How much ammo for the next four years

[MachIVshooter]

Depends on how you do it -- I use a credit card for internet purchases, but pay it all off each month. Never carry a balance on a credit card!!

I never said don't use a card, just said don't buy on credit.

Paying it off every billing cycle is still essentially paying cash, just in a way that helps build credit, or earn rewards. You'll never pay a dime in interest. Nothing wrong with putting purchases on plastic or taking advantage of things like 6 months same as cash credit lines, so long as you can pay it off before interest starts to accrue (especially those same as cash that hit you with all the back interest if you go past the deadline).

I just urge people to be very careful, as it seems a lot easier to pay those things off when you're figuring your monthly budget than when you're actually using your monthly budget. Most of us aren't very good at accounting for all the little $3 and $5 crap that adds up to hundreds of dollars. Buy an energy drink and a candy bar 4 days out of the week? That's probably $80-$100/month. I'm sure the grocery bill got tallied, but what about the dozen fast food stops at $9 a whack? There's another C-note. And so on.

 

[FLNT4EVR]

Get all you can , THEN learn to reload ,buy components when available , and try not to be too conspicuous. don't get stuck on specific products. A lot of different primers and powder will work. There are 18 types of powder that will work in the 45 ACP alone.,.Small rifle primers will work in some handguns. Learn to get whats available, and what will work for you. The same with available bullets, I personally don't want to be hit by any of them. They all work or they wouldn't be there.

 

[joem1945]

I love to reload so I have a bunch of ammo in perhaps 20 or more different calibers. Reloading is a disease, the more you do it, the more you do it.

 

[Iron Sight]

Keep running low so I keep reloading.

Something like gasoline?

 

[buck460XVR]

they will come after our ammo and the firearms.

This is the same "little Red Hen" claim that created ammo/reloading shortages the last 8 years. Wasn't the Dems that dried up the supplies and drove the prices thru the roof, it was "the little Red Hens". All those claims of the "Dems" buying up/destroying all the .22 LR ammo has been proved false many times and the real cause is once again, "the Little Red Hens".

What the last two "panic buying sprees" have done is increased supply, both in factory ammo and reloading supplies. They also have increased gun ownership and progressed the shooting sports, especially those just going to the local range and shooting a coupla hundred rounds. Add to this the huge increase in interest in SD/HD firearms and the demand for ammo/reloading components has exponentiated. If you do not want to be caught with your pants down again, stock up on ammo and components as much as you can afford. The price is not ever going to go down and ammo and components won't spoil in our lifetime. But place the blame for prices and supply where it belongs.

 

[tuj]

if you think it will only be 4-years, you aren't reading the political winds of this country right.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

I reload my pistol and rifle ammo, 9mm, 40 S&W, 5.56 and .308. I make sure I have enough components on hand to load at least 2500 rounds of each pistol caliber and 1000 rounds of each rifle caliber.

Right now, I'm good!

 

[P5 Guy]

That is beyond insane. Risking your house to buy ammo?

Originally Posted by P5 Guy
Take out a home equity loan and buy everything you can find. Loaded ammo, primers, powder, bullets of what you shoot.
Buy it cheap and stack it deep. I was a hoarder back when it was called SENSIBLE STOCKPILING'
That is beyond insane. Risking your house to buy ammo?

You are absolutely correct. Just joking here because I would think the members of THR would see that for what it was a silly joke.

 

[VINTAGE-SLOTCARS]

If you don't stock up on supplies: call me for 100 dollar primers and powder! Don't trust either political party to insure your 2a rights

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Well, you CAN trust the Democrats. You can trust them to abolish the 2nd Amendment.

 

[Wildbillz]

In a perfect world I would like my ammo stock to look something like this...

5K of Heavy rifle ammo
308Win

10 to 15K of rifle ammo.
5.56mm and 7.62x39 (maybe 5.45x39)

10K of pistol ammo
9mm, 45acp, 40 S&W

2 to 5K of small pistol ammo
380acp

22Lr
As much as I could get my hands on.

12ga Buck shot and bird shot.
1 or 2K depending on how much bird shooting you do.

I would also stock up on as much reloading supplies for those calibers as I could get. Enough to reload all the brass three or four times would be nice.

My stack is no where near that, but it sure would be nice.

That's just me though.
WB

 

[susieqz]

i shoot 1200 rounds of 22lr every month. i can't possibly stockpile 4 years worth.

 

[C.R.]

I try to pick up a box of something if I am at a store that has ammo like Fleet Farm,or wallyworld. sometimes its 7.62x39mm some days it might be 12 Gauge 00Buck shot,sometimes if I stumble across any its .22 ,or maybe something to feed the pistols.I have been slowly building up my stash .

 

[BSA1]

To shamelessly steal from former V.P. Cheney:

"I have more than I need and less than I want."

 

[hso]

Estimate what you shoot over the same period of time and stock that as you can responsibly afford to.

If you have a ready supply of cash, talk about a single bulk purchase discount with a supplier. If you don't, spend 30 minutes each day looking for sales.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

i shoot 1200 rounds of 22lr every month. i can't possibly stockpile 4 years worth.

That would be 4,800 rounds every 4 months. But a case (5,000 rounds) every 4 months, and save the surplus. Slowly but surely, it will build up. It will build up faster if you can afford to buy an extra case every now and then and squirrel it away.

 

[Hangingrock]

Here we are looking into the future and Chicken Little rises from the ashes one more time screaming The Sky Is Falling - The Sky IS Falling. Panic, yes panic caused the shortages in the normal supply and availability market place, fueled by on line forums participants spreading the doom and gloom rumors.

So we have the next Presidential Election and without vote being cast defeatism is prevalent.

 

[Walkalong]

Yawn. I'm not going to be buying any more than I would normally. Getting worried about something that hasn't happened at this point is really a waste of time, and gee wiz, after this tremendous six year buying spree, doesn't every one have enough already.

And yes, don't buy on credit for sure. It's not smart money.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

We have guns show's around here every couple of month's. I always buy a brick of primers and a pound of powder at every gun show, so I always have those on hand.

The bullets, I normally buy from TJConevera, his prices are good and free shipping.

 

[Blackbeard]

My shooting fell off considerably around 2009. Partly due to the ammo shortage and partly because my shooting buddies seemed to lose interest. Prior to that I had stocked up quite a bit because I could see the writing on the wall. I haven't bought much ammo since then either, due to the high prices and the fact that I don't shoot much anymore.

 

[Gravedigger56]

I buy my calibers (factory loads and reloading components) whenever I see a good deal at a gun shop, gun show, etc. I couldn't even tell you how much I currently have on hand. Like everyone I got caught up in the frenzy for awhile and bought ammo whenever I found it available, no matter what the cost but now just when I find a price too good to pass up.

I guess my answer to the OP is, IMO, you can never have too much but you can easily have too little.

 

[ford8nr]

I was just thinking of starting a "Who will be caught short" thread when I saw this one. Was just looking a lead shot and the price increases in the past few years is crazy. When you do the math it's hardly worth reloading. Common sense says cost of shotgun ammo WILL go up despite any political doings. So I picked up a case of 20ga target loads last month on sale. Will pick up some bird loads this month then same for 12ga in the near future. Rifle ammo / pistol ammo and components I'm pretty good on, just need a couple more k primers. 22lr I'll pick up a case or two when I see decent prices on something I'll shoot. For the non believers ... Don't whine when the next shortage comes, the election cycle is closer then you think.

 

[BSA1]

There be a lot of sales of shotgun ammo over the next 2 -3 months.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Ideally, probably 5K each of 9mm, 38/357, & 40S&W. Somewhere between 30K to 50K of 22LR and a couple thousand rounds of 7.63x39 & a thousand rounds of 30.06. Heh, looks like I have a bit of hoarding/reloading to do.

 

[Onward Allusion]

When you do the math it's hardly worth reloading.

For me the above no longer holds water. I used to think the same. . . if you factor in time, blah, blah, blah...

For me it's about being self-sufficient and the ability to create your own loads - from powder puffs to +P+.