How much ammo?

[sevenhelmet]

Unless you store your modern ammo someplace in direct sunlight in Death Valley, it's not going to get old.

Death valley is normally pretty dry, so it'd probably last longer there than anywhere else.

What keeps my ammo storage limited is having to move every 2-3 years. I still have enough that I don't succumb to panic buys though.

[Beat Trash]

I rotate my ammunition not because I feel it will hit an expiration date. But, just because. call it OCD or whatever. Doesn't take any extra effort or time. Just a matter where I put the box on the shelf when I put it down, and where I pick up the box on my way out to the range. New stuff to the back, older stuff to the front.

I stocked up heavy on 22 lr in the early to mid 1990's. Back then, I would go through a 500 rd brick plinking with my kids in an afternoon. I'm glad I did considering the availability and price of it currently. When I shoot it, I have no issues due to the age.

I have read enough over the years to make be believe that temperature extremes can degrade the ammunition. It will still work. But it is not wise to store your ammo in an attic, or a garage when you live in a 4 season climate like the Mid-West.

[FishTaco]

I generally consider myself to be well stocked of a standard caliber, ie, .308/5.56/9MM/.40/.45 if I have a thousand or more. As someone mentioned before, mobility is going to be pretty important in most bad situations. Personally, I think Obama's fifth term will be pretty hellish. The biggest hoard in the world won't help at that point.

[skp]

I generally consider myself to be well stocked of a standard caliber, ie, .308/5.56/9MM/.40/.45 if I have a thousand or more. As someone mentioned before, mobility is going to be pretty important in most bad situations. Personally, I think Obama's fifth term will be pretty hellish. The biggest hoard in the world won't help at that point.

I disagree.
Sure, you may not be dragging along more than 1000 rounds in most kinds of SHTF situations. But the next time there's a nasty shooting or the ATF says something about M855 or whatever, people will panic buy, prices will go up, everyone will run out of stock and you won't be able to find any. The market can take a long time to recover and 1,000 rounds doesn't last that long if you shoot regularly.

[BuzzinSATX]

I disagree.
Sure, you may not be dragging along more than 1000 rounds in most kinds of SHTF situations. But the next time there's a nasty shooting or the ATF says something about M855 or whatever, people will panic buy, prices will go up, everyone will run out of stock and you won't be able to find any. The market can take a long time to recover and 1,000 rounds doesn't last that long if you shoot regularly.

I thought I had plenty to last me through the shortfalls, and for the most part, I did, using a combination of more focused shooting and increasing alternative means of practice (dry-fire, airlift, etc.). And I'd put back a lot of all calibers I shoot regularly, including .223/5.56, 9MM, .40, and .45, and all was basically fine. I shot regularly, bought more as price and availability came back to some semblance of normal, but even with all that, I'm definately not happy with my ability to refresh my .22LR supply at a decent price.

I guess I don't go to Walmart/Academy/Dicks/Gander Mt enough, but this .22 shortage has really pissed me off. I'm down to a few thousand rounds, but dang...like another guy said, you can go through a brick or more real easy in an afternoon with the kids and wife.

I used to buy 2500 rounds at a time, which was about $100 when I could catch a brick on sale for around $20 ($0.04 a round). But now it's running around $0.08 - $0.10 a round, and that would be okay for some shooting but I can't seem to locate the 500+ round bricks anywhere, and if I have to put 30-50 miles and a few hours into a search with limited hope of success, it just ain't worth it. So I'm kinda hosed for now, impatiently waiting for the day I see unlimited bricks of .22 for under $30 apiece. At that time, I'll buy at least 10K rounds and another 10K every month there after until I have something north of 100K set back.

Sorry of the rant, but it's just a pisser that decent, cheap .22LR is still such a prick to find. Who'd have thought .22 would be so friggin scarce for such a long time???

So, moral of my story is "if it's something you need in the next three years, and it won't go bad, and you have room to store it...buy it when you can at a good price!

[FishTaco]

Three years hasn't turned out to be quite enough for .22

While I agree in principle, it's hard to commit to thousands of rounds of center fire ammo storage. Even all that stuff that they were giving away in 2002 would have been bought at money worth twice as much as it is today.

If the sport is to survive, ammo must survive with it.

[tony413]

I thought I had plenty to last me through the shortfalls, and for the most part, I did, using a combination of more focused shooting and increasing alternative means of practice (dry-fire, airlift, etc.). And I'd put back a lot of all calibers I shoot regularly, including .223/5.56, 9MM, .40, and .45, and all was basically fine. I shot regularly, bought more as price and availability came back to some semblance of normal, but even with all that, I'm definately not happy with my ability to refresh my .22LR supply at a decent price.

I guess I don't go to Walmart/Academy/Dicks/Gander Mt enough, but this .22 shortage has really pissed me off. I'm down to a few thousand rounds, but dang...like another guy said, you can go through a brick or more real easy in an afternoon with the kids and wife.

I used to buy 2500 rounds at a time, which was about $100 when I could catch a brick on sale for around $20 ($0.04 a round). But now it's running around $0.08 - $0.10 a round, and that would be okay for some shooting but I can't seem to locate the 500+ round bricks anywhere, and if I have to put 30-50 miles and a few hours into a search with limited hope of success, it just ain't worth it. So I'm kinda hosed for now, impatiently waiting for the day I see unlimited bricks of .22 for under $30 apiece. At that time, I'll buy at least 10K rounds and another 10K every month there after until I have something north of 100K set back.

Sorry of the rant, but it's just a pisser that decent, cheap .22LR is still such a prick to find. Who'd have thought .22 would be so friggin scarce for such a long time???

So, moral of my story is "if it's something you need in the next three years, and it won't go bad, and you have room to store it...buy it when you can at a good price!

now take you mentality and multiply by 1 million and this is exactly why we cannot see those glory days of unlimited .22 on the shelf's.

[tony413]

double post please delete

[BuzzinSATX]

now take you mentality and multiply by 1 million and this is exactly why we cannot see those glory days of unlimited .22 on the shelf's.

Huh?

First off, I used to go through several thousand .22's a month shooting with my wife, kids, and friends. I'm one of those guys who will take any new shooter who'd like to go out and let them have a ball. I don't go to the range with anything less than a couple bricks.

Second, I've been the main source of .22 ammo for several of my friends during this BS .22 drought. I've given away over 4K .22 rounds to friends, and never charged anyone a dime. I figure I'm out a couple hundred bucks, but it's worth it as I know they had fun with their families and kept shooting with their kids, albeit not nearly as much as before.

Third...do you really think 10K rounds of .22 a month is a lot? Maybe for a single shooter, but not when you regularly head out with several young shooters for an afternoon. 10K is 2 cases of bricks (500 round box * 10 boxes per case).

Fourth...this is a thread about how much ammo to put back to deal with shortages. My number is based on my recurring usage. Shooting is my favorite past time. And as I'm not rich, so I make due with cheaper ammo. I'm not some dude stalking the ammo counters of Walmart and Academy looking to score my daily ration of .22 to resell at a gun show...I have a job.

I shoot lots of 9MM, a good bit of .223/5.56, and some misc. other calibers, but I shoot the crap out of .22 because it's cheap, fun, and you cannot beat it for new shooters. I have several .22 handguns and rifles I use to introduce new folks to the sport, and I never ask and rarely get any donations towards the ammo I supply, but that's okay...its rewarding to me to see folks learn about and enjoy shooting sports.

But you might be right...I may be the problem behind why you can't find .22..but I doubt it.

[bigrobbierob]

I have a friend that will not go shoot his DD until he has 5k of 5.56 stored up. Absolutely will not. Says he is going to need it when the SHTF. Problem for me is that's a lot for not having a truck should you have to un-ass your castle.

For me I have a couple thousand 22 that I bought up back in 07-08 when I shot silhouette. I keep atleast 1k 5.56 that doesn't get touched. Need to work on my 45 stash. Got more than enough 12 and 20 gauge being a bird Hunter. I'm of the mindset also that having some other common ammo on hand even if you don't have a weapon for them. Maybe during that SHTF scene you come into those weapons or you barter the ammo for something else. Maybe a tin of 7.62x39 or boxes of 308/30-06/243/270.

I think it all boils down to is leaving the area my priority or is defending the fort my priority? But then that brings more questions like preposition ammo at the rendezvous site or not. Got to ask the hard questions I guess.