Ammo surplus

[Trapper1873]

What does everybody think is a good number for surplus Ammo? Is it 1k rounds per caliber ghat you own? 2k ? 3k ? I know more is better but, what does everybody think.

[was21]

That’s kind of like asking ‘how many pair of underwear should I own?’ IMO.
If you shoot 200 rounds a week and plan on shooting for 20 years....
Hunt once a year and use 5 rds to check zero...
Plan on a horde of Chinese coming over the ridge for days on end...

When you NEED just one more round.... there’s your answer.

Everyone is going to be different.
Usually I tell the guys I shoot with.... 1) if you are asking this question and can’t sleep at night over it..... you don’t have enough!
Or 2) If you know EXACTLY how many round you have .... you don’t have enough!

Not making light on your question.... but only you can answer it IMO. Whatever you are comfortable with is enough.

..... and by the way .... I go commando.

[DrEarlCordova]

Revolver ammo in the hundreds and Semi auto ammo in the thousands.

[OH-MAN]

That’s kind of like asking ‘how many pair of underwear should I own?’ IMO.
If you shoot 200 rounds a week and plan on shooting for 20 years....
Hunt once a year and use 5 rds to check zero...
Plan on a horde of Chinese coming over the ridge for days on end...

When you NEED just one more round.... there’s your answer.

Everyone is going to be different.
Usually I tell the guys I shoot with.... 1) if you are asking this question and can’t sleep at night over it..... you don’t have enough!
Or 2) If you know EXACTLY how many round you have .... you don’t have enough!

Not making light on your question.... but only you can answer it IMO. Whatever you are comfortable with is enough.

..... and by the way .... I go commando.

The only difference between ammo and underwear is you can't turn ammo inside out and start a new day.

[rockbronco]

I mean I do keep a spreadsheet to try and keep track...

IMO you can have enough but really depends what you shoot and how often.

I remember the days when you could just hit up Walmart and buy some range ammo for the day. Not so much anymore

[High Standard]

For common and mostly used calibers such as 5.56, 300BLK, 9mm, 38, 357 etc. I keep about a years worth of new and reloaded ammo and about 3-4 years worth of components so I can make what I need as my supply of ammo is used. For obsolete and rarely used calibers I keep one range trip worth of reloaded ammo and enough components for 1-2 years worth of shooting. I’m still acquiring some components as I perform testing and either add or remove certain components to my list of what to buy. For .22 ammo I currently only have 1-2 years worth. I hope to increase that to 5 years worth as supplies start to come back.

[High Standard]

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[High Standard]

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[knockonit]

never thought there was a quota or required or suggested amount, i have always bought when prudent, whether i had a crap load of it or not, all ammo, although will say most is of normal shooting calibers, but for my collection of milsurps and other gats, i have ample ammo to use them in any campaign required in the future albeit the campaign may be a short one, but ammo would not be an issue, just carrying it. lol

and the real key is to have friends that have more than you.
Rj

[Flash]

The only way you can have too much ammo is if you're drowning or on fire.

I like a 20 year supply for me and Mrs. Flash and we shoot twice a week, sometimes 3 times.

[samnev]

You can never have to much surplus ammo if you find it at a decent price.

[dragonblood9]

If you have "spare" money each paycheck then, grow the supply

[Ballistic Therapy]

I figure what I would pay for the ammo and when I find it for that , I buy it.
I have always done that and I have never been low on ammo.
There has never been an ammo shortage that effected my shooting.

[Harrier]

Another think to take into consideration is if you have a place to store it securely and if you plan on moving anytime soon...

It ain't cool if you have crates of ammo sitting around the living room when inlaws or friends come over with unknown people with them... it also is a PITA to move 10k-30k from the 2nd floor apartment...

[Boriqua]

I guess it depends a lot on what you intend to do with your guns or what long range purpose you think they will serve.

If you are a shooter .. meaning you enjoy the act of shooting independent of preparation for anything then I would say .. bundle up as much as you can manage, take up reloading. 1000 rds doesnt last terribly long. I remember buying my first CASE of ammo after moving to AZ. It thought it was amazing and would last years... Not so much!!

If you have the space and the budget .. buy what you are comfortable with when you have a few dollars and you will see how fast your stash grows..

I probably fall strongly into that category. While I always carry and shooting would/might prepare me for using my gun in a life and death struggle .. I dont base my ammo stash on that eventuality. I like to shoot. My wife and I like to shoot. There are people who enjoy golf and spend on the equipment to continue to enjoy it and I dont consider my ammo collecting any different. In a true SD situation .. I need the 6-12 rounds I have on me.

During the last ammo shortage I didnt reload and I had calibers that made certain guns expensive paper weights. Just couldnt find ammo for them. Sure I had a box or 5 of HP stuff but no range ammo so I got to take them out and look at them and put them back away. Sucked. Im not a collector .. I like to shoot.

Having taken up reloading some 6 years ago .. I get to shoot even more but I still probably only visit the Range about twice a month and fire on average around 200 rounds a visit and that includes my wife about 50% of the time. I have different guns with different experiences so I pick a couple and honestly after about 100 or so rounds .. I am happy.

Now, I am shooting holes in paper and 400 rds a month to a gamer is like having 2 pringles!!
So again .. depends on what you are doing.

If its about staying sharp enough to defend you and your family from bad guys ... Back in the day when I didn't have the ready access to a range every 3 miles I might shoot a 50 rd box at paper once every 3 months. Truth is .. I was still a pretty fair shot and I didn't feel my skills had diminished noticeably especially not for an up and close confrontation. A lot more goes into coming out on top of that aside from marksmanship. In that case .. I bought ammo when I could because it was a giant pain to get and I probably never held onto more than 5 boxes of HP and the rest in range. I probably never had more than 150 rds of range ammo at any given time.

If its because you are going to stave off the government when they try and enslave us ... dont get to worried about it. If a squad of soldiers wants in your house .. they are coming. You may nail one if your lucky but they want in .. they are coming and then they will collect the rest of your ammo stash.

If its the Looters after the election .. fair concern. Normal people not having experienced gun fire usually disperse pretty quickly when they are shot at. Look at most of the crowd shootings and after a couple rounds go off ..100 people are running every which way. Group mentality breaks down the moment it is YOU that potentially can be shot.

Even take a look at some home invasion videos. 5 guys break in and home owner lets off a round or two and 5 guys move like the wind to get out. No protracted battles.

However ... as we saw in portland .. the rioters can come back day after day after day for months. Unless you have something of intense value they would bore of being shot at or they would just light your house up and kill you and yours as you ran from the fire making the obvious choice to run instead of being burned alive.

There is another reason to gather ammo though ... While it seems to irk the hell out of gun people .. ammo may become a hot commodity. Like investing in anything else there is risk in future casting but just like gold silver or anything else someone has chosen to make valuable .. Ammo might be the barter good of choice.

If I were a young dude with young family and I had X amount of dollars to set aside in preparation for ????

I would start with food, making sure I have a means to prepare and eat it, water, paper goods ?, lighting and some first aid past a first aid kit ... then I might invest some in having some ammo around to play with at the range or buy a reloading setup and scrounge for components.

In the end .. like anything else .. what you intend to do with that ammo will dictate how much extra you need. I never went into this looking to have more than one gun ... boy did that change .. and now .. I want to have enough ammo to enjoy each of them as I see fit. I dont need wall hangers ....So I try and have enough ammo or ammo making components to have me play with my toys at my current level for at least the next couple/few years. If I see a deal I pick it up and put it away.