While so many people are hoarding ammo, how much do we really need???

[hardknoxni69a]

People dont think about limits on ammo because its not really considered a gun law. its because more because the fire hazard. check your local fire department, almost every state has some kind of limit before your required a simple permit. lets face it if you have thousands of rounds on hand you should atleast let the fire department know for safety reasons.

 

[rwsmith]

One box

I bought one box of ammo in the last 9 months and I only got that to test out a new gun with factory stuff (and harvest the brass). What I need is components. I have enough ammo and components to last several months if I don't get carried away. Longer if I'm stingy. I think I'm going to voluntarily cut back on shooting to make my supplies last longer.

 

[rakstr]

If I could find my metric Crescent wrench, I could translate that for you!

Former Reynoldsburgian, Gahannanian!

How much do I need?

Exactly 1.6 Nunyas.
English Nunyas by the way, not that Metric stuff. I am American, you know.

 

[oberon]

PatrickinGA snip/ For any scenario I can imagine other than a war, revolution, some kind of Military confrontation I doubt I would ever need one clip, much less one box. /snip

Lest we forget the principles upon which this representative republic was founded..........

I do believe you answered your own question. Eh?

This is a good and evokative thread. Food for thought.
'Need'?. I reckon it's all relative.

 

[kenjen]

the sad fact of the matter is from how on, ammo and reloading components will cost more. prices will never drop to what they were 4 months ago. also it is going to be a few years before everyone gets their "life time" supply of ammo, also i don't think this is going to pass any time soon. face it this hobby, sport, passtime, just went up quite afew notches.....

 

[Fredo Batali]

Personally I need two, three, or more rounds, more than my adversary. When he/she is out of ammo and I'm still shooting, I'm the winner! Rule Number One: Go home at the end of the shift.

De Oppresso Liber

 

[R. G. Amos]

So whats wrong with hoarding? Its neither illegal nor immoral.

 

[kozmic]

"A lot", "hoarding" and "too much" are relative terms. If I dipped below x in my 9mm stash, I feel the need for more. Same with .22lr, .223, .25, 45 .38s, 357, 12ga........ If I routinely (1 or 2 x per week) go to the range or out in the woods and fire off several hundred rounds, my "inventory" depletes quickly (very quickly). What if I bring my wife or my kid or a buddy along? All of a sudden 1000 rounds of .22lr in inventory seems to be way too little.

That doesn't include defensive loads. I want to have a bare minimum of 50 rounds in each caliber. I'd rather have at least a hundred. I feel it's important to practice with your defensive loads. There are some big differences between range loads and CC loads.

I don't consider myself a hoarder or some sort of gun nut maniac. I shoot for recreation and stress relief as much as for proficiency practicing. Same with my family. If you shoot trap, sporting clays, etc. and several different pistols of various calibers your round count could easily be 500-600 per trip.

If there's a deal, I'm buyin' (at least for now). Hoarder? no, just a realist!

 

[Delos]

How many cartridges?

How many bullets do we need? How much of this countries land and factories are owned by foreign dictators? Will they ever put private armies on all their private land?

How stable is our criminal justice system. Why did they release all the criminals in the New Orleans flood. Why did all New Orleans courts shut down. Why were many policemen and police cars marooned.

In the early 1970's I read about the Attica Prison riots and lengthily takeover. The blame was spread over the prison staff (wrong). Little mention that they had put city street rioters in an old understaffed prison, where they continued rioting.

Our revolutionary war was only won, or barely won, because of many different situations.
Logistics and the British Defeat in the Revolutionary War
A big one was that the British were not prepared for a war across the ocean.

In the War of 1812:
A big deal for us was our ability to make black powder (gunpowder) from available mines and methods.

Coshocton County Ohio
(Put the word POWDER in your Find on Page in your edit drop down menu)

"Some of the saltpeter used for making powder for the war of 1812 was collected a few miles south of Roscoe. The caves formed by the projecting rocks had in the decomposed stone on their floors a great deal of nitrate of lime, which being leached with wood-ashes and exposed to the air and sun, gave nitrate of potash, a high priced material in those war times, wherewith to make powder."

 

[ChuckS1]

My first impression was this is a troll post. How much I need is like asking why do I "need" an assault rifle or a high capacity magazine. I need as much as I want.

Frankly, the OP may be Barney Fife for all I know and can get away with just 1 round in his pocket.

 

[edprof]

Don't fall into the "need" logic trap. It is the province of the banners.

I am about your age and retired, so my earning days are behind me. On the plus side, a lifetime supply ain't that much any more. But I bought it cheap with the understanding that real and imagined shortages, price hikes, punitive taxes, legislation against evil bullets or the evil raw material lead could seriously damage price and availability. My only surprise was how soon it happened.

Extra ammo is a good inflation resistant store of wealth and good trading or sale stock in lean times. Frankly, I can see no reason not to buy substantial stores of good ammo when the prices are reasonable. Stocking up now would be a bad strategy other than absolute short-term need. But over-supply in general makes sense to me from a number of perspectives. I also think it promotes the cause of liberty for this much ammo to be in private hands and past the last gate of government control. The banners have unwittingly created the very thing they sought to prevent - more ammo "out there". Or as they would say "on the streets", though I have looked and never seen any ammo there.

In terms of demographics I may have quite a bit in common with you.

My deep supply exists because of longevity. Even if there was no conspiracy at work, inflation is eating away at the capacities of each of us in terms of how easily we may be able to purchase ammunition at some point in the future. I want to be able to hunt, plink, or defend myself not just today but 20 years in the future (if I'm still around). I want my children and their children to be able to also.

My supply does not exist because of some vision or prediction of an Alamo or Waco event. It is to have enough over the long run.

 

[Maximumbob54]

Oh how I love yet another good fudd thread.

 

[crankyoldlady]

The OP must not be married. If he were, he'd know that the shoes in his wife's closet have nothing to do with "need".

Connect the dots.

 

[Rapidray]

the only ammo that caught me off guard was the 22 LR. I have my supply of 9mm, 45 acp, 7.62x39 and 54R. I am at 2000 rds on the 22 LR and I feel that is low. I would like a 7 year supply but someone threw a wrench into that works! Oh I retire in 7 and want to have a lot of ammo for retirement as that is what I will be doing! Shooting, shooting, you get the ideal.

 

[PatrickinGa]

My first impression was this is a troll post. How much I need is like asking why do I "need" an assault rifle or a high capacity magazine. I need as much as I want.

Frankly, the OP may be Barney Fife for all I know and can get away with just 1 round in his pocket.

I ain't no troll, and not nearly as touchy as some of the folks here.

The word "hoarding" was used in a descriptive sense:

Hoarding is a general term for a behavior that leads people or animals to accumulate food or other items during periods of scarcity

And "need" is a relative term, I understand that.

I also explained out range shooting, plinking, practice, competition, etc.

Just simply, SIMPLY wondered how much ammo people feel they need, mostly for defensive purposes.

Almost sorry I posted this, even sorry I joined this forum.

I ain't no Barney Fife, and am as Patriotic and as much of a
defender of the 2nd Amendment, as conservative, and as much of an Obama hater as they come.

But I do know how to read an OP and read the words as they were intended, not reading **** between the lines that isn't there.

Geez.

 

[PatrickinGa]

The OP must not be married. If he were, he'd know that the shoes in his wife's closet have nothing to do with "need".

Connect the dots.

Wonderful how much you can infer from so little information.

Been married 42 years, to same lady.

If this is representative of what the members of this forum are like, I am not real impressed either.

 

[jaymoore]

Well, the range trip mentioned earlier reaffirmed the notion that folk need to shoot more. Including me! Dang. About half as good as a "top form" day.

Considering that shot placement is far more important than caliber when using handguns, practice falls under a "need".

At least my weak hand shooting wasn't as "off" as the strong hand or two-handed efforts...

Y'alls' insights have been interesting. Whether this thread can end up doing any good is a whole 'nuther question...

 

[hkcavalier]

More!

I use the "shoot 1 buy 2" philosophy. After awhile you're sitting on a nice stockpile.

When you're talking about a consumable item, "how much do you need" is silly. Especially when proficiency is gained through consuming the item.

 

[rburg]

"Some of the saltpeter used for making powder for the war of 1812 was collected a few miles south of Roscoe. The caves formed by the projecting rocks had in the decomposed stone on their floors a great deal of nitrate of lime, which being leached with wood-ashes and exposed to the air and sun, gave nitrate of potash, a high priced material in those war times, wherewith to make powder."

I've read the saltpeter was made from Guano. That's got nothing to do with rocks decomposing but a lot more to do with bats using the cave as their bathroom. You've heard of someone being batsheet crazy? OK, I modified it for use here. Guess they were trapped in a cave full of bats.

 

[Brass Nuggets]

As I mentioned in my prior post, and in my rant last night, I refused to pay the criminal prices on gun broker... however, I managed to score 9mm ammo today @$17 a box (Fiocchi) from a honest supplier that HAS NOT jacked up ammo prices beyond a fair market price. I also alerted my steel shooting buddies as well so they can restock... relieving me of propping them up

I bought enough to top off my stock for all of 2013... sorry... i'm hoarding, but using as well

 

[Delos]

It was Legal?

Back when I was living in the Peoples Republick of Kalifornia I remember signing my name when buying a couple boxes of .22 rimfire cartridges. I believe it was 1980's. And I remember reading about it being against the law to have more than 1,000 rounds of any bullets, about that same time.

So eventually I changed states. Somewhere along the line I bought a couple bricks of rimfire. And maybe ten pounds of pellet gun pellets in case I ever need to live on the wild rabbits in my back acres. And a few traps.

And I plan to buy some garden seed that is not hybrid - and can be planted for generations - not bought every year.

And if I live long enough I may put a hand pump well in my back yard. If it is still legal.

I have a friend of a friend who has a picture of himself riding a motorcycle up Mount Whitney back when it was legal.

Long ago I rode in a few 80 mile motorcycle races in the California Desert. (4 twenty mile laps).

California is half state or federal property. State forest, federal forest, National Parks, National deserts. Most of the ocean beaches are privately owned or parks with a few trails.

So far you can hike in the mountains - on the few trails - and still step off a trail.

The few access points have the deer hunters elbow to elbow in some places, during the short season. Most have now probably been eaten by the protected Mountain Lions. Soon the protected wolves will be down from Oregon.

People used to die trying to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Now the mountains are protected against the people. They used to tell us that people cause erosion. Gosh - last I heard there has been 8 or 9 vertical miles of erosion in the last 100 or 200 million or so years - because that is how topsoil is made.

Most people can still have fireplaces in their houses. Most can still barbecue in back yard.
(Remember the mechanic's line in The Gods Must Be Crazy movie - "I don't want to talk about it".

Maybe I will have carved on my tombstone "he was born a free man" but he was not watching and protesting loud enough as everyone sold him out "legally".

 

[crankyoldlady]

Wonderful how much you can infer from so little information.

Been married 42 years, to same lady.

If this is representative of what the members of this forum are like, I am not real impressed either.

This post was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek way of saying we all have houses full of way more than we "need".

I need one coffee mug. And if it breaks, I can buy another. So why do I have 30 in the cupboard? Do I really need to hoard 30 coffee mugs?

I guess in the current climate folks get prickly when the topic turns to NEED. We are made to defend our need for a firearm, how many we need, and what type we need. And now it's how much ammo do we really need.

If it were only about need...we could ask, "Why did Rosa Parks NEED to sit in the front of the bus?"

 

[brokenprism]

How much do we really need? That depends on how long the war lasts. You can't project that, so... buy what you can.

 

[avigar]

Having a sufficient supply of ammo allows me to shoot whatever amount I want, whenever I want. I'd hate not to have it, then have to wait for several weeks until I can buy it again. I try to avoid buying when asking prices are unreasonable.

 

[Muddyboot]

I determine what I need in this life, if someone does not like it........

 

[blujax01]

As I mentioned in my prior post, and in my rant last night, I refused to pay the criminal prices on gun broker... however, I managed to score 9mm ammo today @$17 a box (Fiocchi) from a honest supplier that HAS NOT jacked up ammo prices beyond a fair market price. I also alerted my steel shooting buddies as well so they can restock... relieving me of propping them up

I bought enough to top off my stock for all of 2013... sorry... i'm hoarding, but using as well

Sorry, Man. Fair market price is whatever the public is willing to pay. Not one penny more or less. Some honest suppliers have more attractive fair market prices than others.
And I am glad that you found some 9mm at not only a fair market but attractive price as well. Here's hoping for an end to this current unattractive-to-buyers supply vs demand cycle.

To the OP, while your intentions are no doubt honorable, using the word "need" when it comes to firearms or ammunition is like waving a red flag at a bull. None of this is about "need" in a quantitative sense. No offense meant and I hope that none is taken.

 

[KEN L]

I "need" way more than I can find or afford!

 

[arjay]

I just need enough to go shooting when the mood strikes.

 

[SMSgt]

Panic drives the shortage, then the shortage drives the panic. It's crazy.

 

[rakstr]

I add this question/statement to the list of other irrelevant ones I've recently heard. Maybe we should start a Who NEEDS this thread thread

• Why does someone NEED an AR
• Who NEEDS more than 10 rounds in a magazine
• Who NEEDS more than X guns
• Do you really NEED to make that much money
• You really NEED to pay your fair share
• Who NEEDS semi-automatic weapons
• How many ounces of soda do you NEED