[martin_fierro]

Many people say that you should not go smaller than 38 special in revolvers or 9mm in a semi-auto, but I think that some smaller rounds such as the revolver round .327 magnum would be good, plus you can use lower powered 32 rimmed ammo for cheaper practice and less recoil. A downside to something like the 327 magnum is that it is much less common and more expensive than something like 9mm which (usually) can be found easily.

I've heard anecdotal evidence lately of all such ammo being snapped up by government agencies (ICE, SSA, etc).

[MtnClimber]

The feds are mainly buying up 9mm & 40 cal pistol ammo and .223 rifle ammo. But it is drying up primers, brass production, bullet production and powder production that would go to other calibers. I think the government contracts were just IDIQ option contracts. The standard military or police calibers have historically been much lower cost, but we are living in different times.