How much ammo is enough ?

With out sacrificing personal security .
In practical terms ,How much ammo is prudent, and why ?

I have a significant surplus of air gun ammo for training, practice, and very small game (rabbits).
From .17 HMR to 12 ga. I buy a box or two of every type and caliber on sale at least one or twice a month (when i get paid).
My own goal is at least 1000 rounds of each or more depending on the opportunity at hand.
I haven't done any regular shooting due to circumstances beyond my control, but its been good to get my reserves built.

 

You can never have too much!

 

Any limits you set on amounts are not nearly enough! Some like .22 need to have THOUSANDS, because you never know when it will dry up again, or the price gets outrageous! For hunting calibers, or defensive stuff, what makes the most sense to you is what you should need plus enough to cover practice/training. Beyond that, stocking up on roll your own components, and trade goods would work out good too!

 

LMFAO NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH THATS WHY I RELOAD !!

 

THE MORE YOU HAVE THE MORE YOU CAN REFINE YOU SKILLS

 

Hard to answer. But if you fail to have enough, you are betting the lives of yourself and your loved ones on it. You will be the 1st to know if you do not have enough.

 

Remember though rocks and sticks are free.

 

While sticks and stones may break your bones.... but hollow points blow a hole right through you.....

 

Your arsenal is more of a concern to me than how much ammo you have. Handguns are low on my list for survival protection when compared to any long gun, whether it be a 22lr rifle, a centerfire rifle easily capable if killing a man or deer sized animal, or a shotgun. Handguns require considerable practice to be proficient beyond 25 to 40 yards, and at that range a person with a shotgun should kill you with their 1st shot. Ditto anyone with any rifle they successfully hunt with. In other words the sights work for them and they can hit what they aim at. Your arsenal should have all 3 types above and 500-1000 rounds for each to start with. TO START WITH !!! Beyond that it depends on money and your other preps. It ain't all about firearms. Lots of good info on Survival Monkey about all of this so do some reading. No need to beat a dead horse.

 

That reminds me. I need more 25cal air gun ammo.

 

A semi load might be...................naw, no such thing as too much.

 

U.S. Army WWII, pistol .45 - 21 rounds for a full combat load out, and from their own records, if you expended 2 rounds in a firefight you either didn't need the pistol anymore, or had a new weapon with ammo. For the 1906 Springfield they considered 40 rounds as a full battle load out, can't remember what it was for the M1 Garand, or M1 carbine, but not as much as you would imagine.

Just remember that your adversaries will be shooting at you, and you either will either have a bunch of newly acquired weapons and ammo, or won't need your weapon and ammo - anymore - ever again.

If your in a combat situation that requires physical movement, then too much ammo will slow you down to the point that you make a nice lumbering target for even a half a$$&) marksman.

If you intend to fight and hold a static position, a ton of ammo would be nice, but historically most static positions succumb to maneuver, so, good luck, and let me know how that works out.

If your MBR is intended to do forage duty, then consider a .22 LR & 1,000 rounds of ammo. MBR's of 5.56, or X39, a full load out would realistically be 200 rounds. Larger cartridges would probably be 150 rounds.

Just my 2c worth of mental fiddling, which does have some basis from reality and my own experience.

 

Well, I know I have enough because I have no more space to store anymore!

I went through this 'do I have enough ammo' when I thought Hillary was going to be in the White House and about every other day I would freak out and head to town to purchase another couple thousand rounds, closet is full now so I better have enough. I also only store .22, 9mm and 5.56.

 

Just need more rounds than required to make all intended OpFor's to cease shooting, those required for harvesting large and small game, and enough to pass down to your kids and grand kids to do the same.

So I guess the answer is .. less than all available and more than a lot.

 

I'll weigh in here as I have wrestled with the same question. I have developed minimums on ammo: 1000 .22, 1000 .223, 200 .308, 500 .45. There are other calibers but not I would load up to go. When I hit these minimums all target shooting goes on hold until I can get more. This amount also fits in a single German grenade box that I have and can be loaded up by one determined person. I also only would depart with replaceable calibers such as those mentioned. Highly unlikely to "find" .243 or .338 lying around. I'm not a hoarder either, as I would consider 5000 .22, 2000 .223, 1000 .308, and 1000 .45 to be my upper limit. 1000 9mm and 300 .380 is also on my list.

 

@Oltymer , I am only going to point out one flaw in your logic. US Army combat load outs do not relate except for patrol duty around or a short way from your supply location. If and when you expend your combat load out, resupply will not be coming to you. You are your combat resupply. In the case of almost any catastrophic event supply shelves empty of most everything. You are not going to run down to your local big box store and resupply. At least until things get back to normal. jus sayin. Let me know how it works out for YOU.