Checking the spreadsheet I find that I have more ammo on hand than most of you would believe. Most of that is in about 5 calibers-.308, 7.62x39, 9m/m ,.223 and .45 ACP. Twenty Two ammo I count by the can, not the round and I have about 7, .30 cal cans full. I have no idea how much that is. I know that we have bought a 500 round pack every week at Walmart with the grocceries for about 10 years now. Some is shot but nowhere near the amount that keeps stacking up. With my boys now starting to shoot we will be dipping into some of that soon.
I am a firm believer in buying huge quantities of good ammo when it is available at reasonable prices. I have been doing that for over ten years now with a pretty good support budget. I remember being at a gunshow when I was a poor law student in 1994 and seeing two guys get into a fist fight over primers. I had very little ammo on hand and there was none to be found at any reasonable price. Many of the current crop of shooters have NO idea what a real ammo shortage looks like. I vowed right then and there that I would NEVER, EVER be caught short and it's a promise I have kept.
We have seen huge price spikes in several types of popular ammo in the last two years, .223 is outrageous as far as I am concerned. They are getting .20 a round for freaking reject ammo! The Russian X39 has gone up 20% or better in the last year. Two years ago you could buy Portugese .308 shipped to your door for $140 a case. Now you will pay shipping and about $175 or more for equivalent ammo. Where there were good and varied supplies there are now few choices. People are scurrying around trying to find things and in many cases are settling for overpriced junk. It doesn't have to be that way!
As I stated in another thread this morning here, surplus ammo is cyclical in availability. When you find something good buy until it hurts, when you start building furniture out of ammo cases/cans-like coffee tables, bed pedestals, entertainment centers, then maybe you have enough.
I don't consider reloading as part of ammo stocks. It is important to be able to do and it certainly can get you through lean ammo times. I use it primarily to keep from dipping into my really good surplus stuff and for those calibers that are cheaper to reload vs. buying surplus-like .44 mag, .45-70, hunting loads etc.....For day to day shooting it is ok but for long term storage I prefer military/factory products.
Buy it cheap, stack it deep. Sleep well.
