How much "Serious" ammo to keep on hand?...

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Dave McC

Staff In Memoriam
Got an E mail on this and it got me to thinking (No easy thing) ...

Basically, I'm the only shotgunner here at Casa McC. While Wife and kids shoot a bit, they leave the shotguns to me by and large. They've other options for WIHTF.

Anyways, I've had what I consider a reasonable stockpile of shotgun ammo for decades,rotating new stuff in as older stuff gets shot up. Depending on sales, budget, storage room, and how paranoid I am at a given moment(G), there may be from a couple cases of 00 to maybe 100 rounds. There also are from 40 to 100 slugs at any time, but partly that's because I hate running out of a particular slug and have to buy more and rezero.

Right now most of a case of Winchester 00, some leftover Federal stuff(Old duty loads) some of the FBI barnburner 12 pellet 00 loads, and maybe 100 Estate SWAT 00 loads are taking up cellar space. About 50 Winchester slugs, maybe 140 of the KOs, and the mix of leftover test slugs that haven't been given away yet are down there also.

And while the 20 ga 870 I got for the kids is not considered a "Serious" shotgun here, it has a small supply of #3 buck and Rottweil Brennekes, JIC.

I'm pretty much retired from instructing, tho I do take on a private student on occasion. So, my need for "Serious" ammo is reduced to occasional practice, an informal match with friends,and barring War, Civil Disturbance or Insurrection, I've probably got a 5 year supply.

So, how much ammo do I think is a good idea to keep on hand?

As much as one can afford. Ammo rarely decreases in price, it does sometimes decrease in availability. Maybe your pet HD shotgun really does well with one brand. Buyamessa that and hold on to it.

As for minimum amounts on hand, not counting target, hunting or practice loads....

Figure out how many rounds you use in a year for "Serious" applications, including Practical and 3 Gun matches, etc, if you compete. Add 25-50% for GPs. That's what I think your stockpile should be. While I doubt any AS scenario that cannot be resolved with less than 10 rounds of shotgun ammo will be resolved with more than 10, the day may come when ammo is hard to come by.

I called the local shop that I refer to as Guns R Us. A case of Winchester 00(250 rds) runs about $180.I'm sure it's cheaper elsewhere.

Natchez has the Estate SWAT 00 for about $3/10 pack. IIRC, the 100 rounds I got last year ran about $29 including shipping.So, 250 rounds oughta go for around $75.

So,initially, get at least 100 rounds of serious buck, and maybe 40 rounds of whatever slug your shotgun "likes". If you deer hunt with slugs, make that 100 rounds also. When you've used up half of it, get more of the same. If you've found a pet load, you may want to stock up.

If the price sounds a bit steep, go in with a buddy, relative, or another member of your militia group(G).

Questions, comments, donations...
 
Umm, if I told you in public how much ammo I've got here...

I look at things from the skeptical end. Not pessimistic, nor paranoid, just doubting. So, if the question is "how much?" the answer must be "more than I think I could possibly need, and then some more."

I would say (heresy alert!) :-) that the ratio of rifle:shotgun:pistol in my opinion would be something like 5:1:1. That, however, is just personal opinion.
 
"As much as one can afford."
"...the day may come when ammo is hard to come by."

I agree whole-heartedly.

As far as having a year and a half supply of "serious" ammo goes, thats a little vague. All calibers combined, I'd say if you can lift it, you need more.:)
 
If you got more than you can shoot before it goes bad you got too much. If you don't, you ain't got enough.
I've been getting a little target practice on starlings with some 15 year old paper shell reloads and so far they all go bang.
All my ammo is stored in a mostly orderly fashion, sorted and on shelves. I don't know exactly how much but 400-500 shotgun shells (4 different guages-80% 12g) make up the small stack.
I agree the main reason for having so many SG rounds is so you don't have to hunt around when you find the right flavor (especially slugs). I probably have 2-3K rifle cartridges with the components to make 10K more. 3-4K pistol with the components to make 15K.
But then I don't shoot much anymore.
 
Thanks, folks...

The amounts I mention are minimum. This is a case of the More Is Better Principle applying. Like I said, it's not going to get any cheaper.

Also, ammo kept cool and dry lasts longer than we do.

Finally, I've a GI ammo box, 50 cal I believe, with some 00, slugs, 38,357 and 45 ACP ammo, a couple boxes of the Thunderbolt 22s our 10/22 "Likes", and a box or three of 30-30 fodder. This is the Panic Box, grab it and a firearm each and leave. Life is, on rare but crucial occasion, uncertain.
 
Ammo Purchase limits coming???

Dave,

Very interesting and thought-provoking question. I guess there are as many different answers as there are firearms owners as we all seem to have our own opinions.

The largest figure I have ever seen recommended, usually from survivalists, has been 1,000 rounds or multiples thereof. For each firearm you have. This may be a bit extreme, but 1000 is an easy number to deal with, much easier than trying to figure out magazine/cylinder capacities times reloads. However it is not out of practical consideration since we often see case lot sales in SGN or other catalogs.

I think your suggestion of how to figure out your usage rate come the closest to reasonable and practical method of making a determination.

However, we may be closer to a problem time than you think, at least in some states. The Massachusetts AG, the man who brought us more safety in this state by arbitrarily imposing consumer safety standards on handguns is now trying to limit the amount of ammunition we may purchase. He apprarently wants to outlaw bulk purchases. I haven't gotten the full details yet but it appears that he wants to make it illegal to purchase a brick of .22 ammo.

I guess we have to punish all honest citizens in order to prevent those wackos from purchasing all that ammo to feed their illegal .22 assault weapons.

Where will it all end???

Frosty
MOLON LABE
 
Dave, I like your idea of a panic box.

I've got the same set-up, a .50 cal ammo box. It contains four loaded 30rd. mags for the AR-15, a 12ga. ammo belt with about 30(?)shells of buck and slugs,six loaded mags for three semi-autos (two each),a loaded mag and 40rds. boxed for the AR-10, and hollowpoints in .38, .357, .44Mag. I also have two additional .50cal boxes packed with more of everything in case I am panicking at a more leisurely pace.:)

I'm not a survivalist or such (not knocking them), but I figure it can't hurt to be prepared.
 
I'm curious about part of what you said:

"...not counting target, hunting or practice loads..."

Can I count my 3" steel,tungsten or bismuth shells that are number 1 or larger if I can shoot them accurately and reasonably fast? What about the 3" turkey loads with 2 ounces of copperplated shot?

Maybe not ideal, but workable in a pinch to repel boarders. My house has 14" thick solid brick walls with an inch or so of plaster on the inside and one stairway to the second floor.

John
 
Frosty, that Mass AG with his ideas on control isn't the only one. Md's AG, Joe Curran, has called for an end to the private ownership of handguns. From my cold dead hands...

As for the survivalists, I had one tell me he kept 11,000 rounds on hand, JIC. He had more at his West Va "vacation" home. A good guy to work with, but a flaming bigot.

It occurs to me that many of the survivalists and militia members are into spray and pray, thus needing heavier logistic support than me, with manually operated arms and some idea of proper marksmanship.It also occurs to me that, like the one I just mentioned, many survivalists and militia members are racists, and may have envisioned usages of ammo that I would not.

John, your heavy loads may qualify as "Serious" ammo. It's doubtful a 2 oz turkey load will be more effective in a HD crisis than an oz of 8s, but I'm sure it will not be less.

The only overlap here between hunting and Serious ammo would be the slugs, or the trap loads first up in my HD 870.

BTW, got a sale catalog from Natchez Shooters' Supply last night. The Estate SWAT buckshot is on sale for $2.19 a TEN pack. As some may recall, range testing by myself and others here showed this round to pattern tighter and have less recoil than other brands in all the shotguns tested.
 
Ammo!! Did you say Ammo:-)

I have never been able to count how much shotgun ammo I have on hand. When you are a diehard reloader the amount varies from minute to minute (OK not really:))

For reloading to be economical, you must buy components in bulk. 1000 primers, 5000 wads, 12 lbs of 700X, 10 bags of shot...

Having a half empty can of powder on the shelf makes for sleepless nights:)

At one time in the days when I was shooting 2- 3X a week I estimated I had over 10,000 shotshells in my ammo bin. But that shrank quickly. Until the next bulk components purchase.

As for stuff like buckshot and slugs, i usually keep only a couple of boxes of each. If I have to use something solid I will go to my pistols and rifles.

As far as having enough ammo for any possible SHTF scenario... I have enough to insure that I can get whatever I need when the lead starts to fly.


Geoff Ross
 
Good point, Geoff. Maybe all the ammo we need is enough to make it to the closest dead adversary. However, if said adversary had the same idea(G).....

As for reloading, I'm not counting that. I'm doing about a case a week of trap loads, and that doesn't enter into the "Serious" inventory, tho I'm sure an oz of 9s would work at typical HD ranges...
 
Back before I got a wild hair about ChiCom stuff, I had a much modifed SKS. Kept about 500 rounds for it and regarded myself as well prepared.

10,000 rounds? Does this Boston own an ammo factory?
 
Boston T. Party

I think Boston T. Party is the person Gloria (Sic Transit Gloria Mundi) is referring to. His latest book, "Boston's Gun Bible" is a pretty good treatise on the subject of guns and preparedness. He has some well-thought out opinions on the subject and his books are generally worth the money.

There was a thread on here about three weeks ago I started when I asked if anyone else had heard of him, might make some interesting background if you can find it.

Frosty
MOLON LABE
 
Dave,

You did say minimum amounts fo ammo that should be kept on hand. I believe keeping the below numbers on hand should serve anyone well for whatever likely scenario might happen.

1K for each rifle. I only keep this much ammo on hand for my "serious" rifles.

500 per pistol except .22RF then 1K per gun (same for .22 RF rifles)

100 rounds of birdshot, 50 slugs and 50 buckshot per shotgun.

I keep my reserve ammo seperate from my shooting ammo. That way it will always be there when needed.

Rob
 
Thanks, Frosty, I'll keep an eye out for his work.

There's a lot of self styled authorities that have vague conceptions of battle logistics. In the days of my youth, I found 200 rounds of 7.62 NATO and a 10 lb M-14 to be a heavy but tolerable load. I wonder just how much ammo Mr Boston can run and fight with.

I don't have a "Serious" rifle. Closest thing is a modified Model 94 carbine, a light, handy piece with 200 yard capability,great reliability, and I can find ammo darn near anyplace. I keep maybe 100 rounds or so around, tho since my local range has started up 30-30 matches at 200 yards with steel critter targets, I may have get more.

This has been an informative thread, thanks for the contributions....
 
my wife's father was a handloader about 30+ years ago and stock piled a LARGE quantity of various sorts of ammo, including shotgun shells <mostly paper> and they all still work just fine, only had 1 paper cased slug fail to go off as advertised and that was because the slug fragmented coming out of the barrel on a weak charge. keep it dry and stored well and it will last forever. <we've also fired off about 500 rounds of the .22lr that he had...some 10k rounds>


Adept
 
Ammo kept cool and dry lasts a very long time. As a lad, I shot off BP 22 rounds, paper cased 16 ga rounds, and cordite loaded 303 Brit army cartridges.

I recall hearing about the govt storing some munitions in pure nitrogen, to stop oxidation, but that's beyond the abilities of most folks.
 
For 22LR, why not buy by the case... It is about 100 bucks for 5000rounds of HV Rem/Federal flavors, possibly less :D Besides one day at the range can consume a few thousand rounds of 22LR quick! ;)


As for the "other stuff", 1000 rounds for each rifle???? Unless you are talking about an AK and you do alot of shooting, then buy if by the truck load ;) Well in the 5 case quants anyways :D
 
I'm pretty bad when it comes to ammo. I have a pretty fair chunk of rifle ammo stored away. I have a 5,000rd case of Rem .22HP like Dead suggested plus a plinking stockpile, probably a 1,000+ rounds for the 2 AR's, maybe 2,000 or so 7.62x39mm for the AK and Russkie SKS, about 1,000rds of .308 for the 788 (mostly left over from the old M-14 and AR-10), approx 500rds for the M-1 carbine and an unknown quantity (maybe 3,000 rounds?) for the various Springfield 03 and 03A3's and my Ruger M-77.

For the pistols I have much less, maybe a couple hundred rounds of .45, a woefully inadequate amount for the .357's, 300 or 400 rounds for the 9mm I no longer own :D, and half a case or more of 7.62x25mm for the Cz-52.

Shotgun wise, I'm pretty low too. Maybe 100rds of high brass "6's, 25rds buck, another 25-30 rds slugs and maybe another 200rounds or so of random field loads, slugs, turkey loads etc. I'm completly out of 10 gauge for the coach gun right now. I shot up a lot of my inventory oer winter and really need to restock :(.
 
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