Firearms and Ammo

Firearms: A Prepper’s Perspective

When you and your group are first forming, the question of firearms always tends to come up. Usually people rely on personal preference when they chose what they will carry. Because of this, a group can end up with a mix of makes, models, and calibers with no commonality.

Like with all of your preps you will want to look at things logically and methodically. Everyone in your group needs to have a primary weapon (rifle) and a secondary weapon (pistol). Those who are forward thinking know that these weapons should match. There are reasons behind why most law enforcement agencies and military branches do this.

Common Application:

First and foremost is common ammunition: If an agency only has a handful of calibers to stock, then the more resources they can devote to that stock pile

Second is common make and model of firearms: Using like weapons is prudent so that you can devote resources to purchase spare parts for these weapons when they break, and YES THEY WILL BREAK! These common parts can be used in everyone’s weapons.. This also includes common magazines.

Agreeing on a universal caliber is a great first and can be also the longest debate. There is an ancient debate on what is the best caliber for the money.

My Criteria:

How I have determined my outlook on this is by the military/law enforcement/Wal-Mart trifecta.

Let’s address your secondary firearm (pistol) first. Your pistol should be looked at as a defensive weapon. I refer to Murphy’s Law of combat “nothing handheld is a reliable man stopper.”

Pistol Ammo Commonality:

.45 ACP is a great caliber and it’s stocked by Wal-Mart and used by some Law enforcement. But the military (including NATO) does not use .45 as their standard round anymore. 9mm is stocked by Wal-Mart, used by law enforcement agencies, and militaries worldwide. For those that are shaking there heads at me right now thinking “9mm is an ineffective caliber”, remember your own statement when you can’t find any of your particular ammo that GUN &Ammo told you it was the latest and greatest new round.

Of course there is always the guy in the back saying what about .40 S&W? While it is a good round, the FBI has just recently come out and said they are dropping .40 S&W in favor of going back to 9mm. Keep in mind that there is a discernible history that when the FBI changes something, other law enforcement agencies at every level will soon follow suit.

The good news is, if you bought your .40 caliber handgun with some forward thinking, you should be able to convert it to a 9mm (but that is another article on its own).

Rifle Ammo Commonality:

We can apply these same principles to rifles. With all the gun magazines saying every 3 years or so, that the military is going to a new caliber; everybody tends to rush out to buy it so they can have the “latest and greatest”. But if you can’t find any damn ammo or magazines to hold it, what’s the point?

Calibers like 5.56 and .308 follow the trifecta; both are used in military (including NATO), law enforcement and are stocked at Wal-Mart. Sure, I hear the guy in the back yelling 7.62×39! Again yes, it is a great caliber but it only fits 1 out of the 3 criteria. The military and law enforcement do not use AK47’s.

Moving Forward:

So now, as a group, you have agreed on common calibers. Now you have to talk about firearms. You cannot use the same “trifecta” criteria when it comes to firearms simply due to the fact that Wal-Mart has greatly cut back on their firearms sales and will not be stocking most “military style” weapons any longer.

But what rifle is used by the US military, NATO, and law enforcement agencies? What pistol is used by all federal agencies and most law enforcement agencies? What are the two most selling models of firearms in the US today? The AR15 rifle and the Glock pistol are the two models of firearms that fit the most criteria.

Maintenance:

Firearms are machines and they require care. Common magazines and parts are the primary reason to have common firearms. It is much easier to maintain your arsenal if you only have a couple models of firearms that you use. Conversely, if you use them as much as you think you may after SHTF, you will want easy and UNIVERSAL repair requirements. After all, if you do not maintain your weapon and its magazines, you risk losing both.

My group has our own preferences and reasons of what we carry. For the reasons listed above such as ammo, parts, and magazines; we have agreed on a common rifle and a common pistol.

I would be lying to you if I said that I don’t personally own other guns that have differing ammo, parts, and magazines. However when it comes to my group’s primary and secondary firearms for prepping, it is all about common ammo, common parts, common mags. It is about making sure that if someone does lose a magazine or if their firing pin breaks during a catastrophic event, we can take care of the problem easily.

One of the last reasons to carry common weapons is the “pick up” factor. In hard times people will die. What will you probably find lying around? What if you die while being the only one that knows how to use and maintain that exotic weapon? Don’t be that guy that is stubborn about a gun or caliber to such an extent that you screw the rest of your group or at least the person that you are with, that needs your weapon to stay alive.

On a parting thought; stock oil and cleaning supplies for you firearms. They are machines, they will need care. Some do break less then others. Always oil your firearms. I don’t care what the manufacture said or what high tech coating you have on your guns. Nothing beats the good old fashion gun lube.

“Glock 19 and Palmetto AR-15”

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