I have two Nagant 7.62x54R rifles, a .22 semi-auto rifle, a nice Swede Mauser, three .357 revolvers, one .38 revolver, a .380 Bersa, an east German Makarov 9x19, and a .32 CZ50. I realize that having so many different calibers of weapons can be a "nuisance" in terms of stocking specific ammo, but I want to make sure each one's appetite can be filled if the need comes. How many rounds of ammo should I keep on hand? This may or may not be a trick question....

All the spam cans of x54r and bricks of .22 you can afford; powder, primers, brass & bullets for the rest.

Never reloaded, but my buddy Stinky down in Bay Area does...will check that out. Can always use another hobby that saves me some $$$...thanks! When I got my 7.62x54R rifles, got some nice corrosive spam can ammo for $39 a can for 440 rounds...no FTF cartridges to date.

You need a flintlock blunderbuss. Start bottling and saving your own urine and doing the rest of your business in a designated spot in the yard. You can then make your own gunpowder.

Casting your bullets is an option, but wandering around picking up odd bits of metal, likely shaped rocks, and broken glass will help pass the time.

I generally think in terms of 1000 rounds minimum, and the frequently used ones substantially higher.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

My minimum requirements do NOT exist, neither should yours. Just sayin.

More than the other guys(s)

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Still Running Against the Wind

In case a Gorn (Star Trek) attacks me on an alien planet, I will be prepared....

Don't have a minimum. Just buy

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What I have now...

22lr - 7k
9mm - 2k
40sw - 1k
45acp - 1k
12 gauge - 2k

As much as I go to the range - I always need more.
If 45acp & 40sw were cheaper, I'd have more of each.

For me, I'd say minimum is 250 rds for each caliber.

LOL.....then buy some more.






Given that your in Calf......at minimum I'd have

500 rds of .357 and another 500 of .38 hollow points ( good in .357s and the .38)....

At least 1000 (or more) of good CCI .22

and at least a couple hundred rounds for whatever rifle you'd use if TSHTF.

I keep about 200 rounds of hollow points in .380, 9mm, .40S&W, and (1)box of .38 spl.
For practice rounds I set no limits.

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Stay protected my friends.

3-5 years supply made up for each firearm, ten years worth of components to make more.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Enough you can't begin to count it.

I do.

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Just run by Walmart and get a couple of these for the 22LR,,,

A lot depends on how often you shoot, and how much you mindlessly burn per session. Its a hint that if you don't have enough, don't burn ammo.

I'm a reloader, so the numbers that apply to you probably don't apply to me. I just make more when I feel like I'm low on ammo. One answer above is probably the best, 3 to 5 years. If you never shoot a specific firearm, no reason to overload on it. The OP here like many of us probably has a gun or two he just doesn't use often. Maybe that's a hint to send it on down the road, but surely no reason to load up on more ammo.

All guns in your collection probably need to be fired a bit for function check. But once you've assured yourself they work just fine, maybe your ammo dollars are better spent on guns you shoot regularly. Maybe a few hundred rounds are a good safety stock. If you have any thoughts on selling one or two of them, then don't load up. Ammo is expensive, so make the best of your ammo dollars.

If you have a plinking 22, then thousands of rounds isn't out of order, and your carry gun probably the same numbers apply. But remember I'm an ammo hoarder. If there is a more insulting term, it also probably applies to me. I make my own rules, but I don't see a big need for too much factory ammo if I reload for the caliber. To my way of thinking, having the bullets to stuff back in cases is enough. Primers and power are pretty much good across the field. Many of us have 38, 357, 9mm among other small pistol primer uses. And 44 Spl and 44 magnum, along with others work with large pistol. Most of my rifles use large standard or large magnum primers. Back when my father was alive, I didn't worry about shotgun ammo because he'd just crank out ever more.

My approach to calibers I don't reload is to just watch for sales at the outdoor stores or in the paper. Shotgun ammo is kind of cheap and can be bought in quantity. The only people to suffer are the guys who need to buy it to shoot trap or skeet. Many of those reload anyway.

The ideal numbers of rounds vary by the person and their shooting habits. SHTF numbers can be much lower than many think. If there is a crisis and you start shooting a hundred rounds a day (or per hour), you'll attract a lot of attention, much of it unwanted. Remember, for the entire cold war almost no one needed more than a single box of ammo for his carry and home defense gun. You buy your ammo to make you feel comfortable, not anyone else.

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Dick Burg

Originally 24

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Buy American
Vote Responsibly

AS a reloader I reload when I am think I am low on ammo, I keep 200 rds loaded for each firearm I keep, 380, 9mm, 38 cal. 357 mag. 45 ACP, 44 spl. 45 colt. M1 30 cal carbine, 5.56, 308win,

Now if your asking about a combat load of ammo, my opinion as much as you can without killing yourself carrying it. I remember my first combat issue of ammo 100rds, well 95 rounds because with 20 rounds the mag could detach from the weapon

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Carpriver.

rburg makes some good points.... something else to consider is how many you have to arm if the SHTF......for me that number is "four"..... me,wife and 2 sons.......

OP had three .357s and a .38...... I'd hate to have to arm 4 people with only 4,5 or 6 ...... 20 rd boxes of ammo......

maybe enough ......... but ........... I'd like to know "we" had more in reserve.

I just wish I ever saw one of those at either one of my walmarts.
I honestly wouldn't know how to act, if I did.

Look at your ammo supply now. Is what you have enough for a year of continued lifestyle to which you have become accustomed? If so that is your minimum. Buy all you want, but don't fall below the minimum. I try for 500 for each cartridge in handguns and 1000 for rifles I shoot. I loaded 20,000 223's and still have 6500 so when #2 son bought an AR I gave him a few thousand to hold him over.

Ivan

I'm not worried about SHTF, or arming other people.

It's just simple economics.

The last 22s I bought were 98 cents. The last 45 ball was $8.53. The last 9mm was six bucks, the last 223 was a buck and a quarter a thousand, and the last 7.62x39 was 56 bucks for 770 rounds.

Compare that to current prices.

Buy as much as you can afford, because it will not get any cheaper.

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I always take precautions

As the sayings go:

You Can Never Have Too Much Fun!
You Can Never Have Too Much Money!
and You Most Certainly Can Never Have Too Much Ammo!!!

Ammo is like beer
Better when bought by the case

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Buy American
Vote Responsibly

ALL OF IT.

ALL OF THE AMMO.

PERIOD.

And of course that last just isn't true.
If you're on fire, you can have too much.
If you have to swim with it, you can have too much.
And if you've got to hump it uphill...Well, you know the answer.

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Dick Burg

If You run out of room to put it then Your getting close.

Every time I go to Academy, I pick up a few boxes for the last 15 years. I suspect that I have a lifetime supply of 12 guage, 9mm, 45ACP, 22 LR, 38 special, 357 magnum, 7.62 x 54R, and 308 all purchased in small amounts to avoid the bloodcurdling wrath of my better half. In all, well over 20K rounds.

Minimum requirements, prudent purchasing or ideal stockpile all have different answers.

I tried to answer OP question about "minimum requirements"...... most are trying to encourage "best practices".

Hope he listens...............................

When you honestly can say that you don't know how much ammo you have, that is considered to be the minimum amount you should have. If you see more on sale, add it to the stock pile.

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Bill

Just one more box of each . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

enough so when someone tries to steal my safe they cannot get it off of the floor

I think Rudyard Kipling said it best,

“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition”

I also have a friend in Wy who says, " You either have ammo or no ammo. You never have too much ammo."

You don't have enough.

Buy lots more.

Heard loud and clear...thanks for the recommendations to all above. Now I have sufficient anecdotal information to justify more on-line purchases of ammo to my better half....last order of 1000 rounds of .38 did raise an eyebrow or two...

I have a neighbor in his 70s and never owned a gun until about 15 years ago. He got to thinking he might need a gun so he bought a new S&W .38 Spec. and a box of cartridges. The gun has never been fired and the box of cartridges have never been opened. I am led to believe that the number of guns and bullets a person needs (wants) has a lot of variables. Larry

I would but, the flippers get it all first. BTW, how many rounds come in this can?

I saved the pic to my computer and made it bigger... looks like is says "1600 Rounds" on the label

Using a simple magnifying glass on the monitor screen, shows it to be 1600 rounds!

I then went to Kmart,,, and got this,,,,

Took your time machine to.... 198something?

And,, Bam-Bam,,, it was purchased in Pittsburgh!!

That made me laugh Johnny! I will sometimes put on a second or third pair of reading glasses to do the same... didn't have an extra pair handy so I did it the "hard way".

That's 2 things I never see anymore... 22lr and and a Kmart.

Kmart here doesn't sell ammo. Cant hardly get there anyway.

I buy ammo when I find a good deal on it. This has lead me to ALOT of ammo. It also lead to ammo I have no guns for. This lead to buying more guns to shoot the ammo I got at a great deal. This is spiraling out of control but having a lot of fun at it. Ammo will always be of value if you sell the gun. Sometimes with and increase in value over what you paid for it. JMO

Personally, I try to have at least 200 rounds of factory ammo for each of my carry handguns, and as much 22LR for my 22s (I currently have only a K22) as I can.

For my rifles, I have about a thousand rounds of M2 on hand for my Garand. For my M4 type CQB AR, I have about 750 rounds at the ready. For my target rifles, since I try to tweak my match loads after each match, I only have about 100 rounds loaded, but the resources to produce several thousand rounds in 223, 7mm Remington Magnum, 308, and 30-06. For my 30 carbine, I have a few hundred rounds, and for the 25-35, maybe 2 or 3 boxes. For my shotguns, I have about 6 cases on hand.

If you reload, try to keep as many components on hand as you can afford. For your carry gun, try to have about 200 factory rounds.

If you don't reload, I would keep a minimum of a thousand rounds for each cartridge that you shoot.

For a CCW shooting, I want to have factory ammo on hand for the legal consequences. For a SHTF situation, I have no reservations about using reloads. Since I started reloading almost 40 years ago, I am fortunate to have never had an issue with reloaded ammo, and I have a high degree of confidence in the ammo that I make.

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Judge control not gun control!

And those answers can vary according to geography.

I initially missed that OP is in Kalifornistan. We have a raft of anti-gun legislation in the pipe right now. They've figured out that ammo can provide a nifty workaround for dealing with that obsolete old document known as the Constitution.

Among others are bills that would effectively kill internet sales and tax & legislate ammo out of $$$ reach of the average law abider. The prices will remain the same for those yoots that steal their ammo.

Reloaders aren't under their radar anymore either. Components will be taxed as well.

It's for the chi'druhn. BUY! BUY! BUY!