Amount of ammo question?

[Hardline]

Okay, I know that the amount of ammo that one has stockpiled can be subjective.

What one might think is too much another may think is not near enough. But lets just say a person says I keep 2000 rounds of 9mm at all times. Does that include the what I would call target or plinking rounds? Or would that just be the high ballistic hollow point really do damage rounds and the target / plinking rounds are not counted?

If that includes both what should be the ratio? 10% Ballistic to 90% target/ plinking?

[C-dub]

Most of my ammo is the plinking type. Most of the JHP that I have for handgun is what I carry. I might have one or two extra boxes, but not usually. Well, there are a few mags loaded around the house hidden if there's ever a need and I run out of what's on me at the time. The rest is all plinking ammo. The ratio might be at least 95% plinking ammo to 5% or less of JHP.

[goose]

I also probably land in the 95% FMJ, 5% JHP range. I am planning for events like the shortages after Sandy Hook more than I am for the end of times. I just want to be able to practice and play any time I want. If I was planning more for an end of times scenario I might do more JHP. It is just lower on my budget list right now.

Granted, I pray for a Zombie Apocalypse but FMJ works for that.

As an aside I do have multiple thousands of pellets for my air rifles. As an urbanite, this is how I would try and add food to the family if needed. Quieter than a firearm and would give me boatloads of Dove and Squirrel.

[Jago668]

You are talking such a subjective topic. I change out my carry ammo once a year, shoot what I have, and then load new rounds. So I keep two years worth of carry ammo. I have 3,500 FMJ 9mm that I use for my practice ammo. Slowly building it up to 5,200 which would be a years supply at 100 rounds a week. Then I'll work on going up to 10,400 so I'll be set for two years then so if ammo goes crazy I can ride it out for a bit. I keep less rifle rounds since I don't go through them as fast; around 1,600. I keep about half in magazines, and the other half in cans.

While you are at it you might want to keep extra magazines as well. They wear out and need replacing as well. No reason to have your ammo set aside with nothing to put them in. Having plenty of ammo stored to deal with price hikes doesn't do you any good if you have to lay out money when magazines do the same thing. When the gen3 pmags came out I found a store selling the gen2 for $8 and picked up 20. It also never hurts to have a repair kit for your guns as well. Find out the most common things that break/wear out on your gun and keep those parts as well.

[Soccerdad1995]

It all depends. The general consensus is that ammo has a fairly long effective life (measured in decades). For practical purposes it is what you might call non-perishable. There is also a very real risk that legislation or other factors could lead to potentially dramatic increases in pricing / decreases in availability. Both of these factors point to keeping a large supply on hand.

Personally, I don't think that a 1-2 year supply is unreasonable. Actual round counts would, of course, depend on the amount of shooting you do. The percentage breakdown between carry and plinking ammo would likewise depend on your personal practice regimen. The person who shoots 100 rounds a week with a 90/10 split favoring plinking ammo would need 4,680 rounds of plinking and 520 rounds of self defense ammo for a 1 year supply. If you have weapons in multiple calibers, the math gets a bit more involved, but is still really straight forward.

My advise would be to look at your shooting habits, and think about how long you want to be able to weather an ammo shortage, then plan accordingly. You should mix in some self-defense ammo, but most rounds will probably be basic FMJ. Part of this will include an assessment of your willingness to ration your shooting sessions if ammo is hard to come by. Maybe you decide that you could get by with one range session a month instead of once a week, etc. If you are willing to ration, then that will also change the math.

[Teamless]

I have about 20,000 rounds. 17,000 of which are .22 caliber

of the remaining 3,000 rounds, I have about 400 rounds of Hollow Points, the rest are for plinking.

its my goal to have about 1,000 rounds of plinking .45's and 2,000 rounds of 9mm for plinking, so I am close to that number.

[rotor]

When one considers the ammo shortage just a few years ago and the fact that 22LR still not that easy to get the answer to your question is that you need more than you think. Buy now while it is cheap and abundant. It lasts essentially forever. Also get reloading supplies. If Hillary is elected there will be another huge ammo rush. Almost everything I have is FMJ with minimal amount of defense ammo.

[AJSully421]

Buy a little each week, or every two weeks when you get paid. Don't go crazy, just be constant and consistent.

I bought 100 rounds per week of 9mm and .223 - in the early 2000s, this would be about $35-40 per week, and after a few years, I had tens of thousands of rounds.

Slow and steady wins the race.

What you need to be focusing on now are magazines. Bans on ammo are less likely than bans on mags and "evil features".

[Bitter Clinger]

Buy a little each week, or every two weeks when you get paid. Don't go crazy, just be constant and consistent.

I bought 100 rounds per week of 9mm and .223 - in the early 2000s, this would be about $35-40 per week, and after a few years, I had tens of thousands of rounds.

Slow and steady wins the race.

What you need to be focusing on now are magazines. Bans on ammo are less likely than bans on mags and "evil features".

Excellent advice!

[JRG]

Strolled by my local Walmart tonight and picked up 200 more rounds of 9mm and a box of Choot 'em's 300 rounds of CCI mini mags. Can't have too much ammo, can you?

Joe

[TexasJohnBoy]

Whatever you have, buy more.

However many magazines you have, buy more.

You need a new gun, too.

[canvasbck]

A few boxes of SD ammo. As for the rest, well, it's mostly in component form:

This describes me as well. A few boxes of SD ammo and I try and keep components for at least 10k rounds.

[ScottDLS]

4-5k about evenly split between 9mm and 5.56 fmj cause it's cheap. I'd order a pallet of each if I could afford it. Another 100 each of carry ammo (jhp) in the 4 calibers I carry. .380, 9mm, 38 spcl, 357.

For the zombie apocalypse fmj is just fine. though it has to be a head shot. anything else just make the walking dead angry. FMJ is fine for the living who try to take what you have too. Now excuse me while I brace my back yard fence with 4x4s and put spikes in the front.

after that I'm headed to Alexandria...

I've got to "clear"...it's what I do...

ScottDLS <------- Mutters something about zombies.

[RPBrown]

I had to go home last night and count my rounds. I have been buying at least 4 boxes a week for a couple of years. Then my wife decides to change her EDC from a .45 to 9mm. Humm, do I split it up and buy 2 of each? I think not as we sometimes shoot that each week but at least every other week. So, I started buying 4 of each. Then, she gets me an AR-15 for my birthday this year. Thats another dilemma. Now I buy 4 each of .45 and 9mm and 2 of the .556.
So, my on hand totals are--16,250 rounds of .45, 9,850 rounds of 9mm, and 880 rounds of .556. Then there are my 12 Guage rounds but I didn't count them. So, I guess I need to start buying more to catch up