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Given that:
- Many new gun owners will never go to the range.
- Ammo is hard to find

If they mostly worried about civil unrest/violence, I think that most people will be covered with 200-250 rounds per gun. Having 2 or 3 extra magazines would also be very useful.

If they actually plan on going to the range once or twice to try out their new gun, than add another 100-200 per gun.

Not sure if at this time you can differentiate between practice and defensive ammo. It's more: What ever you can find on any given day.

I stock a lot of extra ammo because I go to the range, and I want extra ammo to supply my neighbors if needed.
 
Since the ammo shortage, I don't do much shooting when I go camping anymore. Prior to all that, I would blow off a brick of 22 over a weekend and not think twice about it. Or maybe a hundred through the 45 auto. However, the 36 cal Colt Navy gets a workout instead. It's easier to find powder and ball than it is ammo these days, although getting the percussion caps has been a bit tricky lately as well. But...I now have 600 caps for the Navy so no problem.

On my other weapons, and I don't have that many, I keep five bricks for the 22, and about 300 for the 45 with two extra mags. The 22's are just an MK2 and a Marlin tube loader with a scope. Out camping, I will occasionally splurge and take a few shots at a crow. I HATE crows. :) Hate em.

Sometimes I've wondered if part of the reason for the ammo shortage is the heavier use of solar power systems, which usually require loads of batteries. I know that business has absolutely exploded over the last five years. And many of those batteries need a lot of lead to produce. Sure, there are types that don't use lead, but they are very expensive.
 
For one encounter, maybe.

What happens after the first encounter?

Really. . . You think that given the civil unrest we currently have that people are going to burn through 250 rounds of ammo in "1 encounter"?

Only way that will happen is if there is an all out civil war with dozens of people fighting dozens of people. Most new gun owners aren't preparing for civil war. Most are preparing for random mob violence. Antifa and BLM have shown that they flee active, shots fired, resistance.
 
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Really. . . You think that given the civil unrest we currently have that people are going to burn through 250 rounds of ammo in "1 encounter"?

Only way that will happen is if there is an all out civil war with dozens of people fighting dozens of people. Most new gun owners aren't preparing for civil war. Most are preparing for random mob violence.
Ah, but the wise have prepared for the former...
 
Ah, but the wise have prepared for the former...

But most new gun owners have learned most of what they know about guns from TV shows and the media. 1-2 shot stops every time.

Most haven't seen the video where a cop empties a full mag into someone and they keep on fighting/resisting.

I'm guessing, given the ammo shortage, most new gun owners will be happy if they can get their hands on 2-3 boxes.
 
Really. . . You think that given the civil unrest we currently have that people are going to burn through 250 rounds of ammo in "1 encounter"?

Only way that will happen is if there is an all out civil war with dozens of people fighting dozens of people. Most new gun owners aren't preparing for civil war. Most are preparing for random mob violence.

I hope we never have any such encounters that require any ammo expended.

But, if from what I have read and heard, in full on fire fights between groups of people, hundreds if not thousands of rounds are expended. I do not only consider simple civil unrest, as we have now, to be the only possible scenario where one may need ammo supplies in quantities beyond a couple of spare mags. I believe as much ammo as one can carry in their loadout (typically a couple hundred rounds of rifle ammo, plus 50-100 rounds of pistol ammo) to be the absolute minimum, and I believe that each person in a group could easily expend that much ammo in a few minutes in a defensive scenario.

In short, if you run out of ammo, you are up a creek. Even if you are victorious in an encounter, if you are out of ammo, or just really low on ammo, then you are in a very bad situation - if you had one encounter, it is likely you will have another.
 
My rule is: If you are victorious, help yourself to the guns, ammo & supplies of those who were not.

By all means do so, if they leave any behind. A "victory" does not necessarily mean that the enemy is laying injured or dead on the battlefield - it means that you drove them back such that they didn't leave you (and/or your loved ones) injured/dead/captured.

Should someone attack you once and your prevent them from overcoming your defenses, that does not mean they won't try again, with more people and guns/ammo.
 
Someone In my family has about 1 million rounds.
But how much is barely enough? 10,000.

How much is "enough" depends on the scenario and how many people need the ammo. Then there is the ability to barter ammo.

For me, "enough" is more than enough, regardless of the scenario and how many people I have to supply ammo for. Therefore, I don't have enough and unless I won the lottery I will never have "enough".

However, at some amount of ammo I have to consider other preps to be a higher priority and the likelihood I would expend all of that ammo in the scenarios I prepare for to be low. Given that I am unemployed and have other preps I am lacking, I am approaching that amount now.

Maybe in a couple of years I will reassess my supply on hand and start buying more, but I probably won't be selling any.

Right now, disregarding rimfire ammo, but including practice ammo, I have between 5-10 thousand rounds of ammo per person that I prep for - an amount I consider "barely enough". If I have to provide ammo for more than just us (family, neighbors, etc.), then I don't have enough.
 
Also consider the probability that Trump will lose the election next month. Consider also that the left will possibly get control of the Senate in addition to the House.

In that case, consider that Biden is very much for gun control. Consider also that gun control advocates have been pushing for control of ammunition purchases and even possession for decades.

At some point, it is possible that you may be restricted, at least, to buying 50 rounds of any kind of ammo per month.

Therefore - is the ammo you have right now, enough for the rest of your life?
 
As a fellow first time gun owner, I think that before one even asks the "How much ammo do I need?" question, one must first answer the "Why did I buy a gun?" question.

For me, I bought a gun primarily because for a long time I've wanted to learn how to shoot and enjoy the process of that learning experience, and secondarily for home defense in the very, very, very unlikely event that someone enters my home intending to do violent harm. Since I perceive that the latter requirement is adequately served by having two full magazines on hand, I can effectively remove it from consideration and focus on the former purpose.

For that learning experience, I anticipate going to the range on average once per month and letting fly 50-100 rounds in the process. So having 2-3 times that amount at home seems reasonable, as long as replacing it is not problematic. Of course, right now, replacing it is problematic and if I'd gotten into this hobby nine months ago, I probably would've picked up a year's worth of ammo (based on that range prediction) when prices were cheap, anticipating exactly this ammo drought that we currently find ourselves in. But, it didn't work out that way.

So as it stands, I have 250 rounds and my plan is to either replace whatever I shoot right after I shoot it (at a horrible price premium but, oh well) or, if I literally can't find any ammo to buy, skipping the range and waiting until stocks come back in.
 
Really. . . You think that given the civil unrest we currently have that people are going to burn through 250 rounds of ammo in "1 encounter"?

Only way that will happen is if there is an all out civil war with dozens of people fighting dozens of people. Most new gun owners aren't preparing for civil war. Most are preparing for random mob violence. Antifa and BLM have shown that they flee active, shots fired, resistance.

Let me ask this of anybody who prepares for civil unrest and thinks that a couple hundred rounds total is enough. Do you really think that you will only have a single encounter? why?
 
Let me ask this of anybody who prepares for civil unrest and thinks that a couple hundred rounds total is enough. Do you really think that you will only have a single encounter? why?
Bodies stacked up like cordwood around my house perhaps :eek:

sarcasm off...

One best be prepared for multiple encounters in a civil unrest situation. And one best be prepared to be railroaded just like the McCloskeys or just like Kyle... That's what Amerika has come to comrade...

Keep your magazines loaded and your ammo dry, November 3rd is fast approaching...
 
Let me ask this of anybody who prepares for civil unrest and thinks that a couple hundred rounds total is enough. Do you really think that you will only have a single encounter? why?
I think you have to define what you mean by "civil unrest" before anyone can answer that question.

We've had civil unrest in Portland for 100+ days straight, but 99% of it is confined to a couple of blocks downtown, and even then only at certain times of day. Outside those areas, life has continued completely unchanged. So for that kind of unrest I require - :tappity-taps some numbers into the calculator: - zero rounds.

On the other hand, if you're talking about a complete breakdown of society, no police, no infrastructure, no utilities, no food delivery to stores, everyone for themselves, I don't think any amount of rounds is really going matter. At that point, unless you know how to be self-sufficient in the forest or whatever, the only thing ammunition will give you is a postponement of your death.

But then how likely is that kind of breakdown actually going to be?
 
On the other hand, if you're talking about a complete breakdown of society, no police, no infrastructure, no utilities, no food delivery to stores, everyone for themselves, I don't think any amount of rounds is really going matter. At that point, unless you know how to be self-sufficient in the forest or whatever, the only thing ammunition will give you is a postponement of your death.

But then how likely is that kind of breakdown actually going to be?
Doesn't have to be complete improbable. IMO the most likely SHTF event causing this scenario would be a full on Cascadian Earthquake. This would be long term - at the very least 6 months (probably more) before infrastructure would be restored, and at least a month that we would totally be on our own.

More important than ammo - IMO - is location - I am a full 30 miles away from downtown Portland, which would likely be where the worst of any trouble would start, but it would spread. I am only about half that far from lesser population centers - the most likely source of trouble for me would be Hillsboro or even closer, Newberg (Hillsboro some criminal gangs, Newberg has some related drug/theft crime and some of those have knowledge of the farms/etc. in my areas - it is where most of the rural crime comes from).

How far depends on how fast, and whether there would be any kind of government containment. I would anticipate that the federal government would deploy troops (at least NG/et. al.) and that would help, so being well away from population centers of any sort would be the most helpful.

That said, while civil unrest would be a concern, the criminal elements looking to take advantage of chaos would be my primary concern. During the fires there were blockades up here - manned by the WACSO, so we had no looting that I know of (plus we had occasional neighbors come up here by foot via trails to check on things occasionally) - but if SHTF we would be on our own.

Worst case in that scenario would be an initial encounter of a small group, hopefully repelled, possibly with casualties on both sides, then a later reprisal in force by the criminals. OTOH, criminals may decide to look for easier prey, but when all of the soft targets are overrun, then they may get desperate enough to attack the harder targets.

*shrug* Hard to say - stuff happens.

Whatever happens - IF it happens - I do not want to run short on ammo.

Beyond that, ammo shortages will happen again. I do not want to be in the position that I have been in the past where I felt that my ammo supplies were possibly inadequate. Just like $ I don't think there is really a point where I can have too much of either. There is a point where other ammo becomes less of a concern and other items bubble up my priority list - right now, I am somewhat comfortable with what I have with regards to ammo, and my finances/savings/etc. are now my top priority.

I am hoping that I have more than "enough" of ammo.
 

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