I took the leap. I bought a S&W M&P15 Sport II. Been owning guns and shooting them since 1980. With all the turmoil, rumors and fear being spread in this country. I bought my 1st "black gun"
I also bought 5 Magpul gen 2's to go with it. I am going to buy 5 more. Been thinking about the aluminum ones. Are the aluminum mags just as good?
Also bought 2k of ammo. What is a realistic amount of 5.56 to keep on hand for reserve? And are 11 mags a solid amount to have. Dont plan to shoot more than 1000 rounds a year out of it.
We have two...the first one (the original one I bought, prior to the Sport II) ended up in my wife's possession. So, of course I HAD to buy another one for me, which ended up being the Sport II.
Ours have been flawless. And the trigger pull is niiiiiiice! I can't imagine that you'll be anything other than pleased.
Magazines: Buy what you want. Quality magazines are quality magazines. Ours are all the Magpul plastic ones, so I'll let others speak to aluminum. Here's my opinion on how many:
The number of magazines I buy is based on convenience of ammunition loading. Meaning, I like to load up magazines based on how many come in a box...I don't like dealing with partial boxes. Color me OCD if you wish. I also like to have enough magazines to support plenty of shooting before I need to take a break and reload. A trip to the range should be spent with more time shooting than reloading, in my opinion.
Therefore, for 30 round magazines, two, four, or six would be nice numbers for me. Preferably a minimum of four magazines. Why? Because the Wolf Gold .223 ammo I buy by the case comes in 20 round boxes. Two magazines would be three full boxes. Four would be 6 full boxes. Etc.
Ammunition:
We shoot Wolf Gold .223. Brass, if you are thinking of reloading, and relatively cheap, especially when I catch it on sale at The Armory in Chesapeake, VA. 55 grain FMJ at about 3,250 fps, never a problem cycling or jamming, shoots at point of aim straight out of the box, and makes nice, round holes (no keyholing evident). I can't speak to anything else because I haven't seen the need to try anything else. Others can provide their experiences with other ammo.
How much ammo? Well, let me put it this way: you know those two extra magazines you bought and the five more you're planning on getting? And the "11 mags" you're asking if is a "solid loadout"?
Yeah, assuming 30 rounds each, that's a 330 round loadout in prepping for the range. A third of a case. That may SOUND like a lot...but if there's one thing I've learned over the years it's that whatever I bring to the range, I'm going to shoot. If I bring a box of ammo, I'm going to shoot it. If I bring 5 boxes...I'll shoot all five boxes. I long since decided that I needed to either leave a box or two in my trunk when setting up, or only load my "range can" with what I'm willing to not come back home with.
That third of a case? It's 2/3 of a case with one reloading of your magazines. Get it?
The other thing to consider is price. Routinely keep an eye out on ammo prices between range trips and buy when you see good deals. No need to buy a pallet of ammo at one time (unless that's what you want). A couple cases is, in my opinion, a great starting amount. Enough to get you to the range and shooting for a few trips, at least, and get a feel for how much you'll actually shoot.
From there, you can decide how much is a "reasonable" amount for you to stock up on. If you go through a case in three months, for example, but you can only find "good deals" on prices once or twice a year, you might consider stocking up on 2 or 3 cases in order to maintain an inventory at an acceptable investment.
As my wife noted when I took her to the range to shoot her first pistol: "It didn't take very long to go through a hundred rounds." My answer? "It never does!"