Some of the more controversial items in any prepper’s stockpile are guns and ammunition. I’m not talking about whether or not you need them; it really doesn’t matter what people think about that. There are plenty of anti-gun people in the world, who will be glad to tell you how wrong you are for having those guns in the first place. But you don’t have to answer to them.
No, what I’m talking about is what guns to have, how many guns to have, and how much ammo you need for them. There are a lot of opinions floating around out there and there really isn’t one pat answer which works for everyone. What works for one, may not be ideal for another.
So ultimately you’ve got to make your own decisions.
Having said that, let me try and give you a few ideas. I’m just going to limit myself to talking about ammo here, as one article isn’t enough to cover both guns and ammo. Besides, you probably already have your guns.
The Big Question
The big question for most preppers is how much ammo they should have on hand. Like anything else we add to our stockpile, that’s difficult to say. The base problem is that none of us have any idea what sort of disaster we’re going to face or how long it’s going to last.
Based on that, it only makes sense to figure on the worst-case scenario, something like an EMP with the resulting long-term breakdown of society.
Based upon this sort of scenario, there are some who will tell you that you should have 10,000 rounds of ammo, possibly even breaking that down into different types for your different guns. Others will tell you that you need 1,000 rounds per firearm or per caliber.
Both of these are blanket statements, which don’t necessarily have anything to back them up.
How much ammo you will actually need can be broken down into a few basic categories:
- Ammo for hunting
- Ammo for home defense
- Ammo for training
How Much Ammo for Hunting?
Determining how much ammo you need for hunting depends on how much hunting is a part of your long-term survival plan. If you live in a small town in the middle of forested mountains, then hunting will probably be a major food source for you. But if you live in suburbia, it’s not very likely that you’ll be doing a whole lot of hunting.
Still, stockpiling ammo for hunting makes sense, even if it is unlikely that you’ll be doing much hunting. If we look down the road, chances are that game levels will become severely depleted. But looking beyond that, a lot will depend on how many people survive.
If 90% of the population dies out, as the EMP Commission has said, then the game will come back with a vengeance. Five years after an EMP there might be so much game, that they’re coming into suburbia and you’ll be able to shoot them without ever leaving your property.
Related: 6 Best Guns to Have After an EMP
Small game is always more plentiful than big game, so count on a lot of .22LR, perhaps even a few thousand rounds of it. Fortunately, that’s cheap ammo, so it’s easy to stock up on. Larger caliber rifle rounds for hunting big game is another matter. It’s doubtful that you’d go through more than a few hundred rounds in your entire lifetime.
How Much Ammo for Home Defense?
I think the big factor for those who are recommending that you have 10,000 rounds, is home defense. But let’s be realistic about this. How many attacks of your home do you expect to survive? Infantry soldiers only carry 210 rounds of 5.56mm rifle ammo into combat.
That’s intended to be enough to last one day. If that’s enough for them, what makes any of us think we’re going to go through more than that in an attack on our home? We’ll probably go through much less.
If we assume three attacks on our homes, then three basic loads comes out to 630 rounds. That’s 630 per shooter.
I picked three because I seriously doubt any of us could survive more than that. Each attack will probably get larger and unless you can raise an army, you’re eventually going to be outnumbered and outgunned.
Stockpiling 1,000 rounds of pistol ammo is even more unrealistic. The infantry basic load is three magazines; one in the gun and two in a pouch. That’s because pistols are not used to fight a battle, but as a self-defense weapon. So three basic loads of pistol ammo doesn’t come out to more than about 150 rounds, three boxes.
How Much Ammo for Training?
Training can actually end up being your biggest ammo use if you haven’t trained your family in shooting before the disaster happens.
You can easily go through a few thousand rounds of ammo teaching someone to shoot decently. Fortunately, you can do most of this with .22LR, assuming you have a pistol chambered in that caliber.
You will need ammo to transition them to whatever caliber they’re going to carry, once they learn to shoot. But a few hundred rounds should be enough for that if you use the .22 for most of your training.
How to Get Ammo at Lower Cost
Even with these lower numbers, we’re still talking a lot of money to buy enough ammo for your stockpile. So how do you afford this, while buying everything else you need too?
You can actually save a lot of money by buying your ammo in bulk, especially from some of the online ammo websites. But my favorite place to buy ammo is at an Army Surplus store. While the ammo they have usually isn’t really Army surplus, they tend to have good prices.
Gun shows are also a good place to pick up ammo at a good price. There are a couple of vendors who come to the gun shows in my area, who have excellent prices. One of them is a small-time ammo manufacturer, which has excellent prices, especially on shotgun shells.
Should You Reload?
Reloading is another option to consider. Most people who reload do so for the simple reason that it’s cheaper than buying commercial. It also gives you the opportunity to make extremely consistent rounds, if you are into the long-distance shooting.
While reloading requires quite a bit of investment and is a slow process to complete, it’s worth it. The key is to get your reloading supplies cheap. Don’t buy brass cases, reuse your own. Don’t buy jacketed slugs at the gun store either. I get lead ones from the gun show too. They’re much cheaper.
I use my reloads for practice shooting, saving my good ammo for competition and times of crisis. While my reloads will work fine in a time of crisis as well, I mostly count on hollow points for that.
Related: How to Make Shotgun Shells at Home? (With Pictures)
Storing Your Ammo
Ammo should always be stored in waterproof containers; such as ammo cans. First made in the 1950s, ammo cans are intended to provide a water-tight container, to prevent ammunition from being exposed to moisture. Originally made of steel, most ammo cans today are made of plastic.
While ammo is fairly water-tight itself, it really isn’t intended to be waterproof. The crimp of the casing around the bullet is fairly waterproof, but the pressing of the primer into the well in the base of the cartridge isn’t necessarily.
That’s why military-grade ammunition has the primers shellacked over, providing a waterproof seal.
You can seal your own ammunition in this way, painting a thin coating of shellac over the primers in commercial ammunition.
If you have trouble finding shellac, look for Bullseye or Kilz primer-sealer. It is shellac with white pigment added. While not ideal for this purpose, it is still fast drying and will seep into any opening between the primer and the casing.
Sealing the primers isn’t necessary, especially if your ammo is stored in ammo cans. But it will help ensure that no moisture can get into your ammo, even if you pretend you’re a Navy SEAL and take your guns underwater. But then, why would you do that?
Related: How Much Ammo Should You Stock Pile?
Always be sure to store some ammo with any caches you create. If you need more food, there’s always a chance you’ll need more ammo too.
If you can, split up your stockpile, keeping some at home, and some at your survival retreat. Ammo is heavy, so you don’t want to have to be transporting it if you are in a bug-out situation.
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The standard in Vietnam was triple basic load; 600-700 rds. Ammo cans have been around since WWII.
First using the military as a guide is foolish. I spent 20 years working for DOD and can assure you that there are many times soldiers have needed a ammo resupply. The loads mentioned are just what a person in good shape can carry all day. 10,000 rounds for your primary defense weapon is not out of the question. My defense weapons are also my hunting weapons with the exception of my long barrel shotguns(hunting) and my revolvers. What you need will depend on where you live and how bad things get. If you live in a city, hunting rounds are pretty useless. If you have never hunted you might as well not start, you will just kill yourself or someone else. I have deer come in my yard all of the time. I do not hunt them because I do not want to and it is illegal to hunt in my neighborhood. That will change when SHTF. Then I will hunt them. Please do not come onto other peoples property and try top hunt without permission, this is not only illegal but also stupid. The land owner will assume that you mean him harm during SHTF and may take action. Please do not be stupid and show up at anybody land when SHFT or you may get shot. I have a large amount of ammo most of which is vacuum sealed and in ammo cans. I buy in bulk for my stockpile and practice. I have ammo that is 20+ years old and still shoots great. I buy when ammo prices are low and do not worry when prices are high or supply are low. I keep 12,000 rounds for my AR15’s mostly for defense but some hunting, 5000 for my AR10’s which is both protection and hunting, 7000 rounds for my 9MM pistols, 1000 rounds of 12 GA spread between #4 buck shot, 00 buck shot and bird shot. I live in the burbs and close to hunting land. If I lived in the city I would have more for defense and none for hunting. I also shoot as a hobby.
Determine your needs and remember that a little too much is better than even a little too few.
There was a category left out. It’s ‘National Defense’. When our nation collapses, it’s folks like us that will have 10,000 or more, supporting our weapons and our short-sighted neighbors’ weapons.
Wife and I believe this is reasonable. We agree with you.
.38 spcl: .52/rnd, .357 mag: .54/rnd, .45-70: .71/rnd, .45lc: .75/rnd, .45acp: .50/rnd, 8mm Mauser: 1.80/rnd. Total for 1,000rnds each: $4,820. Income $1,017/ month.Does anybody have anything sensible to say? With that kind of riches I don’t need ammo. I can buy whatever I need. Including loyalty. It’s highly doubtful that you’ll be attacked at all if you live in the country, much less by 1,000 people at a time, every day. Practice with a .22 or pellet gun The muscle memory will remain. There’s no need to spray hundreds of rounds all over the neighborhood every time a car comes down you driveway. No need to sit on the porch with a machine gun, living in fear of what might happen if you turn your back. I have 100 rnds for each gun. If that isn’t enough, at least I gave it a try. I’m 72 and have lived a great life as a free American. If it gets to that point, I don’t want to live here anymore anyway.
Amen.
my per round prices were considerably less than yours.
I truly hope that every prepper/survivalist who reads this article will seek other sources when it comes to “stockpiling” ammo.
Storing ammo in ammo cans (metal or plastic with a rubber gasket seal), waterproofing primers and other storage info is good advice.
The amounts of ammo that you should store are unrealistic for most of us.
The Author references the amount of ammo that soldiers carry; ” Infantry soldiers only carry 210 rounds of 5.56mm rifle ammo into combat.” What the author failed to mention is that soldiers in combat have re-supply by air, extra bullets, beans and bandages dropped on your POS when you need it.
UNFORTUNATELY, most of us don’t have a re-supply plan, we shoot what we stockpile and the amounts of ammo that the Author recommends (especially pistol ammo) is unrealistic if your home is “under attack.”
When I left the Army the “basic” load of ammo was eight 30 round magazines in two mag pouches and one 30 rd. mag in your weapon. 270 rounds in a basic load.
Can anyone guess how long 270 rds. of ammo will last you in a firefight against others who want to kill you, take all of your preps and then burn your house down?
Not very long, especially if you are the only one defending your home.
I will burn off every round of ammo that I have to protect my home and my loved ones, so a “basic load” might apply to those who are out & about during a SHTF situation.
There are a lot of different formulas for ammo storage but what I have found useful and simple is working towards a MINIMUM amount of 1,000 of ammo PER WEAPON. There is NO maximum amount of ammo for storage.
Even when you have two or more firearms of the same caliber/gauge you should have a minimum of 1,000 for each.
Depending on how many firearms you own you could have 10,000 rds. or more in storage, ready to take on looters, street gangs or anyone else that threatens my family’s safety.
If just one person is helped by this post then it was worth my time to write it.
I don’t know what the shooting standard is for the M-16/M-4, but the shooting standard for the U.S. Marine armed with the M-1 Garand was 30 well placed shots per minute. Divide 30 into 270 and you get nine minutes of fire power.
While that was the “standard” in actual live fire shooting for record we got 1 minute for ten shots with one reload. I think that is a more reasonable standard to expect. That still runs through the 270 round load-out in half an hour.
One minute to get into position and score ten hits on the target was plenty of time, but required one to keep on track. I have scored a possible on more than one occasion with that standard.
I would suggest if one is excited and/or nervous, scoring just might be a little more problematical.
On my book maximum is: “How much can you afford?”
Agree no maximum amounts. We shoot a lot for practice. Under all types of conditions. Having a firearm hanging on the wall is great but you need to use them to stay proficient.
We will all be our own re supply. I would plan on having some for trading for whatever necessities you may have forgotten. LOL hard to be perfect and hard to know everything.
Look at what is happening right now in society. You see the cops bugging out of areas during the rioting. Imagine being stuck in that!!!! Best be prepared to protect yourself. We saw the video of an armed security guy who took a cops full auto M4. Right out of his hands. Open your eyes everyone.
Agree 100% with everything you said. I make the same statement to everyone I speak to about this subject. I tell them if you have a dozen AR’s, then you should have at least 12,000 rounds of 5.56.
Most people will be surprised just how fast the ammo goes. When I visit gun ranges I’ll shoot ~300 rounds in 45 minutes, so 1000 rounds will get you ~3 trips to the gun range. Just think how fast it will go in a gun battle!
In a SHTF scenario, you won’t be able to resupply. All you can do is recover the ammunitions from the attackers you just defeated and ready yourself for the next battle…
I try hard to be realistic about these things, and being on an extremely tight budget, I have little choice. That being said, the amount of ammo I think I should try to store is limited first by my budget, and second by storage space. The same goes for magazines and spare parts. Just my opinion. If I could have an actual truckload of these three things, I would. They don’t get moldy like bread. Properly stored, they can last a century.
I’ve got semi auto handguns, bolt action and single shot long guns, but I recently felt the need for a pistol caliber carbine, so I went shopping for one. There are none available. On line, in catalogues or in the stores. At least none that I can afford. I put one on back order and was told there’s no way of knowing when it will be available.
We MAY get a break in a few months, if things calm down. A whole lot of “gently used” arms may hit the market as panic-buyers decide they don’t need them anymore. Fingers crossed.
Mark, I agree with your perspective, and our guys routinely carried 13 EA 30 round mags, 12 on your load bearing gear, one mag in the weapon.
How much ammo should you stockpile? Everyone has to make their own decisions, but I recommend have enough rounds, both hunting and defensive, that you are comfortable will support your needs, even in a SHTF Survival situation. If we survive long enough to reach a state where bartering is practiced, then ammo will be more valuable than gold.
We have a much higher ammo count than the author recommended. You have to train and practice with the same ammo you will carry. The past 3 years have been a real bonus for stock piling ammo. Prices were very good. 22 ammo will be currency in the event of a real game changer like an EMP. No way around it. Wife and I are of the belief that you cant have too much ammo.
Manage your calibers. Keep your calibers to a minimum. That way you can stock pile more ammo easier. Keep to the basics. 22, 9mm, 45ACP, 5.56, 762×51, 762×39, 12 gauge, 20 gauge, 38/357. Common stuff. Stay away from exotics unless you plan on stock piling your own ammo as you will not find it.
Same thing with Firearms. Get the most common firearms. Stay away from the exotics. Yes I have some too but they are for fun. AR15/M4 platform is virtually mandatory we feel. At least one for each person. Glock’s, 1911’s etc.
There will be many opinions on this for sure.
Unlike the author states buy brass, pre primed and primers, powder as well. Plan to store it all safely.
Train, train, train. Then train some more. Get training from someone else.
Food, Ammo, Source of water will be the 3 biggest things. Please do not over look durable clothing. Look for US made stuff especially. I would rather have 3 very high quality outfits than a trunk load of crap made to last 6 mos to a year. Just my opinion. Learn to can. Buy lids and jars. You will need it. LOL could go on all day!
Thanks all
I agree. Common calibers. Yes, 6.8 spc has some interesting capabilities but are you going to find it in Fishback MN’ s Tackle, Bait and Bullets gun shop? Probably not, but I guarantee that shop will have 9mm, .38 sp/.357, .30-06, 30-30 and .308 Win. and 7.62×39. Oh, and probably .45 apc too.
I sure wish predictive would learn some common shooting abbreviations and terms.
Two other calibers not mentioned are .22 LR and .380 ACP. While .22 is too small for combat, it can still certainly make people take pause in coming down your driveway for a while. It’s also is good for practicing and small game hunting.
The 380 ACP may be at the low end of the stopability index, but it is concealable and effective.
And yes, the 6.8 and 300 people may impress everyone at Show and Tell, but when the fire fight happens, they’ll be the Darwin Award candidates.
Great advice Consco !! Don’t forget to buy some projectiles for the components You listed for reloading Your own ammo. And in my own personal opinion, there’s no such thing as too much ammo for Your firearms ! Deo Vindice
LOL Took care of that for sure.
Powder as well.
All stored in several locations. You never know where the meteor will strike…..
On this topic, who makes the toughest pants?
Look at UF Pro made in Serbia. Wife and I love them. We also have pants made by Kitanica out of Oakland that are VERY tough. Wife has 2 pair from triple aught that she swears by. None of these options are cheap but good clothing is an investment. I am a 3rd Gen electrician (34 years in the trade) wearing my grandfathers Filson Jacket that he and dad wore. Wife has some Filson clothing as well which is also durable, but also expensive. Wife pointed out she has women’s Kitanica and Triple Aught pants but UF Pro makes only men’s but she has 4 pair and LOVES the 6 way stretch on the seat. Look GREAT on her as well…..
While the load-out for troops in combat is of academic interest, in my opinion, it has no bearing in an EOTW situation. A platoon on patrol will have 40 mm grenades and launchers, a significant force multiplier. They will have at least three squad automatic weapons with more than the rifleman load-out. They might also have expectation of air support, something that the preppier in an after End of the World event will not have. They may have 120 mm mortar support, 80 mm mortar, 60 mm mortar support or even 105 or 155 artillery support available. It will be the fortunate prepper who can find a 60 mm mortar and ammo for his bug out location.
All of those force multipliers make it practical for the average rifleman in an infantry platoon to leave the wire with less ammo than a prepper might need in order to fend off an attack.
The prepper’s supply might have to last him a lifetime. Yes, brass can be reloaded, but the number of times brass can be reloaded is limited. You can reload soft loads from a bolt action rifle more times than you can reload brass fired from a semi-automatic weapon. You can fire hardcast lead bullets at reduced velocities which are still highly effective from a bolt action rifle. You will have significant feeding problems if you try to fire even hardcast lead bullets from a semi-automatic rifle. Semi-autos are designed to fire ammunition of a certain bullet weight operating at a fixed range of chamber pressures. Loading ammunition outside those parameters leads to failure to function or pressure damage to the operating parts.
I won’t go further into hand loading and hard cast lead vs. coper jacketed ammo, suffice it to say that eventually in an EOTW situation, hard cast lead is going to be the predominant projectile fired from firearms.
I will close this post with a saying among handloaders, “You can fire 50 rounds in a phone booth and when you have collected the cases you will only have 47 no matter how hard you look.”
Collect only 47 cases enough times and you are out of cases to reload.
Ever try annealing the brass? A very good reloader friend swears by the process with claims of 68 reloads on the same rifle cartridge. BS? Maybe but my buddy doesn’t have a sense of humor or the inclination to lie.
Better training weapons are pneumatic pistols and rifles. With an air rifle you can teach rifle handling and marksmanship with significantly lower costs and a much smaller sound footprint. You can teach pistols handling with an air pistol with the same. You can buy hand air pistols that simulate the same pistol in a firearm. Sig makes their own air pistols that simulate their firearm pistols in every respect from weight of the piece to similarity of action. The only disadvantage of the Sig air pistols is that they require C02 cartridges. After the end of the world, C02 cartridges will not be available and so the Sig air pistol will reach a dead end before the piece’s mechanical life.
Most pump up air pistols do not resemble any firearm in the marketplace but you can still learn sight picture, trigger squeeze and the other techniques to proper handgun handling.
When one gets into pre-charged pneumatics, (pcp) air guns, is where one can get actually useful airguns. Single stroke gas piston air rifles now reach muzzle velocities of 1,000 fps even with lead pellets. That is sufficient to dispatch very small game with almost no sound signature.
Some peppers have suggested that the ideal bug-out small game gun is a Crossman pump air pistol with a detachable stock, all available for around $100.00. The Crossman air pistol is not capable of muzzle velocities of 1,000 fps but that isn’t necessary for squirrels or rabbits and is handy as a dispatch weapon for larger game.
With P.C.P. air rifles, one can get them in calibers up to .45 caliber. They are not silent by any means but have sufficient muzzle velocity to take up to medium size game. With a sufficiently significant purse, the wealthy prepper can even acquire repeating P.C.P. air rifles in a meaningful caliber. Certainly not what I would want to depend upon as my primary self-defense weapon, but can be used as such in an emergency.
While most P.C.P. air gun enthusiasts use either an electric air compressor or get scuba tanks from dive shops and paintball stores, one can in an extreme situation use a hand pump to pre-charge their P.C.P. airgun. That’s what Lewis and Clark did with their P.C.P. gun that they used to impress the Indians on their expedition west. I think their air gun was a 20-shot air gun and impressed the Indians quite a bit.
Air guns are not new technology, but recent years have seen major advances in air gun technology. A single-pump, 1000 fps muzzle velocity was unheard of ten years ago.
And unlike in Jolly Old Blighty where muzzle velocities are limited by law in air guns, so far there is no limit to muzzle velocities in the U.S. and there is no registration nor waiting period for air guns and you can even buy them from out of state by mail order. Wow! Wait until the gun grabbers hear about that. It will send them into a frenzy.
Having 10 extra bullets or 10,000 extra won’t matter if you are taken out quickly. With that being said, should there be any sort of contingency plan for your extra ammo to be destroyed before it can fall into enemy hands?
A well armed prepper can turn any ragtag band of marauders into an overwhelming force if he/she is taken by surprise or lack of conviction. Surprise should not be an issue if proper steps are taken in preparation, but is every member on the team as committed? Is your 20 y.o. nephew willing to pull the trigger, or will he even recognize the danger in one or two people walking up to him? Is the guard pulling mid-watch getting a quick catnap?
Separating your ammo into smaller caches, well hidden, may protect the bulk of your defenses, but will they be accessible in a siege?
I don’t have the answers, and I currently don’t have a plan for failure. I have escape alternatives in place, but that is assuming that any of my routes are still available. Any ideas from anyone on dead man traps in case your location falls?
The Germans used to use delay fuses which involved acid dripping through an etchable material which, when eaten through by the acid would then release the striker which would impact the primer and then the main charge.
One can do the same sort of thing with an old mechanical alarm clock, although finding an old mechanical alarm clock would be the main problem these days. I know one can still buy them on the internet.
l kind of like the dripping acid class of delayed fuse because it can be a lot smaller than the alarm clock and thus harder to detect. It has the advantage of being silent which makes it sneakier.
The jihadis used cell phones to set off charges but they wanted to photograph the action and needed to be close by when the device went off. That method also presupposes that there is reliable cell phone service available.
If you have the time, you can pull the bullets from sufficient cartridges and create a powder trail, ignite it to ignite some flammable material which would cook off the ammo while you are busily hotfooting it out of Dodge. That would create a distraction that might allow you to exit stage left unannoyed by hostile folk. A plastic gallon milk jug nestled among the ammo you wanted to destroy would add to the fun, Nothing like smokeless powder igniting to cause gasoline flare up and add to the destruction of the ammo. Even if the ammo weren’t totally destroyed, a warped bullet jammed in a chamber effectively takes that firearm out of action until the action can be cleared, sometimes a very time consuming activity.
That should have been a plastic gallon jug of gasoline nestled among the ammo.
I would like to blame predictive, but I am afraid that is my very own proofreading error. Sorry about the vital omission.
You may have heard on the news about a Southern California man who was put under 72-hour psychiatric observation when it was found he owned 100 guns and allegedly had 100,000 rounds of ammunition stored in his home. The house also featured a secret escape tunnel. By Southern California standards, someone owning 100,000 rounds is considered “mentally unstable.”
In Arizona, he’d be called “an avid gun collector.”
In Arkansas, he’d be called “a novice gun collector.”
In Utah, he’d be called “moderately well prepared,” but they’d probably reserve judgment until they made sure that he had a corresponding quantity of stored food.”
In Kansas, he’d be “A guy down the road you would want to have for a friend.”
In Montana, he’d be called “The neighborhood ‘Go-To’ guy.”
In Alabama, he’d be called “a likely gubernatorial candidate.”
In Georgia, he’d be called “an eligible bachelor.”
In North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina he would be called “a deer hunting buddy.”
And in Texas he’d just be “Bubba, who’s a little short on ammo.”
Stugots, love this! I remember back in the day (this is when the info said to just put a few leftover books in those basement eyebrow windows and you’d be safe from radiation) reading that all a person needed was 9 bullets. The reasoning was that if you were under an attack where you’d need to shoot 9 bullets, you wouldn’t survive. I’m sure we’ve all upped our game from there, but it depends on what you are prepping for. We are not all prepping for TEOTWAWKI. Some are prepping for a short period of unrest, others for natural disasters. Many just to make it for maybe 1-2 months. So, I think that how much ammo is a very individual thing. One rule of thumb, though, might be figure out how much you need and double it.
GG: Nobody ever came out of a fire fight and said, “Next time I’m not bringing so damned much ammunition.”
The only time you have too much ammo is if you are drowning or on fire.
anybody prepping firearms and ammo should be planning a multi-generation inheritance type situation …
need to plan for an eventual Leftist/DNC/Globalist victory over the Constitutional 2A Rights – what we today are able to stockpile could be our family’s future safety and freedom …
I believe this is a great advice. PVC tubes are cheap. So is cosmoline.
True e’nuff, but colorblind can be a pain to clean up in a hurry.
That was supposed to be “cosmoline”.
Auto spell check is a pain also.
I wondered about colorblind” can be a pain to clean up.
What is he talking about. Happy to see I am not the only victim of predictive. Obviously predictive doesn’t have cosmoline in its dictionary. I see my predictive underlined cosmoline in red because it thinks it isn’t a word. Makes me feel ancient.
I was wondering what colorblind was. I thought it was some kind of coating I had never heard of.
Keep your powder and ammo dry. Look at the riots and protests taking place in our big cities.Now imagine an EMP long term grid down event. How long before Metropolitan gangs arrive in your area and start raping and pillaging? No law and order, no communication, no transportation except bicycles and horses. If you have 1,000 rounds of 5.56 it won’t do you much good against several hundred scavengers coming through your neighborhood if you are alone. You are not only going to need 1,000 rounds of 5.56, you are going to need a sizable group who are -prepared- to defend what they have to survive.
How much ammo should you store?
How much room you got is the answer, pack it full.
For me, budget is the main limiter, followed by space (I have a small home). Actual round count is irrelevant. If I could buy and store a million rounds I’d do it and write it into my will, then move on to the next concern.
I have been selling lots of SDR35 thick wall sewer pipe, mostly 5 foot lengths in 12 inch plus diameter, with caps. People are vertically burying their “stuff” now. Then, they bury small bags of small washers all over the area to thwart too much time digging up metal detector hits. This has been going on a LOT for the last two years….people ARE preparing.
Make sure the pipe is well sealed and lower it into your septic tank.
Scrap (or chopped up) rebar is good for that, too. Just don’t run it over with the lawn mower. lol. But you CAN drive it in like a stake and forget about it.
So glad to see the comments here. Retired Army/USMCR, Desert Storm / OIF vet. You never have “enough”, you just need to balance it with your other priorities, just like having “enough” food and “enough” water.
The Old Gunny says, “After a fire fight nobody ever said, ‘Next time I’m not bringing so damned much ammo.'”
I did not serve in Viet Nam, but I have many friends that did. Every one of them that have photos of them heading out on patrol, or for ambush, are wearing their web gear with 2 to 4 ammo pouches with 2 to 3 mags in each pouch. They were also wearing 2 bandoliers, each with 7 pouches with 20 round mags in each pouch, plus the one in the rifle. Then they had as many grenades as they thought they could carry. Round count was about 460, and like others have previously stated…the Hueys would buzz by with cases of ammo thrown out. There is no such thing as too much ammo, because when you run out of ammo your firearm becomes a club. I also have a good friend who was a LRRP and he said if he thought he could hump the weight he would carry at least 6 bandoliers for his shorty M16. Sometimes they carried in excess of 75 pounds of just ammo.
You may have heard on the news about a Southern California man who was put under 72-hour psychiatric observation when it was found he owned 100 guns and allegedly had 100,000 rounds of ammunition stored in his home. The house also featured a secret escape tunnel. By Southern California standards, someone owning 100,000 rounds is considered “mentally unstable.”
In Arizona, he’d be called “an avid gun collector.”
In Arkansas, he’d be called “a novice gun collector.”
In Utah, he’d be called “moderately well prepared,” but they’d probably reserve judgment until they made sure that he had a corresponding quantity of stored food.”
In Kansas, he’d be “A guy down the road you would want to have for a friend.”
In Montana, he’d be called “The neighborhood ‘Go-To’ guy.”
In Alabama, he’d be called “a likely gubernatorial candidate.”
In Georgia, he’d be called “an eligible bachelor.”
In North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina he would be called “a deer hunting buddy.”
And in Texas he’d just be “Bubba, who’s a little short on ammo.”
A lot of these comments is reason why people can’t just give free information and try to help others. This gentleman is only trying to help people that may have no clue about these things but see’s the direction of this country and realizes they have to get things they never really planned on before. If you know about guns and ammo then fine but don’t make sarcastic comments back to someone only trying to help, as if you know everything! If you knew everything, why were you reading this in the first place? Try showing others respect, we have enough A holes in DC , we don’t need more all around this country!
This post is mis-titled. The title is HOW to stockpile ammo. The post is really about How MUCH ammo to stockpile.
I was looking for tips and ideas on how the ammo should be stored. I have some stored in my home in ammo cans, both metal from the Surplus store and plastic from local stores. But, I’ve heard that if you store ammo at home, it can explode, and if you have need of emergency services, they can refuse to help if ammo is stored inside. Or you can be fined for not mentioning it is stored inside if you forget (like I would)…So, where is THAT information?
Good post,with great information and thoughts from comments, just not exactly what I needed to know right now.
Carol, ammo might “cook off” in a hot fire so I hope when you mean that your ammo might “explode” if there was a fire where your ammo is stored. If there is a hot enough fire, most ammunition for rifles, handguns, and shotguns don’t really “explode”, but the primer / powder ignite and instead of the bullet going flying, it is usually the casing that goes flying. I’ve encountered cooked-off rounds, mostly 9mm, that were scattered through a training area that had a grass/brush fire. We were hearing “pops” and then whizzing noises, and the senior guy said the whizzing noise is the cases as they spin and fly. I was hit by a couple of the flying casings – it was like getting hit by a BB gun, they stung and left a mark, but did not penetrate.
Carol, if I was an Emergency Responder, I would be more concerned with stored fuels like gasoline and propane lighting up than ammunition.