Category: Ammo
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7mm WSM at 2281yards
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Paper Handgun Cartridges in the Old West
In an article titled simply “How Much Ammo?” Divemedic offers his opinion on how much ammunition you should be stockpiling against the day that it may no longer be available. I generally support his conclusions.
Some people seem to think this is a silly question; that there’ll always be ammunition available in stores, and from US manufacturers. That’s a dangerous assumption. There have been innumerable threats made to shut down online ammunition vendors, and some states no longer allow it (or surround it with so many restrictions and conditions that it’s burdensome and time-consuming to meet them all). There’s also the ATF’s ongoing crusade to shut down as many firearms dealers as possible, based on paper problems rather than actual crimes (which they get to define as such). Finally, every shooting increases pressure on supermarkets such as Walmart to stop selling ammunition at all, removing a major source of supply from the market. As such pressures ratchet up, the day may come that ammunition becomes vastly more expensive than it is now, with a much reduced selection and severe restrictions on how much you can buy. It’s to safeguard against that potential problem that we should maintain a useful reserve of ammunition for ourselves.
I emphasize the utility of .22 Long Rifle ammo and weapons. You can get .22LR adapters to fit AR-15 rifles and others, and there are many .22LR handguns that handle in ways very similar to defensive handguns. Furthermore, .22LR is relatively cheap compared to centerfire ammunition. If you accept that a minimum (I emphasize, minimum) annual training requirement is 500 rounds (which is nowhere near enough to maintain full competency with rifle and handgun), then I think putting aside ten years’ worth of .22LR is not a bad idea. Personally, I plan on at least 1,000 rounds per year, and want more than a decades’ worth of ammo on hand to support that. YMMV, of course. That can substitute for quite a lot of centerfire ammo, but not all. After all, the recoil, report, etc. of full-house rounds is much greater than rimfire, and one has to become (and stay) accustomed to that. I’d say that for every 10 rounds of rimfire ammo we fire, we should be shooting one round of centerfire ammo. Again, YMMV.
There’s also the unpleasant thought that if a state of emergency is declared, the authorities may try to confiscate guns and ammunition from civilians. We all know what happened in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and “woke” states in particular probably won’t hesitate to do the same thing given any excuse that comes to hand. I therefore suggest that one should conceal at least part of one’s stash in a safer place, where it’s less likely to be found and more secure against confiscation. How you do that is your business. I think off-site storage is probably a good starting point – and I don’t mean a storage unit, because those are most likely to be targeted by both looters and law enforcement during a crisis when they’re looking for stuff. The same goes for storing stuff with friends – their homes are just as likely to be searched as yours is. Use your imagination. Think outside the box – and stash enough ammo and firearms that if all the rest of yours are no longer available, you’ll still be able to defend yourself and your loved ones.
(I’m not encouraging you to break any laws that may forbid such steps, of course. I’m not going to condone criminal conspiracy. Perish the thought!)
Peter
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How Much Ammo? Published by Divemedic
Once you pick your flavor of ammo as we did earlier this week, how much of it should we have on hand? Some people say that the most handgun ammunition that you need on hand is 250 or 500 rounds. That’s ridiculous. I have more than that in any given caliber.
For starters, there are two types of ammo: range ammo and war shots. PewPew Tactical recommends 500 rounds as a starting point, with 150 of those rounds being war shots. I still think that’s low. So what do I consider to be a good amount of ammo?
For range ammo, I buy in bulk because it’s cheaper, meaning in 1,000 round cases. If I find a good deal, I snap it up. That’s how I scored 9mm FMJ for 15 cents a round back in January of 2020, when I got 2,000 rounds for $300. Of course, that was pre-COVID. Good luck getting 9mm at that price now.
For starters, .22lr comes in bricks of 500 rounds. I own a few .22 firearms, both pistols and rifles. You will seldom see me with less than a couple of thousand rounds of .22 lying about. Of course, there is really no such thing as a “war shot” with .22lr. A brick of .22 will cost you about $30 at today’s prices, making it the cheapest way to shoot. It’s also great for squirrels and rats. That’s why I keep a bunch on hand.
When it comes to range ammo, I try to stock a minimum of 500 rounds per caliber. For the high use calibers of 9mm and .45, I find that 1,000 rounds on hand is a minimum.
For defensive handguns, we need to consider war shots. For semi-autos, I try to keep a minimum of 500 war shots per handgun. For revolvers, 150 war shots per handgun. So if I have a pair of 9mm handguns, that’s 1,000 rounds.
When we get into 5.56mm and 7.62x51mm, we get into a whole different ballgame. For the AR, all I stock in 5.56mm is Green Tips. I don’t do different war shots and range ammo, because I want my war shots to perform identically to my range ammo. For that reason, I try to keep a minimum of 5,000 rounds on hand of 5.56mm.
Likewise for the 7.62x51mm, but my round count there is lower simply because it is more expensive and takes up more room. So I want my minimum there to be no less than 2,500 rounds. With the 7.62, I look for nothing but the 147 grain. That way, every round is similar in performance to every other round.
For shotguns, all I have are 12 gauges. I stock 250 defense rounds in buckshot and slug, and 250 rounds of #7 shot (for hunting).
Toss in a few smoke grenades and a couple of pepper grenades, and the fire marshal’s office will shit themselves if they ever find out about that stash.
So as you can see, that means a lot of ammo on hand. We are talking about more than 20,000 rounds of ammo. I didn’t get there by buying it all at once. I just buy ammo on a regular schedule, buy a case at a time when I do buy, and try to get more than I shoot. Eventually, you get a decent stockpile.
Freedom Munitions continues to expand its X-DEF defense line with the addition of the .38 Special caliber.
Like all X-DEF products, Freedom’s X-DEF .38 Special hollow point ammunition has been designed from the ground up by Freedom Munitions with optimum penetration and weight retention in mind.
X-DEF ammunition is intended for personal protection. The cartridges utilize a brass case with X-Treme Bullets’ copper plated, 158-grain X-DEF hollow point expanding bullet and are loaded with premium, low-flash powder.
Tested in Freedom Munitions’ own underground ballistics lab, the 158-grain projectile travels at a velocity of 925 fps with a 6” barrel and penetrates 13”-15” in clear ballistic gelatin.
Earlier in 2023, Freedom Munitions also released .357 Mag X-DEF in two weights and a 200-grain 10MM X-DEF round.
X-DEF .38 Special is available now in 50 count at FreedomMunitions.com.
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