Posted on 03/08/2010 7:58:06 AM PST by dagogo redux
With all the talk about the Second Amendment, the ammo shortage, and about what might lie ahead after November (or before), I thought it might be a reasonable vanity post to ask what sorts of quantities of ammo are practical for a person or household to stock for an “emergency”.
A few months ago, for instance, someone here said 6000 rounds for each firearm. More recently, someone said (I think) 3000 rounds for one’s primary battle rifle, and 500 rounds for each handgun and shot gun.
Answers may depend on many factors: for instance, the scenario you think most likely, or most worthwhile to prepare for, as well as the role you might see yourself playing in such a scenario (home defense, active maneuvers, underground resistance, etc), so posting these thoughts may help explain your reasoning.
"The more the merrier,” will occur to many, but practical answers would be more helpful. And HOW did you arrived at your answer - is it calculated in some way, something you were taught, a hunch, collected wisdom, etc? If you say 5000 rounds, why not 2500 or 10,000, etc. and what do you base that on?
Thanks for tolerating another vanity, and thanks for educating us with your answers.
Q1: Lots
Q2: Why not?
With my luck no matter how many rounds I have you can bet I will end up one short. :-)
With the current administration, it is probably unwise to say how much ammo you have lest you be branded an “arsenal” ,or worse.
Ammo?? What ammo??
That being said I consider 5K per rifle caliber, 2K per pistol caliber, 1K assorted shotgun loads, and about 10K .22.LR rifle rounds to be the minimum one should have laying about.
Those numbers are per person in the household.
Why? It helps me sleep at night. That's why.
L
How much "money" is enough?
Depends on who or what you shoot. If we are talking about an insurrection against Government zombie takeover then you only need enough rounds to procure your next cache of rounds (from your prey). Government zombies carry 5.56mm, 7.62mm and 9mm. So I would focus on those calibers and expect to be able to resupply after the ambush. So an initial cache of 1,000 would be respectable. If we are talking about real zombies, then you want 10,000 rounds of 12ga double aught buckshot. Even that much might not be enough. Make sure you have a slow runner in your group at all times. Just sayin.
200 rounds in the safe with the cash. If I can’t carry it I can’t use it. Then again I’m in a city so my primary plan is to get out of dodge.
Ammo?? What ammo??
I don’t need ammo because I lost all my guns in the boating accident.
Man arrested for having too much ammo:
It’s one of the better alternatives to 401k’s. It will appreciate and, in time, will be an excellent barter.
Makes no diff what caliber you purchase. In time, someone will need it and you can exchange for what you need.
Only problem I foresee is storage.
Anyone know of any depositories out there where you can buy a set amount(say 100,000 rounds) and have it secured?
If I had 6,000 rounds for each firearm that I have...
I can only dream.
By the way...What is a “battle rifle”?
That's quite a "load" (pun intended) for a mom & dad with six kids!
God help them all if the house catches fire!!!
Honestly, it's a load off of my mind to not have to worry about someone coming in and stealing all those guns and all that ammunition I used to have here.
Bean are you one of those unlucky ones who lost all their firearms and ammo in an unfortunate boating accident? ;-)
Enough for you, and however many of your neighbors are about to have an epiphany.
Don’t get hung up on numbers. Hoard what you can afford, not just what you think you’ll shoot. It is entirely possible that one day, our currency will be .22 LR.
And don’t stop with ammo. Hoard everything that you use daily that will keep.
Read FerFal’s blog about the economic collapse of Argentina. He said, more than anything, he wished he’d hoarded food beforehand, as well as ammo, precious metals (for use as currency and barter), and luxury items (for personal use and barter).
Heck, I’ve even started hoarding old copper pennies and nickels, because right now, they are the only currency that is actually worth face value (or a little more). Might sound silly to pay for everything in pennies and nickels, but paper money sure isn’t going to be worth anything if the economy crashes hard.
On the products you use everyday, look at the label. If it doesn’t say, “Made in USA”, you probably won’t be able to get it when TSHTF. Start hoarding now.
It is very scenario dependent. Do you expect to have to hunt for food? How long are you expecting there to be SHTF situation? It is much better to have ammo left over when things settle down vs running out in the middle. You can also use ammo for barter and trade. Another school of thought is, if I have a problem that can’t be solved with 200 rounds...then maybe I need to thinking about something bigger, or moving.
I have a pretty decent amount, but no more than I feel I can safely move on my own, if necessary.
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