privately owned Ferret Scout Cars

[Olefin]

This assumes the v2 timeline, in which the Cold War ends in '91. In the v1.0 alternate timeline history, the Cold War didn't end, so a lot of stuff that, IRL was sold off to 3rd world countries or put on the open market- like those Ferrets, for example- would have remained in military reserve storage. I'm not trying to poo-poo the idea, but being as I favor the v1.0 timeline, I don't see quite as many MilSurp vehicles getting into civilians' hands.

As for the vulnerability of said light armor, is AP small arms ammo legal to buy in the U.S.

Actually they are available in both timelines - the Ferrets were already being disposed of by the mid-80's - so you will see them in civilian hands in either timeline - now if you look at V1 versus V2 you could see a V1 timeline having the ones being disposed of being the older ones - so basically Mk1, Mk1/2 and Mk2/3 whereas with the V2 you would see almost anything being around

So again keep in mind what timeline you are looking at accordingly and adjust what might be available

the AP SLAP ammo was only issued to the US Army - have no idea if it ever got sold commercially

[Olefin]

This assumes the v2 timeline, in which the Cold War ends in '91. In the v1.0 alternate timeline history, the Cold War didn't end, so a lot of stuff that, IRL was sold off to 3rd world countries or put on the open market- like those Ferrets, for example- would have remained in military reserve storage. I'm not trying to poo-poo the idea, but being as I favor the v1.0 timeline, I don't see quite as many MilSurp vehicles getting into civilians' hands.

As for the vulnerability of said light armor, is AP small arms ammo legal to buy in the U.S.

Keep in mind Raellus that a lot of what you see in armor collectors hands todays was surplus long before a V1 or V2 timeline would have made much different - what you really will see as to the difference would be Soviet equipment availability (except for stuff that might have been bought from Egypt or Africa) for V1 versus V2

Looked around on google and found multiple references to Ferrets in civilian hands here in the US prior to 1987 for instance - the movie Short Circuit made in the US in 1986 had a Mk1 Ferret that the production company rented

[Olefin]

FYI great site for all things Ferret

http://www.ferret-fv701.co.uk/

has lots of info on various vehicles, pictures, specs you name it - definitely has stuff you could use to flesh out a vehicle for a campaign so its not just "you find a Ferret AC in drive able condition"

[Olefin]

FYI just another post-script to how many tanks may be in private ownership in the US - this is a 2013 article in the WSJ - you need a subscription to post the whole thing but here is an interesting excerpt:

"Weapons buffs may stock semiautomatics in the gun safe. But nothing makes a statement like having an Army tank in the garage. there are several hundred to 1,000 private tank owners in the U.S. Brothers Ken and Gene Neal, owners of Bullet Proof Diesel, a truck-parts manufacturer in Mesa, Ariz., once took their 1966 British Chieftain tank into the desert and joyfully backed it over a rusty car. When their insurance agent inquired about their plans for the tank, the Neal brothers emailed back, oeWe are going to use it to take over the world. Says Ken Neal, 45: oeA tank is cool."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324432004578302480951570270

[ChalkLine]

Home Guard units may have these vehicles.

In Australia in WW2 a proposal that individuals would donate their trucks for homeland war service was floated and that they would be compensated when the war was over. A similar situation can easily happen anywhere.

What a Ferret or similar can do is convoy security or patrol work. As Legbreaker says they're not much good for battlefield use but pitched battles are pretty much things of the past when they would be called for for service

[Olefin]

completely agree with many older vehicles - you arent taking these into combat against modern tanks - not unless you want to re-enact Turtledove's Lizard books (i.e. where the US and Nazi's had to use WWII tanks to fight the equivalent of an M60 or M1 tank that alien's had and lost anywhere from six to ten per Lizard tank they took out) - what you are doing is patrol and security work and possibly using them in combat against troops that lack armor or anti-tank weapons - i.e the local NA chapter that is well armed with hunting rifles and shotguns but has nothing that can penetrate even old armor