How much ammo is "enough"?

[MrYesterday]

Ok, so this current situation made me reevaluate my guns and ammo situation. I consolidated calibers, and sold cheap guns to buy ammo for the guns I'm keeping. If anything ever happened I won't be arming my neighborhood, and what I have is what I can carry. Maybe at some point, when I get back out on the road I'll start collecting for investment again but now I'm stripping things down to necessity.

Here's what I'm keeping:
Glock 30 (BUG)
Glock 21 (OC sidearm)
Ruger SR22 (Wife's)
SBR PAP M92 AKM (Main rifle)
Ruger 10/22 with a Krinker Plinker conversion (Wife's rifle)
SBR SIG P522 (technically a 522 now, I suppose) (My plinker)

That's honestly all I want/need. I am thinking about picking up/building another AR, just to have one in case they're no longer available at some point. Honestly my ARs were my LEAST favorite guns to shoot. I got the stamp to SBR my AK and I lost all taste for pretty much any other gun (other than my 21).

Now (finally) to the point. The purpose of getting down to 3 calibers was so that I could focus on collecting ammo for those calibers, and not having a few boxes of SEVERAL different calibers. I'm just wondering how much ammo most people in the hobby of shooting (who don't reload) think is "enough". I have what I think is plenty 7.62x39 (1700 rounds), a decent amount of 45acp (850 rounds), and not nearly enough .22lr (1600 rounds). I'd have a few thousand rounds of .22lr (at LEAST 5000 rounds) if you could find any. I've just depleted my reserves because 22lr is all I can afford to be short on right now. Anyway, just curious...

On another note "mag hoarding", who does it, and who would rather have just a handful of mags, and use the extra $$$ for ammo?

 

[adamweby]

Looks like you have plenty. I guess all you need is what you can carry. hopefully you will never need more than a few 30 rd mags. A bandoleer is a good idea. load it up and you should be set. I keep 500 rds for my AR.

 

[trandy16]

You look pretty well supplied...but can anyone really have enough given what's going on?

I have enormous amount stockpiled.

I don't trust the "powers that be".

 

[trailboss99]

I'd have a few thousand rounds of .22lr (at LEAST 5000 rounds) if you could find any.

You can't get .22lr ammo ATM? It gone that nuts over there the stores are out of 22?
5000 rounds is probably enough if you keep it topped up. How is that broken up? How much is plinking ammo and how much is stinger for hunting?

No shottie mate? When it comes to self defence you can't beat a pump.

As for mag hoarding, only enough to guarantee you will always have 4 or 5 working mags. I'd have 4 I use and two or 3 new spares kept empty and in their packing. AK mags are cheap, yes? Buy a dozen as you may soon not be able to.

Honestly tho you don't need a zillion mags. Anyone who thinks they are going to blaze their way thru more than a couple of mag in a defensive situation is either delusional or needs a bunker and an M60. Stats show the average shoot out is 3 rounds. Jeff Cooper used to say "if you have need of a mag change something has gone very wrong. 8 rounds is more than enough to either get the bad guy or get out of there."

 

[MrYesterday]

You look pretty well supplied...but can anyone really have enough

I guess I figured that if I ever got to the point where is run through 1000-1500 rounds by then I'd have had the opportunity to start picking up someone else's guns and ammo off the ground.

 

[MrYesterday]

You can't get .22lr ammo ATM? It gone that nuts over there the stores are out of 22?
5000 rounds is probably enough if you keep it topped up. How is that broken up? How much is plinking ammo and how much is stinger for hunting?

There is absolutely ZERO .22lr, unless you want birdshot rounds, or subsonics that won't cycle a semi. lol I like to keep about 500-1000 rounds of stingers, and velocitors. Partly for hunting, but mostly because since my wife refuses to carry a gun in a larger caliber, and velocitors are a pretty nasty little self defense round.

No shottie mate? When it comes to self defence you can't beat a pump.

I'm actually looking for a Mossberg 500 with a pistol grip right now. They're cheap, and pretty much all I'd need. I've just been buying/selling/trading ammo so much lately I haven't had a chance to make it to the gun shop. I HAD a Saiga 12 that was fully converted to AK form, with a half dozen drums, and several mags, but I sold it on GunBroker when the panic started. The auction ended at $2300 (like my home built ARs I put on there that I built for $650, that sold for $1200+)

As for mag hoarding, only enough to guarantee you will always have 4 or 5 working mags. I'd have 4 I use and two or 3 new spares kept empty and in their packing. AK mags are cheap, yes? Buy a dozen as you may soon not be able to.

Honestly tho you don't need a zillion mags. Anyone who thinks they are going to blaze their way thru more than a couple of mag in a defensive situation is either delusional or needs a bunker and an M60. Stats show the average shoot out is 3 rounds. Jeff Cooper used to say "if you have need of a mag change something has gone very wrong. 8 rounds is more than enough to either get the bad guy or get out of there."

That's what I think too. I have 5 mags for my pistols, 3 for the wife's Krinker Plinker, 4 for my SIG 522, and 5 for my AK. I am thinking about buying a handful of thermolds to throw in my ruck for a just in case situation.

Thanks, Col.

 

[trailboss99]

You know what I love about pumps? Thanks to TV everyone knows the sound of a pumpy being racked back. If you are lurking where you should not be and hear that sound only an idiot would not either run or freeze. That sound is almost the mythical "brown noise". That and the fact that out to say 30 feet or so you can't miss. Also a shottie is close to universal, it can be used for almost anything depending on the rounds chambered. If you can't kill it with a 12ga you probably shouldn't be shooting at it.


I can't fathom that people have gone so crazy buying ammo as to run the country out of .22 :thud:

 

[MrYesterday]

I agree. The 12ga pump is one of the best self defense guns imaginable. I can also get a real buttstock to throw in my ruck so that, if it ever happened that I had to get out my ruck for it's intended purpose, it'll also be a great gun for hunting.

Yeah, you can't even buy it online. A**holes are buying up what little stock crops up, and reselling bulk packs ($20 boxes) for $60+, and sleeves of CCI ($7-$8 sleeves) for $25+. It's ridiculous.

 

[trailboss99]

LOL, 50 rounds of stinger is $25 here.

Thanks to that Martin Bryant retard (google him) we can't even buy a pump here, it's a dbl barrel or bolt only in shotties. Oddly enough we can have a pump rifle.

 

[jsmn4vu]

"Enough" may be unattainable. To me it would be 50 rounds a week for life, even if the supply were cut off tomorrow.

 

[Subjeff]

It is amazing how scarce rounds for popular rifles are now. I do a lot of traveling for my job so in the last 3 weeks I have been in Ca, Nv, and Az looking for ammo. You cant find 22's, 223's, 9mm or 40 S&w and if you happen to find some they want an arm and leg. My friend found some 22's in Los Angeles but they wanted $80 for a box of 550 (i was paying $16). Its amazing how a couple of sh!t heads can ruin it for everyone else.

 

[Q5?]

Pretty bad time for me to try and enter this hobby. :facepalm:

Most online sellers show mid June for shipments. Which probably means September.

 

[trailboss99]

I have this mental image of Q5? gunning for gophers on the greens :lol:

 

[Q5?]

I really want a .22 Semi-Auto for target fun. No sense buying/ordering if i can't use it! :nah:

 

[MrYesterday]

I really want a .22 Semi-Auto for target fun. No sense buying/ordering if i can't use it! :nah:

That's why I bought the SIG P522. They're amazing little pistols that you can SBR by simply popping out a pin, and replacing the endplate with a butt stock once you get your stamp. Places are getting stock in, you just have to find out what day is "Ammo day" (when they receive their shipment) and show up first thing that morning. I'd do it, but I'm not standing out in the cold in line with my 8 month old son when I can go plinking with 7.62x39 which is readily available most places.

 

[idontknow]

Err...

I've whittled things down to only what is necessary...

I could keep a squad supplied for a while in 9mm, 5.56, 7.62, 12ga, and .22. Not to mention all of my mags.

I was in the habit of buying a box of X every time I walked into the local wally world. Made a bit of holiday fun money when the the speculators went crazy buying up every spare mag, and round of ammunition available. Here soon I will start buying it back when prices start dropping.....

 

[MrYesterday]

Made a bit of holiday fun money when the the speculators went crazy buying up every spare mag, and round of ammunition available. Here soon I will start buying it back when prices start dropping.....

I did the same, but with homemade ARs. It's amazing what a $600 AR will go for on GunBroker when this stuff is going on.

I'm going to start doing the same thing (picking up a box each trip when supply picks back up). I'm going to stock up on value packs if they ever get back on the shelves. Even with 1600 in the ammo box, I still feel like I'm running VERY low. Which I suppose by most people's standards I am. I'm thinking about just getting a 5000 pack of the Fiocchi a month. It's like $250, and with 20,000-30,000 rounds I might feel a little less unprepared.

 

[brtelec]

There is no such thing as enough ammo. The only time you have too much ammo is if you are on fire or drowning.

 

[Matt007]

No amount of ammo is ever "enough" if you are actually a shooter and not just a collector. But if you are getting ready for a SHTF scenario or would like to maintain a certain amount of ammo for SD at home then I would suggest about 2000-3000 rounds of each caliber that you own along with at least 5000 of 22 lr. Of course a 22lr rifle and pistol is a must for that type of scenarios. I would not keep any less than 15 mags for the primary defense pistol and 10-15 mags for the primary defense rifle either. Loaded at all times and ready to grab and go of course ...

 

[rg21044]

I have about 2500 rounds in various calipers. It still doesn't feel like enough.