How much ammo should we keep on hand


This is pretty much a recap of what I have seen here (and in a few other places) followed by my own thoughts.

As background, most of us saw ammo shortages in 2009 and 2013. And one of the reasons was, that was when everyone saw the necessity of stocking up. Several times in the past few years the question has come up as to how much ammo should we keep stocked. Most of the time, these questions come up during times of shortage, but now that ammo is plentiful, it is probably time to stock up, for three reasons:

1. So we can get it while it is cheap, and pretty much ignore the next crazed run on the supply.
2. to keep the manufactures "properly employed" so they will be there to deal with the next crunch.
3. in case things really do go to hell in a hand basket next time, instead of just looking like they might.

Last Spring I brought up this question, and said I was recommending everyone get a three year supply, based on what they typically burn through at the range. I brought it up again this month, since now the shortage has abated and I don't think ammo will get much cheaper than it is today. (I could be wrong, of course, and I do expect it to get a little cheaper)

A little recap of some of the ideas:
S&W645 said "A case or crate per gun would not be excessive"
Seemed to base this on what he uses at the range.
He later added that he would keep his "war stock" above 1000 rounds per caliber.

Reloader54 noted problems finding powder and slugs (didn't mention primers)

A friend of mine mentioned powder shortage, and this seemed to be a new thing, in the shortage of 2013.

Gunnerbob's recommendation of 1000 rounds or more in each caliber (up to maybe 5000 or so) for the 'break glass in case of emergency' war stock sounds pretty reasonable (although he didn't say how many calibers :)

He said priorities should be Food & water 1st, medical & hygiene 2nd, firearms & ammo 3rd and fuel 4th.

He explained that most people don't have to be told to get sufficient ammo. It seems to be what people buy when prepping, and they will probably find themselves using much more food, water, medical & hygiene items than weapons and will probably have regret not storing more of those. "Less glorious preps, usually get forgotten."

But he followed up with "I envision that regardless of who runs in 2016, the fear of any Leftist-type becoming POTUS will cause another run on ammo like we saw in '12. Buy what you can, while you can."

Praetorian thinks 1000 rds each of 9mm, .22 and 7.62x39, 750 rds of .45 and 250 12 gauge is a good number, since he plans on being mobile. He sees no problem supplying friends, and neighbors that he knows, with ammo.

In fact, it seems that 1000 rounds is the most common answer.

Gunnerbob pointed out that it is pretty much impossible to know how much you need for war stock, unless you can predict what kinds of gunfights you will be in, and how many of them, but that ammo is always a good investment, and if the gunfight never comes, it can be used as range ammo.

Stan45 didn't think bartering or supplying others with ammo was such a good idea, since it could be used against you.
Axeanda45 agreed with him, that you shouldn't shouldn't barter anything that can come back to you from a distance

I like gunnerbob's thoughts the best, but I understand both the situation and mode of thought is different for each individual.

Some of my thoughts are:

For pistols, range ammo doesn't work too well for defense, since pistols are generally used a close range and you want results fast, before the other guy can return the favor. For rifles, how quickly they go down is still important, but generally less so. Plus rifles generally deliver vastly more energy than pistols.

There really are two main kinds of ammo. "The Best" for defense and taking game. And the economy stuff for practice. Stockpiles for shortage or war are mostly a matter of how you store the ammo, not what kind of ammo it is. One exception is when you run across a deal that is too good to pass up, but it isn't the kind of ammo you would normally use.

If you do have a real "break glass in case of war" stockpile, you might want to consider how and where to cache it away from your primary stocks, in case your security gets breached. How each person does this should be up to the individual and probably not be discussed on here in detail. Buried in the woods is a bit extreme, but can be done. Buried near your home is an easier possibility, and at least increases the chances that those searching for it won't find it. It could be distributed to someone else's home (a friend who has some space and whom you trust). Preppers with "bug out" locations would naturally store some there, and I would recommend spitting that store into easily accessible, and deeply hidden.

I disagree with Stan45 and Axeanda45. Helping friends and neighbors at the outset of a SHTF situation builds goodwill. If you don't help them, they might, instead, get their ammo from someone else. Then they would have ammo and no goodwill. It is better if your neighbors guns are pointed the same direction as yours, rather than at you.
 

Here is the whole deal with all of this "How much ammo" stuff. First off let me say I keep plenty, and I'm not saying anyone else should not to do the same. But from a more practical standpoint, let's say this whole "Armageddon" thing were to play out the way people like to talk about it on forums like this one. Complete monetary collapse, power grid failure, food shortages, the whole nine yards. Now what? How the hell are you going to move all of this ammo, and just where the hell are you supposed to move it to? In all of this "survivalist talk" people right away mention "bug out bags". Having everything you require self contained, along with full tanks of fuel in your vehicles, all so you can grab it and run in a moments notice when "Armageddon" happens, and haul ass out of the city.

.

That means leaving the bulk of your ammo bunker for someone else to claim when your city dwelling gets overrun. And if you play out this "Armageddon" fantasy, everyone concurs that the city is the worst place to be, yet it's where most of us live. Because there aren't many places to earn a living on top of a 8,000 ft. mountain, in the middle of nowhere. Now, let's say you've got a remote cabin. Are you going to keep thousands of dollars worth of ammunition there where it can easily be burglarized by a couple of kids on ATV's when you're not there? My point is having ammo for the sole purpose of having ammo is fine. But in all reality, if society were in fact to completely melt down, it really isn't going to do you much good. In fact it would be a hindrance instead of an asset. And forget all of this, "trading bullets for silver and beans" nonsense. If things got that bad, no one is going to "trade" with you for anything. They'll simply kill you for it.

I agree, Bill. If it were an "Armageddon" situation, we're all screwed. However, not every situation people envision having to use stored ammo (or other supplies) would be all-out carnage. There are lesser but, very dangerous events that could occur. Why are you assuming everyone has to "move" all this ammo? Most people plan to stay put to ride out whatever happens and if things were so terrible that they did have to leave their home, leaving the ammo behind would be a small price to pay for staying alive. I think you've seen Doomsday Preppers too many times, those nutbags always talk about bugging-out. Actual, more practical "survivalists" understand that you either have to already be at your "bug-out" location or very close nearby to make anything work. Most "preppers" I know are not much like those "Doomsday" types on TV, their just regular self-reliant folks that plan for the unfortunate events that happen in life while carrying on with the current world.

Additionally, you're assuming that everybody stores their ammo in one place, on the same site. That's not what I do and it's not what my associates do either. Most of our reserves (ammo, food, medical, water, etc) are stored off-site and in a few different but accessible locations known to very, very few. Further, ammo doesn't just have to be stored in the basement or crawl space waiting for "a couple of kids on ATVs" to take it. One has to plan for such contingencies and stay ahead of the likely. Regardless, I store ammo primarily so I can shoot it later. A good deal is actually the more obsolete calibers that I've managed to pick up some surplus over the years to be able to keep shooting at my leisure.
 
I can see, but hope it doesn't happen, another ammo shortage. ...
...to get me through two years of decent trigger time. If things haven't normalized after that I may be using .22lr a lot or forking over the cash for less overall training.
YMMV
I had a bit of time during this last shortage to think over what to do in the next one.
Once the shortage is in full swing, one of my thoughts was to limit the ammo expended at the range to no more than 5% per month of whatever your remaining stocks are.
So when you get down to 2000 rounds (total, except 22LR, as I would consider that a 'separate' commodity) you would only expend 100 rounds a month on training.
When you get down to 1000 rounds, you limit training to 50 rounds a month.
That way, you still get some training, and always have more than a year supply.
That is just my thought, and as you say, YMMV.
 
I had a bit of time during this last shortage to think over what to do in the next one.
Once the shortage is in full swing, one of my thoughts was to limit the ammo expended at the range to no more than 5% per month of whatever your remaining stocks are.
So when you get down to 2000 rounds (total, except 22LR, as I would consider that a 'separate' commodity) you would only expend 100 rounds a month on training.
When you get down to 1000 rounds, you limit training to 50 rounds a month.
That way, you still get some training, and always have more than a year supply.
That is just my thought, and as you say, YMMV.

That's a good way to do it, Mestral. Though it may not be as fun, dry-fire training can supplement actual live-fire training.
 
I always see tons of different answers to this question. I just ran out of ammo, and need to stock up again. I tend to go with tons of practice rounds because I love going to the range (used to go once a week). As for defensive rounds, I carry a few hundred rounds per caliber in case SHTF. I'm thinking i should test them out since someone here mentioned it would be a good idea. I never gave that a thought. In case anyone is interested, this weekend LAX Ammo is having their parking lot sale! Went to the last one and saved a ton!

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