Z-Day comes, you're running for your life and you're running low on ammo - now what?

Knowing what calibers you can shoot in your weapon might just save your life when you are forced to scrounge up ammo in some backwoods country store. In addition, it is possible to buy inserts that convert a weapon into another caliber. They're generally blocks that lock into the chamber, and are most often for manually operated weapons.

Revolver Ammunition Conversions:

Here's a quick guide to SAFE conversions that you can use if you scrounge up something you've never seen before.

(NOTE: These are posted RIGHT TO LEFT.
You can shoot anything to the RIGHT of the caliber you have, but NOT to the LEFT.)

.22 LR (Long Rifle) shoots .22 Long, .22 Short .22 CB Cap

.327 Federal Mag shoots .32 H&R Mag, .32 S&W Long, .32 S&W Short

.357 Mag shoots .38 sp +P, .38 special, .38 Colt

.44 Mag shoots .44 special, .44 Russian

.454 Casull shoots .45 Colt shoots .45 Schofield

So if you have a .44 Special Revolver, you CAN shoot .44 Russian (to the right), but NOT .44 Mag (to the left).

Note that ALL of these are Revolver calibers. One thing that revolvers give you, that auto pistols do not, is the ability to shoot low velocity ammo without jamming up your gun. You cannot do this with an auto pistol as the ammo must be powerful enough to cycle the slide.

That doesn't mean there is no loss of performance, there is! But having low powered ammo is your revolver is better than switching off to your melee weapon because you're out of ammo.

Single Shot Rifles & Multi-Barrelled Derringers:

Single Shot rifles and multi-barrel Derringers, like the Bond Arms Defender (pic left) can do this too. Both of these let you switch barrels to shoot different calibers. It is a simple process to swap barrels in these types, but not something you can do immediately while under attack or on the run. You may have to mill the barrel to fit and you must re-zero upon installation.

Most of the Single Shot Rifles and the Bond Arms have dual caliber barrels like .410/.45 Colt and will shoot both the .410 shotshell and .45 Colt. This is NOT TRUE for ALL .410 shotguns - in fact it will destroy them!

An interesting weapon suited to swapping calibers is the Thompson-Center series of rifles and pistols. Instead of being produced in a number of calibers, the single shot pistols are simply made to swap barrels very easily, allowing a staggering variety of calibers to be used on the same base frame. The weapon even has a setting to change firing pin type. One of the best features of this weapon is that the sights are zeroed to the individual barrel, allowing one to swap calibers without losing zero. While a bulky option, few are easier to convert than these pistols.

Lever Action Rifles:

Lever Action Rifles can shoot lower powered ammo reliably and are the best of both worlds. Usually they can only shoot the next caliber to the left due to issues with how the rifle's action works - i.e. the physical length of the round. Also, using the "shorter" round, Lever Action Rifles can sometimes hold 1-2 more rounds in their magazine.

For example: The Marlin 1894C rifle (pictured) in .44 Mag will shoot .44 Specials with no problem, but not .44 Russian. The Russian is too short to work through the action, but could be fired single shot. Also, the 1894C is spec'd out to hold 10 rounds of .44 mag, but will hold 11rounds11 rounds of .44 special.


Auto Pistol Conversions:

With auto pistols, you usually have to do some modifications to the gun in order for it to work properly using low power ammunition. This usually includes changing out the recoil springs, magazines & barrels.

With that said, here are some SAFE auto pistol conversions for you ONLY for those desperate and extreme times:

.38 Super shoots 9mm Parabellum

7.62.25mm Tokarev shoots .30 Mauser

9x18 mm Makarov shoots .380 acp

10mm shoots .40 S&W

These are not recommended in any but extreme circumstances.

If you have a 7.62x25mm CZ52 Pistol (pictured), it WILL reliably shoot the .30 Mauser ammo. I am not sure about the Russian Tokarev pistol.

Also, the 9x18mm Makarov will shoot the .380 acp ammo with moderate reliability, but only for short period of time without damage to the pistol. Do NOT use .380acp in your 9x18mm pistol if you don't absolutely have to.

Lastly, I have fired .40S&W in a 10mm 1911 style pistol with some success. Modifications where only having changed out to a lighter recoil spring. This is very tough on the brass, and the .40 S&Wwhich isexpands beattoo upmuch byto thereload firing.easily. A curious matter is how the 1911 fires a cartridge so short. The answer is that the 1911 has a firing pin of redundant length, allowing it to strike the primer even when out of normal reach,


Hope this helps.

Good luck & good Zombie hunting. If you do use them, reliability will be questionable after the first shot as more than likely the gun will jam.

Ironhand