The Ammunition Bubble: Substitute 12 guage for .22?

Gun Watch ^ | 8 June, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The two boxes of ammunition cost about the same on today's market

The price of 12 gauge hunting ammunition has dropped back to near pre- ammunition bubble levels.    Wal-mart had 100 rounds of birdshot loads priced at $19.97 a couple  of days ago.   That is 20 cents per round, or $5 per box of 25.  Before the Barack Obama ammunition bubble, the ordinary price was a little lower, perhaps $4.50, with sales just before dove season as low as $3.00.

.22 rimfire ammunition, particularly .22 long rifle (LR) ammunition prices are at an all time high.  This is a classic bubble, and it will end, but no one knows exactly when.

.22 LR is currently available for about 10 cents a round.  So, which is a better deal, .22 LR at 10 cents a cartridge, or 12 gauge at 20 cents?    Both cartridges have their unique uses, advantages, and disadvantages.    Next to .22 rimfire, 12 gauge may be the next most commonly chambered cartridge in the country.   Most gun owners own a shotgun of some kind.  Nearly every gun writer has noted that a shotgun is one of the most versatile and useful firearms ever made.  Most gun owners have a 12 gauge, because it is the most common and versatile of  the shotgun gauges.  Because of the economics of mass manufacture, it is also the cheapest shotgun ammunition.

For many people, it makes more sense to buy 12 gauge at 20 cents a round than .22 ammunition at 10 cents a round.   Many of the uses of the two firearms overlap.   The raw power of an ordinary 12 gauge load is equivalent to a dozen .22 LR cartridges.

Both are excellent choices for hunting small game.  In fact, the shotgun is the more reliable gun for putting meat on the table.   It is designed for taking birds on the fly and rabbits on the run.  It takes less skill on the part of the hunter to take game with a shotgun than it does with a .22 LR.   For hunting, one 12 gauge cartridge is likely as or more productive than two .22 LR cartridges.

Neither 12 gauge with bird shot or .22 LR are the first choice for self defense.   Both are commonly used, and used effectively, because any gun is better than no gun in a self defense scenario.   Here, again, the 12 gauge has the edge.  It has greater intimidation value, due to the size of the hole in the end of the barrel(s).  It has massive destructive power at close range, under five yards, where most self defense situations occur.    There are a number of ways that birdshot loads can be converted to expedient slug loads in an emergency.   They are effective to 25 yards and more, and make the birdshot loads into effective big game loads at short ranges.

That brings us to big game.  Neither 12 gauge birdshot loads or .22 LR are the optimum choice for hunting big game.   Still, as with self defense, both have been used extensively and successfully.   The wax and cut expedient loads for shotguns have been used to poach big game for decades.   The use has been prevalent enough to rate a legal ban on their use in hunting in some states.  The ban on these loads in Wisconsin lead me to discover what they were and how they worked 45 years ago.   I do not recommend them except for emergency use.  Even without the expedient slug loads, bird shot can down big game at ranges under 5 yards.  My father once harvested a deer with a shot from a shotgun and birdshot  at 4 yards distance.    The shot to the head was an instant and humane death.   I own a .22 LR that my father acquired during the depression.   It was often loaned to neighbors for subsistence deer hunting; a "village gun" system where the owner of the gun received a share of the meat.   My father said that it had been used to harvest over 200 deer.

While I do not advocate breaking the law, in a survival situation, eating takes priority over the hunting regulations.

In terms of barter, or as a store of value, 12 gauge and .22 LR both have excellent barter potential, both store for decades without noticeable degradation.

.22 LR prices will eventually return to reasonable levels.  The raw materials for one 12 gauge load could be used to make 10 or 12 .22 LR cartridges, indicating that it is not raw material prices that are driving the .22 LR bubble.   While the bubble is still expanding, people should consider the 12 gauge as a substitute for the .22 LR round.   Two .22 LR cartridges for a 12 gauge cartridge is a pretty good trade.


©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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[marktwain]

12 Gauge is much heavier to carry and move about, but it is excellent trading material. There are several other methods to convert bird shot loads to big game loads if needed. The bird shot could be taken out, melted, and re-cast into buckshot, for example.

[Hugin]

Ammo should be the very last thing you barter away. It could come back to kill you.

[marktwain]

Barter among allies and fellow members of local militias makes lots of sense. If we fall into barter mode, people will need to self organize into local defense forces, also known as militias.

[Jack Hydrazine]

http://www.gunbot.net/ammo/rimfire/22lr/

[Rich21IE]

ping

[Rich21IE]

.22LR fascinates me. Its a diminutive bullet and yet I’ve read that every big game animal available to hunt has been successfully bagged with a .22.

Odd.

[Jack Hydrazine]

It’s all in the ballistics!

[Carriage Hill]

Bigfoot is still on the loose. Heh.

[Rich21IE]

That’s what my friends tell me. Need to find an easy to understand tutorial on that. Most of the texts I’ve seen on the subject are very difficult to understand.

[Covenantor]

Trading 12ga rounds is just plain wrong, wrong, wrong.

Most especially in the SHTF world where survival is a day to day struggle.

You have to think out the whole trading thing from first point of contact. Who found whom? How many of them are there? Where are the ones you don’t see? How do you know that they even have something to trade? Continue cogitating all the minute elements of the “trading” until you have prepared for a return to your base without leaving tracks.

Truth has left the building in SHTF scenario. Any transaction at this stage should be conducted as though it were a large scale drug buy only more desperate and dangerous as there are no cops to interfere.

Until you start with these questions the 12ga.is a defense weapon.

[dangerdoc]

More compact than alcohol and a longer shelf life than tobacco.

If they have no bullets, your reasoning is good but if they have any ammo and you have trade goods, then well....

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I checked out the wax video, and it got me thinking.

During the US California gold rush (1848–1855), wax loads like that were called “prospector’s loads”, and used against claim jumpers. This set me to thinking about their use of melted Crayons, because undoubtedly the prospectors used beeswax. So what about the difference in melting points between waxes, and could that matter as a variable?

Paraffin wax 100F
Bayberry wax 116-120F
Soybean wax 120-135F
Crayons 120-147F
Palm wax 140F
Beeswax 144-147F
Low Density Polyethylene wax 221-239F
High Density Polyethylene wax 248-356F

I wonder if there is somebody out there who would like to do some experiments?

[Bogey78O]

If you’re trading in a shtf scenario with people you don’t know you already screwed up.

If I have a large surplus of ammo and a person who I know is godly and honest needs some, I will trade. If I get a referral, I will not trade.

Trade must be done between good men to ensure they stay strong. But never ever trade something you absolutely need. So BLOAT if you can.

[Covenantor]

I was politely directing the issue to the conclusion mentioned in your first sentence.

Step by step til the light dawns.

;>)

[PreciousLiberty]

Thanks for an interesting article! I hadn’t run across the wax load approach before.

Also, that was an interesting point from an earlier comment about exchanging birdshot for buckshot. I need to get set up for bullet and ball casting here soon. It occurs to me that the combination of .45 LC pistol, .45 LC rifle, and 45-70 rifle covers a whole lot of hunting situations with cast slugs, and is one of the least expensive ways to go. Really the 45-70 rifle is more of a luxury than a necessity (but fun!).

I’ve been pretty bemused by the continuing shortage of .22 LR and the high prices...

[dangerdoc]

Hit youtube, plenty of wax slug experiments documented for posterity.

Crayons work great, the only problem is the slugs aren’t spin stabilized and start tumbling within a few tens of yards. Not a material problem, they hold together fine, rather a physics problem.

[dangerdoc]

Pre cast slugs are pretty cheap and store well.

[Fellow Traveler]

Be careful. 45 Colt is not the same diameter as 45-70. One is. 451 the other is .458

[Axenolith]

http://www.hawkeoptics.com/chairgun.html

Not sure if this is adjustable for higher caliber/velocity projectiles, but it is the be-all for airguns.

[Revelation 911]

ive got a marlin lever in 45/70 - great gun - have taken many deer with that....my shoulder on the other hand does not like it so much......especially with the .425 grain...ouch