BETTER BUG-OUT BALLISTICS

For those living the prepared lifestyle, ammunition shortages during a time of crisis are one of the biggest concerns. It’s ideal to have stockpiles of ammunition on hand prior to such events, but if the situation is bad enough, those stockpiles will eventually be depleted. You could find yourself scrounging for whatever ammunition you can find. Having a gun that runs on a food source that’s highly available and effective for survival use will up the odds in your favor should the SHTF.

5.56 NATO is plentiful and easy to find in the United States, but it has some disadvantages. Although the 5.56 NATO has a flat trajectory and is fairly accurate over distance, its energy bleed-off limits its application to smaller game. Barrier penetration is also limited with this light and fast round, and ballistics suffer when used in a short-barrel weapon, which is probably what you’ll want in a SHTF scenario where mobility is key to survival.

Having originated in the former Soviet Union as an intermediate cartridge, the 7.62x39 is one of the most used cartridges throughout the world today. Ammunition is plentiful and ranges from steel-cased, FMJ