Joe Doakes from Como Park emails in re tomorrow’s “Gun Buyback for Artists” in Minneapolis:
Minneapolis is having a gun buy-back [tomorrow]. I’m thinking of dumping some relics from my gun locker. I need SITD readers to check my reasoning.
After Hillary is elected, the economy collapses and the Zombie Apocalypse hits, when there is no ammo left on the shelves, we’ll have to scrounge for ammo which means bartering with thieves who steal it.
Where will they steal it? From government storage, as the government will be the only ones with a supply line. So we’re looking at standard government calibers; the government doesn’t stock weapons chambered for exotic ammo so that will be impossible to find. Weapons chambered in exotic calibers will be useless, even for barter.
What will be considered “exotic” at that time?
.45 ACP was popular after WW II and Special Forces use it now, but ordinary military does not. They won’t be stocking it in quantity after The Crash. That ammo will be highly desirable but hard to find. Exotic.
.38 Special and .357 Magnum were popular cop revolvers until about 2000; nobody carries wheel guns as primary weapons. They won’t be stocking that ammo in quantity after The Crash. Backup guns and snub-nose hold-outs, maybe, but how much ammo will they store for them? Not much.
.40 S&W was popular with cops for a short time because the FBI tried it; but as of June, the FBI is going to 9mm. St. Paul PD switched from .40 Glocks to 9 mm Glocks five years ago. I suspect law enforcement is going softer and smaller because women and minorities can’t handle the bigger pistols with the hotter loads but the reason doesn’t matter – what matters is what ammo they will have in stock.
Okay – so police, federal law enforcement and military are all going 9 mm. That’s the pistol round I’ll have the easiest time scrounging. Which means dump pistols chambered for .22 LR, .380, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .40 S&W, .45 ACP.
Now for rifles, it’s a different story. .22 LR in a rifle is a fine squirrel/rabbit gun. And everybody shoots .223/5.56 in the AR15. Those will be fine to keep around. I might even consider a Hi-Point 9mm Carbine; the maximum effective range is only about 100 yards but since the ammo is compatible with my pistol ammo, I only need one caliber in the backpack.
But for pistols, I’m seeing a shift in the prevailing wind away from exotics. I might as well take some items to the gun buy-back: liberate space in the gun locker and get paid by Liberals to do it.
What do you think?
Joe Doakes
I think there’s no better way to start a bunch of gunnies duking it out that to broach this topic.
Which is fun!
I’ve got almost one hundred rounds of 00 buck for my Mossberg defender in 3″ magnum standard, as well as about 50 rounds of bird shot. Don’t think I’ll dump my .22 LR yet. Have a few hundred rounds for that.
22 LR in a Rueger mk III isn’t a rifle, but it’s a very accurate handgun.
Even out here in the middle of the Pacific, I can get a thousand rounds of match grade 22LR for a hundred bucks, and it doesn’t take up much space.
I thought about getting a 9mm Baretta, but in this state it is a felony to have a magazine with more than ten rounds, so why bother?
JD, don’t forget 7.62×39 and 7.62×51. They will definitely be around. Former not necessarily in goobernment storage, but it is almost guaranteed it will not be exotic.
Oh, and before you send your relics to the smelter, shoot me a list – one man’s garbage is another man’s relic, especially in exotic calibers like 7.62×25 mauser, for example, hint, hint.
I am reminded of the disposable .45 pistols that the Army dropped over occupied areas in WWII–didn’t Mitch write about that at one point. You didn’t have to have all the ammo you needed to fight the Nazis. They just gave you enough ammo so you could pick the Nazi gun off the body of the Nazi you just killed.
Point worth contemplating, no? If indeed the fit does hit the shan, we can get too worked up about whether our guns are compatible with government ammo.
I’ve never had a wheel gun jam, the ability to anchor a target with a .357 is superior to almost all 9mm, and policing your brass is not the time waster of a semiautomatic just in case you have a prior appointment and need to leave in a hurry.
I’ve been looking through my gun locker and learned something about myself – I have poor impulse control!
For example, I was browsing in a gun store this past Fourth of July when a Taurus PT111 G2 Millennium in 9mm caught my eye – marked down to $213. Cool, it’s like a knock-off Glock 26. Gotta have it.
Except . . . now that I’ve run a box of ammo through it, I realize it doesn’t really fit my hand and I hate, hate, hate the feel of the trigger, which cannot be adjusted. Can’t take it back, I’d lose my hinder on resale to a dealer, so it sits in the locker, a testament to impulsiveness.
Ahhh – but Minneapolis Liberals will give me $200 for it at the buy-back. That’s a great deal for me: frees up space and liberates sunk cost (not sure how you weld “art” out of a plastic gun but hey, that’s what creativity is for).
I used to think gun buy-backs were stupid but I’m revising my opinion: they have therapeutic value and economic value. I feel better about myself plus $200 is part-way toward the price of an Evil Black Rifle. I wonder what other “treasures” are buried in the back of my locker, on the bottom, under the “good” stuff?
Ahhhh, those “treasures” you can keep. I just get sick from hearing stories of real relics, beautiful specimens and historic pieces get destroyed. And I heard this from a person who saw it happen first-hand. He offered to save them, but rules are rules. Once they are collected, they are destroyed. It is a crying shame.
I still think Swiftee had the bestest idea for this. IF you participate in this folly, and receive money for anything, go out to dinner in Hudson. That way, not a single penny of tax money comes back to Mpls or MN.
I still think that we’ll see a “Starving Artist’s Gun Sale” sign. 😀
None of the calibers you mention are in any way obsolete, especially the .22 Long Rifle. I have it on good authority that one of the reasons .22 cartridges were in short supply was because “preppers” were stockpiling tens of thousands of rounds.
.380 is enjoying a resurgence among the armed citizen community; so much so a round can now be had for as little as $0.11. .38 Special and .357 Magnum are still quite popular. .40 S&W was a failed experiment from the get-go, fagettaboutit .45 ACP is as popular as ever, especially among “3 gun” competition shooters who go through hundreds of rounds a week; lots of ammo.
The most important point is this. No modern insurgency ever failed for lack of ammo. If you survive the initial carnage, say the first 3 weeks, there is always ammo and weapons for the taking.
I understand wanting to break even on a gun you don’t like but I must gently push back. If you have an old, rusty Stevens .22 bolt action, or a loose, nickle plated, .38 or .25 Saturday night special, absolutely get your $200, but personally, I think surrendering a modern firearm will only embolden the gun grabbers.
Do you want to see one of your firearms being triumphantly waved around by Betsy Hodges on the 5 o’clock news?
BTW, I have a Taurus Millennium in .45 auto. I’m really quite happy with it, but have to agree the slack in the trigger is disconcerting at first. Maybe go through a few hundred more rounds and see if you get used to it; I did.
Bento, I have a Ruger MK I that I wouldn’t ever part with. In my opinion, those pistols are the finest automatics ever made. They run like sewing machines, never jam, and in an experienced hand can drive nails out to 50 yards. Every time I take it to the range, I go through 500 rounds because I have so much fun with it I just can’t stop.
If I could only choose one handgun, and one long gun I’d pick my MK I and my Remington Nylon 66.
I sent Mitch an after-action report but here’s the summary: I can’t decide if the brass at Minneapolis PD are fraudulent or incompetent, I’m waiting to see if they keep the promises made by the cops at the fire station. What a disaster.
.
Here’s my plan:
Merchant announces a free ‘rape whistle’ give away to women, as a public service. When women show up, they find out it is a firearms shoppe, with the free whistles on display next to an assortment of conceal-carry handguns.
“oooh! How much for that one with the pink Hello Kitty grips?”
Yes, I am a genius.
.380 is enjoying a resurgence among the armed citizen community; so much so a round can now be had for as little as $0.11.
A good friend of mine is just getting happier and happier with the KelTek 380 he got at an estate sale five years back. Eight ounces empty, maybe 12 oz with 6+1 loaded, he hardly knows it’s on him most of the time. And here’s the deal; at 7 meters, (which is long range for a gun with no sights that’s designed for fights inside phone booths), it point-shoots better than my friend’s SIG 250. Which, to be fair, is ALL it excels at, but then that’s all it’s supposed to be for.
The most important point is this. No modern insurgency ever failed for lack of ammo.
Warsaw Ghetto uprising was chronically short on ammo – but then, there were extenuating circumstances there, too.