How much ammo do you need?
- Thread starter J Rich
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brownbing
Member
If I only have a couple hundred rounds of each caliber for the guns I shoot , then I consider myself ,out of ammo. It goes fast.
Need is always relative. Over the years I've always had an interest in 1903 and 1903-A3 rifles as well as .38/.357 and .45ACP handguns. So I've always tended to keep a stock of ammunition and components forse firearms that was sufficient fo my rutine trips to the range as well as my occasional forays into vintage military rifle matches and local handgun matches.
Over the last several years I've focused more on vintage military rifles, both to enjoy owning as well as shooting in matches. For some reason back around 2002 I got busy buying M-2 ball and various loadings of 7.62mm. I sold off the 7.62mm as I simply was not shooting it all that much. I even sold off some of the M-2 that was surplus to my needs. I currently have on hand enough M-2 to meet my needs for at least the next 5 years. I have components on hand for another 5 years.
I have a smaller supply of handgun ammunition on hand. At the rate I shot my handguns, i have enough ammo on hand for about the next year. But that is all. I have foolishly let my components also dwindle. So I will be needing to find and buy the necessaries that will allow me to keep enjoying shooting my 1911's and my S&W revolvers. Given that the calibers are not to exotic... i.e., .38/.357, .44 Special, .45ACP, I figure that sooner or later I'll be able to get the bullets and primers I need. Happily I have a copious quantity of brass and powders for these calibers.
When it comes to the ubiquitous .22LR, I'm in pretty good shape. I have one little S&W 18-3, a Ruger 77/22 and a S&W 15-22. These little things each have their own particular use. I have enough .22 LR ammo on hand to keep them all busy for at least a year, maybe two years. Before and during the early part of this current panic, I managed to pick up 9 bricks of decent .22 LR ammo which I also managed to not waste in promiscuous plinking.
Due to the current difficulty of finding ammunition, I have reduced the number of rounds I'm firing when I go to the range. As I see ammunition available, I am buying it. I expect that supply will improve. Prices will not remain at the current scalper levels. I will maintain my stock of M-2 and expand what I have in the way of handgun and .22 LR ammunition.
In a post apocalyptic situation, most bets are off. One thing is for sure. The man that thinks he is going to go it alone and take care of himself is out of luck. Long term success will go to those who are able to work together. That not only includes firearms and ammunition but also food, clothing, shelter and protection.
As to the hypothetical corpses lying in a front yard, it'd be best to get them quickly buried. Otherwise they'd only result in a overwhelming stench and possible disease. As well people looking for possible targets to loot would likely figure that so many corpses indicated a local where there was a cache of firearms, ammo, food, fuel, etc.
Over the last several years I've focused more on vintage military rifles, both to enjoy owning as well as shooting in matches. For some reason back around 2002 I got busy buying M-2 ball and various loadings of 7.62mm. I sold off the 7.62mm as I simply was not shooting it all that much. I even sold off some of the M-2 that was surplus to my needs. I currently have on hand enough M-2 to meet my needs for at least the next 5 years. I have components on hand for another 5 years.
I have a smaller supply of handgun ammunition on hand. At the rate I shot my handguns, i have enough ammo on hand for about the next year. But that is all. I have foolishly let my components also dwindle. So I will be needing to find and buy the necessaries that will allow me to keep enjoying shooting my 1911's and my S&W revolvers. Given that the calibers are not to exotic... i.e., .38/.357, .44 Special, .45ACP, I figure that sooner or later I'll be able to get the bullets and primers I need. Happily I have a copious quantity of brass and powders for these calibers.
When it comes to the ubiquitous .22LR, I'm in pretty good shape. I have one little S&W 18-3, a Ruger 77/22 and a S&W 15-22. These little things each have their own particular use. I have enough .22 LR ammo on hand to keep them all busy for at least a year, maybe two years. Before and during the early part of this current panic, I managed to pick up 9 bricks of decent .22 LR ammo which I also managed to not waste in promiscuous plinking.
Due to the current difficulty of finding ammunition, I have reduced the number of rounds I'm firing when I go to the range. As I see ammunition available, I am buying it. I expect that supply will improve. Prices will not remain at the current scalper levels. I will maintain my stock of M-2 and expand what I have in the way of handgun and .22 LR ammunition.
In a post apocalyptic situation, most bets are off. One thing is for sure. The man that thinks he is going to go it alone and take care of himself is out of luck. Long term success will go to those who are able to work together. That not only includes firearms and ammunition but also food, clothing, shelter and protection.
As to the hypothetical corpses lying in a front yard, it'd be best to get them quickly buried. Otherwise they'd only result in a overwhelming stench and possible disease. As well people looking for possible targets to loot would likely figure that so many corpses indicated a local where there was a cache of firearms, ammo, food, fuel, etc.
retarmyaviator
US Veteran
Out of the approximately 18,000 rounds of pistol ammunition I own only about 15 rounds is specifically dedicated to personal defence the rest is used through out the year in practice and competition.
We aren't all preppers.
Neither was Katrina.
David LaPell
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One thing I remember from high school government class was studying the various forms of government in all forms. I picked anarchy and the French Revolution. Unlike the American Revolution the French Revolution had such a dark turn and one can almost say there were evil motives behind it, especially with the death of so many who had nothing to do with the aristocracy. They didn't call it the Reign or Terror for nothing. People often say we are nearing Concord or something similar, we would do better to say we are close to 1789 in our regards. Food is getting too expensive to afford and too many are looking to the government to save them, that was France. The Colonists were pretty independent which is why so many of them were here in the first place. In France many were looking to the King for help and received none. There was a definite split between the haves and have nots, and the peasants took notice. France was broke, owed money to foreign powers and needed money after the Seven Years War and helping us out against the British during our Revolution. King Louis fired Jacques Necker the comptroller-general of France who did not want to tax the public any more but wanted to reduce the exemptions on the upper class. Louis then found another comptroller who was not so squeamish about taxes and proposed a land tax that would also include the clergy and nobility. The king refused and called a meeting of the Estates General for the first time in over a hundred years. Not much came out of it and the biggest forces in France crying for revolution were what would be called progressives and liberals today. This is where "liberty, equality and fraternity" came from, essentially a form of socialism and property sharing. Sound familiar? Well in the long run you can only stretch the rubber band so far, and I don't know when the one holding this country and economy will snap. The people the media is telling everyone to fear is not who they should be watching. I wonder with the rising gas and food prices if we will not see another "Occupy" movement this summer. I know they are even here in my little town although cold weather seems to deter them some. But when they were in Albany, NY they trashed a couple of parks and even the Albany D.A. would not prosecute them after vandalism and assaulting police, including putting one cop in the hospital. They are similar to the mobs that stormed the Bastille in 1789, they were fueled by rage and they were bent on destruction. Most cannot rely on anything but the government for aide, most do not know how to be self reliant and get their own food, and they think that they are owed something. They are dangerous to this country and its future because this new generation is gaining a foothold among the electorate. That rubber band might not break for some time, but it will break. So how much ammo do you need? Enough to feed your family, enough to protect your home and enough to make you sleep at night. But at the same time, most peoples' homes are not defensible. You can shoot through plywood, it burns and quite well. If you don't think a well armed body of looters will burn your house down with you and your family in it you are sadly mistaken. Again watching Doomsday Preppers to me is almost like watching a sitcom because these people are laughable, and National Geographic wants it that way. They want to make people who are preparing for disaster to look like a bunch of nuts and rubes. I know I don't tell people what I have for supplies other than I have enough. My neighbors know little of me other than I hunt, fish and the like. They have a generator as I do, they have wood for their stove, I have a fireplace, so in those regards we are pretty equal. Still though I like living as far away from the populace as possible but if things go bad eventually there will be hungry people at my door knocking on it. I don't pretend to sit here and say that I will start stacking bodies up on my lawn of those who try and take what we have. I would not consider shooting people such an easy matter. These will be families, not necessarily marauders. They will be hungry people, not necessarily looters bent on destruction.
GF
Member
"So the answer is not how much do you need but how much can you afford."
^^^^^
This.
I always bought a box or two when I went to Wal-Mart or wherever ammo was sold.
Just what I could afford, not by the case, and it added up.
Now when the kids come over I shoot as much as they want (
) and don't worry about running out.
When this ammo drought is over my friends, please have sense enough to PUT SOME BACK for next time.
GF
^^^^^
This.
I always bought a box or two when I went to Wal-Mart or wherever ammo was sold.
Just what I could afford, not by the case, and it added up.
Now when the kids come over I shoot as much as they want (
) and don't worry about running out.When this ammo drought is over my friends, please have sense enough to PUT SOME BACK for next time.
GF
Last edited:
gdnagle
US Veteran
Rumor has it during Vietman it took 50,000 round to kill 1 VC but that includes suppresive fire.
rojodiablo
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The number in Iraqistan is hovering around 200,000-250,000 rounds per confirmed KIA.
Does not include deceased via bombings, only small arms confirmed KIA.
I think it owes much to the 15inch thick walls on most mud houses there, and the volume of hard terrain and concrete structures the people live in.
Were you to take that kind of fire rates to a mobile home park?? The incidentals and other counts would be a lot higher for the ammo expended. It has much to do with hard structures vs. soft structures.
Friend's Marine son came back from Afghanistan and jokes about the ordnance impervious mud that the houses are made of.
Glad he is able to joke about the mud houses. From his dad I know he saw tough action that he does not talk about.
FishingPilot
US Veteran
While we are on the subject of ammo......
Where do you guys store it all? I have no room in my gun safe for the amount I have (which is none of your darn business - for you gov spies viewing this site ). I've been tempted to buy another safe, remove the selves and racks and use it for ammo storage, but the wife is not too concerned with securing the ammo when you factor in the cost of a new safe. But then again, I think I have more money invested in ammo than guns....given today's prices.
Where do you guys store it all? I have no room in my gun safe for the amount I have (which is none of your darn business - for you gov spies viewing this site
). I've been tempted to buy another safe, remove the selves and racks and use it for ammo storage, but the wife is not too concerned with securing the ammo when you factor in the cost of a new safe. But then again, I think I have more money invested in ammo than guns....given today's prices.
Last year I anticipated a run on guns and ammo if the country reelected President Obama. I stocked up on firearms I wanted in my collection, magazines for those firearms and ammo for each caliber I own. The result, I have less ammo than I need and much more than I can afford! 
SW_shooter
Member
I don't have enough ammo, but my bigger problem is I don't have enough high capicity magazines to hold it either. If and when the day come I have to expend copioius amounts of ammo to protect my family I won't be able to reload magazines fast enough in comparison to how fast I unload them. After the frenzy in 2008 I kept buying whenever I found some ammo regardless of caliber. So I have a small stash as I usually buy and rotate stock when going to the range. Of course I have a boating trip planned just before the govmnt crack down/confiscation and the boat has a terrible history of capsizing and sinking.
Anyone know where I can find some cheap ammo? And guns?
Anyone know where I can find some cheap ammo? And guns?
GF
Member
"Where do you guys store it all?"
In ammo cans in a metal cabinet - has worked for me for decades.
GF
In ammo cans in a metal cabinet - has worked for me for decades.
GF
keith44spl
Member
retarmyaviator
US Veteran
While we are on the subject of ammo......
Where do you guys store it all? I have no room in my gun safe for the amount I have (which is none of your darn business - for you gov spies viewing this site
The only thing I put in safes are my firearms. All the ammunition cans are stacked up under my reloading bench and work bench.
Alpo
Member
Me too, but I might have to re-think.
In my safe is a Ithaca 49, 22 single-shot rifle. Paid 68 bucks for it, some years back. But on the floor is a 50 caliber can with 1000 rounds of 45 ball. At 20 bucks a box, that's 400 dollars. Sitting next to it is a 50 caliber can with 1000 rounds of 5.56. Even at a buck a round (and I've seen it priced higher) that's a grand. So there's 1400 bucks of ammo sitting on the floor, while a 70 dollar rifle is in the safe.
Hmmmmm.
In my safe is a Ithaca 49, 22 single-shot rifle. Paid 68 bucks for it, some years back. But on the floor is a 50 caliber can with 1000 rounds of 45 ball. At 20 bucks a box, that's 400 dollars. Sitting next to it is a 50 caliber can with 1000 rounds of 5.56. Even at a buck a round (and I've seen it priced higher) that's a grand. So there's 1400 bucks of ammo sitting on the floor, while a 70 dollar rifle is in the safe.
Hmmmmm.
rakstr
Member
This is an easy question for me. One more round than anyone else!
keith44spl
Member
We've been alerted to the fact of home burglaries for ammo....
No tracking attached, as with firearms.
.
No tracking attached, as with firearms.
.
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