What Ammo Types Do You Really Need for When the SHTF

Boom, it finally happened, the S has HTF'ed. Luckily for you, you have been stockpiling ammunition since you could go to the store by yourself. But wait, all this time have you been stocking the right ammo? Keep in mind the ammo that you have is what you'll be using for hunting, defending yourself, training, and trading. So let's hope you picked not only a good caliber, but also the proper ammo types. 

Let's take our time machine back a few hypothetical years in the hopes that we can steer your buying decisions in the direction that will leave you with the least amount of buyer's remorse and headscratching, if the balloon ever did really go up, while also giving you the best bang for your buck. First, we need to go over the different types of ammunition available to you, the consumer, and then we will look into what ones are most logical to stock deep for when SHTF. 

FMJ/Ball

This is going to be your most common and usually cheapest centerfire ammunition to find. You can find both rifle and pistol ball ammunition. It is typically a lead core with a full copper jacket around it. The standard deviation from one round to the next is larger than other types due to it being designed for mass production and use at the flat range. Its mass production and looser tolerances allow for the general cost to be very low, and you are usually able to bulk purchase this type in packages up to 1,000 rounds. Where FMJ would be helpful in SHFT is mainly with pistol calibers where the SD being narrow isn't nearly as important as it is in rifle calibers. When you have heavy and slow moving projectiles, such as what is common in pistols, the kinetic energy is going to do more damage than the design of the bullet in most cases. Additionally some handguns and many PCC or sub guns are known for having issues feeding hollow point ammunition as opposed to FMJ. Furthermore, having a fair amount of FMJ on hand could find use as a barter item if you would see it fit to trade ammunition for other things you might need or did not plan for. In many fiction books set in this scenario 22LR is seen as a common form of currency or even as a replacement to loose change when making a transaction. 

Hollow Point

This is most commonly used in defensive handgun ammo. The cost is much higher than ball/FMJ ammo, but on the plus side it has a smaller degree of standard deviation. The reason for this added cost is due to the manufacturing process. In a SHTF scenario where defending yourself and others becomes a primary concern, hollow point ammunition is a wise choice as it is not only more reliable and consistent but its expanding projectile offers more stopping power down-range. However, depending on the degree of SHTF a handgun might not be your primary defensive firearm compared to normal times, leading to the rules against carrying a loaded rifle around with you everywhere to be less strict or outright not enforced. Because of this you could get away with having significantly less hollow point pistol ammunition than other types on this list. 

Match

This ammo is designed for, well, match competitions. With the highest quality components, and the tightest tolerances for the most consistent and reliable ammunition outside of hand loading it yourself. While this designation is usually for the cartridge as a whole, there are projectiles that fit this label as well, such as OTM (open tip match) and SMK (Sierra Match King) among others. 

Where Match ammunition would come into play during a SHTF situation would be for your more violent encounters with two legged threats. When absolute accuracy is needed, and it happens at a distance. This ammunition choice for the firearms that you have slotted or planed to fill the DMR or an “overwatch” type role, most likely a firearm that is capable and you are comfortable using from ranges of 300-600 yards Personally this is what the vast majority of my 308 is, 175 grain Gold Metal Match specifically. 

Ballistic Tipped

This style of bullet is more or less a blend of hollow point and match bullets. With the aim to be as consistent as possible, with minimal drag to keep the flight path true, while also allowing for consistent rapid expansion upon impact. What this type would be useful for is hunting and gathering game, allowing for clean and ethical kills on those animals. Morally killing the game as quickly as possible should be your standard procedure during regular times, and even more so during SHTF. Keep in mind that limiting your shots to as few as possible not only will reduce your audible signature, preventing potential bad actors from hearing you, but will also do less damage to the wild game population in your immediate area. Examples of these are Winchester Ballistic silver tip and Federal ELDx.

Soft Point

Similar to a ballistic tipped round this is normally a lead core bullet with a copper outer jacket which does not cover the nose of the projectile. This softer lead keeps shape and aerodynamics during flight but deforms and expands quickly upon impact like a Ballistic tipped would.  Similar to the BT ammunition, soft point has been designed and developed for hunting and taking down game. For whatever manufacturing reasons soft point is typically the cheaper of the two types when it comes to hunting projectiles. Keeping this in mind, if your sightlines and typical hunting distances do not call for the accuracy benefit of BT hunting rounds, it might be better to fill your hunting stockpile with soft point ammunition. In my many years of hunting in Minnesota and the surrounding states I have had good results with the classic Remington Core-lok and Federal Power-Shok.

Adding it All Up

Now that we have covered the selection of projectiles, let us look at the cost of each, keeping in mind that this is ammunition that you are wanting to store and stockpile. Starting from your highest cost per round, and going down to the cheapest. In the vast majority of cases and casings the most expensive ammunition type is going to be the Match grade, ranging from tens of cents to several dollars more per round. Following that will be your Hollow Point since these are more labor intensive to produce and require tighter tolerances for performance. Coming in close behind that are the standard hunting types, Ballistic Tipped and Soft Point. In most cases they are priced in that order, but this can also change from caliber to caliber. Finally what you will normally find at the lowest cost per round is FMJ/Ball. 

I believe that there is a place for some “hunting” ammunition in your stockpile. How much do you need? Well how much would you need to hunt and feed your family for the rest of your life. I will admit that it is technically possible to hunt and take down game with smaller calibers and other ammunition types, such as FMJ 5.56, it is not ethical or efficient to hunt in that manner, especially if you're not as good of a shot as you should be. In a SHTF situation clean, ethical, and quick shots are critical since shooting more than once could lead to unwanted attention from people in your area. Firearms chambered in common standard hunting rounds such as .308, 30-30, or 30-06 should be in your collection along with an appropriate amount of stockpiled ammunition for that purpose. Personally I keep hunting rounds on hand that are a mixture of both BT and SP.  

For defensive rifles your aim should be to find ammunition that can fit multiple roles when loaded into your general purpose or most commonly carried firearms. By this I mean a firearm that you will be carrying with you every day everywhere you go in this SHTF world, a firearm that most likely falls into the category of or similar to an AR15. For example the 77 Grain OTM being marginally more expensive than FMJ 5.56, while having the performance of much higher quality ammo and still having the price ability to stockpile without breaking your bank. When it comes to your less commonly used firearms it makes sense to find a cartridge for your most common use case, ie BT or Soft Point for hunting with a 308 or a 30-30.

At the end of the day are you going to be in constant gun fights and defensive situations after SHTF? Most likely not, as much as that reality ruins the male fantasy of defending the homestead from waves of marauders. Your days will probably be taken up by hunting, gardening,and trading with your neighbors and others in the local community. Because of this when it comes to smaller calibers, those for small rifles and pistols, it would be better to stockpile FMJ to make use of in trading. My reasoning for stocking FMJ to trade with is that when it comes to using ammunition as currency I believe that it will be more important that you have the proper caliber available and it functions, rather than nit picking what grain or bullet type it is. Beggars can't be choosers and all. 

My Recommendations 

Now that we have all of the main types and cost comparisons laid out it is time for my recommendations as an avid stockpiler. Starting with pistol calibers I recommend stocking FMJ and Ball ammunition, it's the cheapest option as well as easily bought in bulk. If your firearm options in these calibers are only standard handguns I wouldn't see a need to have more than a few thousand rounds on hand at any given time, or even say 250-500 rounds per handgun. However if you have and plan on using a PDW style firearm, such as an MP5 or CZ Scorpion, then it would make sense to bump those numbers up, while still keeping with the same type of FMJ. 

Rifle calibers are where it gets slightly muddy, and I might contradict myself a bit. If you're one of the many who will carry Americas’ Rifle, the AR-15, or its variants in 5.56 I see no reason to not find a happy medium ammunition that crosses the boundaries of affordability and performance, as shown with the 77 grain OTM from AAC. Say you chose a different caliber for your main defensive rifle, 7.62x39 or 300 Blackout for example, my advice would be to just buy bulk FMJ in whatever brand works best in your rifle. Why the change in my opinion? Mainly it is due to the wide spectrum of speciality ammunition available for the 5.56 that simply isn't there for other rifle calibers, and at a cost that is still able to be had in bulk. 

Larger hunting calibers, or simply the firearms you have decided to hunt with, I suggest to skip the FMJ and stock up on what dedicated hunting bullet performs best out of your rifle. Whether it be a ballistic tip or a soft point I will leave up to you to determine and decide. While yes practice and training with these calibers will be more costly only having hunting ammunition, a consistent drop and bullet path alleviates the need to change or remember your point of impact in relation to the reticle.

Contradictory to this thought process though, there is the possibility that your hunting firearms could do double duty as a DMR, leading to my belief that you might consider stocking match ammo for these calibers as well. With all this said at the end of the day, I am not in charge of your bank account. Buy what you think is best or simply buy what you can find when you can find it.

What do you think? Is FMJ all the way the route to go, or should you stick with bulk hunting ammunition? Or is this layout, being a blend of a little bit of everything, a more SHTF ready choice? Let us know in the comments.