Warning shots: How many do you need?

I’ve mentioned a while back that a good friend of mine owns a 300 ha. farm close to Buenos Aires and that every time I go there I hear a few warning shots being fired to send away those that trespass to steal some wood or crops.

I mentioned then how much sense it makes to have a 22LR for this. You’re not mowing down zombies, you’re just letting trespassers know that you’re armed and aware of what they are doing, so you want the cheapest bang per buck.
A few shots is enough. If they don’t leave, you’re still firing ammo that is quite capable of killing.
Now, a few days ago I saw this article:

Lawlessness after quake in Chile fishing village

and I found this in it:

The harbour has been decimated - first by the earthquake and then by the 15m-high (49ft) tsunami which threw boats and shipping containers out of the sea and into the port with massive force.

Dozens of containers are now strewn around the harbour as though they were cardboard boxes, having crushed several people in their cars in the process.

In this scene of devastation, looters have made the most of the chaos. Many of the containers have been opened and their contents, be they bananas, nappies or computer equipment, taken by the desperate hordes.
"I've fired 500 of the 2,000 rounds of ammunition I've got," says Mr Orellana, who works for the Ministry of Public Works, showing off his gun licence.
"I fire over their heads to scare them off, and so far, it's worked."

Rene Orellana has fired hundreds of warning shots to ward off looters

Mr. Orellana deserves the Nobel Peace prize guys!
500 shots and not one dead. Shows yet again that you can usea gun to defend yourself and not kill anyone. Maybe actually dropping a few of these guys would have reduced his ammo spending significantly, but that’s not the point.

Given that he’s shooting shot gun shells, he was lucky enough to have 2000 rounds to being with, most people don’t have more than a box or two, if they have that at all.
The lesson here is, after a given disaster where there’s looters around, a couple rounds over their heads most often works.
But this means you may end up shooting a lot so again, the king of all calibers, good old 22LR becomes very important.

What to have?

22LR is by far the cheapest caliber you can stock up on, you can pick a 500 round value pack every now and then and soon enough you’ll have thousands of rounds ready.
Which brand? whatever works best in your gun. 22LRs tend to be picky. Heavy projectiles at high velocity work best on most occasions.
As for the gun, 22LR are cheap enough there’s no reason not to own one rifle besides your 22LR handgun.
I’d go for semi auto rifle. The reason for this is that since the caliber is relatively weak, at least you compensate with higher capacity and fast follow up shots.

Though it was interesting, these real world encounters aren’t as exciting as the fantasy ones but at least here there are valuable lessons to be learned.

FerFAL