Stockpiling ammo vs mags

[Bushman]

Seems to me you'd have to shoot A LOT of ammo out of magazines before they wear out and that ammo would be more important since without ammo, a gun is useless. Ammo being like fuel for a car and mags being like tires or other components.

That said, mags can be lost, damaged during training, etc. so good to stock up on them as well yeah? Would you agree though that ammo is MORE important to stock up on than mags? Having a heap of mags but running low on ammo doesn't do any good, even if you have a few thousand rounds of ammo, you're not going to burn through 10 mags with that ammo so it's better to have more ammo than mags, yes?

Read More

 

[GWS]

Yes more ammo is the ideal
have it by the ton but...
How much ammo can you shoot when your mags wear out, get lost or left behind?
So get lots of mags too.
Of course, all of the above are worthless without guns, so get more guns! Then the gun may be in calibers you don't already own so you'll need more ammo and mags!
Truly a vicious circle.

 

[Bushman]

Yes more ammo is the ideal
have it by the ton but...
How much ammo can you shoot when your mags wear out, get lost or left behind?
So get lots of mags too.
Of course, all of the above are worthless without guns, so get more guns! Then the gun may be in calibers you don't already own so you'll need more ammo and mags!
Truly a vicious circle.

Very good point about mags getting left behind.

 

[SHPD_Retired]

Since you might have to be on the move when something happens I prefer to have lots of mags loaded up that way I do not have to worry about either ammo or mags. Granted ammo is the most important but not having to take the time to reload may be advantageous also.

 

[Meaty]

Goals should be
50 rifle magazines (loaded)
50 pistol magazines (loaded)
7k rds rifle ammo (what you intend to use, not practice bubblegum, but actual 855/193/etc)
3k rds pistol ammo (HP defense ammo. Do not bother to stockpile fmj, pistols need all the help they can get)

This is fot stockpiling, keep another 5-7 mags for each for practice.

Also, fun fact, in a 50 cal ammo can you can fit 10 lpaded pmags, 5 loaded g17 mags, and like 60rds of 12ga. Make for nice emergency grab boxes.

 

[Cerberus Group]

I would also stockpile magazine springs. Most likely the springs will give up before the magazine body does.

A quick word about M855. If your particular rifle will not get the velocity that M855 requires to perform properly...that being 3,250 ft/s, don't use it. The performance will suck until the cows come home. So don't use it in anything less than a 16" barrel. At 14.5", the performance is very unpredictable.

 

[The Heretic]

Minimum: enough mags for each firearm for each person for a 'loadout' - i.e., enough mags that they carry on their person, plus one for carrying in the firearm. It varies by firearm/etc., but probably at least five per firearm per firearm per person - four for reloading, one in the firearm. Probably more like 7 per firearm per person. This is minimum. Better would be double that as spares.

E.G., PS90 and Five Seven - four to six 50 rd mags in harness for PS90, one in the rifle = five to seven. For the Five Seven pistol, four mags in harness, plus one in pistol = 5. Total loadout 350 + 100 = 450 rounds, or 250 + 100 = 350 rounds. Bear in mind that each of these rounds weighs half as much as a 9mm round. That's per person.

There are 3 people in my family carrying just these firearms (not to mention other firearms) - so 21 PS90 mags at a minimum - preferably 42. And no, I don't have that many (I think I have something like three per rifle per person - working on it (spent a LOT of $ last year on taxes, med/dental and car repair, going to have to buy yet another car this year again - *sigh*).

I do have enough ammo for the mags I need.

 

[leadcounsel]

It is a vicious cycle. Guns, ammo, and mags are all a symbiotic ecosystem. All need the other. I think there is some urgency to stock pile. Looking at the tough talk going down in Virginia, Washington, and some other states, how can you not think there's at least a chance this all boils over? That does, of course, depend on your particular state. Some folks are looking at magazine bans. I won't be surprise if magazines will be dated or serialized in the near future, making those pre-serialized a premium. (Remember the "Law Enforcement Only" stamps?)

No doubt, for some people it's already hard to buy things (CA, NY, IL, NJ, MD, MA, HI) and for others it's on the horizon (OR, WA, VA...). It's wise to stock up. I'm at a relatively comfortable point that I just buy what I see on sale, to gradually add to my cache. I don't ever pay non-sale prices on anything. If ammo is on sale, I buy the ammo. If mags, then I buy the mags.

Ammo stored in mags makes the most sense. Load them at your leisure, dispose of the weight/excess packaging space, and have them ready to go.

 

[The Heretic]

Cost is why I gave up on Valmets. During the AWB mags for the 7.62x51 rifles cost $150 each when you could find them (the mags were HK91 mags with different feed lips). Spare parts (firing pins, bolt carriers, etc.) were hard to come by too.

 

[The Heretic]

Don't forget to get at least three 10 round mags for your semi-autos. And if you hunt with them, 5 round mags.

Should mag bans come about in your locale, you will not want to be carrying with mags larger than 10 rd.

 

[Mark W.]

I have one semi auto CF rifle that uses a detachable magazine I have 30) 15rd mags for it
I have one semi auto CF rifle that uses clips I have like 50) 8rd clips for it.
I have a bunch of rifles with internal magazines hard to misplace a magazine that doesn't come off. 1 of them has been working just fine for 115 years now.
I have a few rifles with detachable magazines that work just fine single fed.
My shotguns have internal magazines
My pistols all have plenty of magazines or speed loaders for their intended use.

 

[Member 52301]

Ammunition. A bit of CF factory ammunition is kept on hand and the rest is reloaded.

(Keep plenty of RF ammunition on hand too. I do not keep much on hand for myself any longer but my husband does.)

Rotate your stock!

My husband has duplicate, exact models of the same Glock pistol.

If my memory serves me right, LOL, he keeps 4 or 6 extra magazines loaded with 45acp ammunition on hand.

Me? I don't own, carry or shoot handguns any longer.

He only owns bolt action rifles in a few calibers and 4 lever action rifles in 30-30 and 45-70 calibers now.

I only own 1 bolt action rifle in 22lr and I do have a few EXTRA magazines for that rifle too.

Cate

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Just what are these magazine things that folks are taking about...?


Just kidding here....
A good balance with both ammo and magazines is what is needed...
What that is and looks like will all depend on your situation , needs and just what type of gun we are talking about...
Finding and stocking 5.56 ammo and a AR15 magazine will be a lot easier and less expensive than say a magazine and ammo for a Remington 740 in .244 ( 6mm Remington ) .
Andy

 

[Camelfilter]

...it's better to have more ammo than mags, yes?

Yes.

Multiple reasons. The quantity of each depends tho.

On you what you all enjoy doing, what you expect... or hope & pray never happens.

 

[The Heretic]

Don't forget stripper clips and mag loaders

 

[Stomper]

Which is more important? Ammo over mags or mags over ammo.

The answer is: YES!


There's mag restrictions on the horizon, you better get before the get gets gettin'.

 

[The Heretic]

Which is more important? Ammo over mags or mags over ammo.

The answer is: YES!


There's mag restrictions on the horizon, you better get before the get gets gettin'.

Before the gettin' is gone

 

[Stomper]

Before the gettin' is gone

Before the gettin' has got.

 

[s1xty7]

Which is more important: the chicken or the egg? If you want to protect your chicken based hobbies, both. Otherwise all your fancy chicken coops are useless.

This analogy does not lend itself to reloading, unless you're Dr. Frankenstein.

 

[Geardo]

AR 15 mags are Soooo cheap. $8 per online for gen 2 pmag.

So a decent AR is $500-$1500. Why not at least get close to matching ONE of your rifles (I know you have multiple) $500 buys you 62 mags which sounds like a good start!

I can't store enough ammo to even last me a year of practice, but more the merrier.