How Much Ammo on Hand?

[GBExpat]

I don't understand the need for thousands of rounds of ammo. I have no objections to it just don't understand. I'm a Nam era combat veteran and expect to be very dead before I expend a thousand rounds in a confrontational situation. Who or what are you going to use that many rounds on and survive? How are you going to transport them and to where? Sorry but the logistics just don't add up. Just my 2 cents not intending to offend anyone. Frank

Frank, I think that everyone here is like me and hopes to never have to expend ANY of their ammo in a confrontational situation.

I have accumulated a large quantity of ammunition because I like to shoot and when I acquired the ammo it was relatively inexpensive ... at least, it was MUCH cheaper than it is now ...

... and being "thrifty" by nature, I will enjoy cracking open a 1000rd case of, say, 7.62x39 Golden Tiger ammo that I bought in ~2006 for $49 much more than if I had to pay contemporary pricing for the same case ($200+?).

And, yes, cheeseburgers that I buy with a 75% Off coupon would taste better to me, too.

Kim

 

[travisd]

Wow i have about 650 rounds of 22lr and a couple partial boxes of 12ga. When I get low on .22 I'll buy a couple bricks which will last about a month seeing as i don't get out a lot to shoot. The 12ga should last me pheasant season and then I'll buy another box of steel and lead each and ill pick up a box of cheap stuff now and then for practice.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

I'll tell you the reason for having lots of ammo on hand.

I am shooting 9mm that has price tags that say $5.99, 45 acp that is $9.97, 38 spl that is $7.99, and bricks of .22lr that are $8.99/525.

That is why I stock up, not for doomsday, but because I don't care for reloading but really enjoy shooting. I see opportunities to buy and load up.

And, yes, cheeseburgers that I buy with a 75% Off coupon would taste better to me, too

Yep, but I don't eat cheese burgers.

 

[mark1616]

I need MORE!!!!

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Your ranges are hilarious dude, seriously.

Easily 50k

50k for each firearm? You must have a storage facility larger than your house, or either not very many firearms. For rifles, that's 2,500 boxes of 20 rounds. For handguns it's 1,000 boxes of 50 rounds.

 

[Clipper]

I keep under 100 for everything but .22LR. It's too easy to blow up a couple hundred .22s in even a short shooting session, but my centerfires don't get shot too often, and I can just reload 'em, so I don't keep that many around.

 

[ForumSurfer]

For rifles, that's 2,500 boxes of 20 rounds. For handguns it's 1,000 boxes of 50 rounds.

It really doesn't take that much room, especially if you start storing loose rounds in ammo cans. You can fit 1000's of rounds in the corner of the garage discreetly. Once you fill up a 50 cal can, you realize 30 cal cans are much lighter to lug around when full.

Like I said though, nowadays I shoot more and can't replenish with store bought ammo fast enough. I can't even fill my ammo boxes with store bought ammo still in the box.

Shotgun shells are the only thing I've stored that take up ridiculous amounts of room no matter how you store them. I once had a business associate who shot trap competitively, just carrying the weekend's practice ammo around in the truck meant that he couldn't have more than one passenger in a 4 door truck.

 

[Paris]

I don't understand the need for thousands of rounds of ammo.

Well, the nice part about this is, understanding why is not a condition of ownership.

 

[Cop Bob]

“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much
ammunition” – Rudyard Kipling

Ah.. I have managed to collect a few rounds... enough,, maybe yes... maybe no....

 

[HGUNHNTR]

Your ranges are hilarious dude, seriously.

Easily 50k


50k for each firearm? You must have a storage facility larger than your house, or either not very many firearms. For rifles, that's 2,500 boxes of 20 rounds. For handguns it's 1,000 boxes of 50 rounds.

Well it doesn't take that much space. My "storage facility" is a corner in the basement.

I have gone through the phase of owning many firearms to refining my collection down to what I really love and/or shoot regularly. Loose stored rounds in 30 and 50 caliber cans don't take up much space.

It is worth noting that it is probably not a good idea to load up our recyling bins with hundreds of emty boxes of ammo at a time--just for securities sake. Same goes for putting computer or large tv boxes at the curb as well.

 

[JohnBT]

"I don't understand the need for thousands of rounds of ammo."

I'm stocking up for retirement. I am really glad I started buying bulk lots of ammo back when it was cheaper. Some of my 1200+ rounds of 28 ga. were inexpensive. Dick's was selling Win AA target loads for $3.49 at one point.

I have cases of Wolf MT and ME .22 LR that I paid as little as $15 a brick for.

John

 

[Onward Allusion]

With or without 22LR? I mean few dozen bricks of the stuff quickly adds up to the 10's of thousands.

 

[Onward Allusion]

I don't understand the need for thousands of rounds of ammo.

When I had more free time last year, I was going to the range at least once if not more times a week. Each trip I used anywhere between 200 to 300 rounds of centerfire pistol not to mention about another 250 to 500 rounds of 22LR. I would be in the thousands of rounds used in a month.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Once you get to a certain point, you put range fodder in ammo boxes loosely. They take up much less space. Sadly, I have only had that problem once in my life and I currently have no trouble storing it all in retail boxes.

It's been too hot to do anything outside, so it's a good time to reload.
I ran out of ammo boxes so my ammunition smells like pickles.



This looks like a lot but I give new shooters free ammo for a while, so this much goes pretty fast.

For a SHTF scenario....If you can't run with it on you its too much!!

I don't intend running.
My place is where my friends will be running to.

 

[sixgunner455]

A lot. Enough that if I want to go shoot, I don't have to go to the store first, or after, even. I buy ammo and components when I have money for it, but I don't have an optimal number of rounds per caliber or weapon that I have to have around.

Need to stock up on a couple of calibers, but other than that, I just buy when it's 'affordable' at the same time as I have money.

 

[two gun charlie]

well I live in a banana republic where we are limited by law to only 200 rounds .....in the safe .........that I will show them if they ever get around to checking me out

 

[beatledog7]

I have less than 200 rounds of calibers I shoot only occasionally; 7mmRM, 44Mag and 45-70 Gov't. I'm set up to reload those so will probably never need to buy anymore completed rounds unless the zombies, in some form, really do come. I can build about 200 or so of each with components on hand, double that if I had the primers.

I shoot .40S&W, 38SPL, .357Mag and .223 more frequently, and I reload them, so I have over 1,000 complete rounds for these and components on hand for about that many more.

I shoot but don't reload 12ga and 9mm. Best estimate is I have about 2,000 of various shot shells and 9mm on hand.

Last, I have maybe 4,000 22LR.

I could store more, but I couldn't realistically carry more if I had to leave in a hurry.

 

[Mike1234567]

The only caliber for which I have an excess of 10K rounds is .22LR.

Remington Game Loads = 6K
Aguila SSS = 6K
CCI Quick-Shock = 5K

 

[we are not amused]

It varies, for my CZ 52, I have about 5,000 rounds,mostly East European surplus.
For my 1911, I have about 500 rounds, for my .380, I have about the same.
for my Mini-14 and SKS I have about a case each. Perhaps 2-3 hundred rounds for my 30-06 and just a bit less for my 30-40 Krag. I have no idea how much .22 LR ammo I have, at least six bricks, plus a lot of smaller quantities in scattered locations

 

[FROGO207]

As one poster noted the ammo cans can get heavy when carried. I store my bulk ammo loose in baggies within 20MM ammo cans. Some factory ammo boxes are stored in SAW and 50CAL ammo cans. I use about 12 30CAL cans to transport the ammo I will use that day to the range cause it is lighter and I am lazy. One friend asked why I only stacked my 50 CAL cans 3 high when looking at a picture I was showing him of something else. My reply was the cans were 20MM and I could not lift them higher when full by myself. Why do I keep so much on hand?? Well 2 weekends ago a couple of friends and I took the MAC10 and two 5 GAL buckets 1/2 full of 45ACP to the pit and shot it all off. Two of us loading mags and one shooting it didn't take too long to reduce the refridge we were shooting at to a pile of steel. I shoot a lot.

 

[Warp]

I voted 100-500. I have no need and see no reason to keep a lot on hand for every single caliber I have a firearm chambered in.

I am noticeably better stocked in .22lr and 9x19 and I suppose 7.62x39

 

[Gunnerboy]

The only reason i keep a stockpile of ammo is because i remember when i could go buy a brick of 22 ammo for 7.50$ now its 17$ a brick i also remeber when you could buy the lake city 06 ammo for 99$ for 200 now i can hardly find that stuff so i keep ammo just so when it goes up and up i will have enough to keep me goin.

 

[Inebriated]

If I had a range near me, I'd start stockpiling more. As is, though, I only shoot MAYBE once a month if I find time to drive 2 hours to the range. I just pick up ammo on the way.

.22 has about 2000 rounds though, and the 12 gauge is something like 500 of half birdshot, 150ish Federal 00 buck, and 50 slugs.

 

[afponiky]

Darn, you guys are all pissing me off....



I went boating 5 months ago and a real bad storm came up and tipped the boat over, I lost it all!

I have about one box of each left only..........


Man..............

 

[JohnM]

Only time I ever felt like I had enough on hand was when I was in the Army.
Now with the cost of ammunition and reloading components going up every time I turn around, I stock up on more of something when ever I can.