What would you choose? More ammo or a variety of calibers?

[vicdotcom]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to gather some thoughts on wether its better to have one firearm with a lot of ammunition or multiple firearms that require different and less ammunition.


Lets say you can either buy one rifle with 500 rounds of ammunition or one rifle and one shotgun/handgun but only have 100 rounds of ammunition each.

Or even two weapons that took the same caliber but only 200 rounds between them.



What would you rather have and why? No Reloading either!

This just came up in a conversation the other day and I wanted to see what the reasoning behind some of the answers may be.


Edit: Would it be a different answer for SHTF situation?

 

[I'm Thinking...]

For the "one rifle only" class, a Fulton Armory M14 (aka "M1a") Peerless-grade, with 500 rounds of Lake City "Match". As for why, "There is no substitute for mass" (paraphrase of Colonel Cooper?).

 

[Sergeant Sabre]

I like having lots of ammo around. It just feels good. So, I'd probably pick the mucho ammo option.

 

[jpsimms]

a rifle with more ammo seems better to me.

 

[buck00]

This topic blurs with the "should I buy a new gun or more ammo?" dilemma.

I've run into this before: do you buy a cool new rifle that is a totally new catridge... and thus commit myself t having to feed my new pet? Or do you spend that $500 plus money on ammo for the rifles you already have?

Or do you just become "rifle poor" for awhile? That is where you have a bunch of great guns you can show off, clean/handle, and enjoy but not shoot very often due to ammo costs.

Currently I reached a phase where I've committed myself to stocking up ammo for a rainy day.

Seriously, it is easy to see a Mauser or SKS online for example, and think "well its only $250 and really cool." But $250 can go a long way if put towards fresh ammo.

 

[joop]

Personally I like to keep logistics as simple as possible (just like with the military) so it's better to standardize as much as possible. To answer your question, given a choice of more ammo in one caliber or a variety of different caliber guns with a little bit of ammo each, I'd rather have more ammo of one caliber.

Best case scenario: a lot of guns of same caliber, and only a few calibers used (necessary in order to accommodate different classes of guns).

 

[DRYHUMOR]

My SHTF veiw. Should a long sustained engagement occur. Use up all the ammo for the uncommon caliber weapons first, ditch the weapon, move on to the next one.

Save the last one or three weapons in the common caliber, and have plenty of it. More of the same NATO principles. Most countries shoot the same ammo, simplifies logistics.

Most of my ammo in quantity is 308 and 223.

 

[AR2A]

For me, I'd rather have the ammo to back up my firearm. When I get a new gun, I try to stock up ammo on it first, then save up for a new gun

 

[Scott Skawronska]

Agreed. Multiple platforms are of limited utility by a single person; So unless you're planning on arming others, you're better off with one gun you REALLY know how to use, and enough ammo to feed it through a SHTF situation.

"Beware the man with only one gun. He probably knows how to use it."

S

 

[Rexster]

Balance.

Much ammo can be good, but what if the one weapon goes down, or is lost, or is confiscated or seized as evidence? I have three sporting rifles, chambered in .308, that are not identical, but do use the same magazines and share most parts in common. This allows me to accumulate .308 ammo as I am able, which will feed three weapons. I do have a few other rifles, in .45-70 and .375 H&H, for which I have relatively little ammo, and a Mini-14 and AR15 in .223, for which I am also accumulating ammo, so I am not following the "one weapon" philosophy, but I only bought the small-bores after my chief (police) authorized us to start carrying .223 carbines in the wake of the 9-11-01 attacks. I was looking into an M1A or FAL before it simply became more expedient to go with .223 weapons I can use at work, as I cannot use .308 at work.

 

[KiltedClaymore]

both.

 

[3 gun]

Honestly a 100rds per gun is enough. The only way you could even start to need more is if you held a fort. Unless you lived in a very restrictive area or situation I'd go with more guns. Everybody who can, should have a good rifle, pistol and shotgun. The type and calibers are again shaped by where you live. I'd say a good base would be a AR/AK/M1 carbine, 4" 357/44mag revolver and a rem870/moss500 in 12 or 20ga. If this three gun base doesn't cover 95%+ of the real world needs (not wants) I'd be surprised.

The guns are readily available. Ammo is common and in the case of the pistol and shotgun, versatile in loadings. A 100rds of each would weigh more than you'd guess.

 

[dumbluck]

Lots a ammo and lots a guns. I have several and lots a ammo for them all. Except odd ball ones.

 

[Hardware]

Buy a pistol in the same caliber as your rifle. Very easy to do with the AR/AK pistols available now. Harder to do when you move up to full capacity rifle rounds.

In either case I'd go with more ammo. 500 rounds minimum for each caliber longarm.

 

[paintballdude902]

one good do it all caliber like either 12guage or .30-06

 

[evan price]

I have only so much room. I also have only so much money.
I standardized on a couple of calibers and only buy guns in those calibers. I have a couple of oddballs but I don't shoot them much.

Logistically speaking I like having everything more or less standardized so that if something happens and I am down a gun I can still use the ammo in another gun.

 

[redneck2]

Honestly a 100rds per gun is enough. The only way you could even start to need more is if you held a fort.

I shoot over 100 rounds per gun in multiple firearms whenever I go out shooting. If you think 100 is enough, you're either a wanna be or a collector, not a shooter.

When I reload, I very seldom run off less than a few hundred per session. My .22 mag and 10 gauge are probably the only guns I have less than 500 rounds for.

You should consider typing less and shooting more.

That said, I'm at the point that I'm reducing the number of calibers. Having several dozen just doesn't make sense. I used to think that having all them was cool. Now it's a burden. I'm trimming it down to five varmint calibers, three shotgun gauges, and maybe five or pistol calibers plus black powder.

 

[ServiceSoon]

I would rather have multiple firearms with 100 rounds of each caliber. Shooting zombies in the head gets boring so you want the ability to change platforms to keep things lively. You will always be able to find ammunition, but one day guns could get regulated to the grave. Besides, what if you have 10 kids? You will need to give 1 handgund and 1 rifle to each of them.

 

[XD-40 Shooter]

I'll take the "one gun and lots of ammo".

 

[AR2A]

I don't fully agree with the "100rds per gun is enough" theory. Grant it, I do no want to carry more than probably 320 rounds on me for a single gun at any time, but I think if SHTF I want a good rifle that I am familiar with that I can "bear" with me and rely upon. I think if you have a rifle with 500 rounds and can always keep 500+ for than it's time to move on to another rifle. Get good with what you have, stock up, then it's time to move on

 

[ambidextrous1]

In a SHTF situation, it's reasonable to expect that I'll have to abandon my home and be on the move a lot. I plan to carry a .45 auto and a carbine in the same caliber - collapsible, to carry & conceal in a backpack.

The weight of ammunition concerns me; I wouldn't carry more than 100 rounds of .45 ACP.

My 'ace in the hole' is my HK4, with interchangeable barrels & mags for .22 RF, .25 Auto, .32 Auto and .380 auto. I should be able to find some or all of that for a year or so after the baloon goes up. Then, if I have used up all of the .45, I'll sell/trade away the .45 pistol & carbine, and find a .22 RF carbine, thereby maintaining some commonality of ammunition,and at less weight.

 

[Old Grump]

One gun lot of ammo

Is the common sense answer and I also agree with the 3 gun proponents, in my case I prefer 4, rifle, large pistol, small pistol and shotgun. If I counted up my ammo per gun it would be a little low because some calibers have none to just a single box. On the other hand if I tried to pick up all my 20 gauge, 308, 45ACP and 22 I would need serious surgery to put the parts in me that popped out back where they belong.

 

[3 gun]

I didn't take the original question didn't ask about a range trip supply or all you could ever own, he asked about how much was enough to have on hand. If I got the question wrong, sorry.

Honestly unless you hold a fort you will most likely never have the need or get a chance to use up more than 100 round of ammo in a SHTF situation. And if you can't resupply within that 100 rounds you have done something wrong.

If you have 100 rounds of new hunting/SD performance ammo for each firearm, you have enough. I have an ammo can packed with my go to loads (308, 357, 12ga) packed next to my BOB. I hope to never need it.

I have plenty of other ammo, buy it by the case. But most of it would be left behind if I had to bug out. Really if you are taking more ammo than 100 rounds per gun you have most likely under packed somewhere else.