Dont take this in a negative way (just trying to keep the thoughts going) but........
I believe Guns will always be around, and always be the weapon of choice. (until technology advances past them) There is no reason in an extreme long term situation we would forget about our technology black powder is fairly easy to make, dates back to around 900AD. The weapons like a mace ect. would be for a medevil war with cavalry rather large scale. If I am forced to forget about gun powder, weapons of multiple uses would be most practical axe/bow/knife simular to first nations.

Trying to obtain a bow, would be easier for me to make arrows than make bullets.

What is the weapon of choice when bullets are no longer around.

Ain't gonna happen. Sure some folks might run out of ammo for their oddball 7mm mauser but if you have any gun that uses military calibers like .223, .308 or 7.62 x 39 (AK, SKS) stuff there are millions upon millions of rounds that will last at least a hundred years. Ain't gonna happen.

If you really think things will be that bad, stock up now on those calibers and they'll be currency.
Everyone knows the basics of black powder, you think we're ever going back to pointed sticks? Really?

The coming economic woes are not fantasy at all. More like an inevitability. You may not need your weapons at all but I'll bet everyone will treasure their garden shovels.
Go ahead and melt your swords into plowshares but keep your M-14's in good working order, have enough ammo to practice regularly.

Gravlore: I understand where that question is coming from. Someone once asked Albert Einstein what type of weapons world war III would be fought with. His reply was "I'm not sure about world war III but world war IX will likely be fought with sticks and rocks." I do think though, that it will be long after our time before the bullets will be gone, generally speaking. There are only two reasons for running out of bullets if you are well stocked. #1, you are wasteful and #2, you've allowed yourself to become a high profile and desirable target. I know that as long as I can avoid conflict, the bullets I've stocked will be there for my grandchildren to use. Ideally, guns would be used for defence and bows or crossbows used for hunting.

Yeah there is tons and tons ammo out there! In a shtf situation thou transportation of this ammo could stop, be limited, impossible to find, or even become non-politically supported for whatever reasons. We'd all have to reply on our own stocks and maybe the local stocks via trade or savaging. We would also have to come to believe that one day in our or our children's lifetime the bullets would indeed run out. It's always good to prepare and that is why we are all here. We all have our idea's and this one is just my point of view, everyone is valid. I do see value in having things like bow and arrows around as well as sling shots. If I had to go after small game for an extended period of time to survive, it would be nice and a little comforting to use a sling shot whenever possible to save from having to use all my valuable ammo. I bet in most area's and this is very true in my neck of the woods; that I would never run out of rocks to kill things with. Still nothing lasts forever and one day I no longer would have any replacement slings, but with that said a sling shot in cheap, small and compact and I have one in each B.O.B I have for me and my family. The more ways we having of killing food the better. I do in fact stock up on ammo as well, it is a valuable thing, and an awesome trade item if needs be. Also never forget the importance of old style leg traps, there cheap now a days and would be super handy; I like just having to check a trail while hunting with a sling shot or gun and finding food I didn't have to do much for. In conclusion; Maybe we have enough ways of feeding ourselves; and if we avoid wasting or always being involved in conflict. Indeed we may never run out of bullets!

If there were no more lighters, matches or flint... People would still make fire.. Because we have discovered it, understand it and know a variety of ways to make it... Same holds true for guns and ammo and gun powder. Black powder is not that difficult to make. Even were we to be thrown back to the dark ages... Figuring out how to do something you know can be done is far easier than it was hundreds of years ago when no one knew what was possible.

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Gravs, Too bad you deleted so many of your good posts!

Bullet presses are easy to come by, lead is easy to come by, purchase powder now and store it when it is easy to come by. At a yard sale I picked up 200lbs of lead from a diver, the old lead belts, paid $15.. score!

Black powder is dangerous to make, so learn that now, read up, read up some more, find someone to teach you, then make some yourself, great skill and idea.
Learn how to make sling shots, slings (highly effective) Atlats spl.. sorry, special spear thrower I was introduced to them in a few books then used one a few times from a buddy..

Archery and cross bows, they are not hard to make. Making them good though takes practice! I am hoarding information right now, as I am still too sick to actually do a lot at the moment and for a few months. So Faraday cage soon as well, with a backup drive, zip drives, tablet and looking for cheap used laptop, small laser printer to put in there. Hoping to make a bigger one in the spring and put in Solar panels, battery (just in case) and a wee generator! I have the small 300 watt generator now, just need to rebuild it a bit although it works it does need some attention to it.

I thought this might be appropriate to add to this discussion, these are a few links for how to make your own of some of the things mentioned here. Most of us probably have this info somewhere, but it's a good refresher.
http://www.worldatlatl.org/Atlatl_Design.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Bow-and-Arrow
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/06/29/we-know-you-want-to-see-the-crossbow-revolver-that-lets-you-shoot-4-arrows-without-reloading/

Can you use lead from a car battery? I am thinking more for a sling shot too. Got arrows but no gun. That sling with a nice heavy weight in it can kill. I got a 33" draw since my arms are long and that berring gets buried into what it hits.

I would be careful of the lead from a car battery.. think of all the acid!!
why not just use lead weights from car tires, that is what I learned to use when I was a teenager, my mentor at the time went to garages and scrap yards to pick them up.

Lead from cars will be all around you after a SHTF event. Every car has some on the wheels and easily removable.

JAB

the only type of lead that was not recommended was lead from battery terminals because of the potential residual acid left on, which could cause a very dangerous condition when heated.

http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=75276
And I think the EPA is phasing out lead wheel weights. They fall off and contaminate the environment. They're going to zinc and steel.

As a fellow that worked with tires in a shop for some years, I'll just say there's no shortage of lead wheel weights. They are cheap, so shops buy them up. There are also stick on versions. They come from 1/4 ounce all the way up to (largest I've seen anyway) 5 ounces which are for transport trucks, although many trucks now should be using ballast liquid I believe, like a calcium fill liquid.

Having said that, there's also weights that are an alloy of magnesium.

Another source would be cheap fishing sinkers.

If I was very worried about ammo supply, I'd start learning slinging. A sling was once deadly effective probably would be again against most targets. I wouldn't bother against armored up targets though, as I'm sure modern combat helmets and kevlar are no match. But at that point, there's a larger problem at hand then whether or not ammo is in short supply

OH man, a sling (not a sling shot) brings back memories. When I was a child there was a TV show called Gerry LaFrong (sp?) about a medieval dude who went around with his trusty sling and could probably hit the X ring at about 150 yards (at least on TV).

I made a few slings (basically hiking boot or leather shoe laces about 36" long with a leather patch soaked in water, then tied tight around a golf ball to dry) with a shoe lace tied to either side of a shaped leather patch. A loop on one shoelace was placed over the middle finger like a ring and the other shoelace was held between your thumb and fingers. A fairly round ping pong ball sized rock was placed in the leather sling and about 1.25 revolutions of 'swing/wind up' before releasing the string gave you some pretty good accuracy with practice. 100 yard shots were quite easy to achieve but I was not very accurate at that range. Out to about 35 yards hitting something as big as a coyote would be pretty easy so I'd hate to be 50 yards away from a 1/2 decent (not even good) slinger.

Unless you are crossing the Sahara desert I doubt that running out of rocks would be much of a problem during three seasons out of four. With some skill and lots of practice I'm sure that a human at 75 yards would get a pretty big owwie most (90%?) of the time. Head shots might be fatal, body/limb shots would hurt like hell at the very least. Imagine blocking golf balls with your body, on a driving range, at about 50 yards. I just can't imagine that being anywhere near safe.

Hmmm, may have to make another sling and go hang out at an abandoned gravel pit...