I agree with you now.
You know, after I posted that comment I realized that in an extended emergency I wasn’t likely to come upon a person who would have enough to barter for a pistol after a while. I mean if you start out with 5 or ten of them fine but they are gone in 5 or ten trades but if you start out with 10,000 rounds of 9mm or 50,000 rounds of .22 LR you have something to work with over a period of long time for a lot of small trades, more like currency.
I was also thinking that hunting is pretty much impossible with a handgun, at least for someone with a little natural palsy like me. But I can bring a squirrel out of the top of a tall tree with a $99 .22 rifle with a $30 scope on it. And most people would find the same thing. And, ammo for my .223 is expensive and you can hear it go off in the next county.
By the way, is there a ping list for Survival or SHTF topics?
That's a good point. The person with enough to barter is liable to be one of those "survival nuts" who put away ammo by the pallet-load. He may need it for spare parts.
How many cartridges for a pistol? How many eggs for a cartridge?
The relative values of a lot of items might be roughly what they are now; except for the incredibly declining dollar.