Do you standardize your ammo selection?

[epijunkie67]

I wasn't sure where to put this but thought this was the most appropriate.

I was at the range yesterday and got to wondering about ammo. I was shooting my .357 lever with a box of lighter ammo and switched to a box of 154 gr HP. Of course this changed my point of impact since I was firing a heavier slower round. This got me to wondering about ammo selection.

I tend to have something of a jumble when it comes to ammo. I buy a variety of stuff depending on whats on sale or what kind of surplus is available. Of course this means that things change somewhat every time I switch to a new box. No big deal for BS plinking but what about "storage" ammo? I, like a lot of us, like to keep a bulk quanity of ammo on hand "just in case". But if something ever happened would I really want to have 5 or 6 differnt kinds of ammo for a given caliber?

I have been considering trying to standardize my SHTF ammo selection. Thoughts on this? It would mean finding a specific round that works well and then making bulk purchases of it. But then I'm not going to be able to go with "whats on sale" or take advantage of a great deal if I make a find at the gun show.

So does anyone here standardize their storage ammo? What do you think of this idea?

[shermacman]

I am nearly religious about my ammo. It is rigidly standardized according to the following scientific formula:
What is on sale at WalMart
+
What is on sale at Hunter's Trading Post
=
My ammo
:D

[Moondoggie]

I reload all of my handgun ammo for 2 purposes...tgt shooting and hunting/self defense.

Tgt ammo is generally lead bullets and lower velocity, the other is always JHP's and about 95% of max per the manual. Since I've bought a chrono I can fine tune my formulas.

BTW, I wish I would have gotten a chrono years ago...it's a real eye-opener. None of my calculations per the manual were even close to real velocities.

If you don't reload, I agree that whatever's on sale is fine for plinking.

[Preacherman]

All of my "serious" loads are standardized. I'll buy enough of them (usually a couple of hundred at least) in any given caliber to be sure that for the next few years, I can rotate out old ammo and bring in fresh stuff, and I know that the rounds will be consistent in velocity, performance, etc. because they're from the same batch. When I finish a batch, I'll buy another, and test it thoroughly before trusting it.

[Arc-Lite]

I find what works the best, and stock that ammo, I carry only what I practice with in each caliber...and everything else, gets dumped. I found out long ago, I can't afford questionable ammo.

[Brian Williams]

Yes, I have set what I want and keep on it hand, which is very little right now. But I shoot and carry 38spec, 357 and 45ACP. I reload and I have found the best loads for my guns and load that. I like to keep about 500 of each on hand but that is a little low right now. I am waiting for my Square deal B that I got used to come back from a refurbish a Dillion. Then I will load what I need and keep going.
In 357 I shoot and carry 158 gr LSWC for handguns (S&W 13 & 65) and rifle (1894C)plinking, and 165 LSWCGC for serious shooting in my rifle. In 38 spec I have some +p158 LSWC loads that I carry in my S&W 60-4 and some light target loads that I use at the range and in my 642, at least till it comes back from the Smith with the 940 cylinder fitted. And I shoot 230 LRN in my 1911.

[GRB]

I am nearly religious about my ammo. It is rigidly standardized according to the following scientific formula:
What is on sale at WalMart
+
What is on sale at Hunter's Trading Post Gave me a good laugh but I can understand that completely. I am lucky, I get lots of ammo for free at work. That covers 9mm, .38 Special and 12 gauge. It also includes .223 if I want it. It used to cover .380. .40S&W, .45ACP and .357 magnum but those are gone for now.

I mostly carry a 9mm. I have a lot of ammo for it. I find that as far as 'issued' pistol ammo goes for the 9mm, it all shoots just about at the same point of impact and this goes for several different brands of ammo with different bullet weights. For tactical purposes out to 25 yards, I am confident that anything that was issued to me at work will do the trick in my handguns. When it comes to 50 yars, I usually always get shots in the kill zone too. Further than that it takes some getting used to but, I am hopeful I will not be taking many pistol shots beyond 25 yards let alone beyond 50 yards.

As far as issued 12 gauge slugs or buckshot go, same thing pretty much for different manufacturer's ammo. They all shoot xlose enough to the same. Mind you, that is with our issued ammo.

.223 Ammunition is a different thing altogether. Rifle has to be sighted for the particular ammo for the longer ranges for which you would use a rifle.

I also know that with my hunting rifle, a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington, the difference between the impact point of a a 200 Grain bullet and a 150 grain bullet is just about a mile (LOL) at 100 yards. When the difference is a big one, then I try to standardize.

Whenever I can, I do try to get ammo from different manufacturers that will shoot close to the same point of impact through the same gun. The reason for this is in the event a lot of ammo from a certain manufacturer is bad, then I'll have backup ammo from a different manufacturer. Not likely to happen, but not a bad idea to be prepared in case it does happen.

All the best,
Glenn B

[dmftoy1]

I've pretty much standardized on XM193 for my .223. I buy it everytime I can find 1k rounds on sale packaged in 20 round boxes. If I could get the M855 in 20 round boxes I'd be buying it instead, but I haven't been able to find a good supply of it anywhere.

The question I always have for a SHTF situation is whether you should try to keep one weapon available for "popular" caliburs? I've got a 9mm pistol that I almost never shoot because I prefer my .45's. I've had the itch to trade it in on a Ruger P345 or a Glock 27, but I keep thinking I should keep a gun in 9mm because it's so popular. What do you do in terms of that angle?

Have a good one,
Dave

[Ben Shepherd]

There are a couple of exeptions, but here's my normal thoughts/practices-

Target ammo: Whatever I can buy/load on the cheap.

Serious ammo(hunting, serious target work, SHTF, CCW): Standardized per caliber, all guns in said caliber sighted for the serious ammo. In my "fighting" calibers my standardized loads run the same weight projectile as "production" ammo.

[Sinsaba]

My defense ammo is standardized - I spent a lot of time researching my choice of ammo both for my 9mm (s) and my AR. This is always loaded up when I am at home and I always carry at least one mag of it (per weapon) in my car when I have my guns with me. I'm satisfied that I have made a sound choice in this respect. I will aquire more of this ammo over time (plans are for min. 300/weapon).

For day to day practice, I use whatever quality ammo is on sale. I've tested this as closely as I can and performance differances are as expected. Figure it, for home defense my maximum range with any weapon will be say 25 yards (unless BG is outside and then I'm not shooting unless we have a real SHTF situation). The defferance in point of impact between the two rounds (my HD and my practice) is less than 2" at that range (I'm talking vertical). I don't care if I'm making head shots or what, 2" is close enough.

[115grfmj]

I took it a little farther. I have five guns in 3 calibers: Rifle/Pistol combo in
.22lr, rifle/pistol combo in .357 mag, and one 12 gauge pump. I find one
load that works well in each caliber and store that. For instance,
cci mini-mags 40gr fmj work best in my Single SIx, and My Marlin m70.
Magtech 158gr sjsp work best in my 1894c, and my 686+. It makes things
easier, and cheaper. :D

[Shooter973]

:) Yes I do standarize my Ammo.... I reload all of my ammo except 22 lr. My 357's all get the same loads, 7gr. of Unique and a 150-158 gr cast lead bullet. Or a 140 Gr Jacketed Hollow Point up to the Red Line. I can tell at a glance which load is which and what it's purpose is. I do the same with all of my loadings for 44 mag, 45acp, 9mm and all my rifle calibers are loaded the same way. I know what each one is and what it would be useful for. Cuts down on the questions . :)

[stevelyn]

Hunting (rifle) and defense ammo (handgun and shotgun) is standardized.
I have a variety of rimfire ammo for different applications.
For shotgun hunting I found that generally any flying cloud of lead pellets will drop any bird. I do tend to mostly stick with Federal though.

[NMshooter]

When I am buying ammo for storage I purchase cases of it, all the same manufacturer for pistol ammo and any milspec FMJ for rifles.

When it is time to go plinking I shoot whatever is cheap.

Sometimes I have to shoot the expensive stuff, though, to keep familiar with it.