How much ammo do you need?

[rimfired]

I have accumulated, over the years and through
circumstance gleaned when to know enough is enough. I
reload also.

I recall a time when I humped more ammo than anybody.
That was combat. My greatest fear was not being shot or killed. It was running out of ammo.

For civilian purposes the current trend affects me not.

Plus all my firearms were lost in a tragic boating accident last year, in a volcano.

 

[redlevel]

I accumulated about 4000 rounds of .45ACP since 1994. I didn't shoot a whole lot, maybe 200 rounds per year, and I easily replaced those. Since retirement, I have been shooting a whole lot more. I shot about 200 rounds of .45ACP in the last ten days. I intend to shoot about that much every week or so now, not to mention the 300-400 rounds of .22 lr I shot in my new "Shopkeeper." At that rate, my hoard won't last long. A thousand or so rounds per month, per caliber, without replacing them depletes the stash in hurry. I reload .45 Colt and .38/.357. I am going to add .45 ACP. I have a fair supply of primers, about 7K each of sp and lp. I hope to live and shoot a good many more years.

I need lots of ammo.

 

[J Rich]

Alright then seems some may be taking the question out of context. I'm not debating the need of 30rd mags and car that go 200mph. It's just a question of needing to pay crazy prices for ammo these days.

If you WANT 50,000 rounds I'm ok with that. As long as you aren't one of the crazies that shoot up schools and such.

As far as ammo being currency. It seems it would take long for you to run out of ammo. Then what? One guy in town has all the ammo, and you have eaten all the food, and are now out of food, tp, and bullets.


Please don't take the question out of context. I am also not taking Zombies here!

 

[ladder13]

MORE, give me MORE

 

[Cdog]

I have no idea of how much I need? I won't know till I do need it?

I'm a simple guy, thus I believe it's far better to have it and never need it than to ever need it and not have it.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

I don't see what's so complicated. Average annual use times life expectancy in years equals total need. Most people can't store that. Some can. If you can't, buy as much as you can. If can, you should have bought it all already.

Since the longer you live, the longer you are expected to live (usually), even those who are fully stocked may want to check actuarial tables or doctor's predictions and top off occasionally. You might also want to consider what your ammo bequest to your survivors should be. Don't overdo it! After fifty or sixty years, some of that ammo might not be as good as the day it was born. By all means, rotate your stock.

 

[Alpo]

There was a movie, many years back (probably made-for-TV). Science fiction. These astronauts went off, and when they came back several centuries had passed. Worm hole? Suspended animation? I don't remember. Anyway, the WAR had happened, and mankind had regressed. Pretty much stone-age, maybe early iron. Long hair and beards and dressed in skins.

One of the astronauts was trying to make a deal with one of the natives. Either "you give me this" or "you do this for me" - whatever - "and I'll give you THIS!!!", and holds up the flaregun from the space capsule.

The native looks at him like he's a moron.

"Shooter? What good's a shooter? Shooters are everywhere.

"Got no brasses."

 

[retarmyaviator]

Evidently I've got too much. I just finished moving 35 50 cal ammo cans full of 9mm and 45 ACP.

Hopefully that pain I feel is not another hernia.

 

[spricks]

Be prepared...you just never know when your want could become a need...times change. Just sayin
spricks

 

[chud333]

I don't "need" as much as a lot of folks. I can only shoot on the weekends,
as i work through the week. My plinking now will be done with a .22LR
due to the cost of replacing centerfire rounds. Be it loaded ammo or
components, the cost to replace is nuts. I do reload for my centerfire
rounds but even the components are getting harder to get and expensive.
So i will just scale back my centerfire pistol and rifle shooting
to a point where i will not significantly diminish my stockpile until this
craziness ends. I have plenty enough for "me" right now. And i feel my
supply is adequate to get me through whatever i might encounter be it
natural disaster/some stupid legislative act/etc...
What's the Hank Williams Jr. song?
A Country Boy can Survive...
I understand what you are getting at Jrich
Keep on keepin' on

Chuck

 

[sipowicz]

Be prepared...you just never know when your want could become a need...times change. Just sayin
spricks

Oh, the s is supposed to be there...carry on.

 

[yaktamer]

How much do I need?

I'm growing weary of the way we're always concerned about what other people need or want. Do you really need all that ammo? Do you really need all those guns? Does your wife really need all those shoes? Do you really need a 16 oz soft drink? Do millionaires really need all that money? Do you really need to drive a full size car?

This is the United States of America . . . I don't really care what possessions people think I do or don't need as long as I come by it legally.

The answer to the question about shoes is "no." All the others obviously are "yes."

 

[labworm]

I'm all set.

 

[Hillbilly77]

Oh, the s is supposed to be there...carry on.

I get it.

 

[feralmerril]

Somewhere I read how much ammo custers troopers were issued, cant remember how much it was but remember it was far less than I used to take to the range for a session. Seems some of them ran out of ammo.
Still, they were something like a week or twos ride from the fort, in hostile country knowinly rideing into trouble. The opinion of the day of what they might need seems like it was a factor of maybe 200 to 1 of what some of us think we might need to defend ourselves right at home in civilization. The same with the civil war. Those guys carried next to nothing compared to what we think we need. I will concead you were faceing single shots, but many thousands of them!

 

[gregintenn]

I have a lot of ammo and reloading supplies. For years, I've watched store closeouts, want ads, yard sales, auctions, etc., and when I've found a bargain, I bought.

I live in a rural area, and driving to the store is more of an ordeal than walking next door. We have a good stock of food, toilet paper, etc. Each summer we can garden vegetables, and in the winter, we put up meat.

I'm not a prepper; just a country boy. I don't want to have to chase around from store to store all day searching for ammo if I decide I want to shoot a certain gun.

 

[bricker]

Oh, the s is supposed to be there...carry on.

I see what you did there!

 

[timn8er]

I have one round...it's in my shirt pocket.

I lost the rest of my ammo in a boating accident, along with all my guns.

So, all I have is one round...and no guns.

I have accumulated, over the years and through
circumstance gleaned when to know enough is enough. I
reload also.

I recall a time when I humped more ammo than anybody.
That was combat. My greatest fear was not being shot or killed. It was running out of ammo.

For civilian purposes the current trend affects me not.

Plus all my firearms were lost in a tragic boating accident last year, in a volcano.

More boating accidents!? If I remember correctly this brings the total to six? WHEN WILL PEOPLE LEARN!! Boats & firearms
don't mix!!

 

[mkk41]

Just dispose of all the worldly items you have and trust in the Government to provide all that you NEED!

It worked so well under Communism.

 

[jimmyj]

Somewhere I read how much ammo custers troopers were issued, cant remember how much it was but remember it was far less than I used to take to the range for a session. Seems some of them ran out of ammo.
Still, they were something like a week or twos ride from the fort, in hostile country knowinly rideing into trouble. The opinion of the day of what they might need seems like it was a factor of maybe 200 to 1 of what some of us think we might need to defend ourselves right at home in civilization. The same with the civil war. Those guys carried next to nothing compared to what we think we need. I will concead you were faceing single shots, but many thousands of them!

1. 60 rounds of .45/60 carbine ammo
2. 20 rounds of .45 colt ammo
3. extra ammo was carried in the supply wagons which were left behind as being not able to keep up with the Cavalry.
4. Extra ammo was also carried on the indiviual horses which the hostiles stampeded with their first attack/charge/rush.
5. at the end of the short battle, the Troopers still alive were searching the fallen Troopers for ammo.