How many rounds should you have stored away for a caliber?

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As most have said above, it depends on how much you shoot and how much you plan to shoot in the future and in addition to that.. how pessimistic you feel about ammo availability.

all the above has to do with the 'sport' of shooting... if a bad thing happens and you would actually need hundreds of rounds of ammo for defense... it really doesn't matter how much you have on hand... there will be plenty laying around for the taking.
 
extra

I recently took my CCW class and the instructor said that for each caliber of handgun you own, you should have no less than 5k rounds of ammo. He said that 10k would probably be better.
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Did the man provide a rationale for that? "You need this because,,,,,,"
That'd be 200,000 rounds of ammo if I took it seriously.

That being said.....i reload everything that I shoot (CF) and have on hand enough components to shoot for years. But loaded ammo.......rarely more than 500-600 rounds for cartridges that I shoot a lot. Other than those, it's one or two boxes per cartridge.
Pete
 
Though I highly doubt it will get to that point, 22 rimfire will be the last round available and the first round to re-enter production.
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I still have some packs of 7.62x39 ammo that have "$49.99 per 500" stickers on them. Similar with my 22 rimfire stocks. Really came in handy when 22 rimfire was totally unavailable during the shortage.
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:confused:

Which is it?

Does your instructor happen to sell ammo?
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My exact first thought.

My formula is:

Buy a few hundred rounds up front (if a new caliber) and see how much I use the first year. Buy a five year supply when it is as cheap as I think it will be. Replenish when it is cheap and readily available. I can not foresee a circumstance whereby I will need more than five years worth of ammo. Having that much means riding out a 20 month shortage like 08'-10' and being able to cushion yourself against a big price run up like 04'-09'. For us five years of .22RF is about 25K rounds. Much less for everything else.
 
ammo

I have 10K of my 45's, 8kof .38, 5k .357, 5k 30-06. 3k ,308, and working on 5K .223. 22lr about 25K and growing.
When there is nothing to do I reload and here lately I got nothing to do. I will be reloading .223 later today.

Papa
 
Sounds like your instructor came from AR15.com. In any case, having a good amount of ammo for every caliber you own is a good idea. I don't think there is a set number but having enough so you wouldn't need to buy some for awhile is a good idea.
 
To me it is a balance between what I can afford to spend and what makes me feel secure. A good buddy of mine can't store enough to feel secure while 500 rounds of ammo reserved for emergency suits me. Not including range ammo.
 
Standardizing calibers helps to a degree. I own 4 9mm's, so all I have to stock is 9mm pistol rounds. All my rifles are 7.62X39, so that is easy too.

Wolf/Brown Bear/etc for these calibers is around $200-250 per 1K so it isn't all that unrealistic or expensive. Or pick up a 100 pack every week at WalMart for $24 and you'll have it in no time.
 
Which is it?
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Oops, I see were that could be misunderstood. I meant that I doubt that we would get to a total breakdown in society. History shows that things indeed do get bad, but there is at most a drastic restructuring of society, not a total breakdown
 
But, if things fall apart, no one will be shooting for fun so ammo requirements go down. However shooting for survival will go up but, I'm guessing not to shooting for fun levels.

Figuring out the # of shots per week for survival / length of no new ammo would dictate how much to have on hand.

I've got ~ 500 rounds of factory ammo being held as reserve, mostly because I have a pile of used brass to reload and new ammo is more tradeable. My upper limit will be dictated by the amount of used ( free / trade ) brass that floats my way and I'd rather bulk reload that load 300 every few months.
 
There are three things to consider, and COST is NOT one of them!

How much ammo would you need if you could not get any more for a while? (And a while may be months.)

How much ammo would you need if you couldn't get any more, ever?
(ok, not likely, but it ought to be considered, anyway)

What is the value of ammo as barter goods?

Now, once you have answered those, to your own satisfaction, you can start to determine how much ammo you ought to keep as reserve, and then go aboput planning how to get it (which is where cost does come in.)

5k (10k is better?) sounds like an awful lot, for centerfire calibers. Not so much for .22LR. 5k .22LR fits in one .50cal ammo can!

If you can afford it, and have the storage space, there's nothing wrong with having 5 or even 10k per caliber. But recommending it to every beginning shooter in a class seems to me to be unrealistic to the point of sounding alarmist.

100rnds for each gun is, I think, a prudent minimum. 1k would be nice, and for some of my guns, I'm there, but for others, it ain't gonna happen soon, if ever. Then again, my caliber list is larger than some of you folks. At 1k per caliber, I'd need 15K rounds to cover those calibers I have handguns in. Not there yet, but working it, although slowly for some of the oddballs.:D
 
Hardworker-I believe the same thing, i learned this from my father who was very into all kinds of guns. He was of the if i had to pick one gun to survive it would be a .22LR. It can kill a lot of things and the ammo weighs so little you could carry a ton of it with you.

And i must admit most of my at least 25k rounds of .22 did come from my dad,he was a stock piler and when he passed my mom was like "take it,please" I gladly obliged. There were unfortunately some of his guns I had to sell after he passed and the ammo to go with them and just on the ammo alone i made out pretty good on $$, as this was just the start of the Obama frenzy.
 
I think 44 AMP is headed down the right road. 5 to 10 k of each center fire I own would put me in divorce court. I shoot almost every chance I get which is to say at least once a week. Sometimes I shoot shotguns, sometime pistol and other times rifles. Total the average I would guess would be about 100-200 rounds of something each week.

So I have enough to go several weeks without reloading for any one weapon. For calibers that I have more than one weapon for I double, triple accordingly. But I keep everything reloaded. I shot on Friday afternoon and by Saturday evening everything was reloaded. In the case of SHTF you may not have time to reload, so be prepared. I also try to keep enough reloading supplies to reload all of my ammunition at least once.

I gave away about 1500 rounds this year alone. It all went to my kids so don't ask me for any. That is just extra brass picked up at the range.

Everything is labeled and rotated so it doesn't get too old. I don't think there would be a problem with it but why test fate?

My question to those who have a Lot of ammunition is how do you ensure that the stores don't get too old?
 
There are three things to consider, and COST is NOT one of them!

How much ammo would you need if you could not get any more for a while? (And a while may be months.)

How much ammo would you need if you couldn't get any more, ever?
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Not everyone is preparing for the collapse of industrial society. Implying that (presumably) novice shooters need such numbers is irresponsible at best.


100rnds for each gun is, I think, a prudent minimum.
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Exactly. If people shoot more, than they can buy more. Until bulk stocks return to "normal" levels there is not much of a cost savings buying bulk. New CHL shooters are better off getting an amount needed to sustain proficiency and then a little extra on hand.

My question to those who have a Lot of ammunition is how do you ensure that the stores don't get too old?
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I will die before it gets too old to shoot. I will probably live another 40 years.
 
MTT TL Can we say Boat Missed! LOL

Quote from MTT TL
Not everyone is preparing for the collapse of industrial society.
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I don't think that will happen either. But local civil unrest is a real possibility. I remember Harlem in the 60's Watts in the 65, the Rodney King riots in 92 and now in this area we have people up in arms over an armed man killed by LEO's in the line of duty. Couple this with legal actions aimed at ammunition and who know if we will be able to legally purchase ammunition in the future (I don't think it will happen either). But what if it does?

And when I asked about stock rotation its is more how do you make sure that it happens? I know full well that 40 years does not mean end of life for ammunition. But corrosion will grow on older things so to keep the best for last how to do you ensure that it happens? I know guys that don't care about rotation and we found some pretty ugly stuff in the corner that he said he wouldn't shoot through his guns. So to prevent a waste of money how do you make sure you're not throwing your money away?
 
With child support, I can afford exactly one box of 50 to have on hand, and I buy a box every other week for the range. Only 9 years to go...
 
I see 5 questions.

How much ammo would you need if you could not get any more for a while? (And a while may be months.) Anyone remember the time when they went to Walmart and couldn't find ammo?

How much ammo would you need if you couldn't get any more, ever?
(ok, not likely, but it ought to be considered, anyway)

How much can you store at your location?

How much can you afford?


My recommendations:
Option1
Load your gun and your mags and have a spare box of practice ammo sitting around, have a spare box of premium ammo laying around for each gun.

Option2
This is option1 plus, start buying in bulk. Buy two cases of ammo. When you are finished with the first case, buy another case of ammo. (This is what I did when I only had an apartment.)

Option3
This is option1 plus, buying several cases of ammo. 5K or 10K. This is for those who can afford it. This is for those who have some place to store it. This is for those who shoot a lot. This is for those that don't shoot a lot and want to make sure their kids can shoot a little.

If I was a rich man, I would have 100K of ammo and enough guns of the same type to arm a small army. It is just an insurance policy.
 
There are three things to consider, and COST is NOT one of them!
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It depends on who we are talking about.

Not everyone has the luxury of not having to worry about cost. There are many people who have concerns about the future and a desire to have some armament, but who are of very modest means. People who can afford one 22 rimfire, one handgun, and one centerfire long gun, and some not even that.

For people like that, ammunition cost does play an important role and explains the popularity of 9mm carbines like the SUB-2000 and 995 as it offers lower ammo costs and ammo interchangeability.

What is the value of ammo as barter goods?
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Very little. There is a reason that money replaced barter, because goods like bread, meat, and ammunition make very poor mediums of exchange.

Such a mindset is only of use for a total breakdown of society that we have yet to see in living memory. Such thoughts may have had merit when WIII was a serious possibility. In all other cases, from Wiemar Germany, to Zimbabwe, to Argentina, people who had gold or silver did better on average than those who had their money in barter goods and FAR better than those who kept they money in the countries paper currency.

Have the ammunition for your guns and the silver for buying what you need when the paper currency devalues or collapses. Stock up on food and other supplies so you can hold out and wait for the crisis to pass or for things to stabilize. Not many places are going to take .223 or cans of spam as payment. During the 1970's my grandpa and others were doing business in silver instead of dollars where he could, in defiance of the currency laws and price controls. (He was a farmer in a small town.) Nobody then was doing business in ammo or cans of Spam.

A repeat of the 1970's or Weimar Germany is far more likely than every-man-for-himself situations some people think of.

But local civil unrest is a real possibility. I remember Harlem in the 60's Watts in the 65, the Rodney King riots in 92 and now in this area we have people up in arms over an armed man killed by LEO's in the line of duty. Couple this with legal actions aimed at ammunition and who know if we will be able to legally purchase ammunition in the future (I don't think it will happen either). But what if it does?
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Yup. In those situations having ANY gun with ANY ammunition puts you at a serious advantage. Even a bolt action 22 with a supply of ammo gives you a massive advantage vs someone who has no gun and/or no ammo. Nobody in 92 was making fun of those Koreans for having Winchester 94s, pistols, and break action shotguns.

And when I asked about stock rotation its is more how do you make sure that it happens?
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Take a sharpie and date the boxes of ammo when you buy them. Go through your ammo once per year and find any old stuff you missed.

Very good discussion we are having here and it's good to hear everyone's opinions, even if we don't agree.:)
 
Can't have too much .22 LR in your closet,,,

so is having about 25k rounds of .22 a bad thing then?
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Gawsh I hope not,,,
Because I have 23,000 on hand.

Mainly because I got a great wholesale deal last year.

I don't have it for a SHTF situation,,,
I just shoot a lot and I don't want to run out like the post-Obama summer.

Remember when you couldn't find a box of .22 LR in the stores?

Every time I open a brick,,,
I immediately try and buy another to replace it.

I keep 2K of my centerfire rounds for the same reason,,,
The initial investment only hurt once,,,
I just replenish as I use it.

.
 
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