Building your stockpiles... ratios of Serious to Training to "Specialty" rounds?

I believe in having sufficient "serious" ammo for any sustained situation I might encounter, and plenty of good practice ammo that can be used as backup.

After all, the practice ammo will work, just not quite as efficiently and effectively. In 5.56, I try to always buy brass cased ammo that is as close to military spec as possible for all uses. In 7.62X39, there is really not much difference, so I just buy the Wolf Military steel case crap. In 7.62 NATO, I buy Federal Gold Metal Match 168gr (for my SCARs), and random M80 ball for practice plinking.

When it comes to pistol ammo, I've really narrowed down my HD caliber to 9mm. I don't shoot the HD ammo often. I keep a fair amount of various +P hollow point (Mostly Gold Dot) HD rounds, and some some +P FMJ. For practicing, I keep a lot of Gold Dot 124gr and other similar rounds. I also have some Winchester military 9mm FMJ with a little more oomph, for my PCCs too.



Just what I have now.

5.56/.223

About 1500 rounds of Mk262 clone. This is my HD and precision round.

About 10,000 rounds M193, of Federal 50%, PMC 25%, and Wolf Gold 25%.

About 10,000 rounds M855, of Federal 75%, and PMC 25%.

1000 MEN Practice/Plinking, similar to M193 German made.

1000 Other practice ammo

1000 Wolf steel case garbage. I've never shot any steel case in my .223/5.56 rifles. Maybe when the Boogaloo happens I'll barter the Wolf for a bottle of good scotch.

7.62 NATO

~1000 168gr FGMM

4000+ rounds M80 and clones

9MM

Various +P HD rounds, maybe 1000 rounds total.

Around 5000 practice rounds, some military spec. A lot of Gold Dot practice rounds.

.45 ACP

1000 rounds+, nothing special. .45 is not a primary pistol round for me.

7.62X39

5000+ rounds Wolf. I'm thinking of selling my AKs and maybe just getting a couple 300Blk uppers.

Shot Shells HD

I don't know, I bought an ammo can of Federal Military 00 Buck, I have a case of various 12 and 20 gauge 00 and #4 buck shot and some boxes of slugs. I'm just not going to use my M37 Police, my High Standard Riot gun, or my Browning High Capacity except in some extreme circumstance that I cannot forsee right now.

.22LR

Thousands of rounds, mostly CCI Mini-Mag

Other stuff

.380 ACP, 30-06, .270, 300 Win Mag, .357 Mag, .38, .44 Mag. I just keep a few boxes of each of these.

I have subscribed to the PB/Markm philosophy for years.
Best to not get caught short.

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Originally Posted by gaijin

I have subscribed to the PB/Markm philosophy for years.
Best to not get caught short.

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I PREACHED for the last three years to close friends & family.."BUY NOW"! Last year, told them over & over.."election year is coming better stock up & load up NOW"! Did they listen? NOPE. Screw em. I told them & told them we were in the best times of my 55 year old life to buy guns,ammo & gear. As Col. Cooper was fond of saying."Well, I GOT MINE."

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Originally Posted by Straight Shooter

I PREACHED for the last three years to close friends & family.."BUY NOW"! Last year, told them over & over.."election year is coming better stock up & load up NOW"! Did they listen? NOPE. Screw em. I told them & told them we were in the best times of my 55 year old life to buy guns,ammo & gear. As Col. Cooper was fond of saying."Well, I GOT MINE."

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True, but some folks were born too late for the happy days when you could buy a truckload of Milsurp and the 6x6 delivering it for a few hundred bucks... :) and sharing ideas and techniques doesn't cost anything, unlike moochers wanting your ammo.

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Originally Posted by Diamondback

True, but some folks were born too late for the happy days when you could buy a truckload of Milsurp and the 6x6 delivering it for a few hundred bucks... :) and sharing ideas and techniques doesn't cost anything, unlike moochers wanting your ammo.

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You mean like a year or two ago?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gaijin

I have subscribed to the PB/Markm philosophy for years.
Best to not get caught short.

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Agreed.

My wife quit complaining that I have taken too much space with my ammo, and she apologized for insinuating that I am nuts for buying so many food and ammo preps.

Very satisfying.

She shut up when COVID hit, and recently our quiet little town had to be boarded up because the loons rioted and looted a small city about 5 miles up the highway.

If it gets that bad, I would have no problem shooting a bad guy with MEN 147 grain ball ammo with ball powder. So a couple hundred rounds of good self defense ammo in any such caliber for most realistic scenarios.

It would suck to try and start stockpiling now- SUCK with the prices and supplies. 9mm has gone from $169 for 1k to over $300 in a few weeks.

PB

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Diamondback

True, but some folks were born too late for the happy days when you could buy a truckload of Milsurp and the 6x6 delivering it for a few hundred bucks... :) and sharing ideas and techniques doesn't cost anything, unlike moochers wanting your ammo.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ScottsBad

You mean like a year or two ago?

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Dude your NOT even close,LOL ! I'm OLD and even a year ago prices were silly compared to before Obummer got elected ! I remember 7.62x51 Portuguese being $150 bucks for a sealed case of 1000 ! I bought South African 7.62x51 for $21 bucks a Battle pack. (140rds) 960 rounds of 30/06 from the CMP for around $200 bucks shipped ! And I got into the Surplus Game Late even for me, prices were even lower as you could expect ! LOL ,I remember Wolf/Brown Bear/Golden Tiger 7.62X39 under $80 bucks a case ! Anyways as they say I have plenty that I bought "cheap" and yea its kinda stacked deep as they say ! Yes Diamondback,,you know what I'm talking about,LOL
Anyways that was then & this is now,,,get what ya can when ya can and just hope & pray things get better ! Even slightly better would be nice but I'm not holding my breath anytime soon.

Midway used to run really good stuff on clearance for cheap. For a few years I watched their clearance section often and if it was something I actually used and liked - I bought big and at a substantial savings over the 'normal' price.

Once time I saw 460 Rowland brass for half what Starline charged for it directly. Bought 3k pcs to add to the pile I already had. :)

Then one time they had 230grain, 45 acp Speer Gold Dot projectiles in the bulk boxes on clearance for about 40% off. It will be years before I burn through all those boxes. :)


I have enough powder, primers, projectiles, brass, and factory fodder that this current 'shortage' is not a blip on my radar. Before I get through my stocks a few barrels will be shot out and need replacing. No problem there as I have a few of those set back as well.

No chance of me buying in this current market at these current prices.