which ammo is the easiest to find

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nickatnight8

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.44 rem mag
.357 mag
.44-40 win
.45 colt

I want to buy a rifle and these are the calibers it comes in. I would much rather the .44-40 but it seems its not that popular of a round.
 
Toss up there between 44 mag and 357. A couple boxes of 44 mag are always on the shelf at my local Wally world, because people don't really buy it. However when they do have 357, it is cheaper. Your pick on that one.

Putting cost and availability of ammo aside, a 44mag carbine would be a much more capable weapon. That would be my pick.
 
.357 by far, followed by the .44 Magnum. Farther back is the .45 Colt and .44/40; however, shops that carry one will probably have the other. Mail order fixes all that, but .357 will also probably be least expensive.
 
Easiest to find, and least expensive of those four is .357 magnum. The hardest to find in most stores is the .44-40 (.44 WCF). It's also extremely expensive, at least around here. .45 Colt and .44 magnum can usually be found easy enough.
 
Presuming that this rifle will also chamber and fire .38 Specials...I would definitely vote for the .357/.38.

While I agree that the .44 Magnum would make for a more effective rifle in terms of power and range, I would certainly think that the .357/.38 would win hands down in terms of ammo availability and affordability.

Tim
 
nickatnight8 said:
.44 rem mag
.357 mag
.44-40 win
.45 colt

I want to buy a rifle and these are the calibers it comes in. I would much rather the .44-40 but it seems its not that popular of a round.
Click to expand...
IMO this is the list from easiest to find to hardest.
.357 Magnum
.44 Magnum
45 Colt
44-40

Also take into consideration cost. The order of calibers I made above is probably the correct order for price too. (with the posibility of the 44 Mag and 45 Clot being switched)
 
Good question.

I am assuming since it will shoot 357 mag then it will shoot 38 Spc. THis would be the easiest to find.

I worked at a fairly large gun store here in TN. We kept between 3-4000 guns in stock and around a million rounds of ammo in the shop and a couple more million in storage. If that gives you an idea.

I remember at one time about 18 months ago I could not find a single box of 45 Colt for about a month. All the big guys were out and so were the little ones. When it did start coming back it was either cowboy loads or really expensive "hunting" ammo.

44-40 was another one that would come and go. We usually kept the mag tech cowboy brand in stock.

To give you an idea. In a single shipment from an ammo company we had 10 cases of 45 colt, 40 cases of 44 mag, 100 cases of 357 and around 200 of 38 spc. These were 1000 round cases.

If you want to shoot 44-40 or 45 Colt I suggest a bullet mold and a reloading set up
 
I would agree with what most have said so far... if we're talking about an average day. However, if we run into a shortage like we did after BO got elected then keep in mind that the popular, and easy to find calibers were typically the first to go.

There was a time during all of that where it was probably easier to find the odd ball calibers like .44-40 than it was any of the other three you listed.

But, after the shortage happened the common calibers were the first to become available again because thats what the manufacturers focused their time on. There are some not-so-popular calibers that are finally just now really getting easy to find again.
 
44 mag for me

Do-da's take...My bet is the .357 shells would sell first off the shelves. In a rifle the 44 mag would be my 1st choice.

2nd, the .357 with a hot loaded 158 gr. soft point or flat point (not hollow point) for good penetration on say thick skinned or tough varmints like racoons, beavers or feral pigs.
 
Last edited:
I very seldomly see .45 Colt or .44-40 in my neck of the woods, and .357 Magnum is one of the hardest to get where I live. I can tell you there are three or four shops here locally that sells out all of their .357 when it arrives. I see alot of .44 Magnum, and even some .44 Special.
 
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