imported post
Now that I've almost completed my arsenal, er, firearms and ammo collection, I need to start working on the other essentials of survival. You can't eat a gun...
Regardless, I have put a lot of thought into building a good arsenal. For example, one would want to keep a minimal number of calibers to avoid having guns running out of ammo, and having too much ammo for certain guns. It would also be good to keep multiples of the same model of gun in case one breaks... you can interchange parts, and also not have to worry about having ammo but no gun for it. It's also worthwhile to think about arming other people, so a lot of cheap bolt-action rifles are better than a few expensive semi-autos and sniper rifles. Ammo is another consideration that is often overlooked. Ammo is expendable, and given the SHTF scenario, chances are that ammo in stores will be either stolen, sold out, or confiscated by Big Brother. A box of ammo isn't enough for one gun. Ten boxes of ammo isn't enough. A few cases... that's getting there. One basically needs to plan to have on hand all of the ammo they're ever going to need, and then some.
Then there are issues about how to store one's arsenal... that is, if a good deal of time is spent away from home, such as at work, it makes sense to keep a few rifles and a thousand or so rounds of ammo in magazines and/or stripper clips locked in cases in one's trunk, at least if state law permits. Maybe keep some body armor, too. An arsenal at home does no good if you can't get there...
Anyhow, like I said, firearms are just a small part of survival. But given Big Brother's desire to ban "assault weapons" and reduce our ability to buy milsurp ammo through requiring microstamping, in my opinion it's necessary to build up one's arsenal sooner rather than later.
