So are we panic buying ammo again?

I joked about "making do with a .308" in reference to a post from you a few years back where you were at someone who had suggested .223/5.56(!!!) was not "enough" for home defense. I always chuckle at that.

"I don't think .223 is enough for home defense."

"Really? What the hell do you expect to defend your home against?"

I stopped by an Academy today because my dad was wanting some .38 Special and couldn't find any where he lives.

The ammunition shelves were as bare as the toilet paper shelves were a few months ago.

The only thing they had plenty of was 12- and 20-gauge game loads because dove season is about to kick off in a couple of weeks.

Ammo (for any common caliber) seems to be sold out everywhere.

My local gunshop is completely sold out of automatic pistols, except for a few high-end Nighthawks and such. They still have quite a few revolvers (including the 627 I just picked up) but a Glock or Beretta? Fuhgedaboutit.

It's a proven, dependable round so I doubt if it will go away. I'm out of the gun hunting loop for the most part and the only deer killed where I hunt (Fort Gordon) were killed with shotgun slugs and black powder up until a couple of years ago - no center fire rifles were allowed. Some kind of safety concern I guess. But they opened up three or so areas to rifle hunting so hunters aren't forced to use shotgun slugs only. What's weird is .22 rimfires aren't even allowed (anywhere on post) for squirrel hunting - except possibly in those rifle deer hunting areas ( I'm not sure) again for safety concerns.
So you can hunt with 12 gauge slugs all day, but not a .22 pistol. Hey, it's the government so they can set their own regulations.

.223 not enough for home defense? I wouldn't stand in front of one and wait for a double-tap!

A single tap anywhere in the torso with a .223 means, at a minimum, emergency surgery. Double tap? Fuhgedaboutit.

your guts would look like they got dumped into a blender to make a smoothie!

anyway, I cracked the case of the missing ammo! That said The Burger King's rounds are hand picked in Colombia by Juan Valdez so he's really going to be waiting a while! You old timers will get the Juan Valdez reference.....I think.

https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2020/08/18/why-gun-ammo-makers-production/

From a Cheaper-than-dirt e-mail I recieved today.

Your image is too small to read but I got the same email.
A dollar or more per round?

Yeah, go fuck yourselves, Cheaper Than Dirt.

click thumbnail, get picture far too big to post in its full size.

It works now. At first nothing loaded.

[old_fart_mode]I remember back in the old days [read: 1990s] buying a box of 20 .223 rounds for about $5.[/old_fart_mode]

A couple of years ago I shot up the last of some .223 that I bought around 1994/1995. The price stickers said $3.99.

I was buying the armscor 5.56 20rd boxes for around $7 at the start of the year

Anyone who thinks that .223 is not enough for self-defense should take a look at that guy's arm wound in Kenosha.

Warning: Very Graphic

"How do you think he feels now? Better or worse?"[/Connery]

true about the .223 (or 5.56) being more than adequate! As for the Kenosha incident arm wound I met a soldier fishing one time who had a similar arm wound from a 5.56 (long story how he would be shot with a US military weapon) and it was no joke. I like gel block testing, and I saw a youtube video about temporary wound channels (like from handguns) versus permanent would channels (like from high velocity well above supersonic rounds) and goodness gracious when it comes to lethality and stopping a bad guy in your home you only have to be close to major organs - you don't have to hit them - to destroy them just from the hyper-sonic shockwave that forms a wound channel faster than the tissue can bounce back. Thus a hyper fast bullet literally tears adjacent tissue from the shock wave. The speed has to be above 1800 feet-per-second or something like that. You can google or youtube it, but the science behind it is fascinating.

When I was a kid, I had a magazine (periodical, not an ammo feeding device ) that had a photo from the Vietnam War of a leg wound made by an M16. It was similarly grievous, like a bomb went off inside the limb.

I think both that and the Kenosha wound are attributable to fragmentation, which lets .223/5.56 punch above its weight. That effect is truly devastating.

Looking at a wound like that on one's own arm must make one seriously reconsider one's life choices.

Agree the AR-15 platform is the Stratocaster of rifles - it's a versatile, dependable and time proven classic! It always amazes me how the Army can take raw recruits who have never touched a weapon and within a very short time have them nailing 300 meter targets with iron sights (at least when I was still in) safely and consistently. Granted even if some recruits can't nail the 300 meter target (who can even see that far under chaos & stress?) guarantee any bad guy within 150 meters is toast no doubt about it. And that low recoil means a 100 pound female can shoot it all day long!
For civilian use it's really great for hogs/predators/home defense and other uses. And the capability for modifications and extras is another great feature of the platform.

I don't want to veer into Red Room territory here but in chaotic situations like the current civil unrest protesters/troublemakers/concerned citizens engaging protesters/etc.
EVERYBODY should be cognizant that there is an endless variety of legal civilian weaponry out on the streets available to all Americans and to consider this before getting involved.
Millions of Americans own shotguns, and the thought of a rifled deer slug tearing through anybody is a sobering thought.
Hollywood has conditioned us (or rather we have allowed Hollywood to condition us) to not consider the very real damage that weapons can inflict. Action movies are not a documentary!


Back to the thread topic - I'm considering getting a Ruger Blackhawk in .44 special. I've been watching quite a few youtube reviews and I like what I see, and Rugers are very dependable. I used to own a Security Six .357 and hand loaded some pretty hot rounds and the gun always held up great.

Bottom line: taking any temporary "ammo shortages" off the table is .44 special ammo normally available in a typical box store like Academy Sports & Outdoors for example? Yes I know, a .44 mag can also shoot .44 special but I have no interest in getting a magnum. And the Blackhawk can handle a wide variety of loads so if I want a little more horse power, I have that option.

.44 Special is no slouch, being in the same power class as .45 Colt and .45 ACP.

In non-magnum revolver calibers, though, I think .38 Special is a better choice because (1) smaller, lighter gun or higher capacity [compared to .44/.45-sized guns], (2) cheaper, and (3) MUCH bigger selection of ammo. +P loadings of .38 Special can approach .357 Magnum power levels.

But if a Blackhawk interests you, go for it. They're good guns.

I've had a couple of .357 revolvers and do like shooting .38 with them but I can't remember if shot +P rounds or not. That said it will be more fun to have a new caliber. Today when I'm running errands I'll drop in to a couple of stores just to see what kind of single action revolvers they have in .45 LC and .44 special. I think Ruger still makes a Blackhawk version with two cylinders .45 LC and .45 ACP which I totally don't get, since the two rounds have almost identical ballistics. Maybe for folks who like to tweak handloads for specific requirements? I don't really know.

I think it's because .45LC can be pretty hard to come by sometimes, and is more expensive.

If I were to carry a .44 Special (not my first choice by a long shot), I'd either carry something built around it like a Bulldog, or a smaller .44 Magnum like my S&W 69 Combat Magnum. It can shoot .44 Special and its relative heft makes that quite pleasant.

Here's a pic of a friend shooting my 69CM with .44 Specials from a few years back. She's quite petite but had no problem handling it.

I was Academy Sports yesterday and just for curiosity I checked out their ammo shelves: out of nearly everything except .17 varmint rounds, .243 & .270 (deer gun season doesn't open for another six weeks)
and .300 mag (seriously...for little Georgia deer?) and a few other not too popular rifle calibers. .223 or 5.56 though was all gone.
There were all kinds of shotgun ammo and virtually no handgun ammo. Granted they might have some stashed away behind the counter if you ask, but none on display, possibly to discourage hoarders.