Stocking up on ammo?

[jrobin3360]

[QUOTE I learned to reload. I just stocked up on components[/QUOTE]

This!!!

Pretty good stock of factory ammo on hand but with reloading, I can triple that

[skoro]

I learned from the 2008-9 ammo panic.

Once it passed, I loaded up on all calibers and haven't needed to replenish since. Oh, I might be a little low on 22LR, but this current drought won't last forever.

[SteveBonning]

crazy charlie
Senior Member

Big Brother might be listening in.

^^THIS. I never admit in a public forum;
--number of guns owned
--rounds of ammo stocked

Not paranoid, just cautious.....

[bangerjim]

Funny thing, this..........

Everytime some nut job get arrested for having a gun, he has "a few hundred" rounds of ammo! And the liberal left-wing media goes balistic!

OMG.......a couple hundred rounds?!?!?!?!?

Most anyone that has our hobby will definitely fall into that quantity or MUCH MUCH higher!

Problem is, big brother is probably reading this thread!

How much do I have?........enough for the weekend! (HA.....ha!)

[thump_rrr]

2,000 rounds of 5.56
1,000 rounds of 7.62x51 M14 load
200 rounds of precision bolt action .308
2,000 rounds 9mm
2,000 rounds .45ACP
5,000 rounds .22LR

Then there are enough components to make a whole lot more.

[psalm7]

Most of my stored ammo is in surplus steel ammo cans but now Im stocking up on 12ga for my 870 tac and the .30 and .50 canc dont hold enough so Im rounding up the 40mm cans .
I post on sites that discuss alot more stuff that big brother would be intrested in than this . We know he watches them and even has a couple of "under cover" members there . I just figure they can listen in and mabey learn something but to worry about Big brother here. No . if you hav'nt noticed many members are BB .

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Originally Posted by JohnKSA

My goal is to have enough on hand to make it through a panic/shortage without having to scrounge or stand in line to buy ammo at 2x to 3x what it is worth. Most of all, I don't want to have to alter my shooting schedule to accommodate the nuttiness of others.

That is my goal as well. The back-to-back panics followed by Newtown certainly made me revisit how long I might have to wait out the craziness though.

[AZ-Quailhunter]

There is never enough. But if I had to put a number on it....at least 1000 rounds of everything I shoot. Shotguns? about 250-500 rounds of each.

[stagpanther]

Well--this discussion has never made sense to me--it's like asking "how much beer to you keep in the fridge." I don't put beer in the fridge to admire it and fantasize about hypothetical situations when I might drink it. I usually shoot several times a week. I reload for everything--but still buy ammo occasionally for brass--and sometimes just plain laziness. My experience is that in end, the one thing that really counts and is going to screw you is how much smokeless powder you have--everything else depends on that.

[ATPBULLETS]

Thanks for reminding me.... I need some more ammo...and beer...

[skoro]

My beer supply tends to get low long before my ammo.

[Mannlicher]

I stocked up on factory loads as well as components many years ago. I had disposable income then, and prices were cheap. $7.95 for bricks of Federal .22 LR, for example, or .08 per round for .223 and 7.62x39.
I load all my revolver rounds, but have primers, powder and bullets on hand, in good quantities.

[Inthedark]

Hard to find good deals on ammo in MA least in my area anyway...

[Erno86]

They'll be another ammo panic run, if Russia conquers the whole country of Ukraine, and the U.S. subsequently bans the importation of Ukrainian made Wolf ammo.

[turkeestalker]

guns bans will come before a civil war

The two may go hand in hand, not unlike the 'chicken or the egg' controversy!

[RAfiringline]

I think in terms of 3 things when buying ammo:

1) is it at a reasonably low price?
2) nobody can predict when a maniac will create another atrocity w/ a subsequent buying binge driving prices way up.
3) the situation w/ Russia-Ukraine might someday take much of that inexpensive steel case stuff off the market allowing other manufacturers to raise prices.

[Blue Grass]

I keep finding ammo I've forgot I've loaded. I've found 500 .357 mags and 2k .38Spl's in the last week. In Jan I found 2,000 .45 ACP's and 1k .243's. I think I have 8k .22lr. (Yes, my reloading area is a mess.)As soon as I get some nice weather, I'm going to do a major cleanup and inventory. Now that I'm retired I have the time. Maybe it's time to shoot it all up and start over.

[BigBL87]

I have about 700 rounds of 9mm on hand and around 1100 rounds of 22lr, as both are cheap and what I shoot the most. Have about 300 rounds of 223 (actually it's 5.56) left and need to buy more. 12 Gauge I have a mix of buckshot, slugs, and birdshot totalling probably 60 shells tops. I could have more, but 12 gauge has never been hard for me to find so I usually buy as I need it.

[BigBL87]

Funny thing, this..........

Everytime some nut job get arrested for having a gun, he has "a few hundred" rounds of ammo! And the liberal left-wing media goes balistic!

OMG.......a couple hundred rounds?!?!?!?!?

Most anyone that has our hobby will definitely fall into that quantity or MUCH MUCH higher!

Problem is, big brother is probably reading this thread!

How much do I have?........enough for the weekend! (HA.....ha!)

I remember when the media was shocked by George Zimmerman's "arsenal" of (and this is quoted from an alarmist website):

-One Keltec 12-gauge shotgun
-One Walther .380 handgun with seven rounds of live ammunition in the magazine
-One Taurus 9 mm handgun with live rounds in the magazine
-One Glock 19 handgun with 16 live rounds
-One AR-15 semi-automatic rifle
-Dozens of rounds of ammunition
-Several gun holsters and bags

I guess he is 1 gun ahead of me, guess I need to catch up...

[coyotewsm]

Question to everyone who says they keep some many rounds for their defensive pistol. The number of rounds you keep is that your practice round or your defensive round? I don't know about everyone but I shoot a different to practice with than what I keep in the gun to carry. Just wondering.

[skizzums]

I had onle little .380 that sat in my nightstand for about a decade. I shot 5 rounds through it to make it worked, never touched it again. two years ago was the big liberal push for the AWB. I had neer really been interested in guns, but always liked them. so I figured, now or never. picked up an SKS for 300 and started down the road of plinking for fun. fortuneatly, the x39 ammo never got TOO ridiculous and I was able to have some fun with it. then I bought a 9mm pistol, an holy cow, after about two times shooting it at 30-40$ a box for HPR(only ammo avail during the mania), I went online and studied on how to get affordable ammo. Now, I have always been a tinkerer, so my first thought was, how do companies make this stuff. that's when I started googling "how to make ammo". and a simple 100$ inverstment on a "LEE breech-lock Challenger Kit" and I never looked back. not only did it afford me with all the ammo I could ever shoot, it started me down the path of taking firearms on as a serious hobby. I enjoyed everything about reloading, the technical aspect, the "making something", the self-reliance and of course the cost savings. now it's been two years, I went from a davis industries .380 to having 11 different guns and spending probably 10-20 hours a week either making ammo or working on guns or hitting the range. I have only one person to thank for my over-the-top enthusiasm about guns....and that is President Obama(so thank Prz. O). I used to spend my $$ on motorcycles, spending 2-400$ a month on race tires and other goodies for track days, needless to say I haven't hit the track in over two years now. as for stockpiling ammo? I stock components and know that I have the ability and skills to make whatever I want, whenever I want and I wouldn't trade that skill for the nicest ducati in the show room. I like to keep at least enough components to last me a lifetime if I had to buckle down and only use ammo "as needed". I recommend to anyone to take up reloading and casting, it's way cheaper than you think to get involved in it(think about the same cost as a case of ammo) then you can be self sufficient for life. I owe so much to this forum and the great guys that frequent it. there are some amazingly kind and knowledgeable folks here, and some douchebags as well, that all make a great, fun and educational outlet to further our learning.....because their is so much to learn.

keep hoarding and if you have the time to take on a different hobby that adds a whole other aspect to "shooting sport" then please consider taking up reloading. you'll never regret it folks.

[coyotewsm]

Skizzums I have taken up reloading but my first few trys havent been very successful.

[Onward Allusion]

and a simple 100$ inverstment on a "LEE breech-lock Challenger Kit"

Dang, you poor guy. That's exactly how it starts!

For me, when folks say that they have a few hundred or a few thousand rounds of this and that, I just gotta chuckle. I guess everybody's different, but I think 20K or 30K of rounds for a single caliber used for defense & recreational shooting is the absolute bare minimum.

[coyotewsm]

Onward allusion are you planning on starting a war?

[skizzums]

I think 20-30k sounds reasonable. I don't have that loaded up, but I have the supplies to do it of need be. I could use some more primers though. but I keep about 40-50#s of powder on hand, in pistol terms, that's upwards of 50 thousand rounds. realistically, I have enough for about 30k in pistol and probably 10k in rifle powder on hand. cases....no clue, buckets and buckets of them. having the tools on hand to make 20-30k rounds is no better or worse than having 2-30k loaded rounds stored up. IMO

as for folks that think 20k is too much, than you don't shoot enough. I can easily burn through 2 thousand a month if I shoot a lot. so that's only a year or twos worth. think about it. I go shoot pistol AT LEAST once a week, and that's 3-500 rounds right there.

and just cause I STARTED on a breech lock, doesn't mean that's all I have these days. although I do still prefer doing rifles single stage