How Much Reloaded Ammo Do You Keep On Hand?

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I usually only have components and loaded ammo for about a years worth of shooting. Anything beyond that limits my ability to experiment with different loads. I hate to load up a bunch of rounds and just let them sit if I have decided to work up a new load for that caliber.
 
hdwhit said:
In short, the components have value. Assembled, reloaded rounds are effectively worthless unless the buyer has absolute trust in the quality of work done by the now-deceased reloader.
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It depends on the situation. Almost all of my loads are near max self-defense or hunting loads. Folks would be wise to be a bit leery of them. However, target loads for .38 wadcutters, 9mm and .45 should not present that much of a problem. Reloaders label their products; we are not dummies and can quickly figure out the difference between hot loads and target loads.

I once bought 3 cases of 20 ga. shotgun shells that were loaded by a deceased man. They were fine for skeet but under-powered for hunting.
 
George P said:
And yet a lot of folks buy those "remanufactured" ammo at gun shows all the time. I think it comes down to this - if you knew the person, and whether he was methodical and kept good notes about everything, buying and shooting them is probably not a big deal.
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Most of those selling "remanufactured" are licensed and insured and use protocol similar to factory. Otherwise they wouldn't be in business for long. I agree tho, reloading is not rocket science and there are millions of folks out there that produce quality ammo, and probably have loading techniques more meticulous than many of those that chastise other reloaders. Still, I would want to know where the ammo came from. Agaon, my two son;s shoot my ammo in my guns and a good number of my friends shoot my reloads in my guns, when we are at my private range. I have friends that shoot my ammo in their guns and I shoot some of theirs in mine. I know them well enough to trust them enough to ride with them driving a vehicle, why wouldn't I trust them to reload ammo? I wonder how many folks that refuse to shoot anyone else's reloads allow their kids/grandkids to ride with just about any other soccer mom/dad to a out of town game?
 
A dozen years ago or so, when Lil' Gun was pronounced to be the new "holy Grail" powder for revolvers, I loaded up hundreds upon hundreds of rounds for all of my magnum revolver calibers with it. Wasn't long afterwards when the reports of excessive and premature forcing cone, top strap and barrel erosion came out from it's use in revolvers. Still got quite a few boxes of ammo loaded with Lil' Gun that I refuse to shoot in my revolvers, have yet to shoot in my handgun caliber carbines or have yet to pull the bullets on. Another reason I don't load every piece of empty brass I have. With my luck, I'd load a thousand rounds each of .357 and .44, and then find out the lot of H110/W296 I was using was recalled.
 
Probably too many! The stuff that I shoot often I load on a progressive press in 2, 3 or 5 gallon buckets. 223's, 357's, 40's, 44's, 45's, ect. I've gotten better in my older age about labeling my handloads and record keeping. Also, my friends and family won't be afraid to shoot my ammo after I'm gone. I do agree, components would be more valuable and easier to sell. I load my favorite hunting loads 100 at a time and store them in 100 round MTM boxes, labeled. I load my match ammo before each match, just enough for the match plus sighters.
 
I have given this a lot of thought.....
In the past few years I have bought massive reloading lots at auction.
Last one had 2 55gal drums of reloads 10s of thousands of rounds all boxed bagged or canned. This was in addition to 120lb of powder 2 truck loads of reloading stuff ammo presses all between. Bought all for $1,100.00 sold for over $12k was able to give away the quality reloads for components and kinda a dick move but...brought about 10k of rounds to the police station.
California they were happy to take anything gun related.
This got me to thinking I prep brass all year lil here lil their till I get a ship load of each then come jan/Feb I load up 1 full ammo can for each caliber. I buy what I need all year when on sale and keep it cheap. Every now and again I do need to load up some ammo ie..
.458 Socom, .45 Long Colt 7mm Rem Mag.
Disposing of my reloads upon check out is the cost of getting all my crap when I'm gone.
 
I reload and keep a lot ammo on hand and have no problem with that.
Every box is clearly marked with all the details.
Date, Caliber, bullet type and weight, manufacturer. Powder type and weight, primer type and manufacturer. Seatinfg depth and OAL. I also list how many times the case has been reloaded.
My friends would rather shoot my ammo than standard factory ammo. Its more consistent and after 35 years with never a fail to fire or any overloads. I trust my ammo.
Now if someone was just selling reloads with no loading data I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole!
 
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How much do I keep on hand???

I usually think that there is never enough, but by golly, when I go to my supply, there it is! I kinda like to reload;) and have it when the need or want arrives.:)
 
Vern Humphrey said:
As long as I have brass, I keep loading.
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**chuckle**

I enjoy reloading and if I do not exercise some restraint I could easily load up all the component that I have on hand.

Of late, I might have several years worth of components on hand but I only have a year or so of ammunition on hand.
 
223 and 9 - usually around 2000 of each. I also keep a few 50 or 100 round boxes loaded with defense type ammo, probably 200-300 for each caliber

The rest is hit or miss. 1000 45, with maybe 50 round of defense ammo. Maybe 200 308 as I load that as I need it, bolt guns eat less. 300 BO, maybe 500 at most.

As far as someone elses reloads? If I know the person that loaded them and they did a good job, yes, I would shoot them. If I passed, my son, brother, and friends would have no qualms about shooting mine.
 
I really don't have a count on how much but I have quite a bit in various calibers. There will be no problems for my wife when I go. I have two grandsons that will shoot it up. They love to shoot Grandpa's ammo already and have been doing so for years. They will also be glad to have the guns that shoot it.
 
I keep about 200 rds of rifle ammunition loaded for each cartridge. Handgun ammo gets shot a lot more, so I keep more loaded. Heck It's real easy to shoot a few hundred rounds in a day's shooting semi-auto. So it makes sense to me to keep about 1000 rds for each pistol caliber loaded, and a few hundred for revolver. Components are bankable. My powder and primer supplies should see me through the next Demorat shortage.
 
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