# How Much Ammo Stores Do You Maintain



## C5GUY (Mar 22, 2012)

Just out of curiosity I would like to hear some input on others about how much ammo you keep on hand. My wife seems to think I have an ammo hoarder thing going on. I currently own 9 different firearms in 5 different calibers, .22, .380, .38 special, 9mm and 12ga. Just for grins I took an inventory of my ammo last night...no easy task by the way...and found out that I have over 11,000 rounds with .9mm being the most plentiful at 4750 rounds of various loads. My wife is a little concerned that in the event that we had a house fire then the entire neighborhood would have to vacate the area.


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## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

I keep a lot of .22lr on hand as I think it is about the most versatile for the cost. A well aimed 22 will kill anything from squirrel to white tail.


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

I keep 1000 rounds minimum for every different gun and a box full of just shooting ammo fmj slugs


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

C5GUY said:


> Just out of curiosity I would like to hear some input on others about how much ammo you keep on hand. My wife seems to think I have an ammo hoarder thing going on. I currently own 9 different firearms in 5 different calibers, .22, .380, .38 special, 9mm and 12ga. Just for grins I took an inventory of my ammo last night...no easy task by the way...and found out that I have over 11,000 rounds with .9mm being the most plentiful at 4750 rounds of various loads. My wife is a little concerned that in the event that we had a house fire then the entire neighborhood would have to vacate the area.


Dunhams, Walmart, Dicks, Gary's Guns, Moe's Hardware, so I keep 5 stores on hand.


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## Blackcat (Nov 12, 2012)

Im not sure What a good SHTF number of rounds per firearm would be.
I try to aim for 1000 rounds for each firearm I own and enough reloading supplies powder primers and such to reload each caliber at least 10 times or more till the brass wears out. I also hoard lead.
I try to keep factory ammo for when it really counts... sort of like a fine wine. I load a round for each gun that I consider the best round for that specific gun. Once I know how that load handles I then make a light rather inexpensive round for plinking and other practice shooting to keep material cost low and save wear and tare on the gun.
My goal is roughly enough rounds to last the life of the firearm before re barreling and such.
I keep a couple .22's around with a few bricks of ammo but they really arent my thing. Ammo is cheap and versatile and they are a good gun that my elderly mother can handle comfortably. Most of my ammo is .300 win mag or .45/.454 ammo because thats what I have and what I practice with an if SHTF thats likely what ill be using. I can see a day the bullets run out (in general) I dread that day lol. So I treat my ammunition as if someday I will have the only bullets left and use them sparingly. I have trouble wrapping my head around spray and pray, it just seems so wasteful.
BTW I dont know what its like globally but anywhere within decent driving distance to my location lead seems to be turning to gold. Its getting harder and harder to find and people are on waiting lists to get buckets of wheel weight lead. Remember those things tire shops couldnt pay to get rid of at one time. I would suggest learn to reload and if you do any amount of shooting invest in building a good lead trap and save every scrap you can ! Actually no... dont learn to reload... that way theres more lead for me lol.


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## JDE101 (Nov 9, 2012)

You can never have too much ammo on hand! If nothing else, it can be used for trade for other stuff after TSHTF!


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## CCSir (Nov 9, 2012)

Contrary to what your wife thinks, your house will not explode. Gun powder is a propellant and NOT explosive. If you ever had a fire you would hear rounds cooking off but you wouldn't have an explosion where you'd need to evacuate the neighborhood.

With that said, I try to keep enough rounds for my firearms to be able to shoot monthly for a year without having to buy any new. How many is that? Sorry won't divulge that info, but take that for what it's worth. :mrgreen:


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## C5GUY (Mar 22, 2012)

CCSir said:


> Contrary to what your wife thinks, your house will not explode. Gun powder is a propellant and NOT explosive. If you ever had a fire you would hear rounds cooking off but you wouldn't have an explosion where you'd need to evacuate the neighborhood.
> 
> With that said, I try to keep enough rounds for my firearms to be able to shoot monthly for a year without having to buy any new. How many is that? Sorry won't divulge that info, but take that for what it's worth. :mrgreen:


I think it's the thought of all the ammo cooking off and lead flying all over the place that she is concerned about.


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## joec (Nov 12, 2012)

I keep about a 1000 rounds of each caliber and some a bit more. I also have enough components on hand to reload all of it at least 5x more.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

Goal is 1,000 rounds for each and 3,000 for .22
For the Shotgun I'm setting the goal at 500 #7 and 500 00-Buck and an additional 250 in slugs.

Same way if you have a 30-06. You should have probably about 2,000 rounds but not all the same size and weight. Some small fast varmint bullets and some heavy ones for bear.

When I get an AR/AK platform I'll want 2,000 for that as well. I think you can use up ammo pretty quick in a defensive maneuver.


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## billyusn (Nov 9, 2012)

C5GUY said:


> I think it's the thought of all the ammo cooking off and lead flying all over the place that she is concerned about.


My house burned to the ground in '97. When the FD arrived, they asked me if I had anything in the house that might endanger them. I had approx. 3000 rounds of 7.62x51, 1000 9mm. for my Uzi and S&W Model 59 that were both lost in the fire, 500 rounds of #5 12 ga. and told him so. We were injured getting out of the burning house and went to the hospital and never got to hear if the ammo cooked off or not. Days later, my wife's uncle, who lived across the valley told me he could hear rounds cooking off "for a long time", but I never heard anything from the FD.


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

god bless america if my shit went up in flames. im close to about 15000 rounds of combined caliburs. id order a copy of the video fom the space station satelite. lol


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## C5GUY (Mar 22, 2012)

shotlady said:


> god bless america if my shit went up in flames. im close to about 15000 rounds of combined caliburs. id order a copy of the video fom the space station satelite. lol


LOL!!! Hoping like hell it never happens but if it does I will video it....from afar...and send you a copy.


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## erick619 (Nov 9, 2012)

At least 1k per 9mm, .45ACP, 12ga (assorted bird and buck shot) and at least 2k of 5.56 and 2k of 7.62x39. Sometimes more, but never less.


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## shotlady (Aug 30, 2012)

C5GUY said:


> LOL!!! Hoping like hell it never happens but if it does I will video it....from afar...and send you a copy.


even my ammo hoard is insured. its a fact of life in my house and its a fact it costs to have reserves. (costs a lot more to have none).
but that sure would be nice.


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## fedorthedog (Feb 28, 2012)

I have 44,000 rounds and counting


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## erick619 (Nov 9, 2012)

fedorthedog said:


> I have 44,000 rounds and counting


One day I will be at that number. One day...


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

You can never have enough ammo, you can never have enough ammo, you can never have enough ammo.

Start with what you think you might need and set a time goal to get it in, the shorter the better.
Once that goal is reached, set another. I think it needs to be done rather soon.
If the shtf on a national scale, what is in hand is all there will ever be.
I don't mean on an individual scale but nationwide.
There is no magic number on rounds. Where you live and population density have a bearing.
I see where guy are amassing huge numbers of pistol rounds, unless the have a smg they are going in the wrong direction.
I think 10-1 ratio of rifle to pistol is more that adequate, perhaps even that is still to much. 
A pistol is not what you want in a firefight, it is a last ditch weapon. 
Ok, you sidewalk commando's can argue the point with yourselves.
Whatever you have for a long gun is what you need to feed the most.
It should be a semiauto intermediate cal. Box mag fed type. 
Bolt and lever guns are not adequate in todays social threat scenario.
Most combat vets will tell you that and so will any swat leo.


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## dontlookatme (Apr 12, 2012)

Around 1,000 rounds of .22 short and long. And about 100 ccb rounds. And around 5 pounds of bb's for the bb gun. And 5 lbs of pellets. For the pellet rifle.


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## TLock762x51 (Nov 14, 2012)

C5GUY said:


> I think it's the thought of all the ammo cooking off and lead flying all over the place that she is concerned about.


 The lead won't be flying around. Since the lead weighs more than the casing, the bullet will just stay put and the casing will be "flying". Generally not enough mass there to be able to cause much damage.

I'll not list all of my ammo, but I have over 30K rounds of .22 LR, and over 52K of center fire rounds. I like to buy in quantity when I find a good price, then when something happens (like an election) to drive prices up, I don't have to buy any until the prices come back down.

Tim


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## SSGT (Jul 29, 2012)

I dont have any....Not a single round and never will have...sold all my guns mostly at flea markets cheap!!!!....Gave a couple away for kids wanting to deer hunt!....provided them ammo too!

I have NOTHING in my home MR FBI MAN!....Mr Homeland Security man....I have nothing!

I only carry a 6 cell maglite and pepper spray now!

SSGT


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## cannon (Nov 11, 2012)

My UPS man thinks I have a lot but I go to the gun club almost every week. So it comes and then goes.


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## C5GUY (Mar 22, 2012)

cannon said:


> My UPS man thinks I have a lot but I go to the gun club almost every week. So it comes and then goes.


That's funny as hell!! My UPS man told me the same thing a few weeks ago.


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## machinejjh (Nov 13, 2012)

Two words- NOT ENOUGH.


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## funkymonkey1111 (Nov 13, 2012)

dontlookatme said:


> Around 1,000 rounds of .22 short and long. And about 100 ccb rounds. And around 5 pounds of bb's for the bb gun. And 5 lbs of pellets. For the pellet rifle.


that's a day at the range!


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## rickkyw1720pf (Nov 17, 2012)

Bullets in a fire are not as dangerous as most people think, Mythbusters did a show on this and even used 50 cal bullets.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

I have "some" ammo. 
We live in a rural area, and it's pretty much a given that every house has firearms and ammo. I have talked to local firefighters, both county and volunteer, and their policy is during a house fire if ammo starts cooking off at the level of more than just a few boxes, they back off and let the structure burn.
I doubt if my house insurance policy would cover that scenario - I have never asked my agent, the less he knows the better I like it.
Accordingly, except for a small amount of ready ammo, everything else has been moved out to my barn.
I would suggest that anyone who stores ammo in their dwelling to purchase a fire rated safe. You can get one big enough to hold a good quantity for just a couple hundred bucks.


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## whoppo (Nov 9, 2012)

The ammo we keep on hand is roughly what we would shoot is 2-3 months of regular range visits. Nothing sits on the shelf for too long here.


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## Alpha-17 (Nov 16, 2012)

I stock 5 calibers primarily (5.56, 7.62 NATO, 12 gauge, .45 ACP, and .40S&W), and have ammo on hand for a few others (7.62x39, .303Brit, .243, etc). When I first started packing away ammo, I was told 2000 rounds for a main combat rifle, or 500-1000 for a shotgun or pistol were minimum numbers to have. I have long since surpassed those in virtually every caliber, but I continue to add more. My opinion? You can never have too much.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

An old phrase, "plenty is good, more is better".

When on the mlr the more we had for the pig the happier we were.


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## jmh033089 (Oct 23, 2012)

I stopped counting....


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## Sgt_C (Nov 18, 2012)

You can never have to much Ammo.


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