How Much Ammo on Hand?

How much ammo do you keep on hand for each caliber weapon you have?

  • 0-100

    Votes: 25 7.4%

  • 100-500

    Votes: 106 31.4%

  • 500-1,000

    Votes: 77 22.8%

  • >1,000

    Votes: 130 38.5%
  • Total voters
    338
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
Quite a few years ago I bought two cases of 22lr. From time to time I add to this after shooting some. I try for buy two for one shot. I don't always do that but I try.
I haven't bought 357/38 and 44spl for about five years. I handload these and I try to keep 500 of each loaded, but I usually have more, closer to 1k in 44spl.
Some rifle calibers I only have a few hundred, but my main caliber .30'06 about 5k and I handload this caliber, too. I guess I should get the dies for the other rifle calibers I have.
Maybe I'll never shoot it all, but I'm having fun trying.
 
afponiky said:
Darn, you guys are all pissing me off....



I went boating 5 months ago and a real bad storm came up and tipped the boat over, I lost it all!

I have about one box of each left only..........


Man.............. :(
Click to expand...

Stop whining you little "b-word". You have a boat. I don't. :)
 
i had to go 0-100 since i never have more than 2-3 boxes for my deer rifle and a couple other guns that i rarely shoot.
 
All very interesting, I was a competitive shooter for many years, first skeet, then trap then NRA Bullseye then IHMSA and now just lots of varmint hunting. They all use up a lot of ammo and if I wasn't shooting I was reloading just to keep up. I guess if I could have afforded it I would have stockpiles the ammo I was using but I couldn't afford it then or now and just got by on what I could load in the time I wasn't shooting. Great answers and I've learned something. Frank
 
I keep about 100 rounds max for each gun. I always have at least 2 full magazines, that is one filled and loaded into the weapon and the other filled and ready to be loaded. For bolt actions, I keep four stripper clips set aside and they are not stored loaded, but with one ready to go in and the action open.
 
I got 45 rounds of .303, roughly 200 rounds of 9mm, maybe 65 rounds of .32ACP, and maybe 75 shotgun shells of various loadings. Which really isn't that much compared to everyone else here, but with money getting tight, I had to stop buying ammo for the time being, and restrict my target practice sessions severely.
 
Just 2 550rd boxes of .22 is 1100 rounds, and I have a bunch of boxes. Plus hundreds (or maybe thousands) of reloaded .45acp, .223 and 44 mag each. Then lots and lots of factory rounds and cases of ammo for my Mosin Nagants. Over 10k easy. Heck I have at least 500 .308 and I don't own a .308! :D

During the ammo shortage I had friends buying ammo from me!
 
I buy in bulk online, it is even cheaper than Walmart and no tax offsets the shipping. I have a couple of thousand rounds for the rounds that I shoot regularly. Much more .22 and some surplus ammo that I got cheap.
 
right now, probably 7-800 rds of 7.62x39
right around 1k of 9mm and also of 5.56/.223
several k of .22LR of various loadings
For hunting rifles like the .243 and 7mm mag, theres usually only a box or two around, and are replaced as need dictates. For the 9mm, .556, .22 and 7.62x39, I like to add more whenever its feasible and I find a decent deal.
 
Yeah but the poll question was "for each caliber"
if you have 50K each for 9 calibers, that would be 450,000 rounds. You would need an entire room of your house to store it.
Click to expand...
The 50k was merely a reference to the figure made in an earlier post, as some folks here seem to think that is an absurd amount of ammo. It is not.

Would you be happier if I detailed how many cases I have on hand for each 'caliber'?
Note: Some of my guns are the same 'caliber' but use different 'cartridges'.....remember, cartridges like 9x19 and 9x17 are the same 'caliber'.
Anyway, FOR EACH DISTINCT CARTRIDGE THAT I SHOOT, I have well over the 1000+ figure that is the maximum on the poll.
1000+ rounds of each cartridge is just not a lot of ammo if you shoot much at all. I see that I am not alone in this assessment.
Add to that the very large stack of 500 to 550 count bricks of .22LR, Colibri, & Super Colibri, and an unknown quantity of 100-count boxes of CCI Mini-Mags, .22Shorts, & CB's. I won't even include the count of 2F & 3F powder cans and lead for my flintlocks and percussion guns, or the stacks of tins in assorted calibers for airgun.

Is that better? ;)
.
 
I can't imagine having less than 200 rounds of ammo. I shot 150 rounds on Tuesday. What would I do if I wanted to shoot next week and I could not find any ammo. Don't say it can't happen, it happened real recently. That ammo shortage changed my opinion. It used to be I'd buy 500 or a 1,000 rounds and when I got down to 200 I'd buy some more. Now I want six months worth on hand.
 
pockets said:
The 50k was merely a reference to the figure made in an earlier post, as some folks here seem to think that is an absurd amount of ammo. It is not.

Would you be happier if I detailed how many cases I have on hand for each 'caliber'?
Note: Some of my guns are the same 'caliber' but use different 'cartridges'.....remember, cartridges like 9x19 and 9x17 are the same 'caliber'.
Anyway, FOR EACH DISTINCT CARTRIDGE THAT I SHOOT, I have well over the 1000+ figure that is the maximum on the poll.
1000+ rounds of each cartridge is just not a lot of ammo if you shoot much at all. I see that I am not alone in this assessment.
Add to that the very large stack of 500 to 550 count bricks of .22LR, Colibri, & Super Colibri, and an unknown quantity of 100-count boxes of CCI Mini-Mags, .22Shorts, & CB's. I won't even include the count of 2F & 3F powder cans and lead for my flintlocks and percussion guns, or the stacks of tins in assorted calibers for airgun.

Is that better? ;)
.
Click to expand...

Yes, and no.:D

Maybe if you wrote: "I don't want to estimate every single caliber but I have approximately 10 calibers and approximately 50K rounds total so, on average, I have approximately 5K rounds of each caliber, give-or-take (insert percentage here).

That's the better way to "almost" answer the question.:neener:
 
The real answer to this question, in my opinion, is that in case the doomsayers are right, ammo will become one hell of a bartering item. VERY valuable commodity to own during times of crisis or complete breakdown of societal infrastructure. What's that you say? You need water? Oh, well, money's no good anymore so what else do you have? Gold? Nope, can't use that either. What I really need is a box of ammo for my .45! Oh, you have a box? Well, how much water do you need sir? (see the point?)
 
What surprises me is that how quickly it seems to pile up.. What I mean is, I don't start out to 'Hoard" but I come across some hard to get stuff, or good deals, and I will buy.. especially stuff that is starting to dry up, like Garand stuff in the en-blocs, .303 Brit, for a while ss-109 was really hard to get.. when ever I found some, I would pick it up simply because you never know if you will see it again, or how much it will be when you do find it... Now 22lr, when ever I see a good price I will always pick up a couple of bricks, cause there are always young-uns that come up the the farm, and I am obligated to keep them entertained... but I in now way consider myself a "prepper"
 
Barter? I've supposed, but isn't that sorta self-defeating I've thought?
:rolleyes:
As for the quantity options in the poll: LOL.
 
I said 100-500, but that's because that's what I typically have on hand for each caliber. I'd PREFER to have 500-1000+ on hand for each caliber, but funds dictate otherwise. I'm a bit too diversified so when it comes to buying in bulk, I always take a long time to figure out what I'll need the most for the coming year.
 
I'm a one caliber guy and have about 500 rounds of 9mm. About 200 are practice ammo (FMJ) and the rest are various HPs. I'd like to pick up a 9mm carbine sometime soon and another 9mm handgun, probably another Ruger P95 or a Glock 19. Right now the better half is in law school and the baby is just about to turn 5 so money is tight...I try to buy a box whenever I go to Walmart. Hell, Walmart just started selling the stuff reliably again about a year ago in my neck of the woods. I'll get as much as I can store and still not feel satisfied...happiness is a warm gun...and plenty of ammo aint that bad either.
 
Rainy day ammo

Keep 1000 of 7.62, 5.56, 40cal, 357, 45acp and 9mm that I keep for a rainy day, other then that it's between 500 to 1000 for shooting. I reload too and thats not included in the mix.
 
I keep around 1,000 rounds of factory fmj of each caliber that I commonly use. I also have around 300 rounds of jhp. I purchase 500 rounds of whatever jhp I'm going to carry/use and run a couple hundred rounds through to check function.

I used to keep more ammo on hand but now that I reload it's easier to just have components.
 
lucky-gunner... That's my rule-of-thumb as well except many calibers require SP rather than HP depending in their intended purpose. Also, I'm trying to keep 500+ rounds of HP/SP in addition to the FMJ. Of the calibers that FMJ makes little sense I have only SP but I try to keep 1000+ rounds of those. Lately, though, I've been overspending and am cutting back.
 
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