I was just thinking I reload and have really wanted to try the 458 socom.

Well again from what I've read, since you don't have a Grizzly or Elephant problem there (I'm just guessing here), would you not perhaps be better served with a caliber you WOULD use for hunting or ???. Oh and Ammo to go with said caliber.

Ultimately though, the decision is yours. Do you want it enough to justify the outlay of money and time (not to mention the time it will take) to enjoy it?

We all make decisions on our needs, or perceived needs. That's why I have gone to the 20ga shotgun and 9mm as my primary "Beat 'em back" firearms. For ME I think I will be best served by those said firearms, based upon where I live and the ability to secure (Scrounge) ammo for them and the ability for Patty to be able to use them as well.

Haha! Some good words of advice all around. I actually WOULD use it deer hunting though...it would be a killer round...so to speak Great woods gun, like that 45-70 with the ability to carry more rounds (10/mag). Wtth a 250-325gr bullet, it would kill anything dead within 200 yards or so.

Costs are already sunk and any additional ones are marginal--powder and primers. I've got a lot of 45-70 bullets...That was my deciding factor in choosing the 458 over the 450 or the 500--one less component. Corbon submitted the designs for SAMII approval but dropped it--it's a long, arduous process and they stopped halfway through (which is why we have Lee case trimming guides shorter than Starline's published recommended lengths (I spoke with Starline and Lee about it to figure out why the Lee was trimming the brass so short). If someone else finished what Corbon started, ammo would drop to 20+30/box. But that's neither here nor there.

Hahaha! I'm still trying to convince myself not to sell it I have several guns in multiple calibers. Some more exotic than others (when was the last time you saw 300H&H on the shelves?). Variety is the spice of life as it were.

Serioualy though, from a preppers standpoint, multiple calibers isn't ncessarily bad. I bought two nines andn a 1911 long before the crisis hit after Sandyhook thinking 9 andn45 are everywhere. After the crazy happened, it was the ubiquitous ammo that went fastest. From that perspective I shoulda bought a 40mm and a 22-250. Walmart ALWAYS had those in stock!

Now a real prepper wouldn't have been buying ammo when it couldn't bf found I suppose....but if you always want something in stock, those less popular cartridges are probably better. 20 is good. Fewer people shoot it than 12, it's easy on the shoulder, and a good all purpose gun. If I buy another gun for myself, it will be a pump 20.

In the end, I think it's more a gesture I need to make to my wife, and something I need to do for myself. I like to tell myself I could get rid of all my toys if needed--that my identity isn't in my guns or knives or gear. It's good to periodically purge--even if only symbolically.

Good Post DT. In the past I have sold and traded some of my "Stash" to fund another purchase or purchases. I have also sold some to buy something for Patty. THAT I have never regretted. I would rather see the gleam in her eyes and the happiness on her face than a new Glock, AR15 etc.

And YES, many times the non main line calibers are the way to go when you are going to count on "Found" ammo.

All that said and done, IF all you got left to buy is powder and primers (something you will have to buy anyway), I'd say go ahead and shoot it. As you said, elsewhere, IF popular calibers become as scarce as hens teeth, you might well find yourself with a plethora (nice word huh) of ammo when others have none.

EVERYBODY needs toys. We just gotta pick which ones we really want more than others.

Like I said before, ultimately the decision is yours. We are just bystanders, armchair quarterbacks as it were.

After the Sandy Hook craze the only ammo available 100% of the time at our three local WalMarts were: 40SW, 7mm-08, and 30-06.

I do not own any of these.

I prefer to buy BEFORE a scare.

Buy it cheap. Stack it deep.

The reason I sold my reloading equipment was the incredibly low price of factory practice ammo at the time. Since then brass case ammo prices have increased, but Eastern European steel case has offset this.

Personally, I only viewed reloaded ammo as practice as I didn't trust the quality of my reloaded ammo for defense and feared the court room repercussions of making "killer rounds" (sheeple jury fodder). I always felt it was much more defensible to state I carried and used (in self defense) the same gun and ammo as the local PD. It would be unAmurakan to question LE (sorry Randy).

I also believe the time to prepare is before a disaster, and therefore you should have your ammo reserve already established.

I don't want to be scrounging the ground after an engagement looking for brass. It's hard enough to find at the static range.

Haha! Yeah, NEVER shoot someone with your reloads. Never. Uess the social order collapses...then zombies can die by whatever means necessary. No courts=no liberal juries scared of guns. no offense to our liberal friends here

And yes, high and deep when it's cheap is a GREAT motto.

What I REALLY want now is an AK Shot a friends and now I know why they have such a following. Nice and easy to shoot and accuracy ain't all bad for iron sights. If I could get one with a rail...

no apology necessary Gary. A lot of folks think that way. Most delta I have talked to (smaller departments) gO with the cheapest ammo, not necessarily the best. And YES, right from our own prosecutor, hand loads are carrion calling to them.

When I was stationed in Fayetnam NC I could have got one for 70.oo