Survival Group Mix

[RICHFL]

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You hang on top your reload equipment. I find a lot at estate sales in the country. Most older farmers have their on reload equipment that they have used for years. At the sales they sell for pennies on the dollar. Buy as much reload spares as you can.

Shells are the most important because once we have SHTF we will never be getting any more. You can make your own black powder, mold your own rounds but the shells are by far the hardest part to build.

[wac220]

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You hang on top your reload equipment. I find a lot at estate sales in the country. Most older farmers have their on reload equipment that they have used for years. At the sales they sell for pennies on the dollar. Buy as much reload spares as you can.

Shells are the most important because once we have SHTF we will never be getting any more. You can make your own black powder, mold your own rounds but the shells are by far the hardest part to build.

Are primers easily built? I have about 20,000 new of the four basic sizes I use (no shot gun) because I didn't think they could be rebuilt.

Will

[RICHFL]

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Are primers easily built? I have about 20,000 new of the four basic sizes I use (no shot gun) because I didn't think they could be rebuilt.

Will

You got me on that one. yes keep them because if you have to trade later in life you have something that is well worth having!!!!!

[wac220]

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You got me on that one. yes keep them because if you have to trade later in life you have something that is well worth having!!!!!

Sorry, but that ain't trading stock. I need to stock up, including shotgun primers for trading before SHTF.

Will

[Legion489]

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Yes, primers can be "rebuilt". but they are not as good as store bought. Making the "proper" priming compound can be dangerous and other easily made substitutes, while they can work, generally don't work quite as well.

Proper brass cases can NOT be made at home or in a well equipped machine shop, it requires heavy machinery and when it is gone, it is gone

[Mortblanc]

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Lack of ability to make ammo, after a certain point, is one of the reasons each person should include at least one flintlock firearm in their inventory. Not a caplock, but a flintlock. It was not really the Winchester rifle that won the west, it was the flintlick rifle, in use from 1625-1835 and beyond, that allowed our ancestors to survive in North America. We have not had cartridge firing guns for as long as the flintlock was in use.

Folks do not realize that the Hudson Bay Company placed their last order for flintlock smoothbores in 1914. The flint lock muzzleloaders were cheap to produce, had total ammo interchangability, required no caps or primers and were simple to maintain and repair in the field.

But, keep in mild that if you have 1,000 of each size primer and 20 pounds of powder you could consider yourself set for life, unless you get caught up in a war.

You can make some allowances and use small pistol and small rifle interchangably and the same for large pistol/rifle, to extend your supply. It is not recommended but it can be done. Often the rifle primers are a bit hard for pistol use and I would not want to push the preasure limits on rifle loads using pistol primers, however, for my reduced charge cast bullet and squib hunting loads I often use LP primers in the rifle cases.

With reloading gear one can also pull slugs/powder/primers from salvage ammo for use in general purpose loads. I would not hesitate for an instant to pull and reuse .22 Hornet loads in a .223, .308 in a 30-06, .380 loads for making 9mm or .38 spl.

Reloading gear opens a whole new aspect of ammo supply. If you have a bullet puller, a bullet mold and reloading dies there is no such thing as a "useless cartridge".

[RICHFL]

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I was thinking about the flint lock rifles used in our history. It was a very good weapon for hunting. Easy to maintain and very easy to make the black powder and mode the bullets they use. If nothing else it could come down to your far future family members having a flint-lock against bow and arrows.

I'm looking right now into buying a good cross bow for hunting. The speed and weight of the arrow allows a greater distance to shoot then when I was a kid hunting with a re-curve bow. I might try shooting one the next time I'm at the sports store.

[wac220]

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But, keep in mild that if you have 1,000 of each size primer and 20 pounds of powder you could consider yourself set for life, unless you get caught up in a war.

These numbers may be good for after SHTF, but in the past 5 years since I started shooting matches, I have gone almost completely through my first 6 8# jugs (48 lbs) of rifle powder and about 20,000 primers. I have about 5000 pieces of brass for each 223, 308, 357 and 45ACP. I also have about 1500 pieces of 30-06 brass. About 1/2 of above brass is currently loaded. I will wear my rifles out before I run out of brass. I do need to stock back up on powder because I am down to about 8# each of rifle and handgun. Projectiles is also something I need to stock back up on. Just waiting for the good sale prices on military over stock like before.

Will

[RICHFL]

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What will you do once your rifle barrels are beyond repair?

We need to think not just about the next 10-20 years but what about 90 years from now. Do you want your great grande kids answering the door to your retreat with just his arm and hand held out, or do you want him to be holding a rifle in the other hand?