How much ammo is enough?

I like to keep at least 1000rounds of social work ammo on hand for my AK, .45ACP, .357 mag, and 12ga 00 buck. I keep 500 rnds for my .30-06 for emergency meat supply, and 3000 rnds of bulk .22. I've got about 10 boxes of shotgun shells in various shot sizes for emergency food supply. For my fun guns (.243, .308, .40 S&W, .380), I just load up what I want to shoot.
 
I don't keep so much loaded ammo, but as a reloader I like to keep enough components to survive the shortages/price spikes in components. I wish I had bought a bunch more a year ago, because I am limiting my (formerly) weekly range sessions to keep from burning through all of my components.

These days I shoot 100 rounds of .22LR and 50 rounds of centerfire when I go to the range. And that only happens once a month these days, as opposed to once a week like it used to...
 
It looks like I am hopelessly low on all calibers except for .45 ACP and maybe .308 Win (if 200 rounds is enough for my M1A Match).
I would wait to stuck up though till the cost of ammo goes down.
 
I guess I will never have enough. Although I really don't have any specific number in mind. I generally buy 100 or so rounds every paycheck. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but my plan is to just keep buying at a steady pace.

Lately, I have been shooting more than my 100 rounds a week replaces. I may have to readjust.
 
OP

olyinaz:

What's your comfort level?

Thanks,
Oly
Click to expand...

I think that depends on your mentality.

I know guys at the range that are ready for Armageddon. 10,000 of this 2,000 of that, and they even keep a 1,000 of Tokarev.

I asked them, what about water?:D

I personally, will not comment about that On-line.
 
if there's a crisis someday, one can always trade stocked up ammo for anything else like fuel, food, or water. In a crisis, I do believe that ammo will be the new currency.
 
I believe we can safely say there is never enough.

Buy what you can afford.


The real question you wanted to ask is, "What brand gun safe should I buy?" :D :) :D
 
I guess I have a minimalist attitude and am happy
with a few hundred rounds per caliber. Like to keep
my stock fresh I guess.
 
Ask yourself one question...

Do I have enough to get by, if I can't get any more?

Obviously, if the ammo supply dries up completely (due to disaster, physical or legal), one would seriously curtail practice shooting.

But if you couldn't get any more, would you have enough to last you? And I'm not talking zombie attacks, but a realistic situation. Decide on that amount, and always keep it for a bare minimum.

If its a couple of reloads for your defensive guns, then thats all you really need to keep in reserve. More? that just expands your comfort zone.

You shape the boxes like furniture and throw old sheets over 'em
Click to expand...
The trick is to put cushions on top of the sheets, turning them into furniture!
alternative is to use boards, making shelving out of stacks of ammo crates/cans!
 
Not sure what is appropriate, but since last year, we buy ammo at least once week-- we only usually buy a box or two at a time--- I think I am around 5-6 bricks off .22, 2K -ish of 9mm, 1k or .45acp, 1K of 7.62x39, and a whole slew of other stuff-- oh and a couple hundred assorted 12 ga loads. I am not preparing for a zombie TEOTHAWKI SHTF scenario, but ammo aint getting cheaper, so I get it today so I don't pay twice as much tomorrow...
 
Hhmmm...I'd say purchase as much as you have discretionary income and storage-space for.... Sometimes though I wonder about these how much questions...not so much on the ammunition questions...but kinda/sorta.... I try to stay away from these sorts of questions...it's hard, because one always wants to talk about one's stuff.... HOWEVER, I try to resist...it's my understanding that on most of the gun boards...[don't know about this one]...there's generally a moderator who has affiliation to the gentlemen in an all too fine organization.--Patrice:barf:
 
If you want to have enough to tide you over the "short-term" supply problems, figure out how much you shoot about every six months and use that as your "base" figure to keep on hand. Then stock up for 'x' weeks on top of that where 'x' is the number of weeks you think you'd keep shooting before restricting your range visits.

For 100 rds/week x 6 months = 100x26(weeks)=2600 rds.
That's not a lot. But if you figure 10 weeks of continued shooting that's another 1000 rds. And this is for a single caliber. If you have multiple guns in this caliber, you might want to increase the base amount so you have "enough" to weather "short-term" supply issues.

Rifle shooters tend to shoot fewer rounds per range visit (unless they're rock 'n rolling semi-auto rifles) and tend to stock fewer cartridges. I'd suggest calculating your annual shooting needs for both range & serious use and stocking at least 75% of that for each rifle. Something that is used purely as a game rifle should probably have about 100 rounds of hunting ammo always available. How much FMJ you store for secondary uses is up to you.
 
In the past (pre-election) I didn't keep much on hand. Maybe a box or so of each caliber at best. Sometimes I didn't have any ammo for a specific caliber.

Since the shortage came up, I now buy ammo every 2 weeks with payday. I am up to about 30,000 rounds of .22, 1000 rounds of 9mm, 400 rounds of .380, and maybe 600 various rounds of shot shells.

I still shoot the .22 and 9mm liberally as those calibers are still very easy to find here in Salt Lake. But the .380 I will only shoot a maximum of 2 magazines (14 rounds) each trip. I have to ration that ammo as it is near impossible to come by. I actually am saving all of my brass and have roughly 1000 brass casings of .380 so I can start reloading down the road.

If things ever go back to the way they used to be, I will most likely quit buying ammo on a regular basis again.
 
A short trip to the pistol range is 250 rounds of 9mm or .45acp. 500 rounds is easy to do when trying to figure out grip/sight picture on a new pistol or grip change. (5 mags, 10 rounds each, combat reloads = 50 rounds in very short time).

A local pistol match is usually somewhere around 200 rounds. I try to do at least 1 match a month and practice twice a week.

So, If I'm below about 800 rounds, I'm looking for time to get into the garage and reload some more. Other calibers, I'm not so concerned about. I only keep 25 rounds of Denfensive/expensive .357 on hand. And I've got about 100 rounds of .44 mag that was handloaded sometime ago.

Components are so hard to find consistently, I'm buying as muchas I can afford when I seem 'em. I've got about 5,000 pistol primers and 4 lbs of powder in my garage.
 
I consider 1000 rounds of my main rifle to be a good minimum (By the way I haven't managed to store up 1000 rounds yet, I keep shooting it)

Add in about 500 rounds of ammo for my main pistol (think i might have this, but i'm going shooting with friends this week, so it won't last)

I do have 9 rounds of 00 buck for my 12ga shotgun for home defense, and about 80 rounds of light loads from our last trap shoot.

I also probably have 400 or so 22lr.

Not sure about the rounds I don't shoot often, have a partial box of 44mag, 32acp, 38/357, 20ga, 410, I normally only take them to the range once or twice a year and just buy a box to shoot.
 
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