Thinking about doubling the size of my ammo cache...

[Dinglenutz]

It seems like, if a person has decided to stock more, that this isn't the time to actually buy more. Seems perfectly valid to make the decision but stocking the shelves NOW isn't something I'd remotely consider.

2018 - 2019 was the time for that, and 2022 or 23 will likely be again.

 

[The Heretic]

It seems like, if a person has decided to stock more, that this isn't the time to actually buy more. Seems perfectly valid to make the decision but stocking the shelves NOW isn't something I'd remotely consider.

2018 - 2019 was the time for that, and 2022 or 23 will likely be again.

About once a month I come across a decent deal. It might not be pre-pandemic prices, but close enough for me to part with my hard earned $ (*cough* stimulus tax rebate check $ *cough*).

 

[Dinglenutz]

About once a month I come across a decent deal. It might not be pre-pandemic prices, but close enough for me to part with my hard earned $ (*cough* stimulus tax rebate check $ *cough*).

I've picked up some components, brass, bullets, new dires, etc - as you say, some places still charge basically the same prices. I just don't need any more ammo (which never held me back before) and so I don't watch out for deals there.

 

[Member 52301]

I'm a student of history, and I decided to look at the current spike in both the quantity and price of firearms/ammunition sales. I found this chart:


View attachment 828486

I noticed two obvious facts:

1) The average price goes up over time.
2) The big peaks (outliers) from the trendline collapse and return to the trendline.

Since we are currently living through an obvious peak right now (looks identical to the Obama/Sandy Hook peak), it seems like a no brainer to sell my ammunition and buy back twice the quantity once the peak collapses. I'd keep a reasonable amount on hand, but I have more than I could shoot in two lifetimes if I went shooting every single day. Why not double it?

Thoughts?

You have more ammunition than you could shoot in 2 lifetimes even if you shot every single day? Wow!

Do what you want to do.

There are pros and cons on your plans. Some of them are already stated.

Me? I do not gamble AND I am not sitting on 2 lifetimes of factory ammo.

I would NOT want to sit on that much STUFF - no offense to you or any person here.

I can see planning ahead for one year even as a HIGH or former high or LOW volume shooter and/or for retirement - inflation.

But IF I was sitting on it (Like what you describe!) and NOT using it - I would keep what I needed/wanted and SELL off what was sitting there.

I do believe that there may even be RESTRICTIONS - bans on selling and trading factory ammunition including reloading supplies and black powder supplies.

Use it or lose it is my motto! It is my husband's motto too!

We plan ahead but NOT for 1 or 2 lifetimes.

WE DO SELL at a fair price and gift what we NO longer use due to CHANGES in shooting habits, age, physical issues, caliber consolidation and firearm downsizing.

Plus my husband is changing one thing and I am NO longer using some stock so some of what IS here is sold - being picked up and some other STUFF was sold in the past too.

USE it or lose it!

Cate

 

[Swiss_Cheeze]

I think this is going to be the "new" tea that starts everything.

 

[The Heretic]

Whether to buy/sell depends on how much you think you will need $ or ammo in the future.

Being a prepper, who hopes for the best and plans for the worst, forms my thoughts on ammo.

Being retired, forms my thoughts on $

I have enough $ to do what I want for the rest of my life - more or less.

As a prepper, worst case is a "zombie apocalypse" - so one can never have too much ammo. The ammo that I have could be expended within a week, and believe me, I have more than the average amount of ammo.

Should I die tomorrow and my ammo goes unused, then it will have made little to no difference in my life or that of my heirs. If they wish, they can store, sell or expend the ammo, but they won't have to sell it (unless the law requires that) as they will have enough $ either way. But if they have to use it, I can pretty much anticipate that they won't be able to get more to replenish the "cache", so they will be glad they have it.

The old saying "it is better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it" applies.

YMMV

 

[Member 52301]

The only thing stopping me from buying a ton of ammunition here in UK is the Law that says I can't.

I'm limited to 600 .22 at any one time - to buy or to have in my possession.

700 7.5x55 Swiss [don't ask how that happened, I don't recall], and 150 each of 6.5x55, .308Win, .45-70 Govt, .577 Snider and 7x57. I can get 250 .357 Magnum.

Unlimited amounts of primers, nitro and black powder - well, up to a total of 25kg.

whoopee.

That comes out to odd amounts per firearm caliber - I wonder how they determined it all?

I rarely shoot now but I do keep up my basic skills and safety issues.

I keep 1,000 rounds in 22lr and 1,000 rounds in 22wmr. I have gone lower and upped it again. Back and forth. LOL

I used to keep 10,000 rounds in 22lr ammunition - I planned ahead for one year - bare minimum level for my own supply.

My MT husband's levels were higher.

A BUNCH OF THAT AMMO went to my husband.

And since he wants a bit more in 22lr HP than in 22lr RN even though he loves RN - some of that 22lr RN has been sold.

Cate

Added more.

 

[kisfish]

It would cost to much to double my cashe. I would have to build a new house. The floor joist won't take much more.

 

[The Heretic]

It would cost to much to double my cashe. I would have to build a new house. The floor joist won't take much more.

 

[Dinglenutz]

Whether to buy/sell depends on how much you think you will need $ or ammo in the future.

Being a prepper, who hopes for the best and plans for the worst, forms my thoughts on ammo.

Being retired, forms my thoughts on $

I have enough $ to do what I want for the rest of my life - more or less.

Fair.

I on the other hand have enough ammo for either several years of enthusiastic hobby pursuing, or a couple lifetimes of utility use. In my opinion, this panic will pass and when it comes to trading money for other things, it's generally best to avoid paying the highest prices. Buying opportunistically would make sense if a person isn't already pretty stocked I guess, but I wasn't buying much immediately pre-panic and I've bought even less post panic.

Sold some guns at a bit of a profit though.

The LGS guy offered to buy brass and other stuff as well, but I don't feel OK about selling far below market, or selling at panic prices, so there's that.

 

[tac]

That comes out to odd amounts per firearm caliber - I wonder how they determined it all?

Well, at the risk of boring you all fartless - again - let me just remind you of the law over here. When you feel the need of another rifle [no handguns on mainland GB, remember, except BP and a few folks happy to bow and scrape to the authorities for a Section 5 certificate - you keep your handguns in a remote location, and get to shoot them only in the interests of academic investigation...] you have to APPLY for a variation to your Firearms Certificate, and then justify the reason behind the acquisition to the authorities, in my case, the county police, just like everybody else has to do.

With that application for a variation on the Form Firearms F1 you ask for a not unreasonable amount of ammunition, remembering that over here you have to JUSTIFY that amount with the use to which you will put that gun.

I always ask for more, knowing full well that it will be knocked back because I'm a known reloader.

The thinking goes that I'm unlikely to want to shoot more than 150 rounds of 6.5x55 at any one time, so I don't need to be authorised to have more than that amount, maybe by a small amount, usually, as rifle ammunition is sold in 20's, say, 170. As I'm not a deer-stalker, as hunters are called here, this seems to them to be reasonable amount to have and any one time. Same goes for all the others except the 7.5x55 Swiss, which I used to bulk buy when it came available and didn't want to miss out on it - just ONE dealer, selling it for box price, face-to-face - that's the law.

IOW, buy a hundred and that's ten times the price of ONE box. Buy 700 and that's 35 times the price of one box.

Bulk buy deals? hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah...etc

IF for some reason, and by whatever method, it should be found that you are somehow in excess of your 'allowance' [yes, they call it an 'allowance], it will cost you -

1. Your Firearms Certificate.

2. A substantial amount of money - around £10K to start with, and, perhaps,

3. Your freedom for a period of up to five years, depending on the severity of your 'overstocking', particularly if it can be proved that your intentions were in any way supportive of any kind of criminality or illegal sales.

Welcome to the UK.

 

[The Heretic]

And this is one of the other reasons I stock up; Oregon moving towards California type restrictions and the USA moving towards UK type restrictions. If tomorrow we had to buy ammo with BGCs and could only buy 100 rounds per week, I would still be set, and those who had just enough ammo for maybe on year, would maybe be wishing they had more.

We each have our own situation and what we are willing to do/spend/etc. to meet our own needs, including future needs. I have a few areas of my inventory where I think I could use more - at least I feel I do - but even where I think I have plenty I keep my eyes open for decent prices on ammo, like yesterday buying a mix of mostly SD and some ball .40 ammo for under 80¢ per round where some people are asking $1/rd for just ball.

Pre-pandemic prices were close to that (although this is "used" ammo I bought and I usually could get LE buyback ammo for half that). That added maybe 5% to my .40 stock, and I didn't need it because I doubt I will ever use up the 7K of .40 ammo I have - I would have preferred to get 9mm of which I have about half as much, but still doubt I would ever use that up. But again, right now, I have sufficient $ whereas in the future those $ might be worth less and the ammo more.

The 7.62x39 ammo I bought was rooskie SP and HP - adequate for self-defense, although not my first choice (I prefer the Hornady BT expanding ammo, but I have a limited amount of that so I have the Tula/Wolf as my second tier choice).

I have not regretted stocking up ammo. *IF* we ever get back on an even keel with regards to ammo prices and availability, then no big deal - but if we don't, then I am better off too.

 

[tac]

Ah, I ought to have pointed out that whenever you go into your LGS and buy ammunition, it is logged on your Firearms Certificate [FAC] - date, type and amount. The dealer also logs it in his sales record, which is open for inspection by the licensing agency - the same one that issued me with my Firearms certificate, BTW, the county police authority.

Between these two records, your ammunition PURCHASING HISTORY is traceable, same if you buy some from a friend, or come by it from any person who is giving up on that particular calibre. HE logs it out on his FAC, and YOU log it in on yours - any form of ammunition acquisition MUST be logged on your FAC by law.

However, homeloads to not need to be logged, and you must remember NOT to exceed your 'legal' amount.

 

[Member 52301]

The Heretic,

Correct and our individual needs and wants differ at different stages of our lives.

Plus how we plan ahead are different in some things.

I can assure you that what suited my late husband did not suit or work for me from the late 90's and on when I got into buying my own guns. He did not care and he always supported me and my desire to become a proficient shooter. I used my hard earned, saved up money but he told me that I could use his or our joint account money but I did not do this.

What I had in CF ammo and in RF ammo did not suit my MT husband when we married too.
But it worked for me so he accepted that!

I had FAR MORE RF ammo than he did at the time and was using it up.

He had his ammo and I had mine.

(He reloaded all of the time as you know and he reloaded some for me too.)

Later on, when I got out of ALL CF firearms and went to never going lower than 10,000 rounds of RF alone - he upped his RF ammo at the time too. BIG time.

I gave him a bunch of my FACTORY CF ammo and he gave me RF ammo which had the same value - $$$ wise even though I did NOT ask for it. He did not want me to lose money in my ammunition buying budget from being a widow to marrying him.

I and/or WE do not want to DIE with a bunch of STUFF nor do we want to move, lift and carry a whole bunch of STUFF in a manmade or weather related incident. Or if we build again and move.

I personally want to go even SMALLER and have some home ideas that may seem strange to some people on this forum. LOL

I do remember your fire season.

I NEVER ever want him to move ALL of those heavy FORMER ammo cans that he had years ago when he had so much left over reloaded ammo when he no longer competed due to his former crazy - high stress 24/7 job. OMG! So much more to that story which I will not go into but it just about killed him physically. He should have HIRED that done at that time but the situation was odd.

ALL of that STUFF aka ammo is all shot up now.

When he reloads now... it is x amount of ammo in a 20, 50, or 100 round ammo green plastic - case/box. The name brand escapes me now. But I did buy him a bunch of NEW ONES for part of a wedding gift! LOL

Take care.

Cate

 

[bill1225]

...I on the other hand have enough ammo for either several years of enthusiastic hobby pursuing, or a couple lifetimes of utility use.

It's worth considering that others who are late to the game or didn't have money when ammo was plentiful but do have $ now, would greatly benefit from those of us with too much selling it off. If enough sold their overstock, the ammo shortage would be better dealt with.

I'm not telling anyone else what they should do, if anyone wants to sit on 2 lifetimes worth, that's their business. I'm merely sharing my thoughts that it would take some of the pressure off and maybe get some under ammoed folks a bit more mentally relaxed if they're looking at a dull can of 420 rounds of 5.56 in the corner instead of a single box of 20 and none available anywhere.

 

[Dinglenutz]

It's worth considering that others who are late to the game or didn't have money when ammo was plentiful but do have $ now, would greatly benefit from those of us with too much selling it off.

Seems like too much trouble, plus I don't want to have to see ... people.

 

[The Heretic]

For the last year or so most of my ammo has been purchased from sellers here. I figure I am helping some who need the cash, and yes, not buying retail maybe helps reduce the demand a little.

I have more of most of my "calibers" than I will probably ever need - I hope. But then I am a prepper and I am prepping for three people, not just myself, so where 10K of SD rifle ammo may seem excessive to some, divide that by three and it seems more reasonable. Then there is the idea of having ammo for neighbors/bartering and suddenly 10K of rifle ammo doesn't seem like all that much if you have 8 families in the community, most of which probably don't prepare anywhere near what I do (the one that possibly does is moving to Montana ).

 

[DunRanull]

I'm a student of history, and I decided to look at the current spike in both the quantity and price of firearms/ammunition sales. I found this chart:


View attachment 828486

I noticed two obvious facts:

1) The average price goes up over time.
2) The big peaks (outliers) from the trendline collapse and return to the trendline.

Since we are currently living through an obvious peak right now (looks identical to the Obama/Sandy Hook peak), it seems like a no brainer to sell my ammunition and buy back twice the quantity once the peak collapses. I'd keep a reasonable amount on hand, but I have more than I could shoot in two lifetimes if I went shooting every single day. Why not double it?

Thoughts?

are you figuring the inflationary costs? Personally, I sit tight and add to what I have- for the time being. Adding a bit to the .22LR and CB cap supplies. Theoretically, a bit of my stash would be tradin' stock altho I wouldnt want any local yayhoos getting the idea that Dun's place is the go-to for knockin the old man in the head and takin his stuff... I know of two instances in the last few years where just that sort of thing has happened.

 

[Howard1955]

My casket is going to be heavy!

If they cremate me, they will have a hell of a show.

My grandpa used to sprinkle a tablespoon of gunpowder on his eggs every morning.

Said it gave him energy through the day. When he died at the ripe old age of 96, he left behind a grieving wife, 6 children, 14 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren and a 25 foot hole in the side of the crematorium.

 

[Howard1955]

My only hesitation is we have a president that has historically openly and aggressively wanted to dismantle the 2A. Yes others have been anti gun but, this guy is a whole new level in my eyes. This gives me pause on suddenly cashing in on the new value of my alleged stocks.

"History may not repeat itself - but it sure does rhyme a lot."


https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/armed-conflict-begins/


Both the British and the rebels in New England began to prepare for conflict by turning their attention to supplies of weapons and gunpowder.

General Gage stationed 3,500 troops in Boston, and from there he ordered periodic raids on towns where guns and gunpowder were stockpiled, hoping to impose law and order by seizing them. As Boston became the headquarters of British military operations, many residents fled the city.

Gage's actions led to the formation of local rebel militias that were able to mobilize in a minute's time. These minutemen, many of whom were veterans of the French and Indian War, played an important role in the war for independence. In one instance, General Gage seized munitions in Cambridge and Charlestown, but when he arrived to do the same in Salem, his troops were met by a large crowd of minutemen and had to leave empty-handed. In New Hampshire, minutemen took over Fort William and Mary and confiscated weapons and cannons there. Throughout late 1774 and into 1775, tensions in New England continued to mount as the region readied for war.