[Bud White]

i mean if you really want to strech it some the 300 win mag and 7mm mag are very popular and how could we forget the 30/30

[clubsoda22]

handgun: 9, 40, 45 (i know for a fact that those 3 are the most popular)

Guessing for rifle: 223, 7.62x39, 308

Shotgun: 12, 20

[randyb]

I agree with what everyone is posting but if I was to narrow it down to one of each i\'d opt:

handgun
9mm (with .357/.38 being second)

Rifle
.308

Shotgun
12 ga.

I would also mention that for a true SHTF case the .22 LR would be one of my picks with both the rifle and handgun being available.

[silvercorvette]

Originally posted by Bumper
Handguns

9mm
.45ACP
.38/.357


Rifles

.223
7.62x39MM
.30-06


Shotguns

12 gauge

I disagree, back in the days of cowboys they usually had a rifle that was chambered to the same caliber of the pistol they carried. I just bought a Colt SAA revolver chambered in .45 Colt about three months ago. I also bought a Winchester lever action rifle also chambered in .45 Colt. Back in the early days of the wild west it was a absolute necessity, for me it is a convenience being able to load ammo for the revolver and the rifle with the same dies. If you are planning for a SHTF scenario then it might be a good idea to do what they did in the olden days and find a rifle chambered in a common hand gun caliber. If you want the ideal solution you can buy a .45 cal Thompson style sub machine gun that can be legally purchased as a semi auto only carbine for about $1,000. Then you can match it up with a nice 1911 in .45ACP. That would help to simplify things if that is what you are trying to do.


I am assuming that it would be a good strategy if you were stockpiling ammo to have one caliber. But on second thought if you ever have to go into a scrounge mode having two different common calibers could be an advantage. I personally have enough loaded ammo and components to make ammo that scrounging won’t be a necessity.

[JT]

Originally posted by APachon
I try to make my pistol and rifle purchases based on calibers I already own so that when I go to buy ammo, I am not buying 30 different calibers.

I’m trying to do the same thing. I try not to buy weapons in calibers I don’t already have, and over time I have eliminated a few from my collection.

[silvercorvette]

Originally posted by JT

Originally posted by APachon
I try to make my pistol and rifle purchases based on calibers I already own so that when I go to buy ammo, I am not buying 30 different calibers.

I’m trying to do the same thing. I try not to buy weapons in calibers I don’t already have, and over time I have eliminated a few from my collection.

If you do reloading it helps cut the cost of dies. I have a Dillon 650 set up with a seperate tool head with seperate powder measure all set up save time and work on changeovers.