How much Ammo before you die?

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338Shooter

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Anyone paying $1 for ammo they didn't feel they needed 10 minutes ago gets what they got coming. Unfortunately it prevents people from enjoying the hobby/sport. I haven't purchased ammo since early December. (save for some .22 that I was running low on and I bought it at normal price). I just don't get to shoot as much right now. I've got plenty for any long term event, but I don't want to dig into it just yet because I think ammo will be back to normal before everything else.
 

Glocktogo

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Yes, it does. When hoarding chokes the supply for recreational use so significantly it hurts the hobby and drives prices to absurd levels, yes.

That's not what's choking the supply. The guy who has 10K of every major caliber is an insignificant percentage of the market overall. When there are 20.2 MILLION NICS checks in December alone, that's also a lot of first time buyers and buyers getting a new caliber gun. Most of them are only getting a few hundred rounds at most.

A higher percentage are the guys who actually USE that much ammo. A basic combat rifle class may run anywhere from 300 to 1500 rounds. A competition shooter will expend 100-300 rounds at a weekend match. That doesn't include practice if they really want to be competitive. When I was hitting it hard and heavy, it wasn't abnormal to expend 300-600 rounds per week in practice and matches, and that was just IDPA!

One last point. If the current drought hasn't driven home just hw fragile our ammo supply chain is, you're not paying attention. They wouldn't have to ban guns, just turn off the ammo tap. A savvy shooter would only expend the number of rounds they've ALREADY restocked, cause you might not get more anytime soon. It also makes a good case for having at least one oddball caliber gun in the inventory. While everyone is fighting over meager restocks of .22LR, 9mm, .40, .45, .223 and 7.62X39, you can get all the .17HMR, .22-250, .45 Colt and 30-30 you'd ever want.

Just some food for thought. I think your anger is misplaced.
 

superdave65

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I've always purchased ammo when it was on sale. I still do the same. When Cabelas or CTD had 5.56 for 30 cents a round I would buy a case or two. For a couple of reasons, first I like to shoot, second I have a teenager who likes to shoot. When folks are stockpiling large amounts of ammo, they are not always getting ready for a huge battle. In a financial collapse, ammo could also serve as currency
 

Hoov

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Not to be a hater (or a potater in ezbake's case), but the OP joined this band of merry men in '07. Didn't he go through this same situation in '08? I think we all learned something then and planned accordingly.
 

Hoov

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I've always purchased ammo when it was on sale. I still do the same. When Cabelas or CTD had 5.56 for 30 cents a round I would buy a case or two. For a couple of reasons, first I like to shoot, second I have a teenager who likes to shoot. When folks are stockpiling large amounts of ammo, they are not always getting ready for a huge battle. In a financial collapse, ammo could also serve as currency

Exactly. When reddog1's fantasy comes true, buttwipe and 22lr will be the new currency.
 
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rhodesbe

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Indeed. Be prepared, and drive on.

This is the very sentiment that grates me. (No offense to uncle money bags directly)

Being 'prepared' doesn't mean excessive amounts of ammo. It's just much less sexy to stock up on toilet paper and beans.

Most people have a very unrealistic idea of what 'prepared' means. Because of this, they outguess their own survivability. I'm not hating. Like Hoov mentions, we've seen this before, and I did learn a strong lesson in 08. But did it cause me to misjudge my own mortality? No.

I'd hate to get in a single shootout with a 14 year old girl with a zipgun. I'm avoiding any gunplay like the plague, and don't envision conducting firemissions in my lifetime. I'm not trained for that, and frankly a bunch of random dudes carrying ARs doesn't strike me as a cogent fighting force.

Defense is one thing. Needing 20k rounds is something else.
 

Dr. HK

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the hoarding is because several reasons but mostly people are afraid. They are afraid of idiotic ammo taxes of .10 per round. So now a bulk brick of .22 has a $50 tax surcharge. In addition 420 rounds is for hardened trained soldiers that have thousands and thousands of rounds in training. Most of us have several firearms that shoot the same caliber, and we have multiple family members or friends. If SHTF we may need a couple thousand rounds to train others how to shoot, or to ensure every member has 420 rounds of ammo.
 

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