Originally Posted by
longbow
jdgabbard brings up a good point and observation. For me buying a new gun to try to make sure I have something that I can likely get ammunition fo rduring hard times, I would be looking for something the military uses so if nothing else milsurp ammunition should be available.
If I was looking to duplicate .22 RF through say .22 Hornet the obvious choice would be .223 as it is everywhere. I don't relish the thought of casting and putting gas checks on tiny .22 bullets though. Maybe it isn't that bad but they are pretty small. In any case, I think I'd be looking at 7.62x39 then cast lightwieght boolits of around 11 grs. for it. .308 would also work but both are less efficient with the small powder charges (does that really matter?) and use twice the lead or better. I have .308 and .303 now.
However, buying a new gun isn't as economical as just using what I have. As stated right above if it takes 10,000 rounds to pay for a new gun that is a lot of shooting! Should we find ourselves in a zombie apocolypse I may wish I had opted for a .223 to take advantage of the abundant ammunition but otherwise I am thinking just downloading what I have works best for me.
Look at that! I just talked myself out of a new gun again! I have got to stop doing that!
Longbow