How Much Ammunition is needed?

[rust collector]

My rule of thumb is just based on my unique experience and opportunity.

Rimfire 22 10,000
Smallbore centerfire rifle 2,000
Big game rifles 100 rounds each
Auto pistol 9mm 2,000
7.62 x 39 2,000
Odd lots 100 to 500 each

 

[Demi-human]

I use about forty rounds a month plus twenty or so from the rifle.

That’s the first ten minutes in every range trip for me.

Only you can decide an amount that you’re comfortable with.

This is the answer. Humans vary so very much, it’s hard to tell what a comfortable level is.

In my case, Zero ammunition is fine with me. Provided, I have a Short Imperial Ton of components, to make into ammunition.
But I don’t. So I am not comfortable.

I have ~20,000 rounds of rimfire. This fact, also, does not make me comfortable. 500 expended in a trip is not unheard of in my realm. But I bought premium ammunition for half the cost of the (not great ammo) being produced today.

 

[Legionnaire]

Impossible to answer as it depends on one's interests and budget. The average deer hunter probably needs a couple of boxes of factory ammo for his or her rifle. A long range competitor will need components to build thousands of rounds for his or her rifle. Same variance between those who shoot a few handgun rounds to make sure they remain proficient versus those who compete a couple of times per week.

There's no excuse for being caught short, but hoarding for hoarding's sake makes no sense to me.

 

[.38 Special]

For me it is "need" vs. "want", or put another way "defense" vs. "recreation".

So "need" is ammunition for my fighting guns. That means .357 and 12 gauge buck.

The .357 is my carry gun. I can scarcely imagine a gunfight, outside of my home, going for dozens and dozens of rounds, so frankly, one box of .357 is plenty. (I normally keep quite a bit more on hand, but there's no way I can argue that it is necessary.)

The shotgun is my fighting gun at home, and I'm never going to get to the point that I have "too much" ammunition for it. I'm not completely sure how much buck I have on hand right now. I have one big watertight can that is full to bulging; something like 400 or 500 rounds. I have a bunch of other five round boxes here and there; maybe another hundred rounds or so, and also a bunch of paper shells loaded with 00 and blackpowder - those are perfectly serviceable for the coach gun but I'd rather not have to use them in the pump. So I guess I consider the supply "adequate", but that's not going to stop me from buying more whenever a deal pops up.

Recreational ammo? I have no idea, for the most part. I usually keep between 250 to 500 rounds of my favorite cartridges around, but often lose count. I have hundreds of pounds of lead and powder, and built up a supply of 1000 each of my favorite cast bullets during the peak of Covid. If I get invited to the range this weekend and am asked to bring such-and-such for everyone to try, I'll go dig through the boxes and see if I have it. If not, then I'll fire up the pot and/or the press and get to it!

 

[Will Munny]

In an attempt to give a slightly mathematically correct answer let me propose the following.

For recreational shooting: How much do you shoot each caliber on average for recreational purposes, including hunting, in say a year? Let that be a vector with each value being a different caliber. ex (x,y,z)
Now, how many years supply do you want to have on hand? This is a much harder question to answer.
However, to a very rough approximation, ammo is only "cheap" every 10 years or so, and remains so for about 3 years on average. There is constant political uncertainty as well, which cannot be easily accounted for. Also there is a time value of money, while ammo might be cheap every 10 years, buying your ammo 10 years out might not be financially efficient if we take the time value of money into account. Of course supply is a problem too, some years ammo is unavailable.
So the above in mind, I am going to say 5 as a lower bound, and 10 as an upper bound, if you want to minimize cost and ensure availability. Scalar multiply this to our vector ie. 5(x,y,z) = (5x,5y,5z)

For self defense: If you are a recreational shooter of your self defense ammo it should be covered in the above.If not, 5-10 years of training ammo is a good supply, along with 2 boxes of carry/use ammo.

 

[theotherwaldo]

There's no such thing as too much ammo.
There's only too much ammo to carry... .

 

[Will Munny]

There's no such thing as too much ammo.
There's only too much ammo to carry... .

Without a budget constraint that is likely true, but with a budget constraint maximum utility is going to be obtained with some finite amount of ammo.

 

[WisBorn]

When I downsized my collection, I found that I had lots of ammo to part with also for the guns I was selling. The guns I gave family they received the ammo for them.
I now try to balance my supply so I don't run completely out, but don't have decades on hand. I really try to replace what I shoot. Right now that is harder to do so I have slowed down my shooting a bit.

 

[Rockrivr1]

As the old saying goes "Stack it Deep"!!! You know you have a lot of ammo when you don't know how much of any given caliber you have except that it's a lot.

 

[CapnMac]

Need and Want are complicated.
Especially as there are few things as frustrating as wanting and not being able to get.
Witness factory boxes of 30-30, or 32acp or 38super right now (or pick a round).

What I use as a guide is price. "The bargain is in the 'buy'." as the saying goes.
LGS has some ammo I use on sale, I pay attention to that.

PSA put boxes of SIG JHP 9x19 on sale late last year, so I bought some. Ok, it was like $29 a box at the time; but it was unobtanium at my LGS then (and, ok, it's $25 a box right now--around $27 with sales tax).
Would I like more 32acp? Why yes. Just not at $40 the box after shipping.
Ditto on 30carbine, too.

 

[plainsdrifter]

How much do I think I need?
When I can barely scoot through my walk in closet vault. Thats how much.

 

[horsemen61]

More than 1 less than a million I figure

 

[Howland937]

Need? Hunting for food isn't necessity for me, so I don't need hunting ammo currently.
I've never fired a gun in a defense situation, so I've never needed ammo for that, either.
So I may never need any ammo.
Just because I've never came under attack or been on the brink of starvation doesn't mean it's not a possibility, in which case I may need all the ammo I can get my hands on.
I would feel incredibly dumb knowing these are possibilities and not being prepared to the extent possible.
Part of that process is shooting as much as possible as often as possible...which requires a lot of ammo. But if I didn't care, I truly wouldn't need any ammo.

 

[LonewolfMcquade]

Easy answer for me, AS MUCH AS I CAN POSSIBLY AFFORD! .......Then just a few rounds more.

 

[Ignition Override]

The answer is to buy some fraction more than we think we will use/need for two-three years, because there Will Be another gun and ammo panic (maybe 5 years from now), then another a few years after that. Some can never be predicted; they are Not linked to elections, and most of you know the ever-present grim reasons.

People should not be fooled by the nice .308/Nato 7.62 Springfield Armory M1A-1s, FAL (DSA) PTR-91 "HK clone" rifles, along with so many others sitting for weeks in two local gun shops I visited this week,

-Even though the recent panic is basically over (high prices are a factor) the relative calm never lasts more than a few years.

 

[DeepSouth]

Humans lived thousands of years with none, so the need is 0.

Personally I like to have 1k rounds per caliber, if it’s something I shoot a lot, like my carry gun or my AK I want to keep 5k as a minimum, I basically consider that 0 and quit shooting until I can replenish.

I also keep a lot of 12ga but I honestly don’t know why.

 

[Demi-human]

There's no such thing as too much ammo.

Unless you’re swimming or on fire…

 

[earlthegoat2]

I’m starting to think one needs enough to go at least two terms of a presidency.

Stock up when political tensions are lowest and ride through while they are high.

It’s sort of disgusting that ammo needs to be planned for long term based on current events and politics but failing to plan is planning to fail.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

As much as you can afford.

I'm comfortable with most of my stash but there are still some calibers I wish I had more of.

I used to shoot 1k rds a month between competition and practice. That has since dwindled to the occasional match and relying mostly on dry fire for practice drills.

I'm stocked decent but if I a shot a box a week, which is nothing in terms of shooting, in a year I would have gone through a 1/3 of my stash.

No amount is "enough". We should all be adding whenever we can.

I have a friend that has a shipping container full of ammo and yet he continues to buy a little here and there.

 

[Archie]

Impossible to answer as it depends on one's interests and budget.

Nonsense. It is impossible to answer in terms of 'these rules fit everyone' but quite possible to answer in terms of 'looks like what I'm going to need'. I invited everyone to share their own situation. Perhaps there are some things not needed as much, some things required more. Perhaps some ideas might present and give others a new look.

The average deer hunter probably needs a couple of boxes of factory ammo for his or her rifle. A long range competitor will need components to build thousands of rounds for his or her rifle. Same variance between those who shoot a few handgun rounds to make sure they remain proficient versus those who compete a couple of times per week.

That is exactly the kind of consideration and thought I hoped to encourage.

There's no excuse for being caught short, but hoarding for hoarding's sake makes no sense to me.

I absolutely agree. So what is the line between 'hoarding' and keeping a 'reasonable' supply? I do hope you realize I haven't set a 'standard' for what anyone else should have. I am sure if some of our contemporaries were actually aware of how much ammunition I have would be horrified. Some on this forum would ask, 'Does he have enough?'

 

[Insignificant bill]

Never enough untill you are no more

 

[Thomas Mayberry]

For defensive ammo, I'm OK with 100 rounds per caliber. For target ammo, I cast and reload everything I shoot and maintain a 3-5 year supply of components and lead. For .22 LR I also keep 3-5 years worth.

 

[Ignition Override]

In a large nutshell, for my brand-new rifle:
Received a 500-rd. case of .308 ammo, about six days ago.

But because a different rifle (in 7.62x39) just failed both the No-Go and Field gauges checks - backed up by a Very Astute gun shop guy who is quite familiar with the gun and checks - today I sold the Inoperative rifle for spare parts at the gun club.

Used that cash tonight to order another 500rds. of .308 ammo -- online. A New panic could begin this Saturday, or in 4-5 years. Certain types can not be predicted.

If you live 12 minutes from a nice gun club and you are retired....ponder this situation if you are a novice.

Whether you will probably need lots of ammo, or You simply want it, it doesn't matter in America.

 

[Airborne Falcon]

There's no such thing as too much ammo.
There's only too much ammo to carry... .

That's why God gave us pick-up trucks.

Or, in the military's case, we carried 7 30rd mags of 5.56 ... that was calculated to get us through contact and a sustained firefight of up-to two hours. Resupply was expected, depending upon terrain, within an hour.

So 210 rounds, per rifle, is the standard prepper's minimum. It can be carried by healthy young males without too much trouble.

In WWII the standard minimum loadout of 30 Gov 06 was only 36 rounds (5x7+1), including the one in the pipe, of 7.62x63. (30-06)

So that's a combat load ... think about that.

IMHO you can never own too much unless you find yourself ammo poor and unable to pay your bills and feed your family.

I figure it in terms of loaded and reloadable. So if I have 500 loaded rounds I want to be able to reload that brass 5 times. Multiply that my whatever exponential multiplier that one might find appropriate and keep going until you run out of brass or components.

Ammo is definitely a precious metal these days and it will continue to be-so for decades given the current political climate and state of the union. It should be treated as a precious metal and therefore viewed as an investment. Therefore, once again imho, you can never have too much.

Without ammo a firearm does not even make a good billy club or rock to throw at attackers.

 

[AzShooter1]

When I was competing I would have 1000 rounds every week for my centerfire guns. Mostly .38 Short and 9 mm.

I now shoot only 22 for competition and have 40,000 rounds on hand. I shoot about 500 rounds for practice once or twice a week and then two matches where I bring 300 each match.

I have 1000 rounds of 9 mm for my carry gun and 500 rounds for my backup .38 caliber.