How much is enough - Ammo

Docster said:

^^THIS. Asked and answered many times

Click to expand...

I recommend to my customers at least 10k per caliber.

I thought I had a good stash then was talking to a few of the guys at Ft Meade and the RO said he had 70,000 rounds of 9mm.

INMY01TA said:

I thought I had a good stash then was talking to a few of the guys at Ft Meade and the RO said he had 70,000 rounds of 9mm.

Click to expand...

Even in days past, that’s $10-12 grand on just 9mm

I mean, I guess if you found some way to get it stupid cheap or shoot a few thousand a month. Don’t get me wrong, I wish I had that much. But I can’t wrap my head around spending that much on a single caliber unless that was all I owned or the only caliber I stocked up on. That sounds like $30-40k on ammo with other calibers.

Hell just in storage alone that would fill a modest sized closet with just 9

lazarus said:

Even in days past, that’s $10-12 grand on just 9mm

I mean, I guess if you found some way to get it stupid cheap or shoot a few thousand a month. Don’t get me wrong, I wish I had that much. But I can’t wrap my head around spending that much on a single caliber unless that was all I owned or the only caliber I stocked up on. That sounds like $30-40k on ammo with other calibers.

Hell just in storage alone that would fill a modest sized closet with just 9

Click to expand...

Don't forget the cost of jackposts under the sagging floor.

lazarus said:

Even in days past, that’s $10-12 grand on just 9mm

I mean, I guess if you found some way to get it stupid cheap or shoot a few thousand a month. Don’t get me wrong, I wish I had that much. But I can’t wrap my head around spending that much on a single caliber unless that was all I owned or the only caliber I stocked up on. That sounds like $30-40k on ammo with other calibers.

Hell just in storage alone that would fill a modest sized closet with just 9

Click to expand...

well he’s been shooting there since the 1980’s or so and loads it himself so I don’t doubt him at all.

TBH, probably a lot cheaper and easier to learn to reload, buy a really nice press (Mark7 Apex10 or a Dillon RL1100) and then buy a hojillion primers when the prices return to the 3-5cpp range. Trying to store gigantic quantities of ammo is really questionable to me; it takes up a TON of room if you keep it in the original boxes (as you should, in case there's a recall), and is otherwise kind of a pain to deal with.

erwos said:

TBH, probably a lot cheaper and easier to learn to reload, buy a really nice press (Mark7 Apex10 or a Dillon RL1100) and then buy a hojillion primers when the prices return to the 3-5cpp range. Trying to store gigantic quantities of ammo is really questionable to me; it takes up a TON of room if you keep it in the original boxes (as you should, in case there's a recall), and is otherwise kind of a pain to deal with.

Click to expand...

A ton of weight also.

Literally!

Depending on the scenario, I think having a few thousand mixed 22lr and 22 magnum, with a few hundred of larger calibers per weapon, covers your ass pretty well. The 22's cover most game animals of the MD area, and isn't a wallet crusher.

There comes a point where you say "enough"!

Then I see 9mm on sale somewhere....lol!!

Is the amount of "enough" ammo in direct relation to the number of firearms or even the type you have?

For example, if you own a single 9mm semi auto with 10 round mags, do you need less ammo than if you owned an AR-15 with 30 round mags? Does owning a shotgun mean that you need less because each shell (if you have 00 buck and/or slugs) does more damage?

No, it depends on how much range time you get on a regular basis. You could own all those guns and only need a total of 100 rounds if you went very infrequently, or need thousands of rounds if you shoot 500 or more on a weekly basis.

Much like how much milk do you need in your refrigerator? 6 kids and several bakers - amount of milk is nothing if they are allergic or have severe intolerance, if they all drink it and bake with it, you may be better off with your own cow.

ETA: I don't know of any 9mm's that use "clips" A clip is a certain type of magazine insert in some rifles

Parry said:

Is the amount of "enough" ammo in direct relation to the number of firearms or even the type you have?

For example, if you own a single 9mm semi auto with 10 round clips, do you need less ammo than if you owned an AR-15 with 30 round clips? Does owning a shotgun mean that you need less because each shell (if you have 00 buck and/or slugs) does more damage?

Click to expand...

You've had a couple of interesting posts today.

Virtually no one on this board refers to magazines as "clips." Using the term "clip" in place of the word "magazine" is typically done by liberals, leftists, and other folks who are otherwise mostly ignorant when it comes to gun and the terminology for various firearms related nomenclature.

You must be pretty new to guns and shooting in general.

Probably newbie which is ok , have to learn and start somewhere. Probably puts the “clip” in the ar47. Anyway enough poking . Bought some more today of various stuff. 40,38 , 556,17hmr. Try to buy a box or so sometimes more a week just because .Started doing that about 10years ago maybe better when ammo was stocks where being depleted form the scare of not getting any. So since then been buying just to have . Enough I don’t know think it’s ever enough. But I’m not sitting on thousands upon thousands either . If I had that much it would probably be enough. Since covid maybe put 200/ 300 down range monthly in comparison to weekly.

Thanks. I am somewhat of a newby with firearms in general and I've learned much from this forum. I appreciate another MDShooter member for recommending me joining this forum back when I was starting my journey. One of the things I've learned from this site is that some of the members will nicely correct you if you made a "clip vs mag" mistake. But then there are some members who try to intimidate those by calling them names or labeling them. But, overall, I'm glad there are some good members here in general.

Parry said:

Thanks. I am somewhat of a newby with firearms in general and I've learned much from this forum. I appreciate another MDShooter member for recommending me joining this forum back when I was starting my journey. One of the things I've learned from this site is that some of the members will nicely correct you if you made a "clip vs mag" mistake. But then there are some members who try to intimidate those by calling them names or labeling them. But, overall, I'm glad there are some good members here in general.

Click to expand...

That’s typical of members that started after April 2008. Newbs….

Some fixed magazine pistols also use clips. For example the "broomhandle" mauser.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Parry said:

Thanks. I am somewhat of a newby with firearms in general and I've learned much from this forum. I appreciate another MDShooter member for recommending me joining this forum back when I was starting my journey. One of the things I've learned from this site is that some of the members will nicely correct you if you made a "clip vs mag" mistake. But then there are some members who try to intimidate those by calling them names or labeling them. But, overall, I'm glad there are some good members here in general.

Click to expand...

I think for me it was a context thing - I’d just come from a thread you started that was somewhat left/liberal in point of view, to then hit this thread where you call magazines “clips” - it’s a common mistake from folks on the liberal left, mostly because they simply don’t know the difference.

I’m not trying to intimidate or put you down, but I would encourage you to do some more reading to familiarize yourself with the correct terms for some of the basics.

One round is all you need when shtf and your in a city.

Is that for a self punched ticket?

Parry said:

Is the amount of "enough" ammo in direct relation to the number of firearms or even the type you have?

For example, if you own a single 9mm semi auto with 10 round mags, do you need less ammo than if you owned an AR-15 with 30 round mags? Does owning a shotgun mean that you need less because each shell (if you have 00 buck and/or slugs) does more damage?

Click to expand...

To address this, I've never looked at it from the point of view of damage. There is the aspect of self/home defense, but in that case I look at it as a matter of "enough" ammo being whatever I happen to have in the firearm I have at the time. With the guns I have around the house for this purpose, I generally have the gun itself with a loaded magazine, and an extra full magazine alongside it - so, two full mags. Currently the pistol on the nightstand is a 1911 with 8 round mags, so 16 rounds.

Sometimes it's an H&K USP 45 - those are 10 round mags, so 20.

Sometimes it's a Sig Mk 25 - those are 15 round mags, so 30.

If things devolve to the point where I'd need more than that, I'm pretty much fooked anyway, right, so there's no point in having more. How many home defense situations ever get to a point where you'd need more than a single mag's worth of ammo?

However, "enough" ammo for me has less to do with any kind of potential self or home defense, and is more a matter of a few factors that are mostly due to being able to recreationally shoot:

1.) How much stock of loaded ammo do I have to shoot?
2.) What do I have in components to reload that which I have shot?
3.) What does my brass supply look like? (Brass gets worn out and or/lost)

For #1, at a minimum, I typically have a few hundred of the calibers I shoot most, which is dependent upon my supply of brass. For 41 and 44 mag, I have a few hundred. For 9mm and 45 ACP I have more than that, with a lot of brass on the side - especially 9mm. 9mm seems to have won the semi-auto pistol caliber war, so brass is very easy to come by because the majority of guys I know who shoot 9mm don't reload.

For #2, that situation was getting pretty dire, mainly because primers were unobtainium. Prior to the latest shortage I only ever bought primers a brick/1000 at a time because although I may not have liked the prices, I could always at least get them. I had powder - maybe not the powders I would have liked to use for a particular caliber, but I had stuff that would work. Fortunately that has been rectified on both fronts.

For #3, I never have "enough" brass and for the moment I'm always willing to accept more when I can find it. Some calibers are harder to find than others. I've managed to get myself into a pretty good stock of a lot, but things like 41 and 44 mag are a bit harder to come by. At some point I may have to actually buy more new ammo or buy some brass to replace the brass that's starting to wear out.

That's my somewhat complex answer to the question of whether or not I have "enough" ammo.