The cheap stuff, at least? Both pistol and rifle.

Cheaper Than Dirt and especially Ammoman seem to be pretty well cleaned out. Even WalMart was a bit thin. Any other cheap sources?

I'm looking to stock up so I have a lot of cheap stuff to practice with, and because I'm afraid the price might start to skyrocket with possible upcoming changes in legislation.

Does everyone else have the same idea and is stocking up? I am thinking about getting back into reloading, but the supplies seem to be a lot more than the same number of loaded rounds, when I could find them cheap.

Any help or experiences to share?

Thanks!

David

I put an order in with J&G Sales yesterday but I got a note back saying due to overwhelming business it'll be a week before they can pack it/ship it. The Sportsman's Guide is also running low on the cheap stuff. I hit a gun show last Saturday and ammo prices for 7.62x39 and 7.62x54r had gone up 15% since the last show.

-Blast

I just picked up 7.62 for 3.00 a box for 10 rounds bought all 900 rounds he had,sitting here putting it all on stripper clips. It's still available here for 100.00 for 200 rounds. Our stores don't seem to be low as of yet.

Between high metal prices, the war in Iraq, and a poor economy, ammo prices have steadily been going way up. With the way the election went, it got even worse overnight. Between the high demands from one area, and the high materials prices....it's getting tougher and tougher to find bulk ammo. I doubt it's going to get much cheaper/easier in the short term either.

I've even started stocking up on popular calibers for firearms I don't own, with the hope I might be able to trade it or sell it for more down the line if prices keep going up. Either that, or it might be an excuse for me to get some new firearms.

Paul said everything I could. Right down to getting ready to trade.

How much ammo is a reasonable quantity to have on hand?

I'm NOT a "survivalist" in the Militia mode, nor a hunter. I live in a suburban/semi-rural area, not on a homestead or farm. But I do own rifles, shotguns and pistols. I think that makes me fairly typical of preparedness types.

I'm not worried about fighting off the Jack Booted Thugs of the New World Order or the Spiky Haired Mutants of Mad Max fame.

I would just like to protect me and mine from the type of criminal predators that already exist and might seize a moment of chaos to try to take advantage, or perhaps just from ordinary folks temporarily pushed over the edge by stress, fear and panic.

I would also like to be able to harvest whatever available animal protein that I can and be minimally prepared for an economic or societal "Nuclear Winter."

I know "more is better" and "you can never have enough," and I have my own ideas of minimum amounts to keep on hand, but I would like to hear yours.

What quantities of pistol, rifle and shotgun ammunition would advise someone new to survival preps to keep on hand, as a baseline?

Jeff

THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS -

According to FBI figures for the week of November 3 to 9, the bureau received more than 374,000 requests for background checks on gun purchasers -- a nearly 49 percent increase over the same period in 2007. (Keep in mind no background checks are run if you have a CWP)

Many of our customers are purchasing multiple AR-15's. It is not unusual for them to purchase 5000 rounds of ammunition at the same time.

That is where your ammo is going.

Ammo prices have sky rocketed due to the election and demand. That is it, no questions asked.

I ordered ammo last weekend, a decent amount (bulk packages) and Wideners is out of stock of all most of what I ordered, posted a delay warning on their site, and the other stuff is up by $40.

Ammoman once again this month is no longer accepting orders.

Wal-Mart is stocked throughout the week, and then nearly none, and then re-stocked... wal-mart fluctuates and it's normal.

I stock up on ammo like I stock up on anything else... to use, to save $ in the future due to rising cost, and just to have on hand like anything else.

I can and do shoot off my rear deck, and ammo goes a lot quicker being able to shoot out of your back door.

-Todd

just like gas, what you are seeing right now is speculators going wild. Unless actual legislations are being introduced, I expect the price to come down back to pre-election level.

The nice thing about ammo is, as long as you store it properly, it doesn't really go bad. So, the idea that you can "never have enough" isn't really a bad one as long as you've got the proper storage space. Worst comes to worst you can often resell it, trade it, or just shoot it.

With that said, I've read varying opinions on how much ammo to keep.

Personally, I used to shoot in .22 prone competitions, where I would go through around 1,000 rounds of .22lr a week between practice and matches. Therefore, I would try to keep at least a case on hand (5,000 rounds) just in case, for some reason, I didn't get my weekly supply of ammo. For me, that was the bare minimum. However, someone else might not use that much in a year. So the amount varies per person based on current usage and planned usage.

You also have to examine local laws, some places have limits on the amount of ammo you can store without a Haz-mat permit of some sort. Same with your insurance company, sometimes they put limits on ammo or gunpowder storage.

With all that in mind, here is the reasoning for the amount of ammunition I keep on hand:

If I remember correctly the standard load of rifle ammunition for the US military is 210 rounds of ammunition split among (7) 30 rounds magazines, and that is supposed to last an average soldier 48 hours under normal fighting conditions. (Whatever "average" and "normal" are? ) However, many do carry more than that.

Now, the government also says we should stock at least three days worth of food and water.

Therefore, going by those numbers, I figure with every three day supply of food and water, I also like to stock around 500 rounds of ammunition with each firearm, as that would probably prepare me for worst case scenario (military action), have enough for a much less hostile scenario (hunting/basic protection), while not being what some would consider an unreasonable (obscene?) or totally immobile amount of ammunition.

Now, that number doesn't take into account how many capable shooters you have or what kind/how many firearms you have. So you may want to have more or less depending on firearm type and amount, or more or less based upon how many people you expect. It's only my somewhat arbitrary baseline.

For example, you might not want to stock 500 rounds of .375 H&H for your grandfather's antique doubles rifle, as that would cost over $2,000 and it's probably not a gun you're going to shoot that much, especially if you live in "the lower 48." But, you might want to stock more than 500 rounds of .22LR, because .22LR is so small, useful, popular, and easy to shoot. You have to take those things into account.

Long story short, there isn't a perfect set amount. IMO, the best thing you can do is come up with a reasonable baseline from other sources and then modify it based on your own individual needs.