[Montana Rancher]

There have been several threads on ammunition, mostly complaining about the price of ammo and the best places to buy it currently.

I've read from several different sources how much ammunition to have in stock, the most ridiculous quantity I have seen is 10,000 rounds per gun from a pretty reputable source.

My thought is that people are putting a lot of emphasis on having vast quantities of ammo (and the latest $60 knife) when other preps go wanting that are more critical. I understand that protecting your preps and family are a high priority but I think there is some point where you've gotten more ammunition than is reasonable compared to what you are trying to protect.

So I'm here to say unless you have all your other needs completely prepped out, it is probably time to stop your fascination with guns and get on with the less glamorous part of prepping.

Other very pressing preps that should outgun buying all the ammo you can find on sale:

Clean drinking water system and backup system.
Food for 2 years
Shelter including plans for cold/hot weather and backup clothing, boots, work gloves
Gardening and canning supplies and water supply for the size garden you will grow.
Medical supplies and other health concerns i.e. disease, sewage and garbage disposal, personal hygene products
Other security needs like communications, night vision, gun cleaning supplies, sand bags

Another not often considered part of getting into gun fights is this, if you win then you will be able to accumulate the arms of the losers, if you lose all the ammo the world doesn't matter and this will all probably be figured out in about a 3 minute firefight, how many rounds can you shoot in 3 minutes?

So what amount of ammo is the right amount? Does anyone have a formula? Who here feels they have an adequate supply?

 

[Smitty901]

When your supply is not in your wife's way you are short.
If you can lock it up with one key you may need more.
If it fits nicely in the new addition to hold ammo your good for now.
Basic infantry issue carry was 210 rounds, everyone stuffed a bit more some where.
Without good control of fire your not in 2-3 minutes. Another reason defense is more important to a preper than offense .
You require enough fire power to keep what it yours, and to take what those that come for you have.
As for supply we are good but always room for improvement. Security is a never ending task.

 

[yzingerr]

Ammo quantity is a subjective matter as you stated.
If your plan is to bug out, 10,000 rounds of anything arent going to help you.
But, if you have a homestead in the country, 10,000 rounds should last a long while.

how many rounds you shoot in 3 minutes depends on the number of assailants too

 

[Verteidiger]

Honestly, I don't know if there is any such thing as the right amount, or any sort of formula that can be applied. Everyone has different circumstances, and different needs, not to mention different means.

Personally, I keep enough ammo on hand to where I can walk past the ammo aisle and not feel compelled to buy any more. Enough to go shooting and not feel like I need to buy more right away. Enough to weather panic buying surges. Enough to make sure I am not buying at peak market prices. I like to shoot 5.56, so I keep a lot of that on hand at all times.

I definitely agree with your point that people should also focus on other needs in addition to guns and ammo. Medical supplies, food, water, sanitation, shelter, etc., all have to be taken care of.

 

[csi-tech]

I have an AK 47, an M-4, a 12 gauge various handguns and a 30-06 deer rifle. I would like 1000 rounds for each assault rifle and 500 for each other gun.

 

[Cygnus]

I have an AK 47, an M-4, a 12 gauge various handguns and a 30-06 deer rifle. I would like 1000 rounds for each assault rifle and 500 for each other gun.

This is a reasonable amount I feel. I am going to be trying to amass the same numbers for mine.

 

[SDF880]

From what I understand the number 1 barter item in WW2 Europe civilian population was ammo. We may be faced with the same thing here
before long? Grab it while you can! It's in my 4G plan - Guns, Grub, Gas, Gallons (water)

 

[wesley762]

There is no such thing as to much ammo. Buy what you can afford along with your other preps. 10,000 honestly does not seem like alot, in a single afternoon just having fun I can burn through a few hundred rounds just messing around.

 

[paraquack]

I agree with SDF880. Ammo will probably be a large commodity some time in the future. Hell, just look what it's going for right now. If I could afford to tuck away 10k of each caliber, I would. I'd also like to have an A-10 parked on the runway in my backyard, and an M1A2 Abrams next to it. My plans are to be the first nuclear power on my block. Maybe then I can get the neighbor to clean up his dog's poops from my front yard.

 

[Pir8fan]

I have 2,000 rounds of each caliber except .22 LR. I have 12,000 rounds in that caliber.

 

[paraquack]

Need any .30 cal. carbine? maybe we could work out a deal?

 

[Ripon]

Ammo is a strange phenomena when it comes to "how much." I wonder if that guy striving for 3,000 rounds of 223 / 5.56m really thinks he'll live past the first 300 if forced to use it in defense of his life, family and property. I'm very keen on not wanting a shooting battle with anyone. If I'm going to I want it at as long a distance as possible since I prepared for that. Even my 338 Lapua I only have 80 live rounds for - do you know what my shoulder would be like after 20 of them? I keep reloading material on hand for them for another 100 and would like to get reloading materials for anothe 100 after that - over kill - sure. I also think that's a rifle that needs practice with for long range shooting. If I ever choose to use that rifle it will be at + 800 yards - training is essential to making that worth while.

On the other end of the spectrum I've always thought 22LR would be great barter material, and training ammo for those in my family that have not taken firearms as seriously as they should. I keep 22LR conversion kits of the AR-15 and 1911 on hand for practice purposes and if I use those to teach them how to shoot I don't want an ammo restriction on hand. I also use the 22LR to kill rattle snakes on my property. I almost always carry a 22 pistol with me in the back country so I don't run out of ammo. Yes I probably have 20k rounds of 22LR on hand - I say probably - because about 18 months ago I bought 3 ammo cans full based on weight. The weight suggested there were 11,000 rounds in the 3 cans. No I am not counting them. I used to buy a case about ever 18 months and probably shot a case every 2 years. I am certainly reducing that this year.

I do agree with the you can never have too much. Have you ever ran out? I did once. Freekin snakes almost won that fight.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

I do not think I will ever be in a firefight with (pick one) rampaging hordes from decimated cities, roving bands of psychotic militia types, UN soldiers, our soldiers, the FBI, the local cops, or anyone else.
However, in just a little over a year I will join my wife on a fixed income and most likely wil be unable to afford to buy ammo. Accordingly, starting almost a decade ago I began buying ammo each payday. A box of 30-30 one week, 30-06 the next, 12 ga, etc. If I wanted to go to the range I tried not to dip into my back-stock.
Along the way I managed to get some good deals on larger quantities: South African 7.62 NATO, Bulgarian 7.62X54R, Chinese 7.62X39, U.S. M-2 Ball and others.
I stock 20 different calibers and gauges for my firearms. From 22 Short to 45-70 Government. When the latest ammo shortage hit, no big deal. Nor the ones before that when Obama got elected and re-elected.
So, how much is enough for me? Enough to last the rest of my shooting life. And I've been working on that for years.

 

[SSGT]

There have been several threads on ammunition, mostly complaining about the price of ammo and the best places to buy it currently.

I've read from several different sources how much ammunition to have in stock, the most ridiculous quantity I have seen is 10,000 rounds per gun from a pretty reputable source.

My thought is that people are putting a lot of emphasis on having vast quantities of ammo (and the latest $60 knife) when other preps go wanting that are more critical. I understand that protecting your preps and family are a high priority but I think there is some point where you've gotten more ammunition than is reasonable compared to what you are trying to protect.

So I'm here to say unless you have all your other needs completely prepped out, it is probably time to stop your fascination with guns and get on with the less glamorous part of prepping.

Other very pressing preps that should outgun buying all the ammo you can find on sale:

Clean drinking water system and backup system.
Food for 2 years
Shelter including plans for cold/hot weather and backup clothing, boots, work gloves
Gardening and canning supplies and water supply for the size garden you will grow.
Medical supplies and other health concerns i.e. disease, sewage and garbage disposal, personal hygene products
Other security needs like communications, night vision, gun cleaning supplies, sand bags

Another not often considered part of getting into gun fights is this, if you win then you will be able to accumulate the arms of the losers, if you lose all the ammo the world doesn't matter and this will all probably be figured out in about a 3 minute firefight, how many rounds can you shoot in 3 minutes?

So what amount of ammo is the right amount? Does anyone have a formula? Who here feels they have an adequate supply?

I mentioned about still shooting at ranges a lot even now while supplies are scarce....And mentioned laughingly I had enough bullets in my garage to put a dimple in the earths crust....No joke about it however!

I reload EVERYTHING...And I have a system that I came up with. I always figure 5000-6000 rounds for a bolt action .308 win before the barrel is worn out (Start having accuracy problems) so 2000 brass...5000 bullets and primers and many 8 pound jugs of powder. Once I hit the halfway mark I order a new barrel and stock that much more reloading supplies for it. This is for EACH Bolt Action I have, I have 6. another .308...a pair of 22.250's and a pair of 300 mags.

Same for pistols except barrels will go a little longer so adjust accordingly, I have 9 Pistols.

Auto Rifles like the AR and AK are usually good for 15,000 rounds so 5000 brass per gun...15000 assorted bullets and plenty of primers.

To buy your powder.....Depending on the caliber you choose .223 / 5.56 - 7.62 or larger you then figure out how many grains of powder you use for load. There is right at 7000 grains of powder per pound so if your shooting .223 for example at 32 grains (Just and example!) your going to get 218 rounds per pound.

I slowly but surely built up a massive amount of reloading materials just like each of you build up food supplies...Stockpiled it just like food...use the oldest first (POWDER AND PRIMERS ONLY) The bullets and brass dont matter much!

Its not just prepping...Its my favorite hobby...I've been through shortages before and had to hold off on ranges even though I had a years supply. I swore never again!

I keep 300 to 500 rounds loaded for each weapon at all times but I usually go through those fairly fast...once a month to 2 months depending on gun.

Oh yea....Buying in Quantity too I pay as little as one fourth what a lot of you do for ammo!

 

[Moonshinedave]

I try to keep enough ammo, that I can go to the range often enough to stay well versed with my weapons, and enough in stock that I am not forced to pay inflated prices to replenish my stock. Good prices on ammo comes along, but you have to be patience, and look around. And lastly I try to keep enough ammo per weapon in case the SHTF. How much is enough? I don't know, I have an idea what I feel comfortable having in stock.

 

[Infidel]

This is a very subjective question. For me I don't keep a ton of loaded ammo around, maybe 200rds of .223 Rem, maybe 100rds each of 6.5x55 Swede, .35 Rem and .280 Rem. I have components on hand to load more if I start to get low. For the com block guns I like to keep a spam can of 7.62x54R and 300-400rds of 7.62x39 on hand since I don't load them. I was supposed to be stocking up on .22lr ammo just before the elections but hadn't gotten around to actually doing it, when the Newtown shooting happened and over night there was none to be had so I'm stuck with a measly 1500rds there. I'll probably end up doing some loading this spring and summer since I'm a little afraid to burn up the ammo I have on hand. Once all the components are loaded up I'll have to start hunting for more which will then get loaded also. I'd be comfortable at 1000rds of ammo/components for each gun, I'm not near this currently but I'm still looking for components to get caught up but I won't play over inflated prices for any of it.

-Infidel

 

[paraquack]

I would hope that the kind of fire power and supplies you talk about would never be necessary, but there is always that potential. All the more reason to bug out and hide. I hope invisibility would be a better form of protection, but then again, that would be wishful thinking at best. If forced to defend what is mine from massive hordes of city dwellers gone crazy, I would hope the pile of dead bodies around our places would scare the new ones away. Or I could put out a sign on the bodies, offering free meat. I say that tongue in cheek, but when sufficiently hungry, man has turned on man before, too many times to count.

 

[PaulS]

I would suggest that 2000 rounds for each gun is enough BUT you will only know if it is enough after you have had to use it to survive for two years.
I keep enough on hand to go for more than a year without having to reload - but I am constantly reloading.

 

[Scotty12]

I keep 2000 rounds for the M4, 5000 rounds for the .22 conversion, 500 for the .308 bolt action, and 2000 for the ak. All I need. If I want to go shoot, then I buy more for that purpose. If I cannot afford it or find it, I do not shoot.

 

[felixx]

200 rd for .223 and .275 Rigby, 2000rd for.22, 500 rd for 12ga. If I get thru that, I'm stuffed

When Mrs starts to work again I aim to double this.