The "A" in the "A Module"

As much as I love my firearms, the fact is; without cartridges, they are some high-priced paperweights! So, when it comes to getting prepared for scarcity, possibly sky-rocketing costs, one of the first things I prepared for was the ammunition. 

And it all started with being smart with the calibers I have guns cambered in, so I'm not trying to stock too many different types of ammunition. For handguns, it was a relatively easy choice. When you look at the factors of stopping power, common availability, cost, and a wide selection of firearms; it was pretty simply the 9 x 19, or Luger/Parabellum. That choice has allowed me to find both a "service" type weapon and a "concealed carry" option, along with a "pistol caliber carbine" that fit me. Why not the 40 S&W, which is more powerful? In my opinion, it's only marginally so, and more expensive to buy and shoot. It's also a caliber on the wane so would be more difficult to find in a pinch. Remember, the "9" is the primary caliber of both the armed services (in most of the world even) and civilian law enforcement agencies as well. 

My other main "stocking" caliber is of course ".223/5.56". It is again, an easy choice to make, being a standard of military and law enforcement. Depending on ammunition, it can be used on virtually anything ranging from small game to deer sized ammo. Now, before anybody gets all "up-in-arms"; I'm aware that it's not a legal deer hunting caliber in most states. However, in an extra-legal environment, this caliber can certainly bring down deer-sized game especially if used with heavier bullets like 77gr. I typically keep about 1500 rounds of this on-hand with three-quarters of it being the standard 55gr, but also keep 62gr "green-tip" as well and intend to have some of the heavy stuff as well. 

There is one other "standard" caliber that virtually everyone stocks (if they prep) and that's 22LR. It's cheap (right now), small and easy to keep. It's WAY quieter and easier to shoot than center-fire calibers. It can be a good bet to bring home small game and if push-comes-to-shove, it can be used for defense as well! While I try to keep around 1500 rounds in my other stocking calibers, I keep several thousand rounds of this. I keep two types; high-powered such as CCI Mini-Mags, but the majority of it is bulk/white-box stuff that's cheap to buy and store.

Then, there's the "others", stuff that I keep but don't keep a ton of around. Here they are and the reasons for their existence in my world:

Shot-shell. I have 12ga now in 00 Buck for home defense as well as some #4 shot. I also have some #6/7/8 "Birdshot" for food gathering purposes if it comes to that. I'm not a bird hunter, but anyone trying to bring home some food is more likely to hit something with a shotgun than a 22lr. If I pick up a 20ga, I'll pick up some shells for that as well. I don't keep a lot of this stuff. It's bulky (making it difficult to store) and I don't shoot it regularly, so I only have a couple of hundred round of it.

Then, there's the random center-fire. Although I've purposely kept my number of calibers to a minimum, I do have a few that aren't covered by the 9mm and 5.56. That's the 380acp and the 6.5 Grendel which I can shoot in an AR platform firearm and capable of bring down most anything in North America. Also, I keep ammo for the 300 Blackout giving me hog-hunting capabilities, it commonly runs wild throughout most of North Americas, but especially in the South. 

Along with factory-loaded ammunition, I also have the capability to reload/handload all of the above calibers with the exception of shotshells. Hopefully, this will not only be prepared for disasters of both natural, socio-economic and political. 

The Case of the Non-Existent Gun

Sounds like some kind of Hardy Boys Mystery doesn't it? No, it's actually not. This is really about my desire to have a gun that isn't manufactured. Now, you'd think that in today's world, with CNCs in everyone's start-up business, that somebody would be producing something that fits every niche, but that's just not the case. Here's my issue.

I shoot the 9mm, or more correctly, the 9 x 19mm Parabellum, often known as the "Luger". It's my favorite cartridge, I reload for it and shoot it way more often than anything else. As a matter of fact, I currently own 2 guns chambered for it and a third which is a 12 gauge shotgun with a 9mm chamber adapter. When I get around to getting a Texas LTC (Licence to Carry), I'll start saving up for another 9mm more conducive to "concealed carry". So, what is it that I need/want that isn't made? 

A non-semi-automatic rifle/carbine chambered for the 9mm. What the...... why!?! Maybe, I'm weird, but I don't want to just shoot my gun as fast as possible. I want to slow things down and study the performance of the ammunition. I'm a reloader and I want to determine what my reloads are doing. So, what I really need is something along the lines of the Spanish "Destroyer" depicted above. Unfortunately, it's chambered for the 9mm "Largo" (9 x 21mm) and hasn't been made in several decades. And therefore; most importantly, around $500 when you can find one! So thoughts of having one re-chambered for 9mm Luger are not terribly realistic.

....... and therefore, we get this. My cheap solution, which is a single shot, break-open 12 gauge shotgun with a chamber adapter in it. My Turkish Fedarms SS12 was only $62 and the 9mm adapter was another $50, so that whole rig is definitely cheap. The problem is that it's also cumbersome at best. As you can see, the extractor pushes out the entire adapter, versus the fired case. It's not so much that it's a single shot, but that for each shot, I have to "break-open", pull out the adapter, punch out the previous shell casing with a cleaning rod, then load a new shell, close and fire. So yeah..... a single shot actually chambered for the 9mm or a bolt action would be awesome. But nobody manufactures such an animal!

In today's world, a person can find any number of AR based pistol caliber carbines like the one above..... although it's actually classified as a "pistol", but you get what I mean. Oh, they're cool, but I don't really need one. I don't want to shoot faster, I want to shoot slower!  So, I'm out there looking for a "unicorn"..... a non-existent gun......