How Much Ammo is Too Much

[moe.ron]

Not sure what that link is supposed to mean CoalTrain.

I am willing to bet civilians currently go through more .223 / 5.56 ammo right now than the US military.

Ammo adds up quickly just buying a few boxes here and there. If I happen to find myself and ammo in the same place and its reasonably priced, I am buying a couple few boxes. If I am cruising around the internet and see an ad with reasonably priced ammo, I will buy a couple few boxes. If I get an email advertising ammo on sale, I am picking up a few boxes.

I do the same thing with cases of water, dog biscuits, and tube socks. Just yesterday I stopped and topped of a 3/4 full tank on my truck because fuel was priced right.

How much ammo a person "needs" isn't really anything we can put parameters on.

 

[ACP]

How much ammo is too much?

When my credit or debit card is rejected.

MAYBE when I have to purchase a second Stack On ammo locker.

But not until then.

 

[MachIVshooter]

MAYBE when I have to purchase a second Stack On ammo locker.

Dude, you gotta think bigger. Like MAYBE when you fill up a 24x48x72" shelving unit



Older picture, about 5 years. Did not stop there. I recently had to cut 1x2" 080" wall square tube reinforcements to keep the shelves from caving in. And now the outer steel supports are bowing....

And there are several members here who make this look pitiful. A friend of mine awhile back was an SOT, participated in MG shoots regularly. He ordered by the pallet, had 5.56 NATO, 7.62 NATO & .50 BMG stacked floor to ceiling with barely enough room to squeeze an ATV into his 2 car garage.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Too much?

Let's see, one days combat load was nominally seven magazines, plus two bandoleers, that's 490 rounds.... 200,000 rounds per rifle.

If you have more than that, you may have too much.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

MachIVshooter.....that's awesome! I'm getting there myself!

 

[ljnowell]

That one broke me up.

I didn't really think too much about the article. Mostly because there are very few people who shoot competitively and .22 LR isn't a centerfire round. It's a plinker/rec round. So dismiss both of those arguments. I don't have 1000 rounds of anything and I shoot once a week. If you have 1000 rounds of centerfire rifle ammo you fall into the comp shooter, survivalist, or jihadist category. I don't know anyone who falls in any of those categories.

Sorry, just MHO.

Well, with friends like you……

 

[DeepSouth]

How much is to much?

When I have it all, then I'd say I have to much and I'd probably give some to my brother or my one life long friend.

I don't even know how much ammo I have now, I'm sure it's more than the antis consider "reasonable" but I don't care.

I think Brady Bill 2 wanted to limit us to 1,000 rounds if memory serves. I have significantly more than that, and that's all say about that.
I will add that it's not too much because I'm currently storing it on my boat.

 

[ACP]

MachIVshooter, do I sense a little dead air space at the top of those shelves??


Well done!

 

[ms6852]

I don't know how much ammo I have but it will outlast the O'bama drought. I love shooting and meeting great folk at the range. I also enjoy helping out at the range and giving ammo to people who take their children to shoot and they run out and I share my stash with them. Friends are strangers you have not met, and this is a great way to make friends, regardless of race,sex, or age.

 

[hso]

Sam's Club and Costco must be full of evil people. Kroger must as well when folks buy a flat of chicken broth when it is on sale. Buying in bulk to save money is deviant!

 

[DSAPT9]

I like most here buy when it’s cheap and available so during times of panic I can still shoot. My minimum is to have at least 2000 per rifle and now 1000 per pistol on hand always.

Let’s put it this way if the terrorist were considered to have mass quantities of ammo then I am in deep do-do because in most calibers I have over 10000 rounds per caliber.

 

[Ignition Override]

When I go to a retirement home or die first, there will be one and one half pickup truck loads to haul away my ammo, unless it is sold in advance.

No kidding here. Hoping that a family member will be living close enough who might want some of it.

 

[mavracer]

Dude, you gotta think bigger. Like MAYBE when you fill up a 24x48x72" shelving unit

Dude, one shelving unit LOL

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I would also add it depends on where you live.

I California (it appears) that 6000 rounds is a considered large amount.
In Texas (it appears) that 6000 rounds is considered a good start.

It all depends on your frame of reference (as my physics of the atom prof would say).

 

[danez71]

When your wife give you an odd look.... as you're watching the news about the San Bernardino shootings and they just listed out how much ammo the terrorists had.

 

[CoalTrain49]

Well, with friends like you……

The amount of ammo one has doesn't equate to being pro 2A. Maybe if you donated that 2K worth of ammo to the SAF or NRA we would be in better shape. Going to the range and burning powder doesn't have a damn thing to do with being pro 2A. All it tells me is you don't want to pay banic prices for ammo, a *I beat the market* sort of mentality. I know people that spend thousands on ammo and guns every year that don't belong to the NRA. I hope you donate as much as you spend on ammo.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Back to How Much Ammo is Too Much

When the anti-gunners started back in the 1960s talking about banning ammo or taxing it at a prohibitive rate, I made a point of keeping at least a five year supply of every caliber I shot.

In the past couple of decades, I have been shooting modern and vintage military matches at the club. Three targets, ten shots each, per match for score, seven matches in a season, modern military rifle and pistol, vintage military rifle and pistol, that is: 3 x 10 x 7 x 4 = 840 rounds for score per season not counting practice or function/sight check after maintenance. To afford to participate, I buy in bulk when ammo is available and priced right and I lay in a couple of years supply ahead. Not counting literally thousands of .22 rimfire for practice and plinking. (I have rode out the buying panic quite comfortably and I still spend less on my recreation than many golfers I have known).

I am not sure what the news media consider an arsenal. They may work from what I have seen at estate auctions: a practically new nightstand revolver or pistol with the box of ammo bought with it, and missing from the box the five, six, ten or so rounds fired to test function or sighting, before it was placed in the nightstand for protection, later to be sold at estate auction. More than one gun and one box of ammo = OMG!

I am not surprised that news media types have no concept what is an ordinary "arsenal" for lawful sporting purposes or serious practice for self-defense. I suspect to some, one self-defense handgun and fifty rounds is too much.

 

[MachIVshooter]

The amount of ammo one has doesn't equate to being pro 2A.

No, but a contemptuous attitude toward people who stock amounts that you arbitrarily deem "only a competitive shooter, survivalist or jihadist would" is anathema to 2A. It's our money and our prerogative. Unless someone is asking you to fund it, store it or move it, it's none of your concern whether they have one magazine's worth or a couple hundred thousand rounds in the basement.

As well, an individual buying tens of thousands of rounds to carry out a act like San Bernardino would have wasted his time and money accumulating such stock; the "mass shootings" with the highest round count of those fired by the perpetrators have never even approached 500 to my knowledge. The only incident I can think of in which the bad guy(s) fired more than a couple hundred was the North Hollywood shootout in 1997, where the perps fired about 1,100 rounds out of fully automatic rifles. And that was a bank robbery gone South in which the only fatalities were the two perpetrators.

Maybe you count Waco, but I don't think we wanna go there.

Dude, one shelving unit LOL

5 year old pic

 

[ljnowell]

The amount of ammo one has doesn't equate to being pro 2A. Maybe if you donated that 2K worth of ammo to the SAF or NRA we would be in better shape. Going to the range and burning powder doesn't have a damn thing to do with being pro 2A. All it tells me is you don't want to pay banic prices for ammo, a *I beat the market* sort of mentality. I know people that spend thousands on ammo and guns every year that don't belong to the NRA. I hope you donate as much as you spend on ammo.

It seems that you have, once again, missed the point entirely. Perhaps you should read the post below and digest it. Btw, I don't have a "I beat anything" mentality. I reload. All of my ammo. And I shoot an awful lot of it. Probably more than most here. Not a single bit of it is store bought either.

No, but a contemptuous attitude toward people who stock amounts that you arbitrarily deem "only a competitive shooter, survivalist or jihadist would" is anathema to 2A. It's our money and our prerogative. Unless someone is asking you to fund it, store it or move it, it's none of your concern whether they have one magazine's worth or a couple hundred thousand rounds in the basement.

As well, an individual buying tens of thousands of rounds to carry out a act like San Bernardino would have wasted his time and money accumulating such stock; the "mass shootings" with the highest round count of those fired by the perpetrators have never even approached 500 to my knowledge. The only incident I can think of in which the bad guy(s) fired more than a couple hundred was the North Hollywood shootout in 1997, where the perps fired about 1,100 rounds out of fully automatic rifles. And that was a bank robbery gone South in which the only fatalities were the two perpetrators.

Maybe you count Waco, but I don't think we wanna go there.



5 year old pic

 

[CoalTrain49]

It seems that you have, once again, missed the point entirely. Perhaps you should read the post below and digest it. Btw, I don't have a "I beat anything" mentality. I reload. All of my ammo. And I shoot an awful lot of it. Probably more than most here. Not a single bit of it is store bought either.

Well how much do you shoot? Do you shoot thousands of rounds a month like some claim here? Do you shoot in any competition? Never known anyone to burn that much ammo without shooting competitively which I have done in the past. I'm not saying there aren't any, just saying it's unlikely. Even the OP's story suggests that competition is a reason for people to have a lot of ammo on hand which I agree with and clarified that.

Most of the objections I'm hearing to what I posted are saying they keep thousands of rounds of CF ammo stockpiled and they don't shoot in any competition.

And just a note of caution. I don't think I would be posting up pics of huge stockpiles of ammo on the net just to impress someone. You may be impressing the wrong people.
You know, just too much unnecessary information for people who don't have a pro gun agenda. That wouldn't be me if you think otherwise.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Most of the objections I'm hearing to what I posted are saying they keep thousands of rounds of CF ammo stockpiled and they don't shoot in any competition.

Once again, it's simple economics. If you don't want to be subject to pricing and availability in a volatile market, you buy plenty when the commodity is flush and cheap.

And just a note of caution. I don't think I would be posting up pics of huge stockpiles of ammo on the net just to impress someone. You may be impressing the wrong people.
You know, just too much unnecessary information for people who don't have a pro gun agenda.

What exactly do you think anyone is gonna do with it?

"Oh my god, there are members on a gun board who have lots of ammo! Let's lobby for new legislation to stop this!"

Bud, they've wanted to pass taxes on ammo and restrictions on amounts one can purchase or stock for many, many years. They certainly don't need a few random internet photos to demonstrate that there are plenty of people who stock respectable quantities to push that agenda any more than they need pictures of multiple (sometimes dozens of) ARs that are all over Arfcom to vilify that weapon.

As for the .gov, well, we'd be silly to think they can't form a composite based on our shopping habits, which for most of us who shoot quite a bit includes a lot of online ammo and component orders. They certainly don't need a photo to know who has a lot of what. Despite the paranoia sometimes demonstrated here and in other similar circles, simply having significant quantities of weapons and ammo doesn't make you a target to be singled out amidst 320 million Americans. Would just be one piece of the puzzle, and a pretty insignificant one at that. Many of us who do have such possessions are hardly hiding anyway, what with being FFL holders and having registered NFA goodies.

We like pictures here. If everyone were afraid to show what they have because they feel it might somehow make them complicit in an anti gun movement, it'd be a pretty dull board.

 

[danez71]

Most of the objections I'm hearing to what I posted are saying they keep thousands of rounds of CF ammo stockpiled and they don't shoot in any competition.

Reread #69 and then #68 as well.

Originally Posted by CoalTrain49

If you have 1000 rounds of centerfire rifle ammo you fall into the comp shooter, survivalist, or jihadist category. I don't know anyone who falls in any of those categories.

Only 3 reasons to have a 1000 rounds on hand....? Pretty narrow view.

 

[PabloJ]

Greetings all,

Every now and then I get fired up and write a piece on common misconceptions regarding firearms. This time it's about the idea that people with a lot of ammo are somehow bad. Take a read and let me know what you think:

http://www.level-headed.net/2015/12/how-much-ammo-is-too-much/

Feel free to share as you'd like. My goal is to help and educate.

It depends on factors like: age, health, amount of disposable income,......therefore, different for each individual. I would say one is going wrong if they buy ammo instead of something else they need more like healthy food, for example.

 

[joem1945]

Too much ammo is when you run out of room to store it. Your shelves are sagging under the weight, closets are almost full and no place for your shoes. Garage has only enough room for a small car and you discover you will never have time to shoot all of it up.

 

[rodregier]

...when you exceed the floor load limit of a poured on-grade concrete slab