Obviously, if you own a firearm, you should possess a sufficient amount of ammunition for it. Defense ammo (hollow point) is great, but range ammo makes holes, too.

But when the shit hits the fan, you will also be able to trade ammunition for food, water, fuel. It’ll be a more reliable medium of exchange than currency, and it doesn’t take up a lot of space. This makes it worth stocking up on for anyone.

I don’t pretend to be an expert, but there are definitely callibers that are more common than others:

  • 9mm (9x19, 9mm Luger, 9mm Parabellum) These are pistol rounds, very common for use in semi-automatics.

  • .22LR Standard 22 caliber round, pretty much everything that fires a 22 (pistol or rifle) will use these. Very popular, very inexpensive.

  • Other pistol rounds: 45 ACP, 40 S&W, 380 ACP, 38 Special While these are going to be less widely sought after, people who have guns that use these will need them.

  • .223/5.56 These are rifle rounds, very common in AR-style rifles. Of note, the 5.56 round contains more powder and a heavier bullet. In most cases, you can shoot .223 in any rifle chambered for .223 or 5.56, but shooting 5.56 in a .223 rifle can damage the gun (possibly catastrophically).

  • 308 Winchester Also a rifle round, primarily used for large game hunting (think deer, bear, maybe moose). If you’re in an area with a lot of large game and their hunters, this round may be valuable

  • 7.62x39 AK rifle round, also used in some AR. This is a light military round, so it won’t have as large a market as the others, but has the potential to be very valuable to the right person.

  • 12ga 12 gauge shotgun shell, as suggested by @[email protected]. Buckshot, since slugs can be damaging to shotguns that are tightly choked for shot.

  • Other shotgun shells 20ga, 16ga are used in smaller shotguns.

Don’t broadcast far and wide that you have ammunition. You risk making yourself a target. Just like a wallet full of cash, don’t go flashing it around.

  • Carmakazi@lemmy.world
    20·
    2 months ago

    In the context of prepping, stocking up on “barter fodder” never made a whole lot of sense to me. You’d be better off using that money to stock things you actually need yourself instead of relying on the random chance, and risk, of bartering with people. Especially with weapons and related items, you could be arming someone working against you.

    In our context, however, I think the real value is being able to resupply an associate.

    I’d also suggest magazines, especially “high capacity” magazines. Magpul PMAGs for AR-15s, factory Glock 17 magazines for numerous different pistols and even some rifles, including the majority of “homemade” designs.

    • Nougat@fedia.ioOPM
      5·
      2 months ago

      All of the above is true, for sure.

      I would still say that buying ammunition is a worthwhile endeavor. You can and should stock up on food and water and fuel, yes, but those things take up a lot more physical space. If you have to go on the move, you may not be able to take all of it, but you may have room for a couple of cases of ammunition. That way, you can trade for more of the resources you need when you’re traveling, or for unexpected things/services you need (car parts and repairs come to mind).

      • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
        5·
        2 months ago

        Buying ammo without a weapon under the premise of a complete breakdown of society? There is no barter under those circumstances unless you have the means to defend yourself.

    • nerobro@fedia.io
      5·
      2 months ago

      In specific, 12ga, with some sort of buckshot. You don’t wanna hurt someone because you gave them shells with slugs in them and they have a gun with a tight choke in it. At least, if you’re going to stock it for “currency”

  • pageflight@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    2 months ago

    I think we’re often faced with the choice whether to invest in personal protection in case of disaster, or in general disaster aversion. It seems more certain and higher direct impact to do the former. But if there’s any reasonable chance the latter will succeed, I’d rather do that. For one, the payoff of not living in an apocalypse (even with significantly reduced material goods) is much better than living well-armed in the apocalypse.

    At least that’s how I frame it to myself: up my donation to the ACLU and Democracy First before I stock up on ammo. As long as there’s hope.

    • Nougat@fedia.ioOPM
      5·
      2 months ago

      As I’ve said so often - all efforts great and small.

      For me, I’m quite confident that all this (gestures widely) will not end without armed struggle, and that the fascists are setting the stage to “justify” their openly using more violence. Hope for the best; prepare for the worst.

  • kingofras@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 months ago

    Little warning to the non-Americans brave enough to read this post and the comments: read this as surreal satire and you’ll feel better.

  • Cris@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 months ago

    I really don’t know that this is the most realistic thing for folks to be bartering with, even in America

    Not really based on anything, just feel like, I dunno, canned foods like spam or tuna, dry rice or beans, etc, seem a lot more practical to me