I'm still waiting on the graphics for my next blog entry (notice they got better? I outsourced them) so I thought I'd throw this short piece up to pass the time. What I want to cover here is the subject of why it makes all too much sense to standardize your calibers across the family and hell even the tribe if you can get everybody on one sheet of music.
A little history first. Standardizing ammo has been a long standing practice in armies since the advent of the firearm. The British even had a standard specification for the ball mold for the Brown Bess (the AK47 of the Napoleonic era). Through the 1800s as cartridges were introduced European armies were the first to standardize. The US lagged behind a bit by having no less than four standard service rifles. The point at which the US began standardizing it's ammunition oddly enough was the Civil War. The Springfield 1861 was probably the most widely issued rifle to federal troops and was issued with a set of ball molds that were standardized. It wouldn't be until the advent of the 30-06 in 1906 until the Army standardized a metallic cartridge across the entire force.
So what advantages does standardizing ammo give me? There's a few benefits that I'll address below.
Economic advantages: Buying in bulk is frequently a lot cheaper than buying smaller lots or individual boxes. And if you and a couple of others use the same caliber pitching in and buying bulk makes good economic sense. And if someone in your little band happens to reload pitching in for primer, powder, and projectiles and consolidating brass gives you even more economy.
Tactical advantage: The ability to share ammunition among your group means that if someone runs low then others can help a buddy out. Going a step further if you have the same pattern rifles that can preclude the requirement to download and load magazines. But I ain't going into a rifle debate in this post. The ability to cross level ammo if you are out and about is a combat multiplier by ensuring no-one runs dry and becomes useless. It also standardizes familiarity with the caliber making picking up someone else's rifle and using hold over a lot easier
Personal advantage: If you use the same caliber among all of your firearms then the advantages above also apply however it can also come in handy if you have to shag. By adding ammo to your caches (which you should) if you get in a pinch and have to grab rifle "x" while bugging out then you know you'll have ammo ready for you. It also saves space in your cache by reducing the different types of rounds or it can allow you to increase the number of rounds you'll be able to retrieve.
Training advantage: By standardizing one caliber you will become familiar with it a little faster. The subtle differences between calibers won't be as much an issue and you'll get familiar with the hold over sooner.
So are there any disadvantages? Yup - everything is a double edged sword. No one caliber is perfect for all situations. To compensate for it you should really look at what ranges you anticipate having to shoot, the accuracy you'll need, and the ammo's ability to endure field conditions and storage. Not all ammo is created equal. Wolf poly will start to develop a fine patina on it after being handled. Regular brass ammo will develop surface oxidation in humid climates. Some of these issues can be fixed by religiously downloading and cleaning ammo (that should be a part of your daily cleaning routine). Pay attention to the ammo and if you are going to put it in a cache take some measures to protect it during packing.
When it comes to the type of ammo you buy there's where the schools of though diverge. Some folks swear by FMJ. FMJ is good for punching through stuff but it tends to leave a cleaner tract and isn't the best round for hunting. Hollow points give you a much greater wound tract but depending on the caliber could cut your accuracy considerably or may be prohibitively expensive. Soft points offer some of the advantages of the FMJs accuracy while at the same time creating a better wound tract. Do your homework and choose according to what you perceive the threat and your requirements to be.
So can you standardize ammo across both a pistol and rifle? Yeah it's possible. A friend of mine that lives in Dallas uses a Beretta CX4 carbine and a 92 pistol. Not only is his ammo the same for both but the magazines are as well. The good old M1 carbine can use the same ammunition as a few pistols out there. And then there's combinations like the Judge, a Marlin 1894, and a decent .410 shotgun. With that combo you can use your pistol and shotgun ammo in your handgun and your pistol ammo in your rifle.
So when you decide it's time to standardize make sure you think long and hard about what caliber and type of ammo you choose to store. Remember no one caliber or ammo type is perfect for every situation.
