other ammo 2 of 2

OTHER AMMO 2 of 2

Even if you aren’t a survivalist, you stock the crap out of ammunition because the price will seriously rise again, completely independent of politics.  You notice when the SRS Rocco Report give you a heads up that a mine produced 20% less silver this year than last, what does that tell you?  It doesn’t matter about precious metals ( for our purpose of discussion here ).  It matters that the primary ore being extracted ( precious metals are in many, many mines a secondary ore ), as in, you know, COPPER, is either decreasing in availability or in demand.  You cannot count on lowest ammo prices to continue. 

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I’ve harped on Peak Copper before.  This is how shortages work.  You see one, prices skyrocket.  Customers cannot afford the new price, don’t buy, and suppliers go out of business.  Prices drop as the remaining suppliers fight for survival.  The increased demand from lower prices forces another price increase as supplies fall further.  You see the same thing in gasoline or rice or whatever.  During a famine, sure, food prices take on another dynamic.  But since we aren’t in a war, ammunition remains a discretionary spending item.  How many guys actually go out plinking anymore?  A nickel a round isn’t much for us stockpilers, but it isn’t a cheap entertainment anymore, is it?

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Right before Peak Oil crashed the economy, rimfire ammo was one and a half to one and an eighth cent a round.  Even if you can afford to buy cases at four cents delivered, you are still looking at nearly three times the old cost.  What it used to cost back when everyone that wanted one could get a job, and usually a full time one at that.  With rent costs half and medical one fifth.  I think the only folks buying serious amounts of rimfire are preppers, and then only extra-serious preppers ( of which there are few ).  No wonder the price crashed-the industry finally got capacity back up to “nation full of plinkers” levels but no one could afford to go back plinking ( at least at the old levels-why do you think car makers are in trouble, even at twice the sticker price?  The numbers either stalled or dropped, in this economy only supports growth ). 

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So now that a nickel a round is back, the serious preppers are buying.  Which will once again put pressure on prices to rise, after current inventory dips.  But those buying only buy on low prices.  The whole modern economic model is broken-a sure sign of EROI contraction.  Remember, it was all rather simple ( see The Crash Course on You Tube ).  Interest on debt must be paid, which means money must constantly be added, and oil was money ( sorry, gold dudes ).  And now EROI is dropping.  Volume is NOT energy growth, positive net energy is.

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To be clear, I’m not advocating anyone go out and buy Other Ammo ( ammo you’ll only use once the dry guns are discarded or bartered pennies on the dollar, which is now based on food and wheat is no longer twenty cents a pound but several bucks per [ NOT accounting for any inflation ] ) as an extra cost.   I’m saying, if you have the money and desire to buy another gun, please consider ammunition instead.  Even magazines are not the worst buy, IF and only if you are fairly certain you’ll soon have the weapon that uses it ( in other words, not as an investment thinking you’ll make a mint during a gun ban-that could very well happen, but the odds are lower than the near certainty of folks using semi’s running out of ammo quickly ).

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Not to say that ammo isn’t is good investment item, just magazines to guns you don’t yet have.  But with ammo, you are ahead on several fronts.  You’ve bought when historically cheap ( relatively speaking ).  You’ve bought in case of a ban.  You’ve bought to resell at three times the price.  And you’ve bought for your free gun post-apocalypse.  You really can’t go wrong.  But mags are too much of a crap shoot.  They could ban all semi’s.  And with pistols, there is just too much variety out there.  So, ammo is a far better investment than magazines.

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Even if you don’t buy for your future self, you can buy for your buddies.  Four hundred rounds of thirty cal hunting ammo for your friend will make him a semi-sniper for a very long time and add some value to his otherwise worthless ass.  As far as reloading supplies, I would recommend buying the factory brass ammunition now while it is cheap.  Once you have the cases, then you can go cheaper by buying reloading components to up the ammo count.  For the simple reason that when the ammo drought was here empty cases were selling for more than the actual ammo is now.  Loaded factory ammo now, in brass, then once you have enough cases for future use, components.  That would be my priority.

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Should you buy steel case?  After all, you are getting free guns or are stocking for a friends gun.  So what do you care if the steel case screws up that guns extractor?  Or its primers are corrosive?  The price difference is 50%.  It all depends on if you reload, doesn’t it?  Me, I think you are making a problematic investment in the case of steel cases.  They are a short term solution, same as those MRE’s.  Really, they never should have gone any further than being used for AK’s and SKS’s ( even in the Mosin-Nagant they suck, as the round then doesn’t swell and seal.  Even present day manufacture should be suitable only for the semi sniper ).  You can sometimes if not always find or scrounge reloading components, but all the steel cases will be gone and you have given up the option of reloading ( unless you believe that China will supply insurgents, there will be no more supply ).

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Not that you cannot reuse the steel cases.  I’m sure those with no option can make that work.  Better risking the life of your gun than risking your life with no ammo.  It just seems that steel cases were quantity over quality.  And your ammo should never be burned in quantity.  They are not a solution to high ammo prices, even though they were used in that role.  They were originally meant to feed an industrial war machine assault carbine.  If you have that carbine, and can afford all its needed ammo NOW ( because you never know when the supply is interrupted ), you will probably be just fine with steel case.  Everyone else with all other guns?  Forget semi dumps and go with slow fire and reloads.

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You cannot just think about the ills of logistics the end of the modern economy will bring-you have to plan NOW for this occurring.  Christ, are we preppers or are we Black Friday shoppers?  Panic buying is for chumps.  Plan ahead.

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