Could a group of survivors realistically find useable ammunition and/or weapons in a post-apocalyptic world?

Question

I'm trying to figure out if it would be possible for a group of people living in the wilds of a post-apocalypse USA could find some useable weapons and/or ammunition. The post-apocalypse in question is essentially one where monster-like creatures have overrun the world, and twenty to thirty years later, they hunt what's left of humanity, but not really focusing on destroying any existing buildings or structure save for a few places where they build their "nests." Would it be possible for the survivors to find bullets or guns just lying about or maybe in some kind of storage facility? I think I remember reading somewhere that the United States made over ten billion bullets a year, so I thought maybe it wouldn't be too unrealistic, but I'm not sure.

So given the context of the setting, what would need to happen to make finding useable weapons and/or ammunition a realistic possibility?

Answer 1

Some variables need to be established in order to come up with a sensible answer.

The first question is geography. In some parts of the United States, local governments have imposed various restrictions on ownership of firearms. Other localities might favour shotguns, or large calibre hunting rifles (for deer, moose etc.), AR-15's (shooting small game or "varmits") or handguns (urban areas). So characters are not going to go around like kids in a gun store and just pick up what they need - they might only find weapons which are of limited utility for them, even if the former owners were satisfied.

The second issue is ammunition. Ammunition needs to be carefully stored otherwise it will degrade. Ammunition sealed in metal ammunition cases is probably ideal, but factory packaging that resists moisture is second best. Ammunition stored in relatively temperature controlled environments will also last a long time. Otherwise, the primers and propellant will begin to deteriorate, and the casings can also corrode (especially things like Russian steel cased ammunition - lots of surplus Russian ammunition was sold starting in the 1990's to go with things like SKS rifles).

The best way to store and carry ammunition

The third issue is just what sorts of weapons are needed. "Monsters" are probably not going to be affected by .22 Long rifle ammunition, but keeping your game pot full might depend on your skills with it. Human predators may be deterred by a .22, but you will really need something more powerful to ensure the target stays down when hit (.38 for handguns is about the minimum. .223/5.56 X 45 has become almost ubiquitous in the US for AR and Mini-14 style weapons, but .308/7.62 X 51 is a far more reliable choice. Larger calibres are also needed for larger game, or to reliably engage at long ranges.

Good for big game, not so much for rabbits

Movies and political myths aside, fully automatic weapons are not available to civilians in the US, except under very tightly controlled circumstances (essentially the trade for the very limited number of "grandfathered" weapons which are now collectables). Military armouries and police stations will be where these can be found, but over the decades looters will have been using bulldozers to knock down the vaults and without proper training and fire discipline, the ammunition may have been blown away in blazes of glory. Carrying a belt fed machine gun is a pain due to the size and bulk, and even a proper automatic rifle like an M-4 will require a load carrying vest capable of holding 10 magazines if you are serious about using automatic fire.

There's a reason they dress like that

When you get down to it, any competent machinist can make a firearm with hand tools (the Sten gun from WWII was designed to be built that way, and Pakistani gun smiths can make replicas of virtually any firearm you can name). Hand loading ammunition is possible so long as you can collect the casings and have access to the tools and chemicals, so you are not just limited to scavanging. In a really post apocalyptic environment, it may even be more sensible to make or find a black powder firearm, as your ammunition resupply will be easier to solve (you can make your own gunpowder and even your own shot or ball projectiles).

The AK will be ready next week

Your ammunition will be done shortly. You said 15 cases, right?

The other avenue of approach is to relearn the art of making bows, especially longbows (warbows with 100 lb draw weights) or steel crossbows (using a spanning mechanism, you can have up to 1200 lbs draw weight). These bypass issues like ammunition (although you still have to find or make arrows or quarrels), and are much quieter than firearms as well. Bodkin pointed arrows or quarrels could penetrate mail armour, so should have some effect on monsters, unless you are fighting Godzilla, in which case even a Barrett light .50 rifle is pointless.

Making a longbow is an art

At 1200lbs draw, things will be uncomfortable for the target

Answer 2

The real trouble isn't the deficit in small caches of firearms and ammunition. Others have pointed out that the United States has more than plenty of these things.

The problem is that, in an event that allows monsters to overrun the US (not just invade it), likely much of that will have been exhausted in the initial fighting. If we were to plot out the remaining ammunition along a curve, we even know what shape it must be! The only unknown factor would be along the x axis and how far in the future it approaches zero.

If fighting (or hiding from) these monsters is a matter of survival, and if only small pockets of humans remain, then we have a situation where most people went down fighting (and presumably expending ammunition). If instead they didn't even have a chance to fire and could leave behind large caches of ammunition... what has changed that ammunition will do any good for your characters in the story?

I suspect strongly that they will occasionally stumble upon small caches. A box of handgun ammunition, a revolver with a few unexpended rounds, things like that. But these will likely be on the order of once every 6-24 months. Not daily, and never in quantities that will make them comfortable.

As for weapons themselves, any firearm that stays out of the elements and avoid significant rust will either be serviceable or can be made so with basic tools and know-how. But without ammunition they will be little more than paperweights.

Answer 3

Yes, easily.

I think most people don't quite understand how many guns there actually are in the USA. Here's the fact:

For every 100 people in the USA, there are around 120 civilian owned firearms.

This means that, on average, every man, woman, child, and baby in the USA owns 1.2 guns. The house with a nuclear family in it has five guns in it on average. If I searched a US neighborhood and did not find at least one gun in a safe, I'd know that I'm experiencing a severe localized statistical anomaly.

Answer 4

After a few decades, Yes

There are two sides to this problem. Ammunition, and firearms to fire them. Both of them should be fine as long as it's only a few decades later.

Ammunition

I admit I didn't actually know this, so I asked Google. This guy has fired off some ammo significantly older than the time frame you're contemplating. He seems like the closest thing to an expert that I could find: a police officer assigned the task of disposing of old ammo people drop off because they don't want it in the house anymore. According to what he wrote, your characters shouldn't even have to worry about how to make new ammunition (which is a thing that probably can be done).

The only problems I’ve ever had with ammunition not working is when I try to shoot old shotgun shells…especially the paper hulled ones. A great majority won’t fire. It must be the difference in primers between the shotgun and handgun ammo or the fact that the paper hulls attract moisture.

As a general guideline, you should never shoot ammunition that:

Is corroded
Is misshapen and doesn’t fit into the chamber easily
Has the bullet pushed back into the cartridge
Is rusty
Has a cracked case

If it doesn’t have any of these characteristics, it’s probably safe to shoot. One additional caution: if an old round doesn’t immediately fire, keep the muzzle pointed downrange for about 10 seconds before clearing the gun. Occasionally, old ammo “hangfires” which means there is a delay between the striking of the primer and the detonation of the gunpowder. If you have a batch of ammo that is hang firing, I would not shoot any more of it.

Weapons themselves

There are plenty of folks out there who know how to make replacement parts and have gunsmithing tools. So even repairing firearms shouldn't be a problem.

Answer 5

Yes.

The best places to check would be storehouses, followed by factories, gun stores, and armories for police or military forces.

But these places would also be obvious to other survivors, so that may complicate it, whether they have already been looted, or the other survivors are still there.

(This assumes a short time frame. Chances that something went wrong increase with every passing year, of course, making it more difficult.)

Answer 6

As John O said, ready-to-use ammunition will quickly become rare. But it's not hard to refill your own cartridges. Plenty of people do it now, sometimes it's cheaper than buying new ammo.

I would check outdoor shooting ranges. The firing line will probably have some empty brass lying around, and the backstop, if it's dirt or sand, will probably have tens of thousands of bullets in it. You can easily sift through the dirt to find it.