Poor reasoning.
1. Stealing is wrong. Planning to steal later is wrong.
2. You have the opportunity to right now get what you’ll need. Waiting to steal it from someone later is STUPID every which way. You know you’ll need it, so get it now so you’ll have it before you need it. M16s et al _are_ legal (if not in your jurisdiction, MOVE ALREADY), just expensive - but a lot cheaper than risking your life trying to steal one.
3. Those you suggest stealing from are, by definition, much better equipped and trained than you. They operate in teams, are practiced at finding people like you, and will take it VERY personally when one of their own is so abused.
4. Unless you’ve got orders of magnitude of cases of ammo already, select-fire won’t do you much good. By definition you’ll be in a situation where fire discipline - to wit make every shot count - will be paramount. You won’t have the resupply to make “suppressive fire” viable.
5. If, for some reason, suppressive fire _is_ needed, you can still pull the trigger fast for the same effect.
6. In a SHTF situation, if you need select fire you’re up against superior opposition - make your last seconds count, and throwing the happy switch on “high” won’t help.
Don’t get me wrong. If you can get the happy switch thru sane & legal means, great. I sure want the option too - but I’m not stupid enough to plan to steal one.
1. So what? When the SHTF, there will be no rules. No one held it against the Frenchman who took an MP-40 from the Nazi that he killed with an antique revolver. Same scenario.
2. Obtainng a Class-III license and getting a registered selective-auto weapon is A: beyond most people's financial means and B: a great way to attract all the wrong kind of attewntion to yourself, even before the SHTF.
3. In a SHTF scenario those people will be looking to capture or kill you, whether you steal from them or not. It won't be an even fight, I'll admit. But having the right gun is just one component of a larger strategy.
4. Modern low-intensity conflicts and insurgencies are fought with automatic weapons. Those without automatic weapons die. Ammo supply is the whole reason I recommend the 5.56. Of course no one can stockpile enough ammo for the long haul. But 5.56 can be picked up on the field.
5 & 6: See point 4.
You can *hope* your opposition has select fire and believes in suppressive fire. As long as they are not the government supplied by ammunition plants, they will run through their ammo supply very quickly. It takes tremendous discipline to conserve ammo with a full auto during combat.
I agree with this completely. If the SHTF, I want to remain one of the good guys, not become what I despise through thievery. I and several of my neighbors have tons of tactical training from military and law enforcement careers. I will use this to protect what I have, not take what I need.
I made a point to live in a place where I can own the firearms I need to achieve this.
Contemplating upgrades in a post SHTF world isn’t necessarily planning to steal. Every player of a first person shooter knows the drill: loot the bodies, take all the ammo, keep the best guns. Once you’ve killed a bad guy the supplies are just sitting there, no stealing necessary.