Imaginos
Member
I was working at BassPro yesterday evening, and I was tasked with shifting several pallets of shotgun shells one case at a time. Somewhere between tired and painful I got to thinking about the debates that often spring up on THR regarding the virtues of various firearms in a SHTF scenario.
That set me to wondering how much ammo is in the basic military combat load vs a civilian in bugout situation where you are humping the load on your back.
I always figured 300-500 rounds of rifle ammo was the minimum load that made sense for a combat rifleman, but I have never been able to find an exact number. I know that most soldiers in the field carry as much ammo as possible for their personal weapon and then add on more for the squad weapon and/or anti-tank weapons.
Since I favor the 12ga as my long arm of choice, I would need to carry 1 case of ammo (26 lbs.) to get 250 rounds for my primary weapon before adding my pistol(s) and the ammo for them. Then throw on water, food, shelter, rain gear, plus all of the other little things that make life on the run somewhat less than completely miserable, and, I'm figuring about 60-75 lbs of equipment just to support myself. Not exactly a typical BOB in my view.
I orginally selected the shottie based on its versatility for fighting and hunting. However, the weight of the ammo makes me question my choice of longarm.
An AK with an equal amount of ammo is going to be about the same overall weight. Lighter ammo, but a heavier base weapon weight.
An AR carbine would save weight on the ammo, but the base weapon weight is about the same as my Mossberg 500. I'd save some weight, so that would be a good thing.
A third option is to go to a carbine in the same caliber as my pistols and then I'm only packing one caliber of ammo and that ammo is much lighter than the 12ga. The downside is I give up the effective range of the rifle, the hitting power of the larger cartridges, and the versatility of the shotgun.
So, assuming a bugout on foot is required, how much ammo do you plan to carry and for what weapon system?
That set me to wondering how much ammo is in the basic military combat load vs a civilian in bugout situation where you are humping the load on your back.
I always figured 300-500 rounds of rifle ammo was the minimum load that made sense for a combat rifleman, but I have never been able to find an exact number. I know that most soldiers in the field carry as much ammo as possible for their personal weapon and then add on more for the squad weapon and/or anti-tank weapons.
Since I favor the 12ga as my long arm of choice, I would need to carry 1 case of ammo (26 lbs.) to get 250 rounds for my primary weapon before adding my pistol(s) and the ammo for them. Then throw on water, food, shelter, rain gear, plus all of the other little things that make life on the run somewhat less than completely miserable, and, I'm figuring about 60-75 lbs of equipment just to support myself. Not exactly a typical BOB in my view.
I orginally selected the shottie based on its versatility for fighting and hunting. However, the weight of the ammo makes me question my choice of longarm.
An AK with an equal amount of ammo is going to be about the same overall weight. Lighter ammo, but a heavier base weapon weight.
An AR carbine would save weight on the ammo, but the base weapon weight is about the same as my Mossberg 500. I'd save some weight, so that would be a good thing.
A third option is to go to a carbine in the same caliber as my pistols and then I'm only packing one caliber of ammo and that ammo is much lighter than the 12ga. The downside is I give up the effective range of the rifle, the hitting power of the larger cartridges, and the versatility of the shotgun.
So, assuming a bugout on foot is required, how much ammo do you plan to carry and for what weapon system?