How much of your ammo is self defense?

[Mars5l]

Just curious, seems like FMJ is hard to find but self defense styles are easy to find online and my local stores. Just wondering how much everyone keeps on hand that's self/home defense. For me I have a box or two each for each caliber, so maybe 100 rds each or so. I wonder how much do you really need?

 

[Hartkopf]

Just curious, seems like FMJ is hard to find but self defense styles are easy to find online and my local stores. Just wondering how much everyone keeps on hand that's self/home defense. For me I have a box or two each for each caliber, so maybe 100 rds each or so. I wonder how much do you really need?

Since self defense ammo needs to be function tested in any new gun you buy, having way more ammo than you think you need is good. I like having 300 to 500 rounds of my favorite flavors but I like to buy guns too so it gets used up fairly quickly. I also change out my defense ammo and back up magazine ammo every 3 to 6 months depending on the environment.

 

[entropy]

All of it, if need be.

 

[Riomouse911]

I have a lot of defense ammo, some for actual defense for my use and other stuff in case others may need some.

In 9mm, over a 1,000 rounds of the 127 gr +P+ Win SXT is on my shelf. I have about 200 of the 230 gr SXT .45 ACP and about 100 .40 JHP. In .223 I have about 500 PSP and Razorback rounds. In .38 Spl another 500 JHP, same for .357. In 12 ga several boxes of #1 buck and Win segmenting slugs, 16 ga several boxes of # 1 buck...,

I truly hope I never need to use one of them, but I have them in case I do.

Stay safe.

 

[Elkins45]

I bought a case of 40 HST (1000 rounds) when it was on sale for $15/box. A year later I bought another one when it came back in stock. I also bought 1500 rounds of 9mm Gold Dots spread out over two purchases. I put 200 rounds thru my carry guns to make sure the ammo was compatible and have set the rest aside to replenish my carry load out as they get soaked with sweat, rain, etc.

I don’t use the good stuff for practice. I use reloads that give similar recoil and POI. When normal attrition takes my supply down to maybe 300 rounds then I’ll order another case.

 

[troy fairweather]

Ya all of mine could be, I don't see much point loading fmj.

 

[waterhouse]

A lot in 9mm and 5.56, less in calibers I’d be less likely to use for defense.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I load my own target ammo so I have an uncounted number of FMJ rounds. But I keep a healthy number of hollow points, hard casts, and monolithics around.

Maybe 80/20. As far as actual numbers? I have no real idea how much I have.

 

[.455_Hunter]

I guess it just depends...

I am generally one of those guys who if my carry gun happens to be loaded with FMJ, JSP, or LRN, instead of trendy JHP du jour, my care factor reaches shoulder shrug level.

I have a lot of all types.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I practice with what I carry so I only stock one ammo for my 9mm and 38 Spl needs.

So 100% is SD ammo.

Really though 100% should be everyone’s answer since anything can be used for HD.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I only have 2 SD guns and I don't keep an awful lot on hand.
A couple boxes for each.

Now one is an auto and one a revolver. So, I do change the ammo in the auto more often due to the rechambering of rounds when I empty the mags to shoot range stuff.
I probably replace a box a year in the revolver. The auto a little more often.

But just a couple boxes on hand at a time for the defense ammo.

 

[Old Dog]

I typically try to buy a case (500 or 1000 rounds) of premium JHPs for every five or six cases of ball (FMJ) ammo I buy for the range. So yeah, I've got a decent stockpile of HST, Gold Dots, Golden Saber in 9mm (usually 124 gr +P) and .45 ACP (230 gr) with a few boxes of 158 gr +P SWCHP .38 SPL and 158 gr JHP in .357 magnum thrown in for good measure. I'm probably an outlier as I don't feel comfortable unless I'm prepared for a really, really bad situation, so I'm pretty sure I've got a lot more "defensive" ammo than most folks.

But then, I live within an hour or so of Seattle ...

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Double tap. Deleted

 

[denton]

Darn little.

Usually, one 25-50 round box gets mostly shot checking out feeding and firing. The remainder goes in the magazine.

 

[Offhand McFlan]

Just curious, seems like FMJ is hard to find but self defense styles are easy to find online and my local stores. Just wondering how much everyone keeps on hand that's self/home defense. For me I have a box or two each for each caliber, so maybe 100 rds each or so. I wonder how much do you really need?

When I was breaking out into the handgun scene and trying to shoot as much as possible as cheaply as possible, FMJ made up 90% of what I bought. These days I mostly shoot what I carry, although I find XTP's to be a good happy medium. You can get them pretty cheap, they penetrate almost as good as FMJ while also expanding enough to be fairly effective. I also have bought Double Tap 45 and 9x19 a few times and been impressed all across the board with penetration and expansion combined. Last year I bougnt some Israeli IMF 9mm HP's which were cheap and quite decent. They are mostly just found in my Hi-Power clone. My Shield mags get XTP's alternating with 95gr 1500fps loads. I also believe Atomic is very underrated, especially those 38sp +P reverse semi-wadcutters. People say they keyhole alot, but Ive never had that happen. I usually cut perfect discs in paper at 25 yards. Granted theyre not as reliable as real HP's but for half the cost they seem to do plenty of damage to water jugs and trees. My guess is that the barrel you shoot them out of either makes or breaks what they are supposed to be. In my case a 6" target bulldog and a 4" Dan Wesson 15 are the platforms I sboot them out of. I'd love to test them out on pork shoulder but I hate wasting food.

Other than reloads, Winchester White Box has been the most problematic for me out of any defensive load. I seldom buy them anymore. The nicest surprise that exceeded expectations for the cost was Double Tap, with Magtech a close second, especially in 357Mag. Out of my 9x18's I adhere to military ball ammo with Chinese FMJ being the best and hottest "standard" load Ive come across. I believe HP's are better for more powerful rounds.

 

[Jammersix]

I have a handful of premium, high priced commercial "self defense" rounds, all with a dent in the primer. That is, I pulled the trigger and nothing happened. I keep them to display them in classes and explain why they're the most dangerous rounds in the world, and that they represent the one thing self defense ammo cannot do.

So I don't trust anyone else to load my self defense rounds anymore. Therefore, loading my own, I have thousands of rounds for each caliber, and each has the softest primer on the market. A lot of it is loaded, say a thousand or so for each caliber, and I have the components to load several thousand more. I have an ammo box full of loaded 1911 magazines and twenty loaded 30 round mags for the AR. I don't think I actually have ten thousand rounds for any caliber, but with .45 ACP it's possible. I buy Montana Gold JHP by the case, which is just short of 3,000 rounds, and that lets me carry what I train with. Add in LRN, LSWC, JSWC and FMJ, and I suppose it could hit ten thousand.

There are a couple exceptions in my bullets, I also have thousands of both lead and jacketed SWC for .45 ACP and I have some target stuff for my bolt .223 that I'm not sure I'd call self defense ammo, although of course, if it came down to it and that's all I had, I'm sure it would work. But the AR doesn't really like bolt ammo, and vice a versa, and I'd rather have JHP for the .45 than either flavor of SWC, but that's all sort of nit-picking, I guess.

 

[jeff-10]

By self defense you likely mean JHP's. For me it seems like I am stocking more and and more. I buy in bulk and when I used to buy both FMJ and JHP, I would shoot the FMJ and the JHP would sit in the closet for a decade. Not a good idea so I mainly seem to buy JHP in 9mm, 357 Mag and 40S&W now.

On a side not, I wouldn't hesitate to defend myself with FMJ rounds. It is what the militaries of the world do.

 

[Styx]

I guess it just depends...

I am generally one of those guys who if my carry gun happens to be loaded with FMJ, JSP, or LRN, instead of trendy JHP du jour, my care factor reaches shoulder shrug level.

I have a lot of all types.

I'm right there with you.... I have a box or two of "self defense ammo", but the majority of what i have is the inexpensive fmj ammo. If I run out of the expensive stuff, I'll simply use the "range" ammo for self defense. I don't care either...

 

[BWS]

Non expanding .45 preemo "target" SWC ammo still makes a pretty big hole. The lead version I shoot (commander) has a nice sharp cutting,fr drive band.....and feeds like butta.

Do have some +P 38sp hydra shoks that get carried once in awhile.

I'd say 99% tuned handloads for hunting and target and 2% store bought "fancy" SD fodder.

 

[GBExpat]

... For me I have a box or two each for each caliber, so maybe 100 rds each or so. I wonder how much do you really need?

Sounds to me like a comfortable amount.

Since I handload, I have a LOT more than that ... but during periods in my life when I was not actively handloading I would usually only keep a few boxes of commercial SD ammunition in each caliber.

 

[bannockburn]

Of my primary self defense guns (.380, .38 Special, and 9mm.), I probably have 10% to 20% of the grand total as dedicated self-defense rounds.

 

[JR24]

I have a handful of premium, high priced commercial "self defense" rounds, all with a dent in the primer. That is, I pulled the trigger and nothing happened. I keep them to display them in classes and explain why they're the most dangerous rounds in the world, and that they represent the one thing self defense ammo cannot do.

So I don't trust anyone else to load my self defense rounds anymore. Therefore, loading my own, I have thousands of rounds for each caliber, and each has the softest primer on the market. A lot of it is loaded, say a thousand or so for each caliber, and I have the components to load several thousand more. I have an ammo box full of loaded 1911 magazines and twenty loaded 30 round mags for the AR. I don't think I actually have ten thousand rounds for any caliber, but with .45 ACP it's possible. I buy Montana Gold JHP by the case, which is just short of 3,000 rounds, and that lets me carry what I train with. Add in LRN, LSWC, JSWC and FMJ, and I suppose it could hit ten thousand.

There are a couple exceptions in my bullets, I also have thousands of both lead and jacketed SWC for .45 ACP and I have some target stuff for my bolt .223 that I'm not sure I'd call self defense ammo, although of course, if it came down to it and that's all I had, I'm sure it would work. But the AR doesn't really like bolt ammo, and vice a versa, and I'd rather have JHP for the .45 than either flavor of SWC, but that's all sort of nit-picking, I guess.

Funny, I've shot several thousand premium rounds over there years and have had exactly zero bad primers.

Not the case with commercial primers I've loaded, have had multiple bad primers from CCI, Remington, Winchester and Federal. Some manage to go bang on a second strike, most don't. Have a drawer with a handful right now waiting to be pulled, in several sizes.

It's why I don't carry my handloads.

Guess we all have different experiences.

As for how much I keep on hand, OP? Usually a few hundred of HST for my various calibers and a few boxes of HP for some of my rifles.

I'm less concerned about my rifles because even FMJ in 7.62 is gonna get the job done, whatever job I need done.

Though, now that my new CCW likes the RMR multipurpose 124 grain JHP (my Glock 19 DID NOT) I'll probably go back to loading JHP for my range ammo too, it's only $0.01 more and I like to have the option to fall back on a few thousand rounds ready to go.

 

[Deus Machina]

No particular SD ammo for my rifles; I definitely have SP and JHP, but since they're they cheap stuff they're not likely to do much different than FMJ.
I do have a good but modest supply for my handguns. A hundred rounds or so of Federal HST and other 'premium' rounds I would buy when I stumbled across them cheap, and another hundred or two of old-school bulk JHP. If need be, I'll carry FMJ.
I'm not one of the "the military uses it so it's just as good" crowd, but at least I know my particular guns will work with any off-the-shelf FMJ I can find, and working with FMJ is worlds better than jamming with an untested magic JHP.

 

[FL-NC]

Plenty.

 

[P5 Guy]

More than I hope I will ever need.