Ammo Stockpile

I just did an ammo inventory in anticipation of going shooting in the coming weeks (hopefully). And also after reading What Would John Wayne Do?

He has 1600 rounds and comments that that sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. It isn't! Especially when you are heavy on .22LR. Which I'm not.

Kim over at The Other Side of Kim says you should have 100 rounds minimum in every caliber they possess. Except .22. For .22 you need a lot more.



~I have ZERO rounds of 20 gauge to go with my Sears single shot.

~I have ZERO rounds of .30-06 to go with my Springfield 03.


Hmmm, not starting off too good.



~I have 60 rounds of 12 gauge, 10 slug, 20 birdshot, 30 or so in double 0 buck.

~I have 200 rounds of .22LR. MBtGE has some in bulk quantities he'll trade me for next time I see him, so call it 200 + 1000 or more. It'll take a long time to puch all that through 2 7-round mags and a bolt action rifle

~I have almost 300 rounds of .308/7.62 for the Garand. Half of that is already in their clips. And half of that is already in a bandolier.

~I have over 50 rounds in the box of a mix of .38 and .357. 18 other rounds are in speedloaders or the revolver already.


Total on hand: 600 with another 1000 of .22 promised (a box of 500 .22 is the size of 2 juice boxes taped together).



Sounds like a lot? Naw. It all can fit on one surplus army ammo can that's a little bigger than a shoe box. Call it hiking boot box sized can. Oh, it's HEAVY, but it all fits. So assume some more gun purchases. I might triple what I have above, plus add .45 in a similar amount. So 3 ammo cans worth of space, max. With only 1800 rounds of non .22 ammo. You can use all that up in an afternoon shooting. Well, I could if I had a padded shoulder in a shooting jacket, that's a LOT of beating on your shooting shoulder from the recoil.


1800 rounds isn't even gun-nut categories yet. I gotta work harder at this.


If the world as I knew it, does end, I'm going to wish I had 18,000 rounds or more.


Ooo, definitions. That last scenario has an abbreviation, for those unfamiliar with survivalist nomenclature. The End of the World as I Know It = TEOTWAIKI. That's when the Asteroid hits and the gov't falls, or the Zombie outbreak is out of control, or a plague kills 50% of the population. There is no going back. You will live in a world of leather clad body builders in tricked out custom muscle-cars, cruising the wasteland looking for auto-gyro pilots to be your comic foil. All in all, a very unpleasant scene.


The lesser scenario is referred to as SHTF, or when the Stuff Hits the Fan. If you lived in New Orlean during Katrina, THAT was SHTF. It is a temporary and perhaps localized breakdown in civil order and it often prompts unrest, migration/evacuation, and uncertainty. Your immediate groups is on your own until order is restored, and a lot of rules might not apply. You might be robbed by a police officer and given spare food from an escaped convict, that kind of thing.