Why do people stock pile ammunition? How much is too much in terms of ammunition?

[D10]

The 44's are all the real deal. I probably spend way to much on those but I like my 44's and only shoot them with good rounds. I never use target rounds in these guns.
The 9mm's are mostly target except for 400 rounds.
The 45's I have 300 target rounds and the rest is the good stuff.

All the rest of the ammo is a little bit of everything but the 7mm and 30-06 are my hunting rounds and the best you can buy.

[brian]

My ammo pile right now reads,


These numbers look ridiculous but you can never have enough ammo.

just looks like a good starting point to me.

[notenoughguns]

It's better to have and not need than to need and not have .

[XACEX]

guns wont shoot without ammo. if you run out all you have is a paper weight, and it doesnt really go bad. i try to minimize the number of calibers i own so that its easier to stockpile.

as far as numbers, id say 1,000 round reserve for each pistol and shotgun caliber and 10,000 round reserve for each rifle caliber would be ideal. i probably have about 1/4 to 1/2 that right now.

i just make it a point to stop in walmart everytime i pass it and buy some so that it accumulates over time.


as for why, market volitility is certainly something to consider, but id be lying if i said the primary reason wasnt in case SHTF. i never want to be caught with my pants down, and i want to have enough ammo to be able supply my family and friends who are less prepared.

[RCS]

I have some stock of ammo in case I want to go directly to the range without stopping to pick up ammo.

I keep enough ammo on hand for 3 range visits. That amounts to between 600-800 rds.

[bamboomaster]

It's better to have and not need than to need and not have .

Many thoughtful comments here but I'd like to add one more for your possible consideration. Since there are a lot of really smart folks here who already know this at some level, kindly forgive me for re-stating the obvious.

If you think in a broader context, the value of the US currency has continuously been debased as a result of the Fed's policy of targeting a 2% annual inflation rate. It makes perfect sense to them because when you manage a country by running a continuous stream of deficits, you have to borrow or print the money to pay for those deficits. That increases the amount of debt that officially must be repaid and it is easier to repay or refinance those debts when you do so with devalued dollars.

And when you run as many dollars as you may require on a digital printing press (QE1, QE2, QE3, etc), that increases the supply of dollars, effectively diminishing their purchasing power.

Hence, it takes more dollars to buy a case of ammo today than it did five years ago and many more than it did ten years ago because of the Federal Reserve's 2% targeted inflationary policy (and the largely hidden cost of the Wall Street bail-outs too!).

Just think of what you paid for fill-up ten years ago, five years ago, and what you pay today. That increased price in gas is the result of the Fed's inflationary policy. Now just think of what you paid for food over the same time period. Betcha your food budget has gone up and you're not necessarily eating any better. If your a renter, has the cost of renting the same place gone up over this time period? What about your real estate taxes if you're a homeowner? What about your common area maintenance fees if you live with a governing Homeowner's Association?

For these reasons, the price of ammo (and all reloading components - brass, powder, bullets, primers) over the long term, is ALWAYS going to go up as long as the demand for it isn't disrupted and the finite production/availability of it isn't substantially increased.

I've actually thought of my ammo purchases as a "sleeve" of my investment portfolio - you know the one - where if you invested in stocks for the long-term, you're always trying to get back to even? By my way of thinking, investing in ammo by the case lot isn't hoarding. It's hedging, and in this instance, one possible way to diminish the adverse effect of inflation on the purchasing power of my limited dollars.

There are other hedges to protect the value (purchasing power) of your dollars and some of them actually work. Over the long term, reloading your own ammo works. Buying gold and silver works. Collecting fine firearms works. Buying farmland works.

A word about the value of "collections" though. I know an individual who recently sold off most of his firearm collection that was started sixty years ago - and paid the 28% rate on the net capital gains (everywhere you read, collectible gains appear to be taxed at 28%, but that's not correct, for the rate applies only to "net capital gains" - which means other capital losses in the stock market, etc can possibly offset those gains).

He believed that collecting was his best investment - better than stocks, better than real estate, etc. But when I compared the six figure appreciation on his collection to the rate of inflation over that time period, he had only just preserved the purchasing power of his original dollars, for a firearm that was purchased in 1960 for $200 and resold in 2011 for $1,200 barely kept pace with inflation.

What took $200 to buy in 1960 now takes $1,200 to buy in inflated/depreciated dollars in 2011. In his defense, some items appreciated more dramatically while others had substantially less - and were even sold close to his cost basis.

So in the context of "Why do people stockpile ammo?", absent any Zombie contagion, civil unrest, range requirements, or reinforced floors, it is indeed one of many possible hedges against the diminishing value of the US currency.

If it works for you (and it has for many), have at it!

Hope everyone has a great day at the range this week!

[streaker69]

LOL - that's not a stockpile - that's a good day at the range!

That's about what I carry in each car.

[Noah_Zark]

I started buying bulk ammo in the mid-80s. I wasn't exactly flush with cash at the time, but I saved up enough to go to about six larger gun shows each year and buy at least one case of ammo, sometimes two at each show. In the early 90s I sold a collection of thirty M1 Carbines and used some of the $22,000 in sale proceeds to continue buying bulk ammo at shows. I may or may not bring a gun home from a show, but I always brought home a couple-few cases of ammo. if I did bring a gun home, it was usually a 9mm Makarov, SKS, or some other low-cost, excellent condition ComBloc surplus piece.

The reason for the ammo stockpile? As others have pointed out, it is almost never lower priced than at any given moment, except for market-frenzy-driven buy-O-ramas like with the 2008 election and the present election / EOW scenario. 1000 rds of 7.62x39 for $59, $69, $79? 1000 rds of 9mm Makarov for $89, this for a pistol that itself cost $99?

Those were stupid low prices, and those of us present at the creation lament the passing of those good old days. I figured it was no worse than $$$ in the bank, and I have (without exaggeration) tens of 1000s each of 22LR, 9mm, 9x18, 5.56, 7.62x51, 7.62x39, 45ACP, 6.5x55, 8x57, 7.62x54R, 40 S&W, 30-06, and 1000s of rds of other cartridges like 357 Magnum, 38 Special, 380 ACP, 45 Colt, and shotgun ammo.

I haven't really bought any ammo to speak of since 2007, except for some 40 S&W and some Greek 30-06 from the CMP North Store.

I bought it for the future, whether that was going shooting in my older age while on fixed income, or selling it off for some extra cash, or using it for defense of family and home, whatever. I was a Boy Scout and Eagle Scout, and "Be Prepared" has stuck with me.

Noah

[39flathead]

A word about the value of "collections" though. I know an individual who recently sold off most of his firearm collection that was started sixty years ago - and paid the 28% rate on the net capital gains (everywhere you read, collectible gains appear to be taxed at 28%, but that's not correct, for the rate applies only to "net capital gains" - which means other capital losses in the stock market, etc can possibly offset those gains).

I don't get this, he paid cap gains taxes on used stuff he had acquired over the years?

I'm just wondering because I used to help out an auctioneer and I never knew that those people that sold off collections were paying a tax when they sold off their collection.

One guy we did sold over 150 firearms over a 5 auction span and while I can't remember the exact total, I know it was into 6 digits.
He was a nice guy, had just lost his wife and decided to retire to travel like they had always planned on. Kinda sucks now knowing that he got hit like that with taxes.

I thought that selling off your possessions would be like having a big yard sale.


So, if one were to accumulate a large quantity of firearms, what would be the best way to sell them off?

[ungawa]

Ammo in stacked crates will melt the socks off of any girl in her 20s. Including identical twins.