I shoot a few times every other month but I was wondering how much would you feel comfortable putting away for dry times? Say times like after Obama was elected and it was hard to find basic ammo.

I want a minimum (absolute minimum) of 1k rounds for everything I either shoot regularly or depend on. Some of my more esoteric hunting rounds I can get by with 100 or 200 rounds, but .22 LR, auto pistol stuff, .308, and 5.56, I want to have stacked pretty deep.

Not all “dry” times are due to politics. Well before the Obamanation was elected there was a shortage that was evidently due to military demand. Based on what I’ve seen over many years, I recommend at least an 18 month supply at one’s usual consumption rate—especially if one isn’t willing to pay inflated prices for what is available.

The one short period exception I recall was the 5.56 “green tip” panic and shortage. The reason it was an exception, though, was because the ATF reversed its ruling on the ammunition. If the agency hadn’t reversed itself, and there was no reason why it would have been required to, the “shortage” would have been permanent.

I predict that supplies will start drying up and prices will rise over the next year unless, for some reason I’m not seeing now, that it becomes obvious that Trump will be reelected. Regardless of what the faithful claim to believe—as before the 2018 election—all it will take is a general perception among gun owners that the Democrats will take the White House, and therefore at least the House again, but probably the Senate as well, for us to see something similar to what happened in 2016.

And of course other permanent shortages, or at least inflated prices, can occur regardless of the national political situation. If a state decides to pass a law that prevents its residents from purchasing from out of state vendors, prices at least will rise, and that will be another permanent situation.

50,000 practice rounds and 25,000 defensive rounds.

quote:

Originally posted by ruger357:
50,000 practice rounds and 25,000 defensive rounds.

I wish I could afford this but since I can't I keep at a minimum of 3K in 9mm and .223 over the past few year I have consolidated most everything to those two calibers.

My answer is to try to have a firearm in every conceivable caliber, that way if I do find some ammo, I can shoot it.

I keep 5k of my major calibers 9mm and 5.56. I usually have more on hand but 5k is my bottom. These numbers will go up as my kids transition from rimfire to centerfire.
10-15k 22lr
250-500 for my hunting calibers.

A few thousand rounds of ready to shoot boolit’s each, much more for .22lr. I would also recommend getting into reloading and socking away the components for several thousand rounds.

About a thousand rounds per firearm and another 3-5k mixed in between 2-3 calibers to practice with...

I havent a clue on numbers of rounds but the way I count is in ammo cans.I recently gave youngest son fifty cans full of all sorts of the stuff.
That took me almost down to half enough.

How much room for ammo do you have?
If you have room for 3000, why not get 3000?

Another thing to keep in mind is that regardless of whether my prediction above turns out to be true, Internet ammunition prices are unlikely to ever be lower in the future than they are now.

(And that reminds me ....)

quote:

Internet ammunition prices are unlikely to ever be lower in the future than they are now.

This is unquestionably the wrench-wielding monkey in any attempt to consider this topic logically.

900 rounds target, 600 rounds self defense in each caliber

My current goal is to have 10 years worth of ammo sitting on the shelf. I’d like to say that number is more than a WAG but that’s really all it is.

How much that is for you depends completely on your shooting habits.

.22 lr - north of 50K rounds

Medium Caliber Rifle Rounds - At least 10K
-For the steel cased Russian ammo, I say at least 10K rounds in case if Russian supply gets cut off.

-5.56x41mm - At least 20K rounds.

762x51 mm - At least 5K rounds

50 BMG - At least 1K

9 mm - At least 10K rounds

All other centerfire pistol - At least 1k rounds per caliber, absolute bare minimum.

There really is no right answer for any one person. It depends on factors that include budget, storage capabilities, shooting volume/habits, types/numbers of calibers, general availability of calibers, potential for shortages during ammo panics, ability to adapt to other calibers during ammo panics, personal paranoia, etc.

I practice and compete regularly, across multiple platforms, calibers, and venues. Someday I will no longer shoot, but I intend to shoot whenever possible until then.

I will state this -- competitors who shoot enough to consume multiple rifle barrels per year rarely have the uber high ammo/component levels that are sometimes stated on webz. Enough ammo to shoot train/compete for a year or three....

Simple, Buy as much as you can afford and have room to properly store.

As long as you resist buying during panics ammo won't loose value. If you buy at a fair price you can almost always sell what you don't shoot years later for substantially more than you paid for it......

I would put away as much as you can afford and or have room for. You never know what the next day will bring. For example, living in the Commie state of California, we now have restrictions on buying ammo on line. We can have it shipped to a FFl, but there is an added cost for the "transfer" and generally a pain in the butt. And this July we will have to go through a background check to purchase ammo. I'm sure the dealers are not going to do that for free, nor do I expect them to.

So, I visited SG Ammo's website weekly before the laws went in to effect. I only shoot 12ga, 5.56 and 9mm. I stopped counting after reaching 10k of the last two calibers.

You can never have too much ammo.....until you have to move.