.22 provided that includes .22 mag. also. Small, light weight, and very capable with the various .22 platforms. .22 short is very capable for ultra small game. This, if the apocalypse happens, will do the job and not telegraph to the world your location. Large game will be much fewer and farther away, so .22 mag. will work. .22 lr for everything else.
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I have a question guys, I have the Ruger 22LR. It came with the 10 ct magazine and I bought a bunch of the 25 ct magazines but it keeps Jamming. I have tried every brand of ammo, taken it to 2 or 3 gunsmiths, and Ruger does not respond to anything. Any ideas?
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You might imagine a situation where a type of left versus right war is going on. Any remaining or participating government forces can be expected in the battle space. They might be with us or against us, but they will be around most likely.
They will have in their possession tons of 5.56 Nato rounds. They might be handing it out to friendly partisans or you might be taking them from the enemy. Let us hope we never are faced with such a circumstance.
They will not be carrying .22 LR, so there’s that. .233/5.56 will be in the hands of lots of civilians too, as they are so commonly owned. For these reasons, I would invest in 5.56/.223. For the same reasons, .308/7.62x51 Nato is another good one to have around.
I know the Army is switching to 6.8x51 mm soon, but this will take many years. Most of your combat support and service support troops will carry the M4 carbine for years to come.
I can and have stocked up on .22 LR though. If I want to shoot a squirrel or rabbit, the .22 makes a lot less noise and saves the meat of small game.
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My 22LR has a scope and I can take anything down from a long distance. However if I have a gang or group coming my way, I want my 556. The ammo is heavy but due to a disability I will be bugging in.
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Welcome to the community Stacy! Have you tried the 10rnd mag to see if it jams?
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Stacey, Welcome to the fold . Good first post.
As for your weapon malfunction (I AM NO GUNSMITH)
Now that’s clear my advice is ditch that firearm.
You don’t need a Gun you can’t 100% trust.
No one will buy it, wrap it up and put it in a closet.
That being said, NOW is the time to pick up your Frontline Hardware.
An Everyday Carry Pistol
A Rifle (Caliber what your are comfortable with. I recommend
an AR that shoots BOTH .556/.223 that gives you more options w/
same weapon).
You can expand your arsenal later: (12) Gauge shottie for Close Quarters Combat
Maybe a .22 Rifle for small game/ Practice shooting.
You can buy a ‘Brick’ of .22 for very cheap. Federal (40 grain) 800 rds. $60.00.
My suggestion is a reliable Handgun and AR: PLENTY of mag’s for both.
Get acquainted with Swapping out mag’s in the dark or on a kitchen timer.
Don’t buy Bargain basement AR mags, buy ones that can absorb a hit when you drop an empty and insert a new one.
If you already did this? Good for you.
My little S&W .22 LR AR (M&P) filled w/ ‘Tactical’ ammo was cheap/$200 is a nail driver.
I have a few boxes of these (50) rds/$30.00) NICE!
I just purchased a threaded barrel for a Suppressor, she’s almost purrrrrrrfect!.
Palmetto Arms sells ‘Dagger’s’ (9mm handguns cheap and they are super reliable).
(Handgun/(10) 17rd mags for like $440 others come w/ a threaded barrel for a suppressor.
Lastly, It may be the extended mags your .22 isn’t liking?
Does she fire well w/ the (10) rounder in her? (it may be the gun).
As for what I would do for the $500?
.556 all the way: A little Green tip, Boat tail, Hollow points a bit of 77 grain, 55 grain
I have dedicated mags (marked clearly with the more powerful ammo.)
Good Luck Stacey
Any questions just ask us. We’re here to help.
WWG1WGA
No step on Snek
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Not sure the exact problem. Is it jamming because it won’t feed or failure to eject. I’ve seen some failures to feed with lead vs copper coated ammo. I’d also make sure the angle of the round about to feed is coming up at the right angle. I’ve had several magazines that held the round too flat (round not angled up enough to catch the feed ramp) and had feeding issues. Sometimes the issue is the round is not providing enough recoil to make the bolt to go back far enough to pick up the next round properly. I have one gun that hates any ammo that is not 40 or 38 grains. The other problem could simply be the gun doesn’t like the magazines. I’d try to find a friend with a 10-22 and see if your magazine/ammo combo works in their gun. Shouldn’t be too hard, almost every shooter owns one.
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The fact that 2 or 3 gunsmiths have looked at it and it still has problems leads me to believe the problem lies with the mags. What kind are they and where did you get them?
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Sometimes a good mag cleaning will fix the problem.
Welcome to the community.
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In a SHTF situation, I would go with 22LR first. Not the strongest round, but cheap and light to carry. If you have reliable firearms and ammo, they can work for a variety of purposes. Personally, I have rifle, pistol, and revolver options in 22LR that are all reliable. As far as ammo goes, I have had great experience with Aguila Super Extra, as well as all CCI ammo.
My second choice would be 9mm, since you can use it in pistols as well as PCCs. .223/5.56 is a superior round to both 9 and 22, but not as versatile, since you need to fire it out of a long gun. My idea of SHTF is that concealed carry will still be important, so having a pistol/revolver option would be needed.
That being said, there’s nothing wrong with stocking up on 5.56 ( and .308 as well)
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22 LR but might I add, be careful about the ammo you acquire. I have purchased some 22 LR ammo that are doo doo! The do not shoot or if they do you can hear the weak pop they have. I actually stopped and checked for a squib because of the weak pop it had! So, buy good ammo, please.
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Slightly off topic. Since the plandemic ammo shortage crapola I’ve set ammo goals to have on hand.This may be excessive but if shtf there won’t be anymore on the shelf.
5.56/ .223 10,000. I have eight
12 gauge 500 00buck 500 slugs. I have more than enough
10mm 4000 .I have roughly 1200
44magnum 1000 I have about eight hundred
460 s&w 1000 I have 200.
.308 2500. I have 540 .
The 460 ammo will cost almost as much as everything else I lack.
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“plandemic” what a great descriptor! 
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If I could only stock up one one thing it would be knowledge. Why? The more knowledge the more likely to get out of a tough situation.
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A .22lr semi-auto, sadly, is much less forgiving of “operator error” than a 9mm or similar. The tiniest amount of limp wristing can result in an ejection malfunction. Same for too much finger pressure on the side of the slide. If you know someone that can do high speed video get them to film you (closeup of pistol and hand) while shooting.
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@Stacey15 Welcome to our community. 
Lots of vids on You Tube. This is a common problem with 25rnd. mags.
The mags fit loose in the mag well, too much forward and back play,
there are several ways to fix this.
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Ya know,… I have several 25 round mags (Ruger branded) for my 10/22s. Haven’t had any issues as yet,… though admittedly they get shot way less than the deserve to be shot. 
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.223 would be my choice for SHTF scenario. All around general purpose caliber of the choices given. .22LR is not a reliable enough for self defense and will be difficult to take down large game. Your EDC 9mm pistol won’t cut it in a survival situation for hunting. However, the .223 isn’t ideal either for hunting but it will do in a SHTF scenario.
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A lot of folks in the survivalist/prepper world seem to have visions of being able to find abundant game to support themselves for years after a SHTF event. They will be competing with all the other semi prepared people with similar visions along with the millions more unprepared people with some level of hunting skills.
Large and small game are likely to disappear very quickly. Likely within weeks in most places. Maybe months at the most in less populated areas. Though even remote areas will likely get overrun with desperate hunters very quickly.
If you don’t have food set aside already and a way to hide and defend it from other desperate people you are likely going to end up joining the masses begging, stealing and killing for any scraps of food they can find.
I’d take the $500 and spend it on some additional beans and rice.
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Double feed or failure to eject?
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