.22 catridges as money (rivers, well, area, neighbor)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Actually, all meat can be canned. I was raised in southeastern Arkansas without electricity. My mother routinely canned meat.
One nice thing about Spam is that it can be carved into nice shapes before eating. I once carved a toilet out of Spam for a art project in high school.
Yup, I know all meat can be canned... I have some delectable chicken meat in canning jars right now, that we incubated, hatched, raised, and butchered ourselves. I was just busy with the mental image of a pig doing the can-can..
I seem to remember the ads for Spam that showed it carved to resemble a Christmas turkey...
Anyway, struggling to get back on topic - anything usable can be traded for what you need. Like Happy intimated, though, the law of supply and demand can get very up close and personal if you are in desperate need of a foodstuff or medication - "what the market will bear" sounds very inspirational and fair, until your own desperation raises the price. It's better to have things that self-replicate - or have the skills to make what you need - than to count on "the kindness of strangers".
My half-brother and I were reminiscing awhile back... his dad actually did frequently hand him two .22 rounds and tell him to go kill supper. When your supply is short and your ability to purchase more is nil, you become very very careful... and a very good shot.
Location: Finally escaped The People's Republic of California
11,317 posts, read 8,661,702 times
Reputation: 6391
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCGranny
My half-brother and I were reminiscing awhile back... his dad actually did frequently hand him two .22 rounds and tell him to go kill supper. When your supply is short and your ability to purchase more is nil, you become very very careful... and a very good shot.
Reminds me of my Dad, he grew up on a dirt farm in Missouri during the depression. When WWII came along he served under McAuthur in the Pacific. He said it took some getting use to, to be able to "waste" ammo shooting at a piece of paper for practice. He said the paper was so much bigger than a Squirell or a rabbit how could you miss......
It would be supply and demand. Given the number of different cartridges it would not be likely to be worth the effort. Furthermore, many, if not most, casual gun owners don't own a .22. People who are serious about guns and shooting are unlikely to want discount store ammunition that's been stored who knows how long in unknown environments.
Figure that 50 round box might buy a dented can of cheap pork and beans. Maybe you could trade five or ten boxes for a silver dime. You say you wouldn't take that? Suppose you desperately need some medecine but the seller only takes silver or gold. There's another dealer who says he'll trade silver or gold for your .22. Do you really think you'll get a good price?
Military cartridges are far more likely to have value in the future just as they have in the past. Ckeck the price movement of AP over the past few years as an example. But you must find someoone who wants them.
You don't think casual shooters don't own .22's? I find that kinda odd. I think I own about 3 rifles and more than 3 hand guns in .22....... I would think anyone who had a larger cal gun than .22 would have more than 1 .22.
IMO a .22 should be in everyone's collection of guns. In shtf i would take .22's as change as a sort. In shtf I would save the brass too, to make solder/braze of.
Silver Tips. IMO almost every large game animal on the NA Continent (except for griz) has been taken with .22 Longs. I just think so, and have 0 proof, but I know and knew some hunters who used ancient methods, and used plain old rocks! ya know?
Silver Tips. IMO almost every large game animal on the NA Continent (except for griz) has been taken with .22 Longs. I just think so, and have 0 proof, but I know and knew some hunters who used ancient methods, and used plain old rocks! ya know?
Actually Mac, in the museum in West Yellowstone is a full body mount of a grizzly called old 9 Toes. Back in the 50s/60s West Yellowstone had a bear dump and 9Toes was a fixture and a favorite of the tourists.
One night some boys for some unknown reason started shooting him with 22s. I have no idea how many they hit him with, but it did kill him.
There is a plaque on the wall by his display that describes the event.
There is physical proof that a 22 will kill a grizzly, at least the Ursus Horibilus strain that we have in Montana which is pretty much the same as the Barren Ground or Mountain Grizzly in Canada and Alaska. The famous "White Bears" that Lewis and Clark fought in 1804, and were later called the Silvertip because of their grizzled appearance.
I would not hunt grizzly on purpose with a 22 though
I don't doubt a 22 could kill just about anything given the proper circumstance, heck an arrow or spear or even knife will do that. If you hit them in the right spot, or enough times, yeah, you can kill big animals with a 22.
Back to the thread,
Personally, I am not a big fan of most military ammo, it is widely available and does work, but those full metal jackets were never designed for hunting.
About the only military calibers I like are the 308 Nato, the 45-70 and the 30-30 Winchester. ( The original Maxim Machine guns purchased by the US Army were chambered for the 30-30 instead of the 7mm Mauser the European ones were chambered for).
If I had to make do with one cartridge, it would probably be a 22 simply because of the versitility of the round, so for me yes, I would trade for 22s.
Fortunately I don't have to choose only one, and I reload for myself, my friends and family so I have the dies/powder/bullets/primers and brass to keep a number of rifles and pistols well fed.
I also have flintlocks and Percussion weapons available to me
As a survival cartridge, the 22 is great, and I too find it hard to believe any shooter wouldn't have at least one tucked away in the back of the closet or safe.
They are a cheap way to shoot and work on your marksmanship, a good way to start kids and others who have never shot before, plus they are lots of fun
If I needed to, a box of 22s would be worth at least a muskrat hide or a pound of butter in trade
I don't think I would use ammo as money. Once again, I have a great source - my Mom. During WWII, bourbon whiskey, sugar, and coffee were prime swapables. She said they once traded a set of tires for an entire car. The person had two cars, one old and one new. The newer one needed tires. I think I would stock up on whiskey, sugar, coffee, tea and salt for swapping.
As for squirrel, rabbits and similar sized game, I used a hunting slingshot and rocks from a nearby stream.
I don't think I would use ammo as money. Once again, I have a great source - my Mom. During WWII, bourbon whiskey, sugar, and coffee were prime swapables. She said they once traded a set of tires for an entire car. The person had two cars, one old and one new. The newer one needed tires. I think I would stock up on whiskey, sugar, coffee, tea and salt for swapping.
Don't forget pepper. It was once worth its weight in gold before Europeans opened a sea route to the Indies. Pepper comes from the Eastern Hemisphere only. So along with cinnamon, cassia, cloves, and a few others it would be very scarce should international trade break down. People have always wanted pepper; the ancient Romans valued it and we still value it; it was the staple of the spice trade.
In older times salt traded for more than gold in parts of Africa that had none. The US, however, has plenty of salt.
The shortages in World War II resulted primarily because Roosevelt placed aid to the Soviet Union ahead of all else. More goods were shipped to Murmansk than to any other port.
Silver Tips, I stand corrected I guess. It fer sure would take more MACHO than I ever had to go fer griz with a .22......
Native Peoples have taken about everything with the .22, after the trade guns, after the bow, after the atlatal, and after the spear, and some of them critters are non longer with us, like that wooly and mastadon..
Things are sort of relitive sometimes.... We so called moderns are so many steps away from what real is we can't deal with it, as a people.... Some individuals can go both ways, but most can not.
.................................................. .................................................. ....................................
Countrysue, yeah your list is better, and should include salt and pepper too, but I would still take .22's in a trade since I can't make them.
I know hard times and in them I am insterested in good foods anytime i am ready to eat. I quit smoking 4 months or so ago, but in hard times I might still find a use for tobabbaco just the same. So that might still be on a list.
I figure my trading goods would varry widely, because at primitive events i do the goods do varry. I get into all sorts of trades too, some cash trades, some straight trades and sometimes 3 way trades, where I don't have a thing, but someone else does have what the guy who has what I want has. That reads confusing huh?
My thing is I can make a lot of things that might be wanted in a trade....... In the past I traded file steel knives I made, and took cash and the guy's belt knife, which i trade asap... I have no use of a store bought knife in the first place.
When trading for things keep in mind what other people have and what they want too.. Always try to trade up as well. Get what you want, but get something else to trade at the same time. You can set up trades with other people too, and learn faster.
I always make sure the people i trade with are happy with what they got, so they will come back to trade again soon. never cheat anyonme as that rep will spread like a wild fire.. never trade broken stuff with out telling it is broken.
About salt - you can buy rock salt CHEAP in 25 lb plastic bags for water softeners and snow melt (don't get the ones with additives). We buy them every year on sale; usually in the spring, for about a dollar and a half. We like to use the rock salt in the ice-cream maker! But if push came to shove, the rocks can be ground down.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have some delectable chicken meat in canning jars right now, that we incubated, hatched, raised, and butchered ourselves. I was just busy with the mental image of a pig doing the can-can..
After thinking about it . . .
