There is a lot of surplus ammo out there. It is generally cheap and plentiful.
Cheap is a good thing.
But what is plentiful and cheap one decade, the next decade... not so much.
Now, and in the 90's old Warsaw Pact rounds are everywhere. Eventually they will run out. And there will be few commercial sources for cheap available for many calibers. 7.62x39 will stay around a while, but 7.62x54R will eventually dry up. Bulgarian 8mm Mauser, too.
6.5 mm Arisaka ammo might have been everywhere in the late 40's, but not now. Same with 6.5 Carcano, if a little longer window. Carcano also had that bad vibe attached to it since November 1963.
US Army .30-06 is long gone now, but in the 50's and 60's? Now, even the Greek stuff still rattling around will go away one day. Same with British .303.
7.62x51... still in use, and my preference... is limited by Clinton era regulations (I'm told) that restricts US Army surplus resale.
Surplus Swiss can't be around forever, but that is some good stuff.
So it's hard to pick a platform and count on ammo type to be their for when you pass on a rifle to the next generation.
Can anyone think of a decent caliber that best bucks this trend for a little bit other than .223, .308, and 7.62x39 (I don't consider this last too 'decent')?
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7.62x54R is going to be around for a long time. It is still in use and will be for a long time.
Like 7.62x39 many governments and non-government organizations require a lot of it because are constantly in conflict.
For awhile there, Cabela's was selling new manufacture 7.62x39 with a 123 grain Hornady V-Max bullet. Alas, I only have about 80 rounds of the stuff in my dry box. I can't seem to find it anywhere. And boy, was it accurate getting shot out of my CZ 527 Carbine. It took a few hundred rounds of "cheap" stuff (not Wolf) to get the barrel settled in, but after that, it was all grouping about an inch at 100 yds, even with a hot barrel.
I forgot the 7.62x54R isn't just a Mosin round. The Russkies still use it for machine guns and sniper rifles, if I am not mistaken.
The Russkies use it linked in the RPK machine gun and the Dragunov rifle. Regardless, they say buy it cheap and stack it deep.
"Can anyone think of a decent caliber that best bucks this trend for a little bit..."
Depends on what you mean by "a little bit".
I think Steve hit it right on the head when he suggested 7.62x54R. But even that will run dry eventually.
James
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