When does it start "just taking up space"?

[InkEd]

I try to keep about 3-6 months worth of ammo based on my regular shooting habits on hand at all times. (Recently, I have increased the stash of 7.62x39mm because it's about the only thing I can find at decent prices.) I would guess that in most calibers I have 1000 rounds or less.

Anyway, I was curious for those with stockpiles of more than a full year worth of their regular shooting, when do you plan to make use of this ammo. (Obviously, I am for setting so back for an emergency too.) But say, you shoot about 3000 rounds a year of a caliber. Have another 1000rds for an emergency scenario. Yet have like 7000-10000rd on hand. That seem like a lot of ammo just taking up space, if you are replenishing it periodically along the way.

When do you plan to use the stockpile? At what point does it go from being well prepared to "just taking up space"?

Just curious.

 

[easyg]

When does a fire extinguisher start to "just take up space"?

 

[Impureclient]

As long as it gets shot at some point, it is never a waste of space. It's better to buy it cheap now and have it for later.
"Now" meaning before it goes up in price due to inflation and not now during this Obama/shooting scare we are currently in.
I gradually use mine and when I get a chance to buy more, I restock.
If you could have afforded to stockpile gas during the nineties for $.90 a gallon, it would definitely not be taking up space.
Gold, food, bullets, gas..... it's all the same.

 

[Capybara]

You obviously don't live in a state that is going to outlaw Internet ammo sales and level a .05 per round tax on ammo. If I could afford it, I would buy a warehouse of ammo because I so bitterly refuse to pay my stupid state a penny of new sales taxes on ammo over what the present sales tax already is.

So having a big ammo stash is relative, depending on where you live.

 

[jim243]

Not sure I can honestly answer that. Just finished reloading another 120 45 ACP cases. Purchased a new 45 pistol about a month ago and shot 50 rounds to test it out. Went to stack the boxes in my pistol ammo case and realized there already was over 1,000 rounds sitting there. I don't shoot 45 ACP that often and this has been growing for the last 8 years, I started out with 45 ACP when I first started reloading. Mostly reload 223/5.56 and 9mm and I am deffiently out of room there, I like load 100 shoot 20, load 100 shoot 20, over time the stash seems to grow by itself like weeds taking over more and more of the garden. I'd reload some 243, but out of room there or 270, but have the same problem. Now I could load some 35 Remington I only have about 300 rounds of that, but I have only shot 5 rounds out of my 336C to sight in the scope and how much hunting ammo do you need more than 300 rounds?

I do like to reload that is for sure, so I guess it all started "taking up space" from day one, 8 years ago.

Jim

 

[thump_rrr]

90% of the space in our homes is a waste.
It is occupied by air and nothing else.
Stack your ammo high and deep and don't worry about it taking up too much space.
I can bet you dollars for doughnuts that women take up more space with shoes than men do with ammo.

 

[bannockburn]

No current plans or long term schedule for using my ammo. I use what I want, replace what I use (if available and at a decent price), and so on. I'm always on the lookout for ammo and buy it when I find it (again if it's priced right), even if it's just a box or two at the time.

I have never really thought of it as just taking up space though.

 

[InkEd]

Don't get me wrong, I have a decent stash myself. Stocked up well on 7.62x39mm. I was kind of thinking about a couple buddies of mine that have probably enough ammo to last them 5 years or more. I dunno. It seems like overkill after awhile.

 

[splithoof]

For those of us behind the Pink Iron Curtain (California), the desire to defeat the state at any controls they will likely impose far outweighs the issue of storage. It is getting to the point that doing something you know the legislature frowns upon is of itself a "small victory for freedom and civil rights", including the keeping of what many in the legislature would consider "arsenal level storage", whatever that is. Ammunition never "just takes up space", as it can also be a valuable commodity for barter, something else that the socialists legislators cannot stand.

 

[rcmodel]

When does it start "just taking up space"?

When I die and my kids have to figure out what to do with it all.

They gave me grey hair when they were teenagers, and later, twenty something's.

Now it's my turn to do it to them when I die.
And leave a ammo bunker / hazmat bullet casting site in the basement!!

AAHAHAhAha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

rc

 

[InkEd]

Yeah, I guess I can see that viewpoint for those Living in crappy states.

 

[Texan Scott]

When does a family of four's six month supply of toilet paper start "taking up space"? (Hint: the answer is "When they stop eating fruits and vegetables").

Climate-stable storage is your friend. Google "Dr. Owen Geiger earthbag building" for some really cool storage Bunker solution ideas.

 

[firesky101]

90% of the space in our homes is a waste.
It is occupied by air and nothing else.
Stack your ammo high and deep and don't worry about it taking up too much space.
I can bet you dollars for doughnuts that women take up more space with shoes than men do with ammo.

My wife's stash of .38 special takes up more room then her shoes. I really need to teach her to reload her own, and pay for her own components too...

 

[InkEd]

I want to have my ashes loaded into some ammo when I die. (That is a serious statement.)

I'll leave instructions to take the ashes to a local reloader and not pay one of those crazy overpriced niche companies to do it.

The sentiment behind it is, that it's my job to protect my family (one of the main reasons we all own firearms) and by being (at least my ashes) part of the ammo, I would still in some weird way "be able to help protect my family." Kind of odd??? Probably but I like the idea.

If nothing else, I know it would be a heck of a lot cheaper than a casket and cemetery plot. Sadly, I know the expense of a funeral for when my dad died in November 2011. (Heck, I could be stuffed into cases loaded with silver bullets like the Lone Ranger carried for less than the price of a nice casket.)

 

[Twiki357]

As a reloader, my supply doesn't decrease much and when I find a good price on brass or ammo, it just keeps getting bigger.

 

[M2 Carbine]

When do you plan to use the stockpile? At what point does it go from being well prepared to "just taking up space"?

My "stockpile" is a fluid thing. I keep adding more and more ammo as it gets shot. If I shoot 500 from the "stockpile", I may reload a thousand, or more to replace it.

I do have ammo going back to 2001 and earlier though ($4.38/box) and I still keep adding to it. (Buy when you see a decent price and "stockpile" it. You won't regret it)


My reloading press is always set up and ready to use as soon as I sit down.
For instance, last week I loaded a thousand plus .32ACP. Tomorrow I'll set up the press for .223 and load about a couple thousand FMJ and several hundred JSP bullets, to add to the several thousand rounds of .223 in the "stockpile".

Such as this is a couple weeks loading in my spare time. It's not that I "need" the ammo but the time is better spent loading ammo instead of wasting time doing such as watching the news talking heads on TV.



Tomorrow a lady shooter is coming over for me to teach her to reload. I suspect we will load a couple hundred .223, which I'll give to her.

Just today I stopped by Cabela's to see if they had any AA2 powder. They have no powder, except a couple cans of seldom used powder. But no problem, I have a LOT of Bullseye powder, that I "stockpled" for loading pistol rounds.


I started loading ammo in 1960, when I got my first S&W 38 and GI 45, because I couldn't afford to buy store bought ammo. One of the smarter things I ever did.


.

 

[Lex Luthier]

Hoarding is a strong word, and perhaps not entirely appropriate for every man on this site, but it is in our nature to insulate ourselves with objects that bring us a sense of security.

Thank God we have the freedom to "collect" and save what each of us believes we require to feel safe. I don't care if my neighbor Jerry has 10k rounds of every caliber he shoots pack-ratted away, (because I know he is mature and safe) but I do mind greatly if my neighbor Joe Bob collects cars in his front yard and dog poop in the back, reflecting his recklessness. With collecting anything comes the responsibility to maintain ones collection safely and to not act/ look like Bubba.

 

[beatledog7]

Is health care, fire, or automobile insurance a poor investment if one never needs to file a claim?

 

[Oklacoyotekiller]

Damn m2! If begette could see all those high cap magazine- clip- bullet-ammo-slidey thingies she would have a heart attack!

 

[45_auto]

At what point does it go from being well prepared to "just taking up space"?

I'll figure mine is just "taking up space" at the same time I decide that those bags of gold coins and silver coins are just "taking up space".

 

[Armymutt]

Having seen the prices slowly creep up over the past couple of decades, I decided that future proofing my ammo purchases was smart. I bought 1000 each for the main calibers I have, which should be enough to last me 10 years. Of course, I didn't buy any .22LR or .22 Short because, after all, that stuff will be available for cheap. Luckily, it looks like my father-in-law has stashed away 10K rounds of .22LR that he will never shoot.

 

[hso]

If you purchase it when it is cheap you can enjoy it all the more when it is expensive.

Or trade it to others for what you don't have as much of.

 

[pockets]

At what point does it go from being well prepared to "just taking up space"?

Pretty much everything I own "takes up space" without being used immediately. My snow-blower sits in the garage unused the majority of the year....but when I need it I need it. Likewise my lawn mower doesn't see much use from October to May. I can only play one guitar at a time, the rest "just take up space". I can only watch one DVD at a time, the rest "just take up space". I can only run one slot car at a time, the hundreds of others "just take up space". You see where this is going right?

Ammo is not going down in price. Materials keep going up and the 'Panic of 2013' is sillier than the 'Panic of 2009'. I bought a lot of ammunition, over a period of time, when it was much less expensive. Looking at the prices for the past 3-4 months, I'd say the space mine occupies isn't wasted.

It's like the ubiquitous' "Do I need 60+ guns?" I can only shoot one at a time and the rest are "just taking up space".
It's my choice, I paid for the ammo and for MY SPACE (Not to be confused with pre-FB/Twit 'social' media).
.

 

[larryh1108]

Keep increasing the backlog gradually, over time, so when I retire I can shoot and not have to pay for the ammo. Of course, I'll have more time to reload but by then Big Brother will probably restrict the sales in state, ban internet sales and tax each round by state and federal agencies. They will make it a rich man's hobby to plink before we know it. Reloading now will save money later and it will probably save a LOT of money later.

 

[bergmen]

For the past ten years or so I have been acquiring ammo and reloading components at about a 5x to 10x rate that I shoot. And I shoot often since our club is pretty close (ten miles maybe).

I have a temperature stabilized room down in the barn that used to be a horse tack room (5 ft. wide, 8 1/2 ft. deep, 9 1/2 ft. high) that is my ammo/component storage room (along with other junk). It is very well insulated (stays in the mid 70's when it is over 100 outside) and very fire resistant.

I don't consider this hoarding by any means, just a good stocking policy much like a good savings policy for the bank or cans of beans on the pantry shelves.

Dan