What constitutes a "reasonable" stash of mags and ammo?

[pyld]

So, this came up at work today. Widely divergent opinions--we had a three gun guy (insane), myself (I fancy myself a low to mid-volume regular shooter), a longtime hunter (who thinks we are both nuts) and the poor kid we got into shooting (who at present has to buy range ammo by the trip). The local trap nerd could not be bothered....

I have the following general rules:

1. No gun at all without 4 functioning mags.
2. Minimum of 6 for any carry gun.
3. Minimum of 20 for the go-to long gun (AR).

My main carries (which are now an HK VP9 and a Kel-Tec P32) have 8 mags each. I have 15 (5 each of 3 colors to indicate ammo within) loaded AR mags in the safe and another 15-20 in the "range rotation." Counted 127 PMAG, D&Hs, Brownells in the wrappers for a rainy day and another 40 or so "offsite."

Opinions also differed on ammo stash from "3 speedloaders for my wheelgun and 20 rounds of handloads for the deer rifle" from the resident Fudd to "measuring the stash in 6 digits" from the 3 gunner.

In the anticipation of another bad election, I've got the ammo stash to:

1000 rounds minimum FMJ of each pistol caliber I shoot/carry regularly (for me this means ~2000 rounds of 9mm, ~1000 ACP, ~800 .32ACP) and a minimum of 250 rounds of SD ammo in each caliber I carry. A few boxes per for the things that don't make it out of the safe regularly.

This probably represents a 1-2 year supply for "everyday" shooting. If I take a class or shoot a match, I buy more in bulk to immediately replace what was expended.

Something like 4k rounds of "blasting" .223 (55g M193 or similar), 1.2k rounds of "match" .223 (69/77g OTM from various manufacturers), 1k M855, and ~250 rounds of "SD" ammo. Again, I figure ~2000 rounds/year without factoring in classes.

~1000 rounds of .308 for the deer gun--most of this is handloads or factory match ammo.

Oh, and 1k 12 gauge rounds of various varieties. Don't shoot a lot of skeet/trap, but do so occasionally.

There are likely 1k - 1.5k in the "other" buckets--rifles/handguns I don't shoot regularly.

Oh, and 5k .22lr.

Pre-obama, I barely kept a stash like this--most (not all) of mine would fit in the safe. And while I have a single stage press and a significant stash of brass in all calibers, I don't typically handload for anything but the .308. I do try to be a good steward of the ammo stash.

So I open it to the floor--is this enough? Average? Underprepared by local standards? Overkill? I know you ammo whores out there are going to say "no" but I'm curious as to the opinions--because we had 4 shooters today who all had completely different takes on this and I only trailed the 3-gunner in "preparedness" which wasn't what I expected.

[MovingtoAmerica]

More than I have. Very nice.

I think what you have in mind is perfect. I try to keep 5 mags for pistols I would actually use and 20+ for my AKs.

[Emptymag]

"1,000 rounds for each rifle" always seems to be the response.

I have roughly 4 22 rifles. Looks like I need to buy about 10 more 22 rifles.

22LR hoarder. Guilty. (and stocked up like a MoFo)

If I can do that in about two years on my income, someone who isn't struggling financially should be able to stash guns and ammo out the ass if they want to.

[MT1]

As much as you can afford

[God's Country]

It's all up to the individual.

When you consider many would think 100 rounds of anything is bat shit crazy, while others would consider <10k for every caliber is marginal for one week of zombie apocalypse survival, it's hard to make any kind of recommendation.

Base your "arsenal" on criteria that fit your lifestyle.

IMO you have a reasonable stash that affords you comfortable shooting without having to concern yourself with restocking at whatever the current market is demanding.
To me stocking ammo is no different then saving money for a rainy day, or making sure you have enough food to feed yourself for whatever you consider to be a reasonable amount of time.

Just don't come crying to us when you realize it's not enough

[pennlineman]

The media would have a field day with me. Can you really have an excess?

[pyld]

"1,000 rounds for each rifle" always seems to be the response.

I have roughly 4 22 rifles. Looks like I need to buy about 10 more 22 rifles.

22LR hoarder. Guilty. (and stocked up like a MoFo)

If I can do that in about two years on my income, someone who isn't struggling financially should be able to stash guns and ammo out the ass if they want to.

I forgot .22 and just added it. 5k. Down from 10k, because I haven't been able to buy it in the amounts I'd like .

So, I have roughly 1 gorilla/muscle rack onto which all the ammo has to fit. I think I'm gonna run out of space before I run out of desire before the pre-election panic sets in...

[pyld]

IMO you have a reasonable stash that affords you comfortable shooting without having to concern yourself with restocking at whatever the current market is demanding.
To me stocking ammo is no different then saving money for a rainy day, or making sure you have enough food to feed yourself for whatever you consider to be a reasonable amount of time.

I think that's right. But I'm not one of those folks who preps for the end of the world: I have maybe a month of food/water on hand at any given time. I've always thought that anything more will involve going to guns anyway... So, ride out the occasional bump (Hillary getting elected, a Newtown panic) on the theory that I'm going to be handloading if shit goes up and stays up for years....

Just don't come crying to us when you realize it's not enough

I'm trying to get a feel for how other folks judge these things, because the opinions I found in my earlier discussion today were divergent enough that I took notice.

The media would have a field day with me. Can you really have an excess?

That's almost what my 3-gunning co-worker said, verbatim. Followed by "I'm the guy who is gonna be on the news if my house burns down."

I don't know if you can have an excess or not. I have no kids, so if I build the stash to >what I will shoot before death, it's probably a bad use of free cash.

As much as you can afford

That's where it can come off the rails. I could conceivably afford a bigger house for no other reason than to stash more ammo. Not sure I'm that guy just yet....

[Bluto Blutarsky]

The media would have a field day with me. Can you really have an excess?

Welcome to the club! I have enough ammo in two dozen different calibers that I've got to be on some kind of list somewhere.

I try to stock a minimum of 1,000 to 2,500 rounds (but usually more) in common calibers that I shoot a lot (i.e. 9x19mm, .22 LR, .38 Special, .30-06, etc.), as well as a minimum of 10 magazines per pistol (or speedloaders/speed strips for revolvers) or rifle, and I have a minimum of 5,000 to 6,000 rounds and at least 10 to 20 mags for my go-to rifles (5.56x45mm, 7.62x39mm, 7.62x51mm, etc.). Since I'm also a functioning milsurp addict, I literally have a metric shit ton of stripper clips of various types, and probably close to a pallet load each of a couple of select calibers (7.62x54mmR, 7.92x57mm, 7.62x25mm, etc.) because I did my best to buy cheap and stack deep back when those calibers were the cheapest thing around; I actually cleaned out the last of a former machine gun owner's hoard about a decade ago and still have most of that mountain of ammo. If you've owned Mosins or Mausers for at least the past decade and had some cash to burn from time to time, there's no reason why you shouldn't have 10,000 rounds ready for the impending collapse of society and/or zombie apocalypse.

[Just1more]

I'm not telling ........
But my motto - buy what you can afford and not carry a credit card balance !