When do you have "enough" ammo?

I would think that a good15-20 years worth of ammo would be enough for most people.

NIGHTLORD40K said:

Well, my ammo isn't hurting anybody at the moment, and better I hoard it than the bad guys, so.....

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I really like that reason. Buying ammunition to keep it out of the hands of criminals should even make sense to Liberals.

Being that I'm under the impression TEOTWAWKI conversation is not permitted here on THR, I'll ignore that aspect.

If I have enough ammo to fill every magazine, clip, cylinder, speed loader, speed strip, ammo pouch, bandoleer and side saddle twice over, I'm happy.

I'm even happier if I already have extra ammo for my next range trip.

What are your assumptions behind creating a stockpile?

If you are merely fearing another politically-inspired panic will dry up supplies for a year or two, then you need to lay in enough to see you through such a panic.

On, the other hand, if you're expecting bans and restrictions on manufacture, then you might want to look into setting aside a lifetime supply.

But if you're concerned about the end of the world as we know it, then don't worry about creating a stockpile.

The doomsday scenario, paradoxically, calls for the least ammunition because unless you are already living fully "off the grid" and are effectively self-sufficient, remaining in your present location will be tenable for only a short amount of time. You will eventually be forced by circumstances or opposing forces to move and then there will be a lot of other things you need to take with you more than a stockpile of ammunition. On the move, you effectively become either a marauder or a guerilla and will rely on what your opponents leave behind to supply you. So, what you have right now is more the enough.

I have friends with thousands upon thousands of rounds for different calibers.

And that is what I constantly strive for. Not out of some fear of the apocalypse but because we all shoot a lot and the off chance than things may become unavailable.

Shoot a lot and you need to maintain a lot.

I hoard ammunition although I suspect that my "hoarding" is probably a pittance compared to some of our member's stockpiles.

The ammunition panics of the Obama years taught me my lesson well. They also taught me that another ammo panic is not only likely but inevitable. We have an ammunition envelope that we put a couple of bucks in every payday and when we find a sale we buy.

Even if there's never another panic ammunition doesn't just go bad and it's likely that it will never again be cheaper than it is right now

The panic is over. The ammo is there to buy. If I have more than I can shoot in my lifetime, my son will put it to good use. So I buy.....because you never know when another communist will be in the White House.

You gotta shoot and you gotta have stash.......

.22LR, the currency of the future.

I keep a good supply of 5,56 and .45acp. Otherwise I keep a wide assortment of calibers that I reload for.

When you think you have to much you probably don`t have enough.
Hunting is one thing, but preparing for the end of the world is a completely different thing.
There will be no zombies.

GAF said:

There will be no zombies.

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Maybe that's just what "They" want us to believe ...

I just have a lot of components for reloading. I just make ammo for what I feel like shooting.

I am not hoarding ammo. I just want to have a good supply before the hoarders get it.

It sounds to me like you are almost out of 9mm (if that was my supply- I shoot lots of 9mm). As for the HP's, maybe 200 rounds.

Since the OP’s question was specifically about hollow point ammo, I bet I’m lucky if I have 50 rounds of HP for every handgun I own. I keep just enough around so I can shoot a magazine/cylinder of my self defense ammo out of my carry guns once a year to keep it fresh. When I empty a box of HP, I go buy a couple more and that’s all I keep around.

Now FMJ and plinking ammo, that’s a different story. I like to keep enough to last me a few years in the event of another panic buy, and that amount varies greatly by caliber depending on how often I shoot it. For .44mag, that’s about 200 rounds. For .22lr, that’s about 15k rounds. .380, .38sp, .357mag, 9mm, .45ACP, 5.56 and .270 all fall somewhere in between those numbers.

Since the question was hollow points. I carry a Glock 19 and 2 reloads which is 45 rounds. I change my SD ammunition out every 2 years. My wife does tbe same.

Under normal circumstances 1000 rounds should last 10 years.

It is impossible to have "enough" ammo. You need to buy more ---- so do I. Do it today!!

A shooting buddy of mine and I, stopped on the way home from a range at a bar, and over a few pints we got into a realistic conversation of just how much ammo is enough. I am talking about real numbers not just some off the cuff reply.
We wern't talking about some "survival" scenario, or war, or anything like that. We basically said, here is how much ammo we shoot now. It stands to reason that when we retire and have more time, we will probably shoot more. Then we discussed how much more ? Took those numbers and calculated what that comes out to per year. Then we guessed how old we might be where we would still be physically able to shoot like that.

For the two of us, who are both avid shooters, the numbers are staggering. For example, I shoot several hundred rounds a week. Just for the sake of discussion, let's be conservative and say it's 200 rounds a week (I shoot more than that, but for the sake of discussion). That is 10,400 rounds a year. I would say I could easily do that for another 20 years. Probably longer, but definitely 20 years (barring me getting killed 10 minutes from now or something). That is 208,000 rounds.

So, if I were unable to buy any more ammo, starting right now, I would need to have 208,000 rounds of ammo on hand to continue to enjoy shooting at that rate for the rest of the time I am physically able to shoot like I do now.

Obviously this is just an example. But the point is that instead of saying enough is never enough or some cute/clever/edgy reply, you could easily make a educated guess as to how much ammo is enough.

One thing I can tell you: when these various shortages of commercial ammo take place, I don't have any shortage of ammo. I go to the range and everybody has a great time discussing how much I shoot when there is an ammo shortage. They can't do that because they thought they were being big spenders buying only enough ammo for one shooting session and not planning for a rainy day (which seems to occur every few years lately).

Go back and read some of the threads on ammunition from 2008. Then decide how much is enough

An economic and/or supply chain problem is much more of a concern in terms of one's own personal stock than figuring out how many rounds you need to win a fight. I figure if I make it through 2 pistol mags (~30 rounds) the chances of me escaping without return fire/significant injury to myself start to dip pretty low. So in my opinion, two 20/25-round boxes of hollowpoint and maybe one 50-round box of FMJ for backup would take care of any threat I'd actually survive (or at least still be in a condition to continue defending). But I don't stock for that, I am trying to stock to counter the shortages we saw during Obama.

But cute, clever and witty remarks are fun! (I am not cool enough to be edgy.)

And I don't have twenty five thousand dollars to spend on twenty two caliber bullets. I guess I'll just have to buy as I use them and can afford to.

Dang. I didn't count fourty five or thirty caliber. No! I don't WANT a cheaper hobby!

I bought the cheap plastic ammo cans from harbor freight. For me, enough is now a can for each caliber. That means about 700 .223, a thousand various pistol cartridges give or take based on size, 500 30-30 etc. The thing for me though is that I make sure to have at least as much reloading supplies as I have loaded ammo.

Scooter22 said:

When the corner of the house you store it in has sunk lower than the rest.

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This is the answer. When you need a concrete leveling company out to keep your foundation from settling.

Robert B Bender said:

I just counted my supply of ammo and the totals seem sufficient to me. 4400 rounds of .223, 1600 rds 9mm.. Mostly plinking ammo, IE, FMJ. I am mostly a rifle shooter, don't care much for pistols (Quigley Down Under?). What does the hive mind consider to be a good supply of HP ammo to have on hand? I'm thinking 200 to 300 rounds of each. Kind of bragging on on my stash of ammo.but, am genuinely concerned as to what is a sufficient supply of each. Not peparing for war nut, would like to have a sufficient supply for a standoff.

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Great, you have enough for this weekend.

What about the weekend after?







OP,

That is a great start but the phrase "buy it cheap, stack it deep" exists for a reason.

I will be shooting the rest of my life (my state permitting, I suppose) and that means thousands and thousands of rounds.
It will be cheaper now than later...