[Dexter]

I've been thinking about different ammunition, rifles, hangun, that sort of thing. Obviously it'd be smarter to carry a rifle and handgun that used the same type of ammunition. But what about unconventional types of ammunition, like the 32-20 Winchester, 338 Federal, 350 Remmington, the .50 Beowulf, and the 458 Winchester? Would anyone think of making a mobile smelting like device, where you could collect spent shell casings, and re-smelt them? It would be difficult to acquire the powder yes, but it could be done, it'd be better than having No ammunition.

[UNDEAD FRED]

Maybe take some off the undead soldiers that you see shambling around. Raid thier ammo pouches after you shoot them in the head.

[AZombieAttack]

I'd say you will run across 12 guage shells, and 9mm rounds fairly often at first.

However stock up now, and dont worry about it :)

[mattifikation]

You can't always stay where you start out, and you can't always take your stock with you.

That's why in addition to choosing guns with common ammunition, you should choose guns with common magazines.

[CAVU45]

Dexter said:

I've been thinking about different ammunition, rifles, hangun, that sort of thing. Obviously it'd be smarter to carry a rifle and handgun that used the same type of ammunition. But what about unconventional types of ammunition, like the 32-20 Winchester, 338 Federal, 350 Remmington, the .50 Beowulf, and the 458 Winchester? Would anyone think of making a mobile smelting like device, where you could collect spent shell casings, and re-smelt them? It would be difficult to acquire the powder yes, but it could be done, it'd be better than having No ammunition.

Long term I thinkyou have a good idea. The supply of factory made ammunition is finite and will eventually run out. The person with the skills to make ammunition and repair and manufacture guns and gun parts will be highly sought after.

[50 cal]

Remaking the brass casing is very difficult. If you've ever seen it done, you would be amazed at the machinery you would need to make new brass casings.

Just scrounge old brass and reload.

[mattifikation]

The old brass won't last forever. It gets weaker every time. Bullets only prolong the inevitable. Even if you had the machinery to make new brass, eventually your machines would fall into disrepair.

Modern machines rely on a functional society with proper infrastructure to continue to be useful, and that includes guns. Even the precious AKs will be useless once the ammo is used up.

Hopefully over time, the numbers of undead will be reduced enough by nature that you can protect yourself with less and less ammo, and eventually with more primitive weapons.

[50 cal]

There is probably more ammo right now than most people could really fathom. Think billions of rounds manufactured.

If you've ever seen a military ammo bunker and the hundred of thousands of rounds stored there, and the dozens of those bunkers within eye sight. Imagine the bunkers at the many military bases around the country.

[homelitexl]

i hope 3O8
will be common

[kiltedninja]

308 is really common Homelite, it's gonna be easy to find your ammo, and a large quantity of mine.

[Slayer]

I would say .38 special and 9mm would be the most common handgun calibers. I would take a good .38 over a 9mm any day, in an outbreak situation, I would want the longest lasting, most reliable weapon.

[50 cal]

9mm is probably the most common ammo there is. It has been around since WW1. Fast approaching 100 years. You can find it in just about every country on the planet.

I have numerous 9mm handguns and carbines.

[AZombieAttack]

Ok lemme throw this out there.... I have a 30. caliber black powder 6 shooter. Yes ......yes... you aint reloading it quicly, however a container about he size of a common mayonaise jar and about 100 lead balls would last a long time. Plus most looters looking for ammo are going to pass up on these items....not to mention a lead ball is fairly easy to make from any sort of lead.

[AZombieAttack]

Let me add, I have gotten fairly fast at loading it though....as with anything practice makes perfect, totally innaccurate past 20 yards but I see it as a last resort measure.

Edit: also in many states a black powder pistol does not require the waiting period, or a permit. Ive walked into pawn shops and right out with them. Gave a nice 45.cal BP pistol to my father for his birthday, cost me like 185 bucks...but he's a collector.

[snakebite]

Brass can be reloaded fairly simply. Bullets are easy to cast yourself and ammunition itself is plentiful if you know where to look. Society will always be where people are in one fashion or another. If we as a species are sucking so bad that we cant at least get a foothold on the planet then we dont need to worry about making primitive tools--we're done for.
I would stay away from wildcat rounds as a rule. Common military calibers would be best, but NATO rounds have a slightly different headspace than their American equivalents and you could have a catastrophic failure if you load the wrong one. The blackpowder guy has a point--easy to get, easy to maintain. Stashing one away might not be a bad idea. But I think that things would be so dangerous--zombies and particularly the looters trying to get their hands on you and yours--that you might want to stick with serious fighting hardware until you can find a safe-haven of sorts.

[Creeping Death]

Luckily, there is a Dunhams sporting goods store nearby.

They sell anything from a .22, to a 7.62.
Or from a .308 winchester, to a 5.56mm.

Its a little expensive, but money is useless in zed-world.

[Bob]

I had sworn off posting here but I can't stand this thread any longer.
It's not the slugs, you can cast them from wheel weights
It's not the powder you can make black powder.
It's the primers and or percussion caps!

Once they are gone you are going to be screwed.

[Faithful John]

Another problem is the efficiency of the powder. After a while, it might not work as efficiently as when it was first made and will produce less propulsion when exploding.

Humidity might make your stash as good as a dool against gnashing teeth of the living dead. Might as well keep the few bullets you have in a good environment then stashing up and winding with having a big pile of nothing.

[homelitexl]

thats wen my new trench spikes will comee in handee

[hightechredneck]

thats why i have 2 crossbows, as well as multiple firearms, and as an experiment i ve made bolts out of many things,(even used welding rods)and as long as im bunkered up i should be able to have ammo for a long time