How much ammo is "enough?"

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I mean I was pretty much with you until you made this very condescending point. I don't think a young shooter asking around what people who have lived through the significant droughts of previous administrations would consider is a respectable enough of ammo is is lacking in skill, knowledge, or critical thinking ability.

Part of critical-thinking and knowledge is learning from people who have been there.

I did not intend it to be read as condescending toward the person new to firearms. I intended it to be condescending to the people who have big supplies of ammo stockpiled but have neglected the weightier matters. Really, I didn't intend it to be condescending, but especially not toward people that are only just realizing the virtue of firearms ownership -- some of them might be young as you say and not had opportunity until now. It doesn't really matter what their reason for waiting until now is. I'm not judging them. No matter what, I'd still wish it to be rewarding for them.

The point I was trying to make was that they need to see all the responsibilities that they have to themselves if they can be expected to stick with it. It's not condescending of me to assess that they lack firearms-related skill, knowledge and critical thinking ability if they've never done anything to gain those things. If we could just relieve their burden in firearms and ammunition consumption, it wouldn't by itself contribute meaningfully to creating long-term commitment to firearms ownership and responsible usage. It would just cause a higher spike in purchases followed by a glut in used guns and depressed prices, excess production capacity and bankrupted producers.

The lack of skill, knowledge, and critical thinking ability I was referring to is the one common to nearly all new owners (with some exceptions) as well as to many people who have owned guns and possessed an abundance of ammo through many cycles. They've been pre-occupied with buying guns and ammo.

What I'm saying to new firearms owners is that it's a package deal. It's not just buying the gun and buying the ammo, and then solving the problem of buying more. Whether you carry, hunt or compete, it doesn't primarily consist of buying stuff. I'm saying to a person wondering how much ammo they should have, to also wonder how much skill, knowledge, and critical thinking ability they should have and if they're going to stockpile ammo, think about stockpiling those things. How many gun owners have enough of those things stockpiled? How many of them are working fervently to buy more guns and stockpile ammo, but doing nothing about stockpiling ability, understanding, and judgment?
 
After I die someone will have to figure out what to do with ammunition and components I have, that’s a fact. The only way I have enough to ensure that is to maintain or grow what I have.

That said, I maintained after Clinton’s AWB, bought after it sunset, sold after Obama’s re-election and sandy hook, bought after the last election.

Its waves, the ideal point to buy is at the bottom, just like the ideal point to sell is high.

You can be a smart investor or make one happy, your choice.

“Enough”, I have firearms I haven’t and likely won’t ever shoot, zero rounds for them is plenty.
 
I started slowly building an ammo cache in high school and it has grown nicely over the last 30 years. I have strived for several K in my "common" calibers, and at least 500 in most others. Only a few cartridges do I have just a minimal amount, like 8mm Lebel Revolver (< 50 on-hand).

I have generally transitioned to ensuring I have an adequate supply designated for my son and daughter to cover their basic needs in the future (not wasteful plinking, not blasting 1000 rounds in "training", but in case things get difficult).

Those extra 200 rounds of 9mm FMJ that you bought to blow at the range with your buddies might mean a hell of a lot more to your kids in 30 years. Just something to think about...
 
It's extremely subjective. I use a fair bit compared to some folks, but nowhere near the volume of a regular competition shooter. I have friends and relatives who hunt but do not engage in much recreational shooting. It's rare for them to have more than one of two boxes of ammo on hand and only make a puchase every few years.
 
How much do you want to shoot in practice? Think you will be able to reasonably buy more when that is gone?
The 1st question is easy.
The 2nd question is a bit problematic.
 
When I was a young shooter, you could always stop at Wal-Mart for a brick of .22. Always. Now? Not so much. As several others have mentioned, it varies with the shooter. Competitive shooters go through a lot more ammo than us casual shooters. As for me, I started really trying to build my stash about 10 years ago. Unfortunately, I was as poor as a church mouse back then, so I could only buy an extra box here and there. I'm a casual shooter, making a trip or two to the range per month. My "panic benchmark" is 1k. IOW, I won't pay panic prices until my supply in a given caliber has fallen below 1k rounds. I try to keep anywhere from 1k to 2500 rounds of everything except .22 on hand. I keep more of that.
 
I think it depends on your usage. Unlike many members here, shooting is probably a tertiary hobby for me. I don't live and breathe the gun life. My political priorities when I vote don't put the 2ndA at the tippy top. I try to get to the range, under normal circumstances, at least once a month to stay competent with my firearms and to blow off a bit of steam. Since the pandemic started, I havent gone since February. Compound that ammo is tough to find and I dont reload (nor do I plan to), I have just gone into a holding pattern.

My current buying pattern leading up to the panic buying of TP during the first month or so of COVID was to purchase a couple of boxes of regular range ammo here and there as i knew they would be tough to come by by the end of the general election. I did stock up on a bit more 12 gauge buck. I can tell you, I was way more concerned with the panicked hoarders than any civil unrest currently going on.

So I was able to stock up a couple hundred rounds of .45 and .357 each for when recreational shooting became a thing again. What i have been doing now is buying a box of premium .357 ammo about once a week. $26 per 20 is steep, but it is stocking me deep enough to keep my 686+ fed with high quality rounds if it ever came down to needing to use it.

In short, guns and feeding them are too expensive for me to really be enjoying right now. I have enough to protect my family but probably not enough to run off the throngs of invaders some are prepping for. I dont have 20 acres of back woods to blast in, so im just waiting this out. Things will normalize to whatever level they will, and ill jump back in when it's economical prudent.
 
I like to go to the range semi-regularly and am a very active hunter. I'm curious what you guys think is enough or possibly excessive?

My suggestion to you is fairly simple (I think) Multiply the averages you currently have. Take a best guess one year average of range trips X number of rounds used and toss a few hundred on top of each caliber used for good measure, plus your hunting ammo usage, and that is your actual yearly consumption rate.

The next consideration is what your projected scenario(s) is/are, or in other words, what your purpose is, to weather "average" ups and downs, or to include SHTF scenario, and how long you might expect it, or you to last.

Personally, I'm comfortable with about 3K of reserves for each primary defense/offense caliber. These are in climate controlled LTS. I reload all my regular practice ammo , so I keep as much as possible on hand for normal usage.
After years of discounting .22lr, I have come to realize just how useful it is, and I find myself sadly lacking at the moment.
 
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It depends on how much you shoot.

I would bet a lot of the “hoarders” only fire a couple hundred rounds a year, if that.

I don’t understand the point of having crates of ammo if you don’t shoot weekly or monthly.

A lot of people envision some kind of civil war where they have enough ammo to defend their house. Even if some crazy end of the world scenario were to occur... its tough to be a refugee with a dolly of ammo.
 
Enough?

excluding training and classes I like to shoot 1 box(50rounds) a month thru my carry guns, so that’s 600 rounds of 9mm and 600 of .40S&W.

I don’t “unload” my carry ammo from chamber so that’s another 48 rounds of jhp a year.

Grand total would be 1k a year FMJ and 100 rounds of JHP Should be enough.

Deer hunting would be “one bullet” ;)
 
I would be interested to know how much ammo frontiersmen kept on hand
 
Enough depends on two factors. How much you shoot and how easy you can resupply. The resupply issue is impossible to forecast, so I would think enough for me would be at least a few years worth at my current rate of consumption. That way if the resupply continues to be a problem long term I could cut back on the amount I shoot and extend the time when I'd run out completely, perhaps enough to last me the rest of my life since I'm 69 years old. Actuarial tables say another 10 years should cover it.

I've already cut back consumption in as much as I now think about how much I'm using at the range when I used to just shoot till I felt like quitting and didn't give a thought to ammo consumption. If I limit myself to 200 rounds per week of centerfire I'm good for about 2 years. That's not enough in my eyes so I'm doing what I can to increase my supply when financially possible.

I've pretty much stopped shooting .22 LR for now as my supply is low and I won't pay the current prices. I can just about reload 9mm for what .22 LR costs now.
 
What state you live in would also adjust your number. Some States limit the amounts of powder you may keep in your house....danger of a house fire, you know.

Also I never looked into it but there might be some limits on the amount of ammo you may store in your home in one of the more backward states. The NY times would love to publish a story " Ex-Marine found with thousands of rounds in fully semi-automatic 'clips' in his basement."
 
Welcome to THR. Answers to this question will be all over the map, and you probably won't get specifics. "How much is enough" depends on your application. If you compete, enough might be a lot. If all you do is hunt, enough to confirm zero and take game might mean one box of 20 each year. I like to keep enough stock on hand that I don't have to worry about what others are doing. For some cartridges, that means bulk loaded ammo; for others, it means enough components to keep me shooting regularly. It all depends on how much you shoot and what level of buffer stock makes you feel comfortable.
 
In normal times, I keep 1000 rounds in the caliber, I shoot alot. That's usually generic FMJ pistol ammo and 223 55 gr. I buy what I need for matches on top of that. I have increased the supply when there were excellent sales (oh, well). For my EDC guns and HD, about 100 rounds designed for such. Shotgun, not my major interested so a few boxes of bird, buck and slugs. Enough SD oriented OO and slugs to keep the gun loaded. A small amount of other calibers like 22 mag or 22S for some speciality guns.

I have friends with thousand and thousands of rounds. They realize it is an OCD. There is enough to outlive them at our old age and we would die when our meds ran out before we could shoot it all in an apocalypse.
 
I did not intend it to be read as condescending toward the person new to firearms. I intended it to be condescending to the people who have big supplies of ammo stockpiled but have neglected the weightier matters. Really, I didn't intend it to be condescending, but especially not toward people that are only just realizing the virtue of firearms ownership -- some of them might be young as you say and not had opportunity until now. It doesn't really matter what their reason for waiting until now is. I'm not judging them. No matter what, I'd still wish it to be rewarding for them.

The point I was trying to make was that they need to see all the responsibilities that they have to themselves if they can be expected to stick with it. It's not condescending of me to assess that they lack firearms-related skill, knowledge and critical thinking ability if they've never done anything to gain those things. If we could just relieve their burden in firearms and ammunition consumption, it wouldn't by itself contribute meaningfully to creating long-term commitment to firearms ownership and responsible usage. It would just cause a higher spike in purchases followed by a glut in used guns and depressed prices, excess production capacity and bankrupted producers.

The lack of skill, knowledge, and critical thinking ability I was referring to is the one common to nearly all new owners (with some exceptions) as well as to many people who have owned guns and possessed an abundance of ammo through many cycles. They've been pre-occupied with buying guns and ammo.

What I'm saying to new firearms owners is that it's a package deal. It's not just buying the gun and buying the ammo, and then solving the problem of buying more. Whether you carry, hunt or compete, it doesn't primarily consist of buying stuff. I'm saying to a person wondering how much ammo they should have, to also wonder how much skill, knowledge, and critical thinking ability they should have and if they're going to stockpile ammo, think about stockpiling those things. How many gun owners have enough of those things stockpiled? How many of them are working fervently to buy more guns and stockpile ammo, but doing nothing about stockpiling ability, understanding, and judgment?

I'm sorry but, the more you write, the less sense you make to me.

I've been shooting my whole life and have an honorable discharge from the military (infantry). I'm not a new shooter by any means, but I'm definitely a young one -- meaning I've only seen prices fluctuate between the Obama and Trump administrations. I wasn't buying guns or ammo during the Clinton administration and prior, nor do I have the knowledge of the velocity of change we've experienced regarding ammo availability due to political pressure as a country over time. I'm hoping some of the old farts hanging around here might have some wisdom, as I've learned to pay attention when those guys start talking because they're often very wise (although not always).

That said, you'd have to be completely out of touch with reality to not realize this election cycle is totally unprecedented in the sudden spike of firearms ownership and ammunition shortages this far away from November. It's partially coranavirus inspired, but I'm sure a lot of it is people preparing to fight World War III from a hunting cabin or something like that and yuppies who are scared of the riots in their back yard.

If you claim you're not being condescending I'll take you at your word, but I'm really not sure what your point is. Basically i'm wondering if the current political climate justifies trying to stock up for like 4 - 8 years while prices are still considerably lower than they will be in the future, if I'm already paying too much for it now and should just wait, if it's going to likely go up, or if the shortages are cosmetic and I'll be able to get it at fair prices contingent on who wins in the next 5 months. I'm not interested in hoarding billions of rounds of ammo to just stare at.

I just don't want to shoot myself in the foot when I have to buy ammo when I go to the range in two years' time (pun intended).

Does that make sense to everybody? Also, I want to thank everyone for their extremely informative replies. I still have a lot of thinking to do here so please do not hesitate to give more feedback.
 
Basically i'm wondering if the current political climate justifies trying to stock up for like 4 - 8 years while prices are still considerably lower than they will be in the future, if I'm already paying too much for it now and should just wait, if it's going to likely go up, or if the shortages are cosmetic and I'll be able to get it at fair prices contingent on who wins in the next 5 months. I'm not interested in hoarding billions of rounds of ammo to just stare at.

I just don't want to shoot myself in the foot when I have to buy ammo when I go to the range in two years' time (pun intended).

Does that make sense to everybody? Also, I want to thank everyone for their extremely informative replies. I still have a lot of thinking to do here so please do not hesitate to give more feedback.

Now I realize it were at the high end of the cycle but the rule I normally go by is that ammunition will never be cheaper than it is right now and it doesn't go bad.

As I said earlier by as much as you can reasonably afford. If we get to a low part of the cycle buy more.
 
I have stopped shooting for the time being because I refuse to pay what is being charged for ammo or components to handload. And this is not the first time I have done that. I am not going to assume that this situation will pass and we'll be back to "normal" again. I have been stockpiling since Bill Clinton was Pres. and now I only wish I had stockpiled more.
 
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