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Civilization has ended as we know it, complete breakdown of law and order.  What do you do?

End of the world... 

Picture from Wikimedia Commons by Badseed

Well, you're screwed, no matter how you look at it.  Life is going to be pretty miserable from here on out, up to the point where you don't survive any longer.  But till the end, you've got to eat, which means you'll need a firearm to get dinner as the local grocery marts are now out of business.  (And cleaned out by now...)

Which gun do you need?
Guns that don't break, and if they do can be easily repaired.  Luckily, guns are pretty robust for the most part, and can last a lifetime if taken care of.  Maybe not so much with modern plastic guns, but the old wood and steel variety can be pretty tough.  I have noticed the hundred year old guns I have all still work, but I have some problems with the modern stuff.  Muzzle loaders seem to be a good choice, if you're only hunting for food, and not having to get in a firefight.  Any ex-military gun should be tough enough to get you by till civilization returns.  Bolt guns are usually pretty reliable, though I would pack away some extra springs and such now.... you would hate to depend on your WW2 Enfield with a broken extractor spring.

Ammunition
If you are planning for this event, having guns in a caliber that is plentiful locally seems to be the best choice.  Once that runs out, reloading is an option, but getting any new supplies would be problematic.  Presumably there will be lots of old car hulks sitting around, and all their wheels have lead wheel weights on them, but brass will have to be husbanded carefully.  But what to do about primers?  The Indian Wars of the 19th century had a primitive (by our standards) people reloading old Henry rimfire ammo.  Don't know how they did it but somehow they came up with a priming mixture, possibly from some old match heads.  Evidence from the Battle of the Little Bighorn show a lot of empty Henry casings with 2 to 3 hammer indentions on the rim of the cases, suggesting reloading activity. The US Cavalry wasn't using the Henrys. 

Then there is this guy reloading his primers...

Check out his other videos, he also makes gunpowder out of matches...

Repairing guns...
As far as repairing guns go, it'll be hard to find a gunsmith at the end of the world, it's hard to find a local one now.  In order to have you're own repair shop, you'll need a defendable building,  and some people to defend it while you're out looking for food, which means you'll have to form some sort of tribe with individuals you can depend on.  This is getting to sound like the stone age, with firearms....

Picture of guns and atomic blasts

 

What good would it do you?
The end of the civilized world bodes ill for survival... we can't all hunt for our food, there are too many of us.  It seems the weak will be whittled down quickly... and those left will be squabbling over dwindling resources, and killing someone to get it... It will be a pretty ugly situation, and possibly not surviving to see it could be considered a blessing.