[Ripon]

Recent barter efforts on my part were leading me to having "extra" components, ammo, and hi capacity 9mm hand guns - particularly Ruger P series guns. Gun laws in CA what they are - I think these are in real jeopardy here though I think existing registered guns will be grandfathered in.

Though today's deal I couldn't resist as I gave up a synthetic handled P95 I recently aquired in trade for a 10/22 for a Rossi lever 357.
The later is retailing at about $499 but is hard to get - I have one with a 24 inch barrel and love it, but my wife finds the oct/barrel and length too much for her
liking and the one I got in trade today is 20 inches and not nearly as heavy a barrel. She'll love it. Having 2 -357 revolvers in the family, a hand reloading
kit and lots of powder, primers and a .38 bullet mold puts me in a great place for the "last resort" of gun ownership. Yes I've always viewed going to the
one caliber handgun/rifle a last resort situation. While I enjoy the combo and often carry my current pair on horseback on the ranch in a real SHTF they are
not first choice guns but last resort guns. If my wife and I had to Bug Out from the BOL on foot / horseback these are the four of the 5 guns we'd take along.
The last still being a DW22 revolver.

 

[Seneca]

Ripon,
Reminds me of...me...I use to trade and it was give and take. Sometimes I came out ahead and sometimes not so much. Then one day I just stopped...what happened was that I got to a point where there was nothing I really wanted to part with (trade off) or anything I really needed. My bases are covered. Sure there still may be a few things here and there, yet barring the exceptional deal I'm done.

I think the .357 combo is an excellent fall back choice for a prepper, they are fun to shoot and I sure wouldn't deny myself the enjoyment of owning a combo simply because they are not my first choice for prepping. The combo I really enjoy is the Ruger 77/357 with a GP100. I have others, but that's my current favorite.

 

[csi-tech]

I think I have settled on a 9mm for my wife. Quick recovery, adequate energy and most importantly, fun to shoot. Looking at the Glock 29.

 

[Scotty12]

Looks like you have the ammo consolidation issue taken care of. Personally i like the idea of an AR 15 with the .22 conversion kit. Works for both defense at 0-250 yds. and you can hunt small game. Handgun wise I like the .45 acp because of the short range energy around a camp. I also like a .308 for something with that static cling ( that is if i owned a gun Mr. Govt. man)

 

[Seneca]

Last weekend I went to the range and shot a pair of .357 carbines, a Ruger 77/357 topped with a red dot and a Marlin 1894 CB Limited topped with a set of skinners.

Both shot very well but I think the 20 year old Tasco red dot is starting to go bad. 20 rounds and I get two ragged holes, it should have been one ragged hole like the marlin produced.

Other than that issue I confirmed that the .357 is a good fall back cartridge for me. I don't know about others sentiments on the cartridge but it works quite nicely...lol