how much ammo?

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What if you enjoy shooting imported ammo, both old surplus and new Prvi or "Wolf/Tiger/Bear" etc?

There might be no warning of a likely mini-panic if our Dear Leader in the White House, his new ATF Director or certain Senators make the decision to discuss new taxes or duties on imported ammo. It might be in '14, or five years from now.
Anything is possible. Their objectives only require numerous small steps, which accumulate and in small doses, are not as noticeable by the public.

Being prepared for This is a strong motivation for so many of us.
 
About 100 350 Rem mag, really hard to find.
about 200 25-06
about 1200 308/7.62
about 2000 5.56
about 500 338 Federal
about 200 mixed 12GA
about 3000 22lr
about 400 45LC
and about 1500 45ACP
and not nearly enough BP/ball for making smoke.
I don't shoot as much as I would like to or it would likely be more.
 
My stash is mainly handloads with the exception of 7.62x 54R.I only have a single shot 22 rimfire so I only have around 100 rounds of that. I try to keep about 500 to 1K for each handgun of various loads. I have sufficient components for at least 1K handloads and enough propellent to last at least until the present administration is out of office.I have a good supply of reloadable brass for everything except the Soviet rifle calibers.I refuse to pay panic prices for loaded ammo or components. I am a good waiter.This craziness will end. It always does.:fire:
 
jcwit said:
Currently 40 to 50 thousand .22 rimfire, everything else I reload for and have way more than enough components. Haven't purchased anything within the last 4/5 years. My whole stash was just purchased because suppliers had sales and the prices were excellent.

I done the same with motor oil.

Wish I'd had a way to store gas, lol.
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Just about the same here. I do have gas storage but my 1000 gal tank goes empty quite often.
 
I believe in having a good on hand supply of ANY consumable that I use regularly. Especially if if stores well like ammo. From razer blades, TP, peanut butter, soap, even my favorite bread that I buy cheap at Walmart and freeze for use later, I stock up on stuff I use regularly. I hate shopping and buy in bulk when I do so I don't have to do it often.

In terms of guns & ammo, I'm a plinker/target shooter and I'll burn through a fair amount on a trip to the range, usually at least a box or two for each gun I take. I believe in buying by the case and have a goal of having at least one case put back for each chambering I shoot on a reqular basis. As I only shoot a limited number of different cartridges to any extent, .22lr, .38spcl, 9mm, .45LC, .223 and 12ga, it's not that hard. And it's allowed me to keep shooting when others have cut back or quit due to tight supplies. Last year I was even able to donate a couple thousand rounds of .22lr to the youth shooting program at my gun club to keep the kids shooting. Even if I quit shooting tomorrow the ammo is an excellent investment, and selling off the .308 & .45 acp I had left after selling guns chambered for them gave me the highest return of any investment I've ever made.

Guns are useless without ammo, and I want to be a shooter, not just a gun owner. I'm constantly amazed at folks who always have money to buy another gun but haven't got any reserve of ammo to shoot those they already have.
 
I like to travel light and eat "on the run". Fifteen fully loaded magazines. That is about as much as I can carry w/o interfering with space for other necessities from the "kit".
The weapon itself is "slick" w/o pos rails, lasers, electro-optical sights,.....just rear 'ghost ring' and front blade with tritium insert.
 
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I wouldn't rush out to buy it if I were you as you have some. As prices come down, it isn't unreasonable to keep in stock at home a one to two year supply of what you shoot. That way if there is a supply interruption (like what happened now, and what happend for years ago when BO was elected, etc) you aren't cut off from your hobby. Also, 22's are cheap. I'd probably go even higher on stocking that.

Don't neglect other critical things in life such as your 401K to build up your supplies. You are much more likely going to need retirement money than huge ammounts of ammo for the just in case.
 
How much ammo?

That can generally be summed up with a single word.

Enough!

Now the problem with enough is everyone has a different enough based often upon how much they shoot and their piggy bank. While it is wise to keep a good supply based on what one shoots it would be unwise to sell a kidney to buy more or take out a second mortgage on the house. There, wasn't that simple.

Ron
 
I like to have a minimum of at least 1,000 rounds each of my handgun calibers and the same for 12 and 20 gauge shotgun shells. In .223 and 7.62x39 ammo I have over 5,000 rounds each. Still have well over 8000 rounds of .22LR on hand.

I have accumulated this ammo over the last 15 years by buying it when it was on sale at Walmart, the local gunshops, and at gunshows. Those calibers that weren't readily available locally I bought online.
 
Originally Posted by javjacob
how much til it is considered hoarding?

Ill start with me...I have about...
2500 rounds or so of 22LR
500 rounds of 22mag
400 rounds of 38 special and 357mag combined
500-600 rounds of 12 gauge
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Many folks would consider you a hoarder....
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I guess those folks don't get out to shoot much!

Ignoring the caliber mix, his 3900 rounds is less than two months supply for me, and about one month worth in the not summer season when my wife comes to the range with me.

I started stocking ammo and reloading components about 12 years ago in anticipation of my retirement (done deal as of two months ago, yeah!) as I knew the $80-120/1000 prices wouldn't last. The total was limited only by storage space. Its been the best performing "investment" in my portfolio :)
 
wally said:
I guess those folks don't get out to shoot much!

Ignoring the caliber mix, his 3900 rounds is less than two months supply for me, and about one month worth in the not summer season when my wife comes to the range with me.

I started stocking ammo and reloading components about 12 years ago in anticipation of my retirement (done deal as of two months ago, yeah!) as I knew the $80-120/1000 prices wouldn't last. The total was limited only by storage space. Its been the best performing "investment" in my portfolio :)
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You're right that they don't shoot much but thats an individual thing. Some people may only shoot 1,000 rounds in a years time some even less but others shoot 10's of thousands of rounds a year.
 
You're right that they don't shoot much but thats an individual thing. Some people may only shoot 1,000 rounds in a years time some even less but others shoot 10's of thousands of rounds a year.
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Exactly, which is why the whole idea of claiming someone is a "hoarder" based on some number of rounds total or per gun is ridiculous.

Is a 10 year supply "hoarding? As a recent retiree I'd say no way!

Is having a 401K and other savings "hoarding" cash?
 
It totally depends on what cartridge it is you need.

Some people will tell you that you need 'X' thousands of rounds for anything you own... but if one of the guns you own is a .22 Hornet that you use once a year only for coyote hunting, then do you really need 3K rounds? That particular rig probably wont see that many rounds in your lifetime.
 
I think specific numbers are useless. Base it on need and use.

I shoot every week. My rule is simple. Self defense ammo; figure out your basic load of premium SD ammo, then enough to reload all that once. For most people 100 rounds of quality JHP pistol ammo and 120 rounds of 5.56 JHP or TAP would do that. Generally speaking this stuff lasts for years because you don't use it.

Range ammo; Figure out what you shoot in a year and keep that on hand. For me that is 5,000 rounds of 9mm; A couple of thousand 5.56 and a five hundred 6.5. I figured the election was going to go the way it did and bought a couple of extra cases just before the election. I would say stocking up before an election is a good idea as well.
 
I have a LOT of 22LR on hand. I don't even know how much.... My new approach is to cache about 1-year's use when prices come down, but about a 5-year supply in 22LR of different quality levels.
 
Lj1941:
Many of us have enough to wait for this Wash. DC admin. to leave office.

The question is whether people will be prepared for the Next admin., which might have very similar ulterior motives and policies.
 
We are probably looking at another Clinton getting in, so I'm buying heavy when it comes back into normal stock and prices have settled.
 
All I can say is it seems a lot of people don't shoot nearly as much as I do. I guess I'm a fanatic or something. People talking about wanting to have 3000 rounds of .22 ammo "stockpiled" - heck that's a month's supply for me when I can get what I want. It might not last that long.
 
I'm not a hoarder yet but I'm working on it.
I've got a very meager amount of ammo but its growing and I've decided to never stop buying. Even long after ammo returns to normal ill still keep buying

9mm. 2000 rounds
45acp 350 rounds
7.62x39 120 rounds
223 50 rounds
22lr zero


Got lucky today, just bought 750 rounds of umc from Walmart 66$ per 250 count box. Walmarts 3 box limit is making this a slow process tho.
 
Impureclient said:
We are probably looking at another Clinton getting in, so I'm buying heavy when it comes back into normal stock and prices have settled.
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Problem is I don't think ammo prices will return to pre crises mode. Personally I would continue to purchase ammo today. Worse thing that can happen is prices go down but you can alleviate that by continuing to purchase ammo. In other words "dollar cost average" your purchases. The worst is waiting only to discover that ammo is even harder to acquire and ammo costs are even higher than todays prices.Its a choice.
 
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