How much is enough?

[gdubyacobb]

Over the past two weeks I have bought up a little over a thousand combined rounds of .223 and 5.56 (because I am in Arizona and it is available), to me that seems like a fair amount to have on hand.
But I also I have a buddy that is IMHO a bit nutty and he is spending 10% of his income on ammo.
I don’t want to look like a "sky is falling" kind of nut, but I do have some concerns about the direction our country, and indeed the world is going.
So I thought I would ask: how much ammo seems a "reasonable" amount to stockpile?
(And yes there is a wife involved that I have to report to!)

 

[Luke 12:49]

Well I'm pretty sure any non-loving gun wife, it would be sade to say that 10 rounds is too much...but for me, you can never have enough ammo!

 

[guthook]

Buy more ammo. When you think you have enough, buy more ammo...

 

[a81lp]

in a SHTF you may have to kill thousands of zombies to survive, i say you cant have enough

 

[gdubyacobb]

I havent been around this forum for very long, but I guess I should have known that that would be everyones answer.
I guess I'll cut back on the Bushmills and keep buying the ammo.
Maybe someday we will be paying for things in rounds and not $ or gold. Yeah I am sure my wife will like to hear that come out of my mouth.

 

[vette97]

But I also I have a buddy that is IMHO a bit nutty and he is spending 10% of his income on ammo.

5.56 has seen about a 100% return in investment per year for the past 3 years. If you only buy it for the investment, it's worth it!

 

[leroygibbs]

Especially if you're in AZ, stock up, and take orders for your less fortunate MD bretheren....

 

[E.Shell]

My relatively small ammo pile routinely outperforms my IRA. If I put everything into ammo ten years ago, I could have quadrupled my money instead of losing half of it. . .

 

[HoCoShooter]

In a perfect world I'd love to have 10000 rounds for each gun I own (and more than 2 guns lol)

In reality I have about 400 target bullets + 50 home defense, and 100 target shotshells + 25 home defense. I plan to keep upping each month until the wife wonders why I'm excavating in the basement.

 

[Waterdoor]

in a SHTF you may have to kill thousands of zombies to survive, i say you cant have enough

Or thousands of Illegals crossing the border.

 

[gdubyacobb]

This seemed to offer some sensible advice:
http://tslrf.blogspot.com/2007/12/ammo-how-much-is-enough.html

 

[BeltBuckle]

5.56 has seen about a 100% return in investment per year for the past 3 years. If you only buy it for the investment, it's worth it!

you mean, you would actually consider ever SELLING any of your ammo? I mean, hypothetically?

 

[K-Romulus]

it depends on why he is buying . . .for investment? Well, I guess that could work.

I "stockpile" as much as I can afford every so often because prices seem to rise over time and it is better for me to get what I can at the lowest possible price. . I have a stash of 3K+ of 5.56 that would NOW cost almost twice what I paid about three years ago.

 

[HoCoShooter]

On this note, does ammo have any type of shelf life? I store mine in a box in the basement at about 70 degrees and 40% humidity. I didn't know if the brass corrodes over time or anything like that.

 

[squeky]

I'd say 1000 rounds is plenty for SHTF.

Here's another good link: http://frugalsquirrels.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=044387;p=1

I liked this list (from the link, written by a guy living in SHTF):

1) Those that want to harm you/steal from you don’t come with a pirate flag waving over their heads.

2) Neither do they start shooting at you 200 yards away.

3) They won’t come riding loud bikes or dressed with their orange, convict just escaped from prison jump suits, so that you can identify them the better. Nor do they all wear chains around their necks and leather jackets. If I had a dollar for each time a person that got robbed told me “They looked like NORMAL people, dressed better than we are”, honestly, I would have enough money for a nice gun. There are exceptions, but don’t expect them to dress like in the movies.

4) A man with a wife and two or three kids can’t set up a watch. I don’t care if you are SEAL, SWAT or John Freaking Rambo, no 6th sense is going to tell you that there is a guy pointing a gun at your back when you are trying to fix the water pump that just broke, or carrying a big heavy bag of dried beans you bought that morning.

 

[K-Romulus]

On this note, does ammo have any type of shelf life? I store mine in a box in the basement at about 70 degrees and 40% humidity. I didn't know if the brass corrodes over time or anything like that.

Shelf-life for factory loads is (from my experience) "indefinite." As long as you keep the humidity as low as you can, you should be OK. I have a Sears basement humidifier running and keeping things at 35% or below. So far no problems . . .

And yes, I've seen corroded brass, but I have no idea about the conditions that got it that way.

 

[weldingshop]

My relatively small ammo pile routinely outperforms my IRA. If I put everything into ammo ten years ago, I could have quadrupled my money instead of losing half of it. . .

But you would have had to sell it........and that's no fun.

 

[futureseabee]

5 or 6 rounds for each gun should do, I will hold the rest for "safe" keeping

 

[13mogul]

3000 rounds per firearm.
Multiply by 10 if zombies are involved.

 

[Inigoes]

Realistically; Whatever your wallet can afford...

All the advice is for WWIII or SHTF, then you would need a good stash in the thousands.

If you're just an enthusiast, and a good shot. Then the amount is whatever amount, 1 year of shooting normally is, if you buy bulk. Otherwise you will get into storage issues.

PS - If you're a really good shot in a SHTF scenario, and execute good TTP; you can take the offenders stash.