Poll: Preparedness ammunition stockpile philosophy ...

[Alexx1401]

Since I have seen many panics I keep min of a case of stuff I shoot and can load. Keep loading stuff enough to roll many more cases if need be but, like to always have a min of one case factory. .22 ammo I used to keep 10 K on hand. After the panic before this one I upped that to 20K. Wife and I both enjoy shooting the .22's so I make sure I always have plenty.

 

[Zechariah]

I selected large supply... For me shooting 556 isn't fun it's for emergency and practicing shooting it does not improve my accuracy. To me rifleman skills trumps accuracy w this but on occasions I will shoot to insure it is on. And perhaps do a 30 rd practice scenario once in a blue moon to see if I still got the moves and the rifle is not malfunctioning. However by far 556 is the rd I have the most of and need the least at this point.
I do enjoy shooting my other calibers and seeing what they and I can do with them so if something shoots good for this or that I'll take all I can get and afford and sometimes not afford . I feel it improves my accuracy and knowledge as well. So at least a hundred of my favorite rd on each hunting rifle plus other stuff I've tried and been ho hum about.
Anyhow chances are in apocalyptic conditions my hunting rifles would actual be my best defense to maintain distance and time anyway not the black rifle.
God bless the enormous supply boys though cause all though I have enough I'll be looking to link up with the big group that these folks will supply. Sorry so long... Great subject.

 

[Flymph]

I don't furnish my home with ammo crates, but I'd like to!

 

[Zechariah]

Guns are scary 8.6 percent lol.

 

[RogerJ]

I have no idea how much ammo I have. One day I ought to inventory it. There are cases of factory .22, 9x19, .223, 5.45 & 7.62x39, 7.62x51 on two furniture dolly's in the closet. There is a cheap standing gun safe filled to the brim with reloaded 9mm and .45. I have two Dillons including a new 1100 that is great fun. The rounds are dumped in the boxes the bullets arrived in as they stack well. Do I need to seek help?

 

[JustSomeGuy]

Where consumables are concerned, my stocking levels are approached with the mindset that nothing outside the perimeter exists or is accessible. I either have to have enough on hand or the ability to produce enough to last not only for the limited remainder of my lifetime, but throughout the lifetimes of those that follow. Make of that what you will.

 

[Stomper]

You'd be amazed how much ammo you can efficiently store if you take it from the bulky commercial packaging and repack it into MILSURP ammo cans.


Then it just becomes more of a question of keeping your strength up so you can actually pick up and carry one of those ammo cans.

 

[Nosferatu]

You'd be amazed how much ammo you can efficiently store if you take it from the bulky commercial packaging and repack it into MILSURP ammo cans.


Then it just becomes more of a question of keeping your strength up so you can actually pick up and carry one of those ammo cans.

Everyone should be doing some 50-cal curls

 

[Flymph]

You'd be amazed how much ammo you can efficiently store if you take it from the bulky commercial packaging and repack it into MILSURP ammo cans.


Then it just becomes more of a question of keeping your strength up so you can actually pick up and carry one of those ammo cans.

Heck, taking it off the clip gets ya 200 more in a can!

 

[Knobgoblin]

Everyone should be doing some 50-cal curls

If you want to get crazy, use the mk19 40mm cans like a kettle bell.

 

[nwslopoke]

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.

What are you? A communist? Now listen young man. You get out there and shoot that AR15. And use all of that 5.56 ammo. All of it. I want to see empty ammo cans. The next time you get those crazy ideas, you'll remember. You don't shoot only for yourself. You shoot for those that can't.

 

[Knobgoblin]

I haven't dropped the hammer on anything 5.56/.223 in at least 4 years.
I do still buy that ammo occasionally though.

 

[The Heretic]

You'd be amazed how much ammo you can efficiently store if you take it from the bulky commercial packaging and repack it into MILSURP ammo cans.


Then it just becomes more of a question of keeping your strength up so you can actually pick up and carry one of those ammo cans.

I would rather buy more ammo cans that store the ammo loose.

Benefits:

1) Speed loaders for mags usually do better with ammo inline in boxes. Much easier/faster than loading mags from loose ammo.

2) The manufacture, type/etc. of the ammo, including the lot #, is right there on the box.

3) Better barter value because of the box - there is less question about what the ammo is.

4) As you mentioned, while loose ammo stores more efficiently, it is also heavier and more difficult to move. I do not go above a FAT 50 can due to the weight, most of my ammo is in either regular .50 or .30 cans, depending on the weight, size and type. The heavier the ammo box, the smaller the can. 500 rounds of .22 LR weighs a bit more than 100 rounds of .45 ACP and is slightly smaller, so I generally store my rimfire ammo in the smaller .30 ammo cans because for the size it is heavier.

I am not worried about space efficiency as I have plenty of space in my shop.

 

[Stomper]

I would rather buy more ammo cans that store the ammo loose.

Benefits:

1) Speed loaders for mags usually do better with ammo inline in boxes. Much easier/faster than loading mags from loose ammo.

2) The manufacture, type/etc. of the ammo, including the lot #, is right there on the box.

3) Better barter value because of the box - there is less question about what the ammo is.

4) As you mentioned, while loose ammo stores more efficiently, it is also heavier and more difficult to move. I do not go above a FAT 50 can due to the weight, most of my ammo is in either regular .50 or .30 cans, depending on the weight, size and type. The heavier the ammo box, the smaller the can. 500 rounds of .22 LR weighs a bit more than 100 rounds of .45 ACP and is slightly smaller, so I generally store my rimfire ammo in the smaller .30 ammo cans because for the size it is heavier.

I am not worried about space efficiency as I have plenty of space in my shop.

All of my 5.56 & .308 are on stripper clips…. As for bartering ammo, the only way you'll get mine is hot and hyper-sonic.

 

[The Heretic]

All of my 5.56, .308, are on stripper clips…. As for bartering ammo, they only way you'll get mine is hot and hyper-sonic.

Since I have about 40K rounds of centerfire ammo, that would be a lot of stripper clips. I do have some stripper clips, but mostly I just store in the boxes, for all the reasons I mentioned.

 

[Member 3687]

I am of the thought you buy as much as you can when its cheap and store to use when its not.

Right now, is one of those times that there is an ammo shortage because of new shooters and panic buying and a government intent on banning, regulating or taxing ammo out of existence by any means even though it not working for them yet.

So, the more you have the less you have to buy at the store in times like these.

I started to shoot steel case 9mm at some of the local matches because any casings that go in front of the firing line belongs to the house and I would prefer to keep any brass I have and steel case is cheaper to replace, at least for now.

I have minimum amounts I will never go below that is probably more than most will say is normal but I have been doing this along time and been through several ammo droughts and I do not want to be caught off guard again.

 

[The Heretic]

I am of the thought you buy as much as you can when its cheap and store to use when its not.

Just like I often say, "make hay while the sun shines", because you don't know when it is going to rain.

I was always talking about making money when somebody was complaining about working overtime/etc., but it is applicable to ammo or any other kind of prep for hard times.

 

[trevi]

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.

Mentality of a long range killer.


I like it!!

 

[American123]

If you want to get crazy, use the mk19 40mm cans like a kettle bell.

Hernia central

 

[American123]

Years ago on another forum there was often the for sale ad that read something to the effect of: "bought this gun, need to pay some bills, have to sell it,"

So while having ample supplies of ammunition could be important, the holistic approach and being well rounded in being prepared is more important, financial preparedness being the example mentioned.

If someone has 1 good rifle and 1 good pistol and a decent stash of ammo, that in theory should be sufficient from a preparedness standpoint until all the other facets of preparedness are well taken care of. After the basics of life are handled, how someone spends the rest of their money is their call. For some people that might be having 10,000 rounds of ammo and/or 50-100 guns, for other people that might be going on fun trips and taking pictures.

There's a lot more to preparedness than just guns though, from a preparedness standpoint, there's night vision, thermal, load bearing equipment, armor, and probably the most ignored, training.

Know a guy who at the start of the rona plandemic went out and bought 2 AR's and 2 pistols out of fear of social unrest, first guns he ever owned, he bought 1000 rounds of .223, has shot about 30 of them and still barely knows much more about the AR than which end the bullet comes out.

So while ammo stashes are important, if you suck, having all that ammo won't matter so much.