How much ammo is "enough"

[waltermitty]

oh darn, Hope you wear a size 7

okay, jest the saddle then

 

[waltermitty]

What I'm concerned about is the government putting a freeze on the sale of ammo and components. I want to have enough ammo and/or components in my inventory that I won't have to worry about it.

I've been aware of this for decades as it doesn't directly fall under the glaring review of gun control (though we gun owners think differently). From a govt taxation perspective, they can simply impose a tax on components, making it almost prohibitive to reload. Thank heavens the NFA tax structure hasn't changed in almost a century but wait.... and I'm sure the next Congress critters will railroad that in.....if we're not active in how our vote is represented.

 

[Dungannon]

... I'll just keep buying...in other words...never enough.

What I have is a 50 cal ammo can full per caliber.

Wife and kids can carry the smaller containers

 

[DB is Here]

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Like the square root of -1, we are talking about imaginary numbers here.

 

[HA556]

 

[Louis Pratt]

I've been aware of this for decades as it doesn't directly fall under the glaring review of gun control (though we gun owners think differently). From a govt taxation perspective, they can simply impose a tax on components, making it almost prohibitive to reload. Thank heavens the NFA tax structure hasn't changed in almost a century but wait.... and I'm sure the next Congress critters will railroad that in.....if we're not active in how our vote is represented.

When the government elbows their way into control of guns and ammo, they don't call you to ask you what you want and how you want it. This has been very evident in California. When it comes to imposing their controls, they become dictators.

 

[Decoy]

I will relate a true story.

Just moved into a nice boating community in south florida in 1999. Most of the people were much older than me by 20-30 years ( the old money bags as i called them staying in thier 2nd homes over the winter)

I was invited to a 2k party with lots of talk about the impending doom once the pc crashes on the turn of the century.

The money bags gave me a cigar as we all gathered at the end of the dock. They started bragging about what supplies they bought "just in case".

They all turn to me and said " hey kid (i was in my late 30's) what did you get"? I said i just bought 10k more of .223 ammo. They asked how i would survive on that? I said if i need anything else i know where to come collect it now! They all just dropped their jaws I took a long draw on the cigar and walked away. Took them a few years to appreciate my humor.

They never knew if i was serious or joking.

 

[waltermitty]

if you were joking, I wouldn't want to be someone you were joking with and left it as is. if you were serious, well......

 

[gunrnr]

when it comes down to life or death of yourself, or you and your family there are very few things one would not do

 

[JSon]

10k in each caliber

 

[shybladder]

Depends, how fast would you have to leave your house in an emergency? Im ready to split in 5 minutes flat. As much as I can carry out in one shot in a strong, reinforced handled duffle bag.. me, thats roughly 250lbs of ammo. No ammo gets left behind.. I drew the line 2 years ago and when I realized this... the fires 3 weeks ago solidified my theory

 

[The Heretic]

Just picked up another 1K of 7.62x39 soft point. Two 500 round boxes, each fits nicely into a 50 cal ammo can.

 

[Member 52301]

Depends, how fast would you have to leave your house in an emergency? Im ready to split in 5 minutes flat. As much as I can carry out in one shot in a strong, reinforced handled duffle bag.. me, thats roughly 250lbs of ammo. No ammo gets left behind.. I drew the line 2 years ago and when I realized this... the fires 3 weeks ago solidified my theory

Hello,

Outstanding post! Thank you for your input.

What does 250 pounds of your ammo exist in if this is NOT too personal to ask you? I do not want to be rude to you. How many boxes and/or in what calibers = your weight limit of carrying it?

Did you WEIGH all of it before you judged on your 'downsizing' or lower amount of ammunition to Keep On Hand in NORMAL TIMES so that it would ALL fit into one big BAG so you could make an emergency EXIT in a hurry in HORRIFIC TIMES?

My husband and I just rotated our FACTORY ammunition this week.

(We rotate our supplies when we grab a new box of RF ammunition or a can of veggies or a bar of soap or some meat in our deep freezer on a regular basis too.)

His 22lr and 22wmr. Crikey, I wonder what that weighs?! LOL I should look it up per box.

He has been shooting more RF ammo than CF ammo and he shot LESS when the toxic smoke was bad in this valley.

He has a VERY small amount of factory 45acp and 30-30 Win ammunition. NO problem there with weight.

My basic - bare minimum amount of 22lr and 22wmr. NO problem there with weight with 1,000 rounds in 22lr and 1,000 rounds in 22wmr. (See my other posts in this thread if needed.)

I updated our factory ammo spread sheets.

I updated his reloading supplies as I always do too. He does NOT keep a lot of reloaded ammunition made up AHEAD of time as he used to do. (Other posts of mine here in this thread and elsewhere.) NO way is that happening again in our OLD age especially since he no longer competes. That was HIS decision not mine. But it does work for both of us due to our age. Plus if we MOVE and build again... NO way is that happening. It is easier to move reloading components to a new home and/or sell fresh, clean, properly stored, new/newer and SEALED components IF he should eventually get out of reloading too.

How did you determine the weight? Use a scale? Look it up online? FILL up the bag with what you had and tried to lift it?

Or did you keep shooting your ammunition until you got to a LOWER level - fill up the remaining amount and judge the weight there?

Did you lose ammo (Burned up - destroyed?) and your home in a previous fire?

Did you have ammo and other things stolen by looters if you LEFT IT BEHIND in the past while fleeing the bad fires?

If you lost any item by fires and/or had it stolen by criminals in the past - please accept my sincere condolences to you and your loved ones.

Take care. Thanks again for your post too.

Old Lady Cate

 

[shybladder]

Hey, no problem. a 9mm handgun, a 12ga shotgun, a 22lr rifle for plinkin, Ar15 in 556, a win 30-30 and a 30-6 for hunting. I don't bird hunt, and maybe a couple times a year I hit the trap range. Target shoot brass 2-3 times a year.
Never got caught up in the hoarding and will always resupply what I shoot periodically throughout the year. Heard and know of multiple people from a few weeks ago that f'd off and leo was at their door step waiting for them to leave as a glow of orange was cresting the hillside. Firetruck at the ends of their driveways. You think they had time to pack 50k rounds up and get it out the door in one quick hump? Or leave it all in their rigs for days on end in stage 2 evac while looters were looking for exactly that kind of "stuff"? Nah
In the bag that sits at the bottom of my safe is roughly 2k of 556, 3k of 22lr , 200 shotgun shells, 500 rds of 9mm, and enough hunting ammo to kill 60 elk or deer.. haven't weighed the bag. I do construction for a living and lift heavy stuff all day. After 29 years of doing it, one gets a pretty solid approximate of weight lifted.
I do have room for a bigger duffle and possibly bump it up to over 300#. Definitly would have a little moving dolly perched up against the safe. Being in a single story house is a must, for obvious reasons. I have a mini van Which means loading and unloading is much easier than getting it into a bed of a truck or a trunk of a car. Back the van to the front door and in.
Some will say I'm foolish for only taking what I take, but I'm not in for a firefight. I do have enough to sling to my wife while she's shoots and I drive to the hills to hide out.. by the time we're found, she'll be proficient in sword fighting and a crack shot with a recurve. While i'll be building the sanctuary and building a perimeter with walkers

 

[PaulB47]

Of course more is better, but ignoring rounds needed for practice, if you can fire 200 rounds in anger at live targets, and still remain among the living, you have an angel looking out for you.

 

[The Heretic]

Of course more is better, but ignoring rounds needed for practice, if you can fire 200 rounds in anger at live targets, and still remain among the living, you have an angel looking out for you.

Two hundred and then never again?

Two hundred in a day? A week? A year?

If SHTF due to a Cascadian earthquake, we could be on our own for months. That kind of scenario is one of the many reasons I prefer to be well away from a population center, but that doesn't mean people won't migrate out of the cities to areas like where I live, looking for food/water/shelter/security/etc. - whatever the reason, some of those people may be armed and not above taking what they are looking for by force. It is my job to provide those things for my family and to prevent others from taking them.

I hope that this never happens, and that I never have to use a single round in self-defense, but I prefer to have 100 times as much ammo as I might have to use in a single confrontation rather than only just enough, because if there is no rule of law, if it happens once, it will probably happen again and again and there will probably be no resupply.

Also, if the current supply/demand situation proves anything, it proves:

1) There are people out there who don't have enough, maybe have little to none.
2) Ammo is valuable, more valuable than cash in some situations. It can be bartered/traded.

If SHTF, there will be people ammo (and possibly guns) needs to be shared with (e.g., my neighbors), others who barter for it, and others who will want to take it. Having too much ammo is better than not having enough or even just enough.

 

[oremike]

I have to laugh at myself, I'm the guy that posted at the beginning of the thread that I had a 50 cal ammo can of ammo for every caliber I own. So This weeekend I bought a new to me Sig 10mm, this morning I dig the 10mm ammo can out of the pile, only to find that it contains exactly 50 rounds of JHP's and no other ammo. Oops, I guess I'll be making ammo before I shoot my new gun.

 

[The Heretic]

Picking up 800 rounds of .44 mag today. I need to inventory my current .44 mag, but I think this will take me over 1K rounds. The good thing it is all the same ammo, and works well for hunting.

Probably a LOT more than I need for that caliber as I hope I never get so low on self-defense ammo that I have to rely on hunting ammo shot from a revolver/lever action, and it is more than I would ever need for hunting, especially considering I have plenty of other ammo in other hunting calibers.

But I will feel good that I have it.

Worst case I could use it for barter if SHTF.

So to answer the OP question; a LOT more than enough is enough. I won't be buying more .44 mag ammo after today.

 

[User 1234]

I have one ten round mag loaded for each of my two guns. Don't want to get red flagged these days.