Question for those stocking up on ammo.

[mikee1]

Those stocking up on ammo now, how much do you feel comfortable with for each caliber?
Many have been buying and stocking up in the last couple of days.
For instance 1000 rounds - 5 thousand -10,000 for each caliber?
I understand it depends on how much you shoot. I'm just curious of the "norm".

[not-fishing]

My "norm" is based on how much I can afford vs which new gun in a different caliber I lust for.

[Maltese Falcon]

Well, I have run out of storage space...I was cleaning under our bed (dust bunnies my lovely wife threatened) err about 3K there alone. YMMV.

The new PMs.

.

[DesertDave100]

For me it's a function of how many rounds I shoot each time of that caliber, plus how many firearms I have in that caliber. I'll shoot a lot more rounds of .22 LR or 9X19 in a range trip than I will of something like .556 or .357 or .45 ACP.
The number of firearms in a caliber varies from 1 to 7.

The answer then is from 2000 to 25000 rounds.

Hope that helps

[riderr]

Those stocking up on ammo now, how much do you feel comfortable with for each caliber?
Many have been buying and stocking up in the last couple of days.
For instance 1000 rounds? 5 thousand, 10,000 for each caliber?
I understand it depends on how much you shoot. I'm just curious of the "norm".

There is no norm. Nobody wants to buy high. The amount of your stash depends on your personal estimate of how much ammo you need between the price dips. The other factors depends on how much you shoot, also how much cash you can spend and how much storage space you have. It's a basic economy.

Some would say they are happy with 500 rounds, others will insist 10K/caliber is a bare minimum. Both are right. Your personal level of comfort is very individual, practically intimate

[Imageview]

Depends on the caliber. I shoot a lot more 22 than 45-70. 5000 rounds of 22 or 12 gauge is maybe a years supply for me or a little more, would be a lot of lifetimes of 30-06 hunting rounds. Space taken by each round also plays a factor, that?s a shelf of 22 and a full cabinet of shotgun cartridges.

None of this factors into types of ammo, for example I have a thousand rounds or so of lead free 22. Probably more than I will ever use, since I don?t do much hunting with 22s. But it?s sorta a pain in the butt to get, so I got it while the getting was good in case. Or 12 gauge steel loads, I have enough for about 4 seasons at my current rate of use.

And have we mentioned reloading components? I have maybe 400 rounds of 357 max currently, but enough components (aside from cases) for several thousand loads.

So sorta a hard question to give a real answer to. And it?s really idiosyncratic, because it?s unlikely folks will have similar usage habits and assessed needs. I only stock 9 calibers and gauges, and only 3 of them even slightly deep (self defined as a couple years supply at current rates). Everything else is sorta niche, so a couple hundred to a thousand rounds is plenty; enough to enjoy but not so much that I can regularly shoot them for a protracted period without restocking or reloading.

[IronsightsRifleman]

The goal is to insulate yourself from market volatility and supply shortage. How much that is depends on the time and your circumstance. No one stockpiles salt because the price is stable and the availability high. At present, I try to stockpile as much ammunition as I plan to shoot in one year. A two year supply is starting to feel like too much, a six month supply is becoming uncomfortably low.

Buy when you find quality ammo at a good price. No one likes paying high prices for low grade ammo.

[hermosabeach]

do you own a home or rent?

Moving 50,000 rounds... 100,000 rounds is expensive....

with the old 500 round private rule, selling was almost impossible

[Tere_Hanges]

With prices being so prohibitively expensive these days, I only buy 9mm right now and some .223/5.56 if I see a good deal on it. Everything else I'm just going to have to settle for what I have and start reloading if I want more of it.

So to answer your question, I buy unlimited 9mm, meaning there is no amount of 9mm I feel comfortable with. I usually buy 1000rds at a time. The only thing that restricts my buying is my budget. Whenever I think about buying anything firearm related, I think in terms of how many rounds of 9mm I can buy with that money.

And since 9mm is all I buy, it is what I shoot the most of. I usually shoot at least 200rds of 9mm every time I go to the range. That's only 5 range trips to go through 1000rds. If you think it terms of 10rd magazines/reloads, 200 rounds is only 20 magazines/reloads worth of shooting. That's not very much. Depending on how fast you shoot and reload magazines you can go through 200 rounds pretty fast.

If all of a sudden there was no ammo available ever again, I'd miss 9mm the most. 9mm is to me what .22lr is to everyone else.

[Barang]

how much rounds do you shoot each year? that should give you an idea on how much you need to keep for at least x number of years when another shortage or ammo law that will prevent you from buying freely.

[Zenderfall]

There's a difference between stocking ammo for a "possible future need" and "shooting regularly" (like a regular monthly competition, or training new shooters), which I do both of.

In the former, its whatever a person wants to buy, because that ammo is just gonna sit there, and be used very rarely, like when that person feels like a good day to use it or it comes up in a backyard BBQ conversation. "You got guns? I got guns, let's go shooting" sort of thing. Typically, once every few years, maybe once a few months at most.

For the latter, ammo is a consumable, like food, toilet paper, and toothpaste. Statistically, 99.92% of gun the owning population doesn't fall into this category, so they wouldn't have to worry about using ammo constantly. Thankfully, there?s the FFL03+COE route.

I keep about a year's supply (500 rounds) and replenish about every six months. 100-200 rounds is low, 1000 rounds is a lot to me. But 9mm and .22LR are the two calibers I keep. I don't competitively shoot 5.56 (at least not regularly) so that caliber falls into the former "stock up and sit on it" category.

[Tere_Hanges]

I keep about a year's supply (500 rounds) and replenish about every six months. 100-200 rounds is low, 1000 rounds is a lot to me. But 9mm and .22LR are the two calibers I keep. I don't competitively shoot 5.56 (at least not regularly) so that caliber falls into the former "stock up and sit on it" category.

Consider replacement cost. Ammo prices keep rising every year or spike often. So while you may be comfortable with only 500rds of 9mm (which I burn through in 2-3 range trips), and buy every 6 months, the cost of your buys are probably going to increase over time. Might as well stock up when prices have plateaued a bit, not to mention save on shipping fees, usually shipping is free if you buy a certain amount. 1000rds of 9mm may seem like a lot to some, but that's the quantity I buy at. I can go through it pretty fast when shooting several pistols and a carbine. I go through 9mm like others go through .22lr.

[Kyle1886]

Since I'm not on a slab, I must go by weight in my ammo storage areas including safe and other items. For instance about 3,300 rounds of 40 cal is 177.48 pounds counting containers, where as 900 rounds of .22LR is about 7.47 pounds, and I don't have a .22 arm at present.

The other cals, 9mm, 38/357, .32, and rifle are about are about same as the 40 cal. as far as count.

So I'm comfortable with 2500 to 3500 rounds of the arms I shoot the most.

Respectfully
Kyle

[Zenderfall]

Consider replacement cost. Ammo prices keep rising every year or spike often. So while you may be comfortable with only 500rds of 9mm (which I burn through in 2-3 range trips), and buy every 6 months, the cost of your buys are probably going to increase over time. Might as well stock up when prices have plateaued a bit, not to mention save on shipping fees, usually shipping is free if you buy a certain amount. 1000rds of 9mm may seem like a lot to some, but that's the quantity I buy at. I can go through it pretty fast when shooting several pistols and a carbine. I go through 9mm like others go through .22lr.

I dont have shipping fees, so that doesn?t come into play. (Targetsports member).

Inflation is a fact, yes, and sometimes ammo goes into a frenzy and prices can shoot up to $0.80 per round for 9mm. I?m guessing that stocking large amounts, like 5000-10,000 rounds so to weather the storm and wait until ammo prices fall back down again is the strategy? That would make sense.

[fishnbeer]

You need to keep buyimg until your subfloor starts to sag