SHTF Bug-In Ammo Supply

enough is never enough

I have no less than 500 rounds per caliber at home. For my primary defensive weapons, I have 1,000 extra rounds per gun minimum. I find that buying/reloading in bulk also saves vast amounts of money. I reload a lot and it wouldn't be odd to find 10,000 rounds or more in my house. If you were low on funds, I would say 300 rounds per defensive weapon at minimum would be a good start. I suggest reading this as food for thought while preparing your home and family for SHTF scenario.

In a prolonged SHTF scenario like the one described in the link I would think that the more you had on hand the better off you'd be in the end.

Also, I travel for a living, while on the road I have my carry gun and 2 extra mags on me at all times and 3 more mags in my vehicle, along with 250 extra rounds in case TSHTF while I am away from home. This also serves well for getting some practice in while away, I don't have to track down ammo immediately before/after visiting a range.

The link is
http://www.buildanark.net/survival_stories/ferfal1_1.html

I hope the proverbial S never does HTF, but if it does, be prepared.
Happy stockpiling,
Dalton

No less than 500 rounds also for all pistol calibers as for my rifle I have 150 rounds or so.

I have multiple calibers and stock varying amounts of the recreational ones (40S&W, 44mag, 357mag etc.).

The others (22LR, 45ACP, 223, 12 gauge), I reorder when I am down to 1000 rounds with the exception of 22lr which I always seem to have several thousand rounds of.

Goal is to have enough for defense as well as getting something for the pot if need be so short (weeks) to mid term (months) scenario.

That said, I am probably not as overall prepared as I should be.

I get a kick out of people who think their house is defensible, or in a good neighborhood. If the SHTF for real, there would be no such a thing as either, short of a bunker with a 500 yard kill zone around it, and even then you have to sleep.

I can't see the need for more than a few hundred rounds, at most.

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Then a couple hundred rounds it is. I would think for the primary SD weapons that would do it for realistic short term situations, but I have more for the simple reason that I like to buy in bigger batches. A long shooting session might use up a couple hundred rounds, and I like to have some on hand.

1. If, for whatever reason, a person "didn't see a need" for more than 300 rounds of ammunition, but later found themselves cut off from an ammo supply (CA ammo tax, UN surplus bans, etc.), those few hundred rounds would quickly become what they are: a vanishingly small amount.

2. Buying in bulk is often more cost effective. With a modicum of care, most modern ammo remains usable for many decades. Also, ammo prices have been steadily going up for the last year.

3. Figure out how much ammo you'd use in a given time period (say, six months), to include sighting-in, practice, reliability testing, and general plinking. In my case, when I easily burn through 250+ rounds of ammo other than .22LR in one range session, even a "massive stockpile" of 2,000 rounds suddenly seems very, very small.

I would worry a lot more about food in any situation lasting more than 2-3 days. That said, I have enough ammo on hand.

I get a kick out of people who think their house is defensible, or in a good neighborhood.

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A "good neighborhood" is right where the truck full of looters goes, because they know that's where the houses are full of plasma TVs, laptops and other goodies.

Your top priority should be to have a lot magazines, then have the extra ammo to reload them a few times. Having 500 round of 9mm and 1000 rounds of .223 is silly if you only have 2 mags for your glock 17 and 3 for your AR. If some SHTF event happens and your house was being attacked by whatever you would quickly find yourself in a long pause trying to reload the 2 or 3 mags you own. For your primary weapons I would shoot for enough rifle mags or stripper clips to hold 300 rounds and enough pistol mags to hold 80 to 100 rounds. I think if you had that, and the ability to reload everything 3 times or more, that should cover you for most SHTF type events.

Based on what i've seen and read regarding the LA riots and New Orleans (the best examples of SHTF in America), I'd say 200-300 rounds would be ok.

Personally I prefer a lot more in my stash (2000 rounds of 223, 500 of 9mm, 300 of 12 gauge, 1000 of 7.62x39, 200 of 45acp), and this excludes my range ammo.

My goal is to have enough to arm myself, a few family members, and I also like to have enough in case of a ban. But if your goal is to survive a single event, you don't need a huge stockpile. Things like food, water, etc, will be equally critical.

If some SHTF event happens and your house was being attacked by whatever you would quickly find yourself in a long pause trying to reload the 2 or 3 mags you own.

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Well...looters don't tend to stick around if there's someone shooting members of their party. Attacking your house?

Unless you're in Iraq, I can't see anyone exhausting several mags from an AR in the space of a couple of minutes. It's seeing off lowlife looters, not the Alamo...

The link is
http://www.buildanark.net/survival_s...ferfal1_1.html

I hope the proverbial S never does HTF, but if it does, be prepared.
Happy stockpiling,
Dalton

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thanks for the link!

You want to start talking .22 I probably have close to ten thousand rounds by now. I can keep heads down for a long time with that...

If you stockpile more than you can carry then you are giving the rest to the bad guys.

jim

I always have enough defensive ammo to keep all the mags in my two primary pistols loaded. Other than that I dont bother stocking massive lots of pistol ammo. Could be just the few mags, could be several hundred or thousand rounds if I find a good deal. Pistols should not be a primary concern in that situation, a pistol should be a bug to your rifle/shotgun. As far as rifle ammo goes I keep 7 loaded mags for the AR and 7 loaded mags plus a 75 round drum for the AK, if I have any more than that its from a bulk buy that I plan on depositing at the range. I do however have more .22lr than I could ever care to count 10k or more at least.

agreed. best to buy in bulk for cost reasons. i typically buy 500 to 1000 rounds at a time unless it is that match grade .308 then its more like 200-250 rounds.

last purchase was 1500 rounds of AK ammo from my local Academy. i think i'll go hunt for some more at another Academy store today. another 500-1000 for $75/box of 500 is well worth it. especially when these AK's eat up so much ammo on full auto.....

i think the poster who said food and water was just as important brought up a good point. i have 24 freeze dried meals coming to my local REI store on Thursday i ordered online. 24 of them for $115 isn't bad including shipping and i didn't have to pay sales tax either. they keep for 7 years too and you just need to add water to get a 20 ounce meal. they also taste much better than MRE's and probably won't constipate you.

also a case of Sam's Choice water (24 20-ounce bottles) ran me $4.29 + tax at WalMart yesterday. i bought two because i couldn't fit any more in the car but i think ill go and get two more today. they have a shelf life of 2 years as printed on the bottle.

i remember people were panic buying in Austin during the hurricanes last year. you couldn't buy flashlights, batteries, or bottled water anywhere. at the local convenience stores they were selling a 16 oz. bottled water for $1 and would not sell at a bulk discount. imagine paying $24 for a case of bottled water that costs you $4.29 at WalMart! that is a 600% markup.

ammo is good. water and food is just as good! also dont forget your pets. i bought things my dog and cats would eat like canned tuna (cats) and meat (dog). doesn't hurt to go to WalMart and buy a few cheap six-packs of canend budget dog food for the pup either. its like $2-3 for a six pack of dog food.

a word of warning

a close friend of mine had a house fire last week, log cabin went up in flames. The 10,000 plus rounds and many rifles/pistols made it sound like a warzone for a period of time with at least one major explosion. Not only did it make rescue dangerous (for other reachable items on porch in door etc) it was a terrible loss of hard earned ammo in many calibers. It might be a good idea to think about how and where such is stored both for safety and for strategic reasons.
st

If you stockpile more than you can carry then you are giving the rest to the bad guys.

jim

not if you have friends, and the bad guys are many. . .

If some SHTF event happens and your house was being attacked by whatever you would quickly find yourself in a long pause trying to reload the 2 or 3 mags you own.

I'm not assuming the SHTF scenario will be finished in one fight, in one day, at one time. . . it's probably more likely that ammo could be used for trading and long term use than an all at once show down on the front lawn. Unless you have a ferrari and 14 concubines, a truck load of gas and a garage full of Jambalaya MRE's

SpreadFire - go to Sam's Club for water. You can get the Nestle brand water for about $3.50 (maybe $3.80) for 32 16.9 oz bottles. Works out to be a little cheaper per ounce and is the best deal I have found. The water in Austin, as I am sure everyone who lives here is aware tastes awful so we keep 4 cases on hand and buy more whenever we drop down to 2 cases.

I remember the hurricane scare last year (specifically Rita). I used to live up north (western NY - Buffalo/Rochester) and the threat of an ice storm or blizzard was very real in the winter (fall/spring and sometime summer LOL) so I have gotten used to keeping at least a weeks worth of essetials on hand (water, food, tp).

Academy or Wal-Mart are the cheapest places to buy ammo. Academy is slightly cheaper (a lot cheaper if you go with the Russian stuff but it is just too dirty for my tastes). I reload for the expensive calibers.

There was a house fire in Austin last week. 2 eldery people lost their lives. The firefighters were not able to get in because of ammo going off. Something to keep in mind.

I get a kick out of people who think their house is defensible, or in a good neighborhood.

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My house is a lot more defensible than I am out in the open with a BOB.

I live in a sketchy neighborhood, but my house is a pretty hard target. In fact, that is why I hardened it in the first place.

a

If you stockpile more than you can carry then you are giving the rest to the bad guys.

jim

Sam
not if you have friends, and the bad guys are many. . .

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Well it seems people are either bugging in or bugging out If you plan to Bug out then why stockpile stuff to be left behind for the bad guys. If your bugging in then I hope all the stuff is fire proof.

A list of examples of both are;

LA riots-- notice how many fires there.

Afganistan or Iraq--huge piles of ammo confiscated as Taliban and Iraqi troops ran.

Maybe a better course of action would be hidden stockpiles

jim

Not only did it make rescue dangerous

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In all fairness you shouldn't be too scared of ammo that isn't in the chamber of a barrel. Without a way to build pressure the bullet isn't going to be that be all that big of a threat.

Some guys plan for the end of society and some plan for a natural disaster that might leave things nasty for a week or two. I favor the latter and figure realistically 500 rounds with 1/4 to 1/2 in mags. I think its highly unlikely you'd ever have to even fire a shot, and even more unlikely you'd need to change magazines. That said ammo is cheap, and the price keeps going up. I buy by the case for easy shipping and because I'll shoot it at the range anyway.

I'd worry way more about eating, drinking, and staying warm.

The late Jeff Cooper recommended:
A) Assault rifle
B) 10 Hi-cap mags
C) 1000 Rounds.
The old Colonel was probably right with this also.

I can't see the need for more than a few hundred rounds, at most. If I need more, than I/we have bigger problems!

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I fully agree . For hard times and disasters make sure you have your meds, bottled water, food , and methods of staying warm , dry , and sheltered .

If one is planning on getting into gun fights it won't take all that much ammo before the need for it is gone.