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Preparedness ammunition stockpile philosophy

  • Enormous stores of ammo are essential. Stack it high and deep! Can't have too much!

    Votes: 25 23.6%
  • Having a large supply is good, but must be balanced with space and cost with other preps.

    Votes: 66 62.3%
  • Having defensive arms, and ammunition for said, is important, but not a huge consideration.

    Votes: 3 2.8%
  • Minimalist approach because it just isn't that important. Some handy, some to practice, or hunt.

    Votes: 3 2.8%
  • It is not important at all. Have the means to defend yourself, but lots of ammo is a waste.

    Votes: 2 1.9%
  • Guns are scary and bad! Dot Gov will save you during an emergency!

    Votes: 5 4.7%
  • Um ... eh, wut wuz duh (burp!) ques'n eh-gain? (Bromp!)

    Votes: 2 1.9%

  • Total voters
    106
This has been bandied about somewhat in other contexts, but on more of a macrolevel view, what does your ammunition storage preparations look like? Minimalist or ammo stores so much you'd need Scrooge McDuck's money bin to hold it all? More importantly: why? What are the reasons you came to that place?

Thanks for sharing!
 
I've focused mostly on .30-06, 12ga, .22LR and 10mm. I reload for the '06 and 10.

I also have enough loaded 30-06 to kill several deer every year for several years, should I need to. I have enough components to maintain me the rest of my life, probably.

I have enough .22LR and 12ga in various weights to take small game for a long time. (I estimate about 3000k rounds of .22 and 1500 rounds of various 12ga in #6, #2 and #5 turkey loads, plus plenty of 00 buck for defense).

10mm is my preferred handgun caliber. I have enough to defend myself for quite some time, somewhere in the 1000 rounds, and can reload quite a few more.

I also focus on SPECIFIC loads. Having some crap 30-06 does me no good if it doesn't like my rifle or the bullet sucks for clean kills. I'm also not going to want to have to zero for different loads constantly.

.223, .308, 30-30, .45-70, 9mm, .45ACP, etc all seem redundant in a SHTF situation. Putting food on the table will be my main priority. I'm not going to be throwing on .mil gear and playing Navy SEAL.
 
22lr is at 10 cents a round, pretty much everywhere. If it's not handloaded, I ain't bringing in much lately.

In other words, stack it high when it's nice, so you can actually shoot when it's not.

If 9mm, 223, 12g get to the point where they stay at $0.75-1.00 a round, I'll stick to reloading only. If that gets too expensive, I'll likely stick to 22lr until that gets rediculous too. I can see a day in my lifetime, where ammunition is put at such a premium that it becomes a wealthy persons hobby/activity. Where recreational shooting is further and further from the average Joe. So with that in mind, buy what you can when you can.

Store it well and keep doing what you enjoy as long as the sores last.
 
For instance, I believe you @CountryGent where caught a little off guard in terms of the amount of 9mm you'd like to have for that Mac?

Imagine if you'd bought 5-6 cases of the stuff at $0.20 a round or less?
 
How about, no need for big piles of ammo but the ability to make what you need should a crisis arise. Roll your own.
I have the big stash because who has time to run a reloaded when the barbarians are at the gate?
I can reload once the fight is done but I want to know that before the fight starts that ammo supply is the least of my worries.
 
Steel cased x39 was my last center fire hope. Earlier this year I quit shooting completely.
I set a goal of 10k rds stashed, plus get the occasional case to shoot.
I may be at 7 or 8 thou at the moment.
 
I have the big stash because who has time to run a reloaded when the barbarians are at the gate?
I can reload once the fight is done but I want to know that before the fight starts that ammo supply is the least of my worries.
Just opinion but any more than you can carry gets left behind. I load what I would carry and leave just components behind if I have to leave. No sense leaving stockpiles for someone else.
 
I like having enough where I can burn a thousand on a weekend and not have to buy more on Monday just to restock. This could be in all chamberings except .22LR. can't have enough of those. My comfort level goes up and down, though I'm always jumpy when I'm down to my last couple hundred of anything, even .50 BMG
 
"Why" do I have a stockpile is simply because I cannot go out and shoot it. Other wise I would be lucky to have 500rds of loaded ammo. I would have a bunch of dirty brass and bench full of components for 2,000 rounds.
Covid has limited my ability to shoot and increased my ability to sit in a chair. I load alot more than I shoot nowadays. Hence full ammo cans for .223 and 9mm sitting around my bench.
 
Just opinion but any more than you can carry gets left behind. I load what I would carry and leave just components behind if I have to leave. No sense leaving stockpiles for someone else.
Meh, I'm too old and fat for running away. If I'm not driving, I ain't going. Whoever kills me gets the ammo. At that point, I won't be needing it any more anyway.
 
Meh, I'm too old and fat for running away. If I'm not driving, I ain't going. Whoever kills me gets the ammo. At that point, I won't be needing it any more anyway.
I've often thought about loading some particularly high pressure 'gotcha" rounds just for the jerk who steals my ammo. They may get my stash and kill me, but I'll get them back from the grave
 
For instance, I believe you @CountryGent where caught a little off guard in terms of the amount of 9mm you'd like to have for that Mac?

Imagine if you'd bought 5-6 cases of the stuff at $0.20 a round or less?
Something like that. I had a mental image of what was in storage for 9x19㎜, which turned out to be wrong. So it was replenished, unfortunately, during the nadir of the present panic. (Then burned up and repeated. The Mac does indeed eat up the ammo and my wife's primary carry piece is Nine.) Sure, I'd like to pay less for anything, but I can honestly say it wasn't a huge concern. More annoying was I couldn't find some common calibers, like .357 Magnum, for love or money.

On the flip side, we have a bunch of 5.56㎜ that I now regret acquiring and storing. I'm down to only one firearm using said and I find shooting the AR about as engaging as reading ingredients off the back of a shampoo bottle. Similarly, my wife kept buying 20-gauge ammo for her shotgun during Wally World trips, but she only shoots it a bit each year, so it is a waste of space now. (And we still have the "mystery box" of ammo for guns we no long have. I can't wait to dump it somewhere, but I will admit retaining the .30 Carbine ammo turned out to be a good call as I acquired an M1 carbine during the August craziness.)

Then there are happy medium, like the .44 Special / .44 Magnum that we shoot a lot of, but found the right balance, and it is processed FIFO.

All that said, we keep firearms for self-defense, recreation, and, yes, preparedness. (Though I'd like to, I no longer hunt, and likely never will again in this incarnation.) It is the fun one that burns up the most ammo, though, obviously, regular practice is essential for the other two. To answer my own question; firearms and what they fed are most certainly part of our preparedness efforts. But I do not subscribe to the notion that one needs a massive stockpile of the stuff for most emergencies and disasters. Sure, there are scenarios in which having said are almost certainly beneficial. There is also other ones in which having other supplies/equipment, or even more likely, having sufficient (and sufficiently diversified) emergency funds are far more important than boxes of ammo sitting in storage.

But to each their own. :)
 
For defensive ammo - I stack it deep

For hunting ammo (revolver, lever action) - maybe 100 rounds minimum, but except for rimfire, no more than 1K rounds per caliber.

For the most part, there is no such thing as too much ammo. You can always trade/sell/barter/etc. - I am not going to be mobile, and I have plenty of room for ammo - it doesn't take up much room; one HD shelving unit from Costco can hold more than 100K rounds of ammo.
 
I don't expect to use any for a SHTF situation. I just don't believe an Armageddon situation is in my future. But my future isn't all that long now. So what I plan for is, how much will I use for recreation during the rest of my life. And if it is needed for self defense, so be it. Accordingly, I don't have as much by far as I used to. I now have a very good handle on what my stocks consist of. I've sold off most of the factory ammo and retained reloads for shooting. I have a basic load of ammo, plus reloading supplies for thousands more. Which I won't assemble until I work through the reloads I already have. And the .22 LR, of which I have more than I need. Cartridges that I stock: 9mm Para., .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .45 ACP, .223 Rem., .308 Win. and .30-06.

My grandson Anthony and I just went on a little shooting binge this past Thursday. We fired off about 75 .30-06 in an M1 Rifle, 30 rounds of .308 Win. across the chronograph to test some loads, and about 120 rounds of .223 Rem. Oh, and I don't know how many .22 LR through the Ruger Mark II with fat barrel. I don't think anything of this kind of expenditure of ammo because it doesn't make a very big dent in supplies. I look at the Tupperware bowl full of empties we brought back, eh. I want to enjoy it while I'm still around.
 
Something like that. I had a mental image of what was in storage for 9x19㎜, which turned out to be wrong. So it was replenished, unfortunately, during the nadir of the present panic. (Then burned up and repeated. The Mac does indeed eat up the ammo and my wife's primary carry piece is Nine.) Sure, I'd like to pay less for anything, but I can honestly say it wasn't a huge concern. More annoying was I couldn't find some common calibers, like .357 Magnum, for love or money.

On the flip side, we have a bunch of 5.56㎜ that I now regret acquiring and storing. I'm down to only one firearm using said and I find shooting the AR about as engaging as reading ingredients off the back of a shampoo bottle. Similarly, my wife kept buying 20-gauge ammo for her shotgun during Wally World trips, but she only shoots it a bit each year, so it is a waste of space now. (And we still have the "mystery box" of ammo for guns we no long have. I can't wait to dump it somewhere, but I will admit retaining the .30 Carbine ammo turned out to be a good call as I acquired an M1 carbine during the August craziness.)

Then there are happy medium, like the .44 Special / .44 Magnum that we shoot a lot of, but found the right balance, and it is processed FIFO.

All that said, we keep firearms for self-defense, recreation, and, yes, preparedness. (Though I'd like to, I no longer hunt, and likely never will again in this incarnation.) It is the fun one that burns up the most ammo, though, obviously, regular practice is essential for the other two. To answer my own question; firearms and what they fed are most certainly part of our preparedness efforts. But I do not subscribe to the notion that one needs a massive stockpile of the stuff for most emergencies and disasters. Sure, there are scenarios in which having said are almost certainly beneficial. There is also other ones in which having other supplies/equipment, or even more likely, having sufficient (and sufficiently diversified) emergency funds are far more important than boxes of ammo sitting in storage.

But to each their own. :)
Id say hold onto that 223/556, you never know when you'll get an itch for a Lage upper.
 
Id say hold onto that 223/556, you never know when you'll get an itch for a Lage upper.
Good point. I had a Lage upper, slow-fire conversion in 9㎜. Neat, but sold it off as I like the stock format, more or less, and bought a dedicated silencer that was less expensive than the aforementioned upper. No idea on the 5.56㎜, but I doubt it is something I'd ever invest in. That said, good point, and there is no real harm in the ammo just sitting there. (I'm very much opposed to clutter. It is pretty much the only thing me and my sidekick disagree on strongly, but I digress. ) Well wishes to you and yours. :)
 
Something like that...

On the flip side, we have a bunch of 5.56㎜ that I now regret acquiring and storing. I'm down to only one firearm using said and I find shooting the AR about as engaging as reading ingredients off the back of a shampoo bottle...

But to each their own. :)
If the 5.56 (.223), is brass cased manufactured (not re-manufactured) still in cases/boxes, and you all have a want to trade, LMK.

Could let a few still in the cases, brass manufactured (not remanufactured) 9mm go. 115gr Sellier & Bellot, & 124gr Win NATO.

Am reloading 9mm, but not rifle (yet). Don't have a NEED for 5.56/.223, but excess would simply be more buffer.

====

As towards the poll. My vote is: "Having a large supply is good, but must be balanced with space and cost with other preps" with addition of: plus depends upon how much one enjoys shooting, and what they shoot....
 

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