Going through Cartridges of the World (12th edition) I was Curious about the age of my ammo. It's not that old just wanted to find out when it was developed! This is what I found, 22lr,1887.12ga, early 1880's. 38 special,1902.9mm parabellum,1902.45 acp,1905. 357 magnum,1935. That's just handgun! Rifle rounds, 30/30 Winchester,1895. 8mm Mauser(.323)1905 and the youngsters 7.62x39 Soviet(M43) 1943. This is what I have. Now some young guns(pun intended) 308 Winchester,1952. 223(5.56x45)1957. 10 mm Auto,1983, 40 S&W 1989. So, how old is your favorite SHTF cartridge?
In a SHTF situation nothing is obsolete. I'll go back to the stone age to get ammunition for my sling shot and staff sling. But for guns and ammo... 1857, .22 Short. I've quietly put a lot of meat on the table with .22 Short. 1860's, .30 Short Rimfire (No commercial production since 1919.) (Handloads... and I'd probably go hungry.) 1874 10.4mm Italian Ordnance (a necked case, so as I load it, in a tapered case, ".42 Special") 1886 8x50mmR Lebel (First smokeless powder cartridge adopted by any country. I'd rather go hungry than shoot full power loads.) 1906 .25 Remington and .32 Remington. (Sized up or down from available .30 Remington brass) and one wildcat from the 1940's .220 Wotkyns-Wilson Arrow (reformed .220 Swift - Long range predator control)
45/70 1866 .22 long rifle 1887 .38 special 1898 .32 S&W long 1896 .45 colt 1872 .45 ACP 1905 9mm Luger 1902 .44 Special 1907 .25/20 Win 1895 12ga 1860’s 10ga arguably 1700s to 1860’s. The Brown Bess was 10ga and shot both slugs and shot .410ga 1874 .30-06 1906 I love old guns and mechanisms
.22LR ( and all flavors of .22 rimfire that will fit the same rifle) more things got killed by a .22 then all others combined. .30 U.S. 1906 in a correct 1903 Springfield, cause 'Murica, the first real serious fighting rifle. .30/40 Kraig, cause no one else is going to have one, and its almost an Aught 6 .45 APC in the only pistol worth having, a 1911 .10 mm auto, again in the only pistol worth carrying, a better 1911 .40 Short and week, to make the Big Ten even more useful .45/70, 90. 110, 120 you can never have a big enough hammer .500 Jeffries, cause some times you gotta kill a Peterbuilt .50 B.P. the original assault rifle, still killing things all these years later. .44 B.P. a more refined B.P. arm, Specifically the 1855 patent Colt Revolving rifle, some times a feller gotta have class. .44 B.P 1858 Remingtons, cause you gotta have a pair to go with the Colt. 5.56 cause they will be all over the place 7.62X39 ^^Same^^ 7.62X51 a modern almost Aught 6, almost as cool. 9 mm, every one has a 9, there gonna be every where.
Mosin Nagant Humor AK vs. AR vs. Mosin Nagant Stuff you know if you have a Mosin Nagant "You believe no real man would dare risk the ridicule of his friends by suggesting there is anything but 7.62x54R."
Weapons or ammo? My great aunt had the .32 S&W Long pistol. She killed a man breaking into the house in the ‘30s by shooting through the door until it was empty. It came with ammo. 25/20 was fire salvage. It boiled in fire water for hours. I brought it and several other prizes back life and the owner gifted me the rifle. It came with ammo but I’ve bought a couple of ancient boxes since. Everything else, pretty much
My wife says you're a crazy....uh...person. To say the calibers listed in the OP are obsolete is a bit misleading. Old perhaps, but given the improvements in weaponry, generally speaking, and ammunition design specifically, have improved what was originally introduced into enduring and effective equipment. Even the lowly .22 short comes in varieties starting at low pressure subsonic and goes up from there...and the same can be said for many of the others listed.
I see two quotes of "45-70 1866" What's interesting is 1866 is the year Master Armorer Erskin Allin developed the famous Springfield Trapdoor breach loading cartridge rifle. They were converted cival war .58 cal rifled muskets and used a .58 cal rimfire cartridge. But that didn't last long, the 50-70 cartridge was developed and the "Trapdoor" barrel was sleeved for this new caliber. But development continued and by 1873 both the rifle and cartridge were improved. The rifle was no longer made from surplus muskets but from all new parts and the cartridge was changed from .50 to .45 thus making it the 45-70. So the 45-70 cartridge production started in 1873. As Paul Harvey would say "And that's the rest of the story".