How much ammo

[wpframe01]

I know this is a very subjective question, but for Zombiegeddon/SHTF purposes, what do you consider to be "enough" ammo. I know, there's really no such thing, but practically speaking there has to be a limit. At what point would you feel comfortable saying, "I have enough for emergency purposes?"

 

[Icarry2]

What you shoot in a year times 10..

 

[jve153]

What you shoot in a year times 10..

that might take my whole trunk

 

[dcahsr23]

this is a good reason to own a 22
500 rounds for less then 20

 

[EvilBlackGun]

I'll never have "enough" ammo

And I have lately traded a box of 20 Win. .45acp Silvertips for a tank (12 gal.) of Diesel. I paid $11 for the ammo. Fuel was $4.19 / gal. So $11 equalled $49. Buy more ammo while / when you can. BTW, I have a LOT of reloading equipment, but also have a WHOLE lot of all varieties of .22-rimfire now, thanks, to an INGUN member, who pointed out that .22-rimfire can NOT be re-loaded. Sure, my .223 can be repacked, but .22-rimfire might be worth more, at a certain moment. EBG

 

[Icarry2]

I just picked a number..

I would guestimate the following, not an expert

Typical AR15 / AK47 rate of fire, with mag changes, less then 500 rounds per minute

Typical fire fight engagement, 3-5 minutes, 3-5 agressors, 3-5 defenders

Rounds spent - 1,500 to 2,500 per person..

Just a guess..

 

[jve153]

@icarry2: i have read a lot of your posts, you seem very wise. however i think you may be off on this one. the closest i have EVER been to an actual firefight is playing paintball at the national level. 7 on 7, 7 minute time limit, semi auto fire at roughly 15rnds/second. as a team, during a tournament, we would average about 4k rounds per game. this averages to about 570 so we will say 600 rounds per person. and that is with 180 round force feed hoppers and reloading tubes that can reload 140 rounds a lot faster than most people can do a mag change and also be reloaded while sustaining a high ROF. that being said, i am not knocking you, i am just talking from my somewhat unrelated experience. with modern riffles like the ar15, you have to worry about overheating the gun. 500 rounds rapid fire is what i have heard it takes to really overheat and cause damage on the ar platform. correct me if i am wrong. add that to the fact that you have 30 shots per mag, i highly doubt you are going to light off 1500-2k with one of these in an actual firefight. i would say 300 seems like a bit of overkill, but a good round number for what one could need in the wild for a given situation. what do our military guys carry on patrol per person? i know someone on here knows this.

 

[churchmouse]

I would think that in a real world scenario that regular folks in a SHTF/Zombie world deal would not stick around and try to take your stuff if you were laying down suppression fire from 2 or more AR/AK type assault riffles. They would fade and look for a softer target. As things got worse it may be tougher to hold aggressors off.
How long to you feel the need to be stationary before you go out to scavenge. Do you take weapons and rounds from those you put down. Are you networking with others or solo.
I personally try and keep a minimum amount of ammo for every caliber gun I own.
I have a serious stash of .22 LR and .17 HMR as they are easy to store and cheap to acquire. The .223 is my main battle rifle caliber so it is a high count as well.
It is an issue that your budget and personal thoughts and feelings set your limits. I think enough is never to much.

 

[jve153]

i generally try to keep around 500 rounds of all the calibers i own with around 1k in 5.56/.223. all of which fit easily into my range bag. this also depends on finances.

 

[Dirc]

this is a good reason to own a 22

Or six.

 

[Icarry2]

Guys it was a guess... lol

As for any real world experience, well, I was taught you never speak of being under fire just that if you speak you made it out alive..

As for paintball, I know, I used to play, never on national level, but as a back player I would go through 2,000 rounds in a game that went full time. Used to be able to load and shoot at the same time, Angel with ramping capped at 15 BPS so I know just a little about that..

Seriously no one I know could even venture an accurate guess as to how many rounds an engagement would need.

From what little I know a typical load out might be around the 200 rounds per man mark.

As for SHTF, as much as I can carry if I am on foot, cashe's in the thousands...

Oh and +1 for a 22LR and 10,000 rounds, 22's are fun..

 

[CarmelHP]

I would feel relatively well equipped with about 100K rounds of 7.62x51mm and another 30K rounds each of 9mm and 7.62x39mm.

 

[Dirc]

...also have a WHOLE lot of all varieties of .22-rimfire now, thanks, to an INGUN member, who pointed out that .22-rimfire can NOT be re-loaded.

I have a serious stash of .22 LR and .17 HMR as they are easy to store and cheap to acquire.

What do you consider "a whole lot" or a "serious stash" of .22?

 

[spencer rifle]

.

 

[spencer rifle]

I would feel relatively well equipped with about 100K rounds of 7.62x51mm and another 30K rounds each of 9mm and 7.62x39mm.

^This, except less 7.63x51, since I only have 1 rifle for this (at present).

 

[churchmouse]

What do you consider "a whole lot" or a "serious stash" of .22?

Any number over 1000 is serious to some and minimal to others. Not to let to much info out I am well into the thousands in both .22 and .17
Same for .223
I feel comfortable but not satisfied. If I could stop buying guns I could beef the numbers up.



Chance favors the prepared mind

 

[Dirc]

Any number over 1000 is serious to some and minimal to others. Not to let to much info out I am well into the thousands in both .22 and .17
Same for .223
I feel comfortable but not satisfied. If I could stop buying guns I could beef the numbers up.



Chance favors the prepared mind

Ok, let's try it this way: I have about 6000 rounds of .22 on hand right now. Do you consider that a lot?

 

[DCM8513]

Im wondering how many firefights one would get into in a general SHTF situation. Id cary 390 rounds on me and would have back up at another location. I also wonder how to transport the stock if i had to relocate. Thats a lot of weight to move, especially if you had to be on foot.

 

[jve153]

just talked to a friend of mine who had spent some time in the sandbox. he said in general when he jumped out of a plane he had 390 rounds ready to go.

 

[wpframe01]

All very good points. I suppose the big question is "enough for what?" Enough to have cached in your residence/fallback location? Enough for load-out? Even load-out would be variable depending on the mission, i.e. foraging for food/supplies vs. scouting/general patrol. I guess what was in my mind when I posted the question was "at what point in my preparations can I feel like I have a "reasonable" amount?" Not that I'll ever stop stockpiling, just wondering at what point I can breathe a little easier.

Thanks for all the opinions! Great stuff!