It's really the butt plate that makes the M-N recoil uncomfortable. A good recoil pad solves that problem.

Holy Sh--!
When I said proficient I didn't think of anything like that in my wildest imagination. I meant just hitting the target and trying to get close inside the black.

If you're so concerned with consolidating your ammo, you need to take into account the ammo you're most likely to find (should the world fall apart). Pulling it off the top of my head, the popularity / likelihood of finding it is:

1.) .22 Rimfire
2.) 12 Gauge.
3.) 5.56 centerfire.
4.) 9mm Parabellum
5.) .45 ACP
6.) .30-06 Springfield.
7.) .38 Special
8.) 7.62x39 (AK ammo)
9.) 7.62x54R
10.) .223 centerfire
11.) .380 ACP
12.) .357 Magnum
13.) .40 auto
14.) 44 magnum
15.) .270
16.) ...

This list has been scientifically researched (complete guess).

The 7.62x54R doesn't really have any worse recoil than the .30-06 (7.62x63mm) or the 8mm (7.92x57mm). It's just that the Moisin Nagant has a sharp, flat, metal butt plate, and the other guns are better designed for the shooter.

I'm what you could call borderline disabled but thanks for things to consider.
,

Same argument, in my experience, you can re-use an arrow maybe 20% of the time after a hunt (if used), rarely does the prey go straight-down, and they bend it up. The broad heads, also zip. I've never hunted with the crossbow, but I would assume, and I would also be very surprised if the range is really as good as a good quality bow. I would say the crossbow is probably easier to shoot, but stalking/etc., you need something to shoot at. The lift & draw motion of a conventional bow is just more stealthy. That being said, a small person or someone with disabilities would find hunting with a crossbow easier, but I think that is largely the advantage of them.

For example, if in a tree stand, would you bend over, put it down on your feet through the stirrups, and pull upward, while trying to somehow not fall out of the tree? I'd rather just pull back on the bow string. That's primarily my point. Keep in mind, it's not the only thing you would have with you - the quiver, supplies, a backpack, camo, maybe a light jacket on, etc.

It may work for some people, and I can't hunt with one here, but its my speculation based on shooting with mine. It wouldn't be my first choice.

Jerry Miculek iisn't just fast he also is very accurate...as is his wife and daughter. They are spokespersons for Smith and Wesson and all have been competition shooters for years. One of the best shooters I have ever witnessed.

Save for being with some guys at an occasional dove shoot, I'm not a hunter.
I'm thinking of being forced to hunt to eat should there be a huge economic collapse or a similar disaster.
At that point states will be too busy with food riots to worry about solitary hunters.
I want the tools to silently hunt so some large group of thugs won't come and rip off my kill and maybe also kill me.

I've only fired the 54r in a bolt gun, and the .30-06 in a Garand. I think the gas gun mitigates the effects of the recoil. The bolt gun is just a straight-into-the-shoulder direct force.

No argument from me on that. But then a lot of people have trouble hitting the target ;-)

A crossbow is kind of hard to hunt with, you need to obviously be rather close when bow hunting, carrying the crossbow with the stock and the bow limbs on either side of it with a scope/etc. and the arrow quiver is not the most 'elegant' way to move through some brush. When you have to arm it, a large one usually has a stirrup for your feet and you have to stand up with it, again, not exactly stealthy. The bolts are not ubiquitously available either, as most states don't allow them for hunting, only for sport shooting.

I'll consider that.

I had a neighbor that came by and showed me his whiz bang AR clone, he had stuff bolted all over it, lasers, scopes,flashlight, etc.. He said when TSHTF that was gonna be his git gun, asked me what I would use, showed him my old (really old) AR7 and a equally old 9 shot wheel gun, he didnt outright laugh, but asked what I would do with that, so I told him. I can carry 1000 rounds in my pocket, plenty of water and other essentials to stay mobile for a very long time, that AR 7 will feed and protect me from a long distance - everything shot in the ear drops. I asked how he thought he could carry ammo for his swiss army rifle, along with other essentials and survive in the swamps in August. He didnt want to talk about it anymore.

.45ACP, I'll pay about $25 for 50 rounds of the Blazer aluminum jacket crap. .223 brass-jacket locally would be well over $270 for 500 rounds, but I ship it in from a shop in Las Vegas for about about $180 including shipping or make a 90 minute drive to the free city of Reno.

Thus... the cost of buying high quality ammo isn't as bad as the taxes or shipping that apply to 'anything' so I concentrate on stuff that I can re-use 5-15 times.

The 5.56 and .223 caliber rifles are some of the most popular firearms in the county, therefore, an excellent choice in my mind.
The .45 1911 pistol is also exceptionally popular and has been around for over 100 years.
The .380 is becoming more popular and is extremely concealable.
The .38/.357 magnum is used in both revolvers and rifle...quite common and very easily reloaded.

An expanded reply:
I do practice a form of conformity in my stores, but it's mainly because I get greater value from my time that I do spend.
I keep lots of .22 that I've purchased slowly years ago. I have put untold thousands through my 10-22s, and I have a few revolvers that take .22. I also have a reloading kit that does a fair job of casting new bullet heads and reloading them. It's a bit tedious, which is why I prefer to buy .22 but it is fun around a campfire.
I have similar backpack-sized reloading kits for every caliber I use. A LEE loader and a two bullet mould for the gun I am carrying is always part of what I take with me just in case I get stuck somewhere.
I use .45 across the bulk of my equipment. The black powder revolvers are all .451, my personal semiauto handguns are all .451, even my Thompson prefers a .451. They have a variety of brass that they use, but the bullets I cast for all of them can all be from the same moulds. Granted, not all .45 are compatible, but I don't yet have anything that takes a .458.
I keep mainly .451 guns because I can run a large casting run of one type of bullet and save time over running multiple smaller bullets. I may run two or three moulds at the same time, but I can run at full speed and I don't have to spend a moment worrying that I might mix up a .458 and a .451.
From the .45, I do break out a bit. I've got .309 and .312 for the .30-06 and Mosins, both of which I have tested, but keep the .312s in thier own area to avoid mixup. .356 for the .380's of family members, buckshot molds from LEE and I've even got a shot maker to make new shot in a pinch.
I still buy in new bullets, but having the ability to cast new saves me money when I want to divert funds to a new project.
I use steel traps when target practicing to reclaim most of the lead and buy pure scrap lead whenever possible, which has given me quite a store for casting.

For reloading, I keep the common used ones set up on their own dedicated presses and an extra one that rotates through the oddball sizes that family have. The rifle sizes each have their own rifle press and I've got a MEC-9000g in both 12 and 20. All of the extra presses save me hours of switching time a year and I let trusted friends and relatives use them, usually for a trade of consumables.

Though I still buy in new ammunition, keeping all my equipment at the ready makes it much easier to practice. Run 100-150 rounds through a revolver, drop the brass in the tumbler, clean the revolver, dump the brass in the press and start cranking out new rounds and in about an hour from the start I've got two to three replenished boxes. Add fifteen minutes or so every other session to check brass length and I'm still saving money. All of my personal economy, common group of sizes and trading has saved me more than I've spent on equipment.

I seem to be numb to recoil, as I find the old 50-70 buffalo rifle easy to manage, and the Russian round about the same as the 30-06.

I'm sorry. I live in North 'BY GOD!' Carolina, where you can go into a Walmart at 2 in the morning and buy a Mossberg shotgun.

Why, because I just might want to!

And ammo is still relatively cheap and plentiful.
I can get 50-9mm for $11 and 500-.22 for $20

Eh, that may be the difference, I'm in California, the taxes on it make stockpiling kind of prohibitive, I just recycle it, but I have 1000s of rounds to work with.

For the AK, I stick to milled receivers and they are milled to similar tolerance as the M16. The same for the SKS, stick to the milled. Stamped crap is just that.

You are correct about seeing that at local ranges. The however is that they may have 1-200 rounds (for the most part) at home to go with that weapon. We burnt HUGH stockpiles of the 5.56 in the last 15 years and now training ammo is tight and STRAC is being reduced. Also, the 5.56 has only been around for 50 years now the 7.62x39 has about 30 years on it and 20 million revolutionaries and a couple hundred government. BTW the Israeli liked both the M16 and the AK47, that how the Galil rifle was born.

The NATO round is actually 7.62x51 (.308). The 7.62x54R is the WWII Soviet round (brutal recoil to shoot).

I have one (a crossbow), I'd recommend a conventional compound/hunting bow and become proficient with it.

You can also easily interchange a .223 round in a rifle chambered for 5.56, but not necessarily the other way without some issues.