[marktwain]

Some interesting comments at the site. It is hard to have too much ammo, too much gold, or too much food.

[Kickass Conservative]

Need is such a 90’s word. I think “require” is much better.

[Cindy]

“How Much Ammo Do You Need?”

Answer: It depends if you can hit the target on the first try or the 100th try.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Also, a good manual reloader (I cheaped out - I have a Lee Loadmaster) cuts those requirements WAY down. You can cut the actual ammo needed by 4; you reuse your brass. Primers, bullets, and gunpowder stores VERY compactly! You can fit the supplies to redo 300 rounds of 223 in something not much bigger than a can of Coke, if you reuse your brass.

Heck, lead will be easy to get, too - a small mold for making your own bullets and a supply of used wheel weights and you’re set for a LONG time.

After all, if the SHTF, there won’t be an TV to occupy the nights, so you might as well spend the time reloading!

[nathanbedford]

Yes it is hard to have too much ammo and it will probably be much harder to have too much game.

I'm curious, at just how long does the author think game will abound with millions of people trying to sustain themselves on the stock?

This is assuming a survivalist scenario. Some I don't think it much matters how many guns you have, if you expect to feed yourself through hunting because if the country is thrown back into a stone age, you will probably join tens of millions who die of cold, hunger and disease.

Guns are not of much use against cold, hunger, and disease although they might protect your family against the mob for a while. You might be able to commandeer some shelter, some petroleum, and some foodstuffs but those will probably go to those with arms who are better organized. In any event, guns will not buy you much time.

In the 21st century, with the government possessed of firepower and logistics which we cannot even conceive of, with a potential 300 million people starving and rootless, I don't think our guns will avail us much for long.

Yes we need guns against random acts of violence, against the mob, and even in a desperate last stand against their own government. Beyond this, they offer no solution except perhaps to make the likes of liberals with unfettered power stop and think for half a heartbeat.

If we are worried about saving our families we should look to do it now while there is still something to salvage and before the man on horseback takes everything. We should participate in the system now while there is yet something that can be done. Survivalism is fantasyland which can breed detachment as it encourages a psychic withdrawal causing the very chaos it fears.

[james500]

If society breaks down to the point where one is expecting to have to kill many people in self-defense, the city/suburbs seems like the worst place to be.

If my plan is to stake a claim somewhere in Wyoming, for example, where I thought encountering zombies would be rare, then my survival plan is probably going to look a lot like what people do every day in rural America.

[ChinaThreat]

I’ve spent a good deal of time in the last few weeks reading the memoirs of folks who survived the meltdown in the USSR in the late 80s early 90s, and those who lived in Buenos Aires during the meltdown in 2001.

The prevailing and common theme is that you are much better off with a high-capacity semi-automatic pistol for self protection as the author notes above. Preferably a high caliber with 15-19 rounds.

Many of them make fun of the Rambo types with sniper rifles and camaflouge fatigues. They make a good point, when someone comes to take your goods or hurt your family, they are not going to start shooting from 200 meters. They will approach you as if though they are a non-threatening party, and next you thing you know you have a gun in your face.

They also talk a lot about transportation. One fellow from Buenos Aires quipped about how he used to slow down when people were in the road waving him down, but now he speeds up and aims for them because its probably bandidos. These authors suggest having a 4x4 or a motorcycle because roads will become impassible after a little while.

Interesting stuff. As for ammo. Figure out how much you think you will need, and then triple it.

[LRS]

As I was saying on another gun thread, my son and I sat down early last summer, and decided against buying so many different calibers of firearms, and subsequently, different ammos. Instead, we made a list of what would probably be hard to get, and compared it to what we like, and what we would probably be most likely to use, and then bulk purchased those calibers, and then tried to limit our firearm purchases to meet those calibers. At the top of our list: 7.62x39, .223, .45 auto, 7.62x54, and, of course, 12 gauge and .22 rimfires...

[ccmay]

If the people of this country had to live by subsistence hunting, every animal within our borders would be gone in six months or less.

Our forefathers killed off the passenger pigeon with cap-and-ball muzzle loading shotguns, and almost drove the buffalo and wild turkey to extinction too, and that was when there was 10-20% of the population we have now. It took decades of scientific game management for the wild fauna to recover.

Even when I was a child, growing up in the northern Arizona backwoods in the 60s and 70s, I remember how rare it was to see a turkey or deer. They are now as common as squirrels used to be, but that wouldn't last long in a true SHTF scenario.

We maintain large-scale agriculture, or hundreds of millions of people starve to death, it's that simple.

-ccm

[America2012]

The amount of ammo a person needs is the amount they don’t blab about on the internet for all the intelligence agencies and gun grabbers to see.

[ought-six]

Another thing that is vitally important is consolidation of physical assets (i.e., find some people with whom you share a deep trust and prepare TOGETHER for the SHTF eventuality: Not only is there safety in numbers, but no one person has all the skills necessary for prolonged survival; thus it is essential that one forge a core group of talented [i.e., useful] people and work together. The number need not exceed 10 - 12 people).

[SVTCobra03]

Unfortunately, I lost all my weapons in a tragic boating accident. Just out of curiosity, I was perusing the internet ammo sources and noticed a lack of available Winchester Q3131, Winchester RA45T and Federal LE low recoil 00 buck.

[bmwcyle]

How much? As much as you can buy and store.

[PotatoHeadMick]

He’s planning on doing a lot of hunting isn’t he?

Wouldn’t it be cheaper and a lot easier to breed chickens and rabbits in his garden and maybe rear a few pigs or goats?

Or is that not “survivalist” enough?

[varon]

How Much Ammo Do You Need?

Number of rounds equal to number of communists , plus a few extras for those that are still twitching..............

[CodeToad]

All that a person can afford to aquire while obtaining everything else they also will need.

[omega4179]

all of it. Then somebody else can’t buy it and use it on you!

[TheConservativeParty]

Personally, how much I can buy is how much my husband will let me buy without giving me THE LOOK when he sees the growing pile of lead....I have him accustomed to the pile now...therefore it is OK to add to it again. : )

[LeGrande]

Just buy lead, powder, casings and molds. Cheap

[wastedyears]

It's how much ammo do you want, not need.

[ctdonath2]

Enough to wear out every barrel you have.