How much ammo do you need?

measureman

measureman

Joined
Jul 18, 2010
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Location
Colorado
I know someone that has 2 9MM pistols a semi auto shot gun and some variation of an AR15.
He has about 4000 rounds for these weapons.
I think this is a bit excessive and he's not a go to the range very often guy.
 
Kinda in the eye of the beholder

Personally I would have more than that in 5.56 alone for contingency
 
Here's a very similar previous thread:

Amount Of Ammo You Consider Adequate?

With the current prices of ammo being outrageous right now, how much do you think is not enough, and too much (If there CAN be too much)? I have only added a few boxes here and there lately, but I think I have enough to hold me over until the prices start going down again. Like I always say...
www.bobistheoilguy.com
 
Buy it cheap and stack it deep. They were practically giving away ammo the past few years with all the sales and rebates. Picked up a lot of 9mm for $8.99 a box and then sent in for a $5 rebate per box. You can't reload for $4 a box!

Now, ammo is doubled or tripled in price (if you can even find it to buy). When it is cheap, I'll buy it and stash it on the shelf. Now, during this pandemic and ammo shortage, I can take my nephew to the range and enjoy the day. Hand him a brick of 22LR or whatever and tell him to have at it.

4000 sounds like a lot to many people. That amount could be perfectly reasonable to some. Then again, it could be not enough to others.
A coworker participated in competitions and went through 25,000 rounds of 9mm a year between practices and matches.
 
In addition to ammo ( assuming your pick of high volume weapons) I strongly suggest to stock critical spares ( weapon specific obviously) such as firing pins, extractors, springs and so forth.

Ammo doesn't help much when experiencing a terminal malfunction requiring an actual repair.
 
To each according to his needs. The problem is who decides what who's needs are. I think that I'll decide how much I need and you decide what you need.

As for me, I go to the range probably once a month and I shoot competitively during the warmer months. So I take that all into account. I then decide how much I might need for hunting, defense, etc. I also calculate how much I might need over a period of time in the future if suddenly others, who think they know better about what I need, decide to change the rules and make ammo harder to get, more expensive, or both.

So with all that in mind, I think I know how much I need. But one thing I don't need is to tell anyone else how much I need, or how much they need, for that matter.

Make sense?
 
ABN_CBT_ENGR said:
In addition to ammo ( assuming your pick of high volume weapons) I strongly suggest to stock critical spares ( weapon specific obviously) such as firing pins, extractors, springs and so forth.

Ammo doesn't help much when experiencing a terminal malfunction requiring an actual repair.
Click to expand...

If you go to the range a lot, having a few spares for common/most-likely failures is a good idea.

My competition friend had spare parts, but more importantly, he had a spare pistol setup identical. This ensured he could compete on the weekends without worry. If you drive 6hrs for a regional match, or fly across the continent for nationals, you want to be darn sure you are good to go!
 
Irrational Prepper...100,000+ Rounds
Rational Prepper..One round for himself/herself

Active Shooter or hoarder worried that ammo will never be available again..10's of thousands of rounds.
Active shooter who believes it is not the end of the world. 3000+ rounds
 
I have about 1500 rounds right now and feel naked. I went looking for some .22 and 12ga yesterday and came home empty handed. Both the Wife and I were shocked that everyone was out.
 
I know a guy that has a $40K fishing boat, 25 rods, 10 tackle boxes and 4000 various lures, rubber worms, hooks and accessories. He only gets out to fish about 10 times a year. Must be a hoarder.

I know another guy that has 2 cars and has over 100 quarts of oil he bought on sale/rebate for practically nothing. He's not the kind of guy that changes his oil more than twice a year. Must be a hoarder.
 
ABN_CBT_ENGR said:
I agree completely and if you wind up in a "situation" and a primary weapon goes down, its a great idea.
Click to expand...

What's funny is that if one were to collect enough spares, one gets the thought....hmmmm, why not just build another. So my spare parts actually make up another. So instead of fixing the broken one, just grab the other! Lol! That's how these things tend to breed, really.
 
I live on acreage and shoot guns behind my house on occasion. I had family over for the 4th of July and we burned through 200 rounds of 9MM and three, 325 round packs of federal .22LR. Didin't have enough 9MM for sure.

I need 1000 rounds of 9MM and .22LR and 200 rounds of .17 HMR.
 
I think I've currently got around 40K rounds of .22LR, 4K rounds of 9mm, 2K rounds of .45ACP, 2.5K 7.62.x54R, 500 .22WMR 250 20ga. and 100 30-30. I buy when it's cheap and when it gets hard to find and prices are outrageous I have plenty to last me through the hard times even if it means I have to cut back on my shooting. Back in 2012 after Sandy Hook when .22LR got so scarce I then I had about 15K rounds of .22LR on hand. I was able to make it through the shortage till prices were reasonable again and stocked up like never before. I've got some bulk pack .22LR I found a couple years ago for under $12/500 and better quality .22LR I bought for about $17/500. Between 2012 and about 2015 I had a couple friends run out of .22 LR and just wanted a 100 or so for groundhog, squirrel, rabbit, etc. control. I was able to help them out and by selling them some for about $4/100 when the going price was $15-20/100. I wasn't out to make a bunch of money on it. I had enough I knew if I was conservative with it I could make it last till things got better and I could restock. I've only looked at ammo prices a couple times in the past few months. I'm glad I stocked up when I did.
 
measureman said:
I know someone that has 2 9MM pistols a semi auto shot gun and some variation of an AR15.
He has about 4000 rounds for these weapons.
I think this is a bit excessive and he's not a go to the range very often guy.
Click to expand...

I'm of the opinion that it's very excessive for one person. Even in combat it is rare to see a solder have more than 200 rounds at any given time. And you have to think about shelf life. I would not trust my life with a round that is much over 10 years old (depending on how it's been stored).

Hanging on to that many rounds increases the chance of a squib load. It was drilled into me by a range officer that old ammo (over 10 years old) is one of the leading causes of firearm explosions. It was explained explicitly that most squib loads are a direct result of moisture during long ammo storage. A less common cause is insufficient powder in the load.

I was only a young non rate at the time but took his advice to heart. It gave me a whole new outlook and respect for firearm and ammo handling procedures.
 
Mark Twain once said: “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.” I 100% agree with Mr. Twain on the whiskey and that's my stance on ammo as well.
 
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