I see a lot of people saying they have a lot of ammunition. I think I have a good stockpile myself. But I started thinking, If you say you have (whatever number) rounds, how much is actually self defense? Mostly I'm thinking handgun rounds as I don't see many adds for self defense rifle. Just wondering, not trying to say which is better, ball or hollow point.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rtquig, March 24, 2020 01:02 PM

All of it is for self defense and self sufficiency. Doesn't matter if it's 50 rounds or 500k rounds.

Thousands of rounds of ammo us to maintain the ability to practice during a shortage.

Mine is a combination of both range ammo and what would be considered a self-defense round but it's also been pointed out that it can all be used in self defense.

Handgun - at least an order of magnitude more FMJ or el cheapo hollow point than high dollar "self-defense" ammo

Centerfire Rifle - even the el cheapo rifle ammo is more of a man stopper than handgun ammo. I do have some premium 5.56 ammo (e.g. FBI "barrier blind" ammo) but several orders of magnitude more M193, M855, etc.

Your question is well-phrased Bendable-ese. Editing my prior post... I would say that the ratio of FMJ to HP is likely 95:5 for most people.

I have a certain amount of ammunition in boxes and cans and cases, from frangible 00 buck to gold dot 9mm to 5.56 to 7.62, etc.

I have a lot of boxed primers, boxes of bullets, jugs and cases of powder, and a room with one wall full of buckets of brass. There are thousands of rounds waiting to be put together.

There are boxes of "blue bullets," just lead with a polymer coating. Could those be "self-defense rounds?" If necessary, sure, and anyone that gets pinged by them won't be happy.

In the meantime, there's ammunition to carry daily, skeet shooting ammunition, plinking ammunition, specialized ammunition. Under the right circumstance, it's all self-defense ammunition.

Due to a rare fluke in finding good deals, my most plentiful style of handgun ammo is .357Sig defense ammo. More than any other stock of target or defense ammo in any other handgun caliber except .22 obviously.

Not necessarily great considering I only have one gun that eats it and a whole bunch that eat 9mm but that's just the way things shook out.

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:
Mostly I'm thinking handgun rounds as I don't see many adds for self defense rifle.

Rifles are much more effective defensive weapons than pistols... They just aren't as convenient to carry around.

Of my main pistol calibers (9mm), just over 10% is of the defensive round type.

While the majority of my ammo would be considered range I have enough good stuff that if I run out shit has gone really really really bad.

If that happens we are f(*& and the range FMJ will be fine.

I just can't imagine burning through a couple of hundred good JHP 9mm and a few hundred good 5.56 rounds here.

Like above, self defense and self reliance. Even small quantities of practice ammo can be bartered for other needs.

Most of it is FMJ for practice.

A few hundred rounds for defense. It's almost unfathomable that I'd ever need more than that short of a SHTF scenario, in which case it would all be good for anything.

I try to keep a 50/50 split between range grade (FMJ) and SD ammo. I usually have around 3k worth of 9mm +P and +P+ JHPs. Probably closer to 2.5k worth of range grade.


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Most of what I have would be considered plinking/range ammo. But, if necessary, it all would poke a hole.

I've got more than I will ever need of both practice and self defense ammunition.

If I would be laid off from my part time gig I would spend some of the extra time at the reloading bench reloading self defense rounds in .38 Super +P, 10mm, .357 Mag, .44 Mag, and .45 Long Colt

I would say that I think I have enough defensive/hunting ammunition and enough range/practice/FMJ ammunition for a while. Hopefully enough to last until I escape the PRK unless I add a caliber.

Like most, almost all rounds I have are FMJ for the range. I have adequate supplies of quality defense ammo (golddots, HST) for carry and home. Same with .223 (TAP). But I figure when the zombie apocalypse happens, all bets are off and FMJ will have to do.

All ammo is self defense if pointed at that fucker on my lawn letting his dog shit.

quote:

Originally posted by SigLaw:
Of my main pistol calibers (9mm), just over 10% is of the defensive round type.

I'm right at 10:1 myself.