How do you define "Hoarding ammo"?

I have not bought any new ammunition (exept for rimfire) in several years. I reload every center fire handgun, rifle and shotgun round I own a gun for to include .410.

When the mess hit the fan, I did stock up on reloading supplies to where I have at least six months of powder and primers. Now folks are complaining about others hording reloading supplies since it is very difficult to buy primers and powder. There is even a shortage of reloading equipment.

Reloading may become the new deal or ordeal especially if the idea of special taxes on ammunition catches on with our various governments (Fed, State & Local)
 
Hoarding is one thing and flipping is another. I suppose flipping is rapidly becoming a felony in a few states. Unless of course you do a 4473 in the parking lot.
 
Hoarding?

My opinion is that if you have significantly more than you will need, then you may be "hoarding". But "need" for how long? That is the deciding factor for me. What you have is based on your finances, your interest in shooting, and I guess availability. I buy when it low priced and high priced. Dollar cost averaging = good ammunition supply.

The person who likes to shoot 22LR with their kids and has none would look at someone having a case (5,000 rounds) as hoarding because that might well be a several year supply for them. This person would likely buy one or two bulk packs at a time. They do not buy target grade ammo.

Talking about 22 rimfire ammo.... this is ammo that tends to be cached and accumulated to volumes well beyond what a normal shooter might consume shooting centerfire ammo. It's relatively cheap, normally available, and stores easily and safely. I consider it prudent sense to buy a supply ahead of the actual need.

So what is enough? When does your cache become a hoard?

The discussion may be pointless as what I think is enough and if I have the fore sight to buy it ahead of time, makes little difference to someone who absolutely has no ammunition and has limited ability to buy any.

I shoot 41 magnum and I have not been reloading. I am always thinking about buying 41 magnum ammunition and trying to find ammo that is good but not extremely costly. Hence, you build up a cache of the stuff because it is harder to replace quickly than say the more popular calibers. I have more than I would shoot in a year, maybe two years... is that hoarding? I think not.

I have enough of the promotional 22 rimfire ammunition to do me for a number of years. But I am lacking in good quality target ammunition. Is that hoarding? No, I buy it when I find it and I routinely purchased some almost on a weekly basis when availabilty was good. So, I have some.

Is my handgun centerfire cache hoarding? I think not. I try to keep at least 10 50-ct boxes available for my use. I could run through that in a month of my normal shooting.

Centerfire rifle? Depends on how much you shoot as always. I don't shoot a lot of it so a few hundred rounds is generally more than adequate as a resource. I do shoot more 223 however and that supply needs to be in the thousands of rounds or I feel like I could shoot it up in a couple outings.
 
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PatientWolf
How do you define "Hoarding ammo"?
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I would start with part of my definition would be purchasing more than 100 rounds of pistol or 20 rounds of rifle ammunition that you have no weapons chambered for.
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100 rounds of pistol is 2 boxes! 20 rounds of rifle is a single box! There's no way I would call anyone picking up a box or two of ammo a hoarder even if they don't have a gun for it. I currently have 500+ rounds of 45ACP but no gun for 'em 'cause I got rid of my 1911's. Is that hoarding? If someone has a dozen Ruger 10/22's and go through a couple of bricks of 22LR in a single outing, is buying 30,000 rounds hoarding?

As far as I'm concerned, if you got the money to buy enough ammo to last a few years at the current rates, God Bless ya. I'm just glad I took up archery & edge weapons a while back. ;)
 
I'm with the 'it depends' crowd. A few years back I was at the range one day with my kids and in conversation with another guy there he said something to the effect of "I'm not one of those crazy hoarders that keeps 1000 rounds of every caliber they shoot on hand". At the time, I was reloading for 4 of us shooting action pistol once a week. We just looked at each other and shrugged, 1000 rounds doesn't last long under those conditions.

But now there's only 2 of us and we don't hit it every week. I keep significantly less on hand. But I still pick up components in significant numbers. 5000 pistol primers sounds like a lot and might last me 2 or 3 years. But I got them for just over a hundred bucks and they won't get any cheaper. Now, if I kept 50,000 on hand, I'd might admit to hoarding. But if I was shooting heavy duty competition, that might only be a year or so worth.

What I like most about stocking components and ammo is the fact that, when I head to the range or out hunting, I don't have to stop and pick up ammo, at whatever it's going for now, assuming they have it. Or worse, base my shooting on what I can get. Just walk over to the cabinet and pick out some of the stuff I loaded with the components I got on sale last year. I can still do that NOW with the current shortages.
 
It's funny how so many folks who are up in arms over politicians saying you don't "need" a particular type of gun, or the ability to carry more than x number of rounds, are the same people willing to make lists of how much ammunition other people "need."

Can't have it both ways, guys.

Someone sent me a PM last night, saying that my earlier post ("unAmerican") was an insult. It really wasn't; it was just a statement of philosophic fact. Making a decision about what other people "need" -- and making judgments for them about whether their reasons for "needing" it are valid -- runs squarely against the ideals our form of government was founded upon.

I think a lot of the current angst is driven by the same dynamic that made The Grasshopper and The Ant such a powerful little children's story, years ago. But people don't tell that story to their kids anymore.

pax
 
I don't believe there's any such thing, and I think it's fundamentally unAmerican to complain about other people buying stuff.
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I actually think it is fundamentally very American to have the right to complain about something that you think is wrong.

That being said, I think it is also very American to be able to buy what you want in quantity since you worked hard to earn the $$$ to make the purchase.
 
I think a lot of the current angst is driven by the same dynamic that made The Grasshopper and The Ant such a powerful little children's story
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Exactly. I've always bought in bulk just for the price break. But after the 2008 shortages, I bumped up my 'on hand' quantities. The current shortage isn't really affecting me. What some call hoarding I call planning ahead and has nothing to do with why folks can't find ammo now.

If I knew someone who went into debt to 'hoard' 100,000 rounds I might question their decision making ability and financial acumen, but not their right to do so. I might check in on them from time to time to see if they needed cash more than they needed the stockpile....:cool:
 
If I knew someone who went into debt to 'hoard' 100,000 rounds I might question their decision making ability and financial acumen, but not their right to do so. I might check in on them from time to time to see if they needed cash more than they needed the stockpile.... :cool:
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Ohhhh, yes.

Especially on that last bit. :D

pax
 
Hoarding is all a point of view. If I have a lot and someone else has none, they may view me as a hoarder. That is simply a derogatory label applied to those of us with the forward thinking capacity to be prepared. I do not feel sympathy for the guys whining about not being able to buy ammo now. It was plentiful, cheap, and readily available for 50 of the 52 weeks in 2012. Instead of buying ammo, they walked on by it lulled into complacency by the availability of it. I was the other guy. I was the guy buying a bunch of whatever I needed while it was there looking back at me from the shelf. If being cognizant of what happened in 08 and prepared ahead of time for a repeat occurrence makes me a hoarder to some then that's fine. They're really just mad at themselves because they failed to prepare and I did not. I am not losing any sleep over that.
 
I'm not particularly well prepared for an ammo famine like this -- but it's my own fault. No one else's.

pax
 
I actually think it is fundamentally very American to have the right to complain about something that you think is wrong
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I believe you are confusing the rights of the person with their views.

Being an American means you have freedom, including the freedom to gripe.
If you choose to gripe about Americans exercising freedom, you at least implicitly argue that Americans shouldn't have freedom.

One can certainly say such a person is unAmerican without also saying they do not have the right to advance such arguments.

To say a person is unAmerican, I think, says that they hold positions fundamentally in conflict with American principles. That they make use of the liberties and principles held dear by Americans to advance those positions makes them no less unAmerican. Nor does proper labeling of their advocacy of unAmerican principles equate to advocating the removal of their right to advance such positions--at least not in America.
 
There's a problem with "need". When someone else decides what you need, you are no longer your own man. Or in the case of Pax, Lady. Only I can decide what I need. Only I can decide if I'm a hoarder.
 
Slippery slope, beware!

Hoarding...such an evil, selfish sounding term. Dragons have hordes. Misers have hoards. Mongols have hordes.

I have a reasonable quantity.

And no, YOU don't get to decide what is reasonable, for me. Nor I for you.

What if I felt that if you had $10,000 in your bank acct, you were hoarding money? I mean, obviously, that's more than anyone needs for day to day living, right? You should be forced to turn all that excess in, so it can be redistibuted to the rest of us! Anyone have any complaints with that logic?

I have been buying ammo and components on a fairly regular basis for the last 40+ years. And I haven't been shooting it all up. I reload for over 30 different cartridges, and have at least several thousand rounds of loaded ammo on hand at all times. And a fair bit more in reloading supplies.

In fact, I haven't bought any ammo or primers in the last couple years. Now, thanks to all the panic buyers, I have a difficult time getting what I am used to getting on a regular basis. If all those people hadn't been so short sighted, instead of waiting and causing a panic induced shortage, we wouldn't be where we are today.

Beware the slippery slope, decide not for others what they need! Because if you do, then someone else will come along and decide what it is that you need, and odds are, you won't like it.

And if it is someone in govt that takes upon themselves the authority to decide what you need, I guarantee you won't like it!
 
Dragons have hordes. Misers have hoards. Mongols have hordes.
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It's in the eye of the beholder and the envious. Buying and storing ammo that you will use is not hoarding IMO. Nor is buying more when you find some at a good price.
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I agree with that.
I ran into a guy at WM 2 weeks ago who was in his 50's and had been hunting 30+ yrs. He was complaining he had 20 guns and not a single round to go in them cause everywhere was sold out.

Is that the stores fault ? The ammo makers fault ? The people who are buying what they needs fault? Or is it his because he did not have the foresight to already have some ammunition purchased?

Most of the people complaining about others "hoarding" are the ones who were ill prepared 2 months ago.

I do not sell ammo, nor will i ever unless some SHTF event happens and I need to barter.
I consider ammo to be a investment for my future and for my children's future. Just look at how much the prices have risen since 08.
You back then could buy 22 bulk packs for about $11... after 08 they rose to $18-20 ...... just last week there was a website selling 22 bulk packs at $69.. they sold at that price and they raised it to $75... by the time they ran out they were at $84 a pack.

For those who were ill prepared they paid the price. I really hope this "shortage" is a eye opener for a lot of people.

Even the boy scouts know rule # 1 ..... BE PREPARED
 
Anyone with more ammo than I have is hoarding:D

Seriously. Because of lessons learned from past experiences I have a lot of ammo. Not as much as many others, but enough to last me at least a year if I were to continue to shoot at my normal pace. But I didn't run out and buy it all at once. Just a little at a time over many years. The largest single purchase I've made was a couple of years ago my brother and I split 1,000 rounds of 5.56 ammo. Some would call me a hoarder, but I bought mine when supplies were good and demand and prices were low. I prefer to call that wise.

I've not bought any ammo to speak of since the craziness began. I'm letting folks who truly don't have any first chance at it as it comes in. When ammo supplies get back to normal I'll replace what I've shot and probably try to build up a bit more of a reserve.
 
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