Same question again

KnotRight

KnotRight

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I know this is probably one of the most asked questions that can not be answered.

In every caliber that I shoot/reload I have more than enough loaded rounds and brass for a long time. Most of these calibers are easy to get.

Now for a caliber that is not your everyday caliber and you will not find brass unless you shoot new factory rounds or buy unfired brass. Might shoot 400 rounds a year, how much loaded and unloaded brass would you keep?

I have so little unloaded brass I was thinking about just loading up the last 40 cases. That would give me 180 loaded rounds. I do have bullets to load 500+ rounds on hand.
 
I would buy a 500 count of unloaded brass, process it and bag it in 100 piece bags.
 
You should have a MINIMUM number of loaded rounds, not just in each Caliber, but also for EACH firearm you own.
Say to you own an AR in .223, an old M1 Garand in 30-06, and maybe a long range rifle in 6.5 Creedmore, plus that little Ruger 10-22 you got for fun.
Maybe you've got a nice .38 Special and a 9mm and a big old 1911 in .45, plus a Glock .40. You should have enough ammo on hand for each weapon but double that for the 10-22 since it's a "fun gun" and you'll shoot it more. I'd say about 10,000 rounds per weapon would be a good start. o_O
 
I understand your question, completely. To adequately feed the Glock 20 I came to the realization that it was best to buy new Starline brass. The once fired was so hit or miss and almost as expensive as the new stuff. I bought a bag of 1000 a couple years back and have used maybe 1/2 if it.

I keep about 400 rounds loaded up for it maybe half of that is defensive loads. But I just cycle the same bunch of brass for plinking until they look like crap. Then start a new batch of brass.
 
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For less common calibers, it is the brass that is usually the limiting factor. I like to have a minimum of 500 pieces on hand. I may acquire them by shooting factory ammo. Sometimes the factory ammo costs no more than the components, if you catch them on sale. (Such was the case for me with 450 Bushmaster from Hornady). If Starline makes the brass, they have good quality and prices and are sometimes no more expensive than once-fired brass.

I would not use up all the components as I would want to have enough on hand to try a new bullet or powder, so I suggest always keeping some empty brass on hand.
 
SSgt75 said:
You should have a MINIMUM number of loaded rounds, not just in each Caliber, but also for EACH firearm you own.
Say to you own an AR in .223, an old M1 Garand in 30-06, and maybe a long range rifle in 6.5 Creedmore, plus that little Ruger 10-22 you got for fun.
Maybe you've got a nice .38 Special and a 9mm and a big old 1911 in .45, plus a Glock .40. You should have enough ammo on hand for each weapon but double that for the 10-22 since it's a "fun gun" and you'll shoot it more. I'd say about 10,000 rounds per weapon would be a good start. o_O
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Sarge, you mention 8 weapons and 10K for each. What would your suggestion be for a person with 200 weapons be, as to rounds on hand?
 
KnotRight said:
for a caliber that is not your everyday caliber and you will not find brass unless you shoot new factory rounds or buy unfired brass. Might shoot 400 rounds a year, how much loaded and unloaded brass would you keep?
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Is this gun a semi-auto? Or a hunting style that'll only shoot 4-5 a year?
 
BatteryOaksBilly said:
Sarge, you mention 8 weapons and 10K for each. What would your suggestion be for a person with 200 weapons be, as to rounds on hand?
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It was a joke, son, It was a joke. That's why there was a o_O at the end of it. My wife has often told me my idea of a joke isn't very good (or maybe she just doesn't get it :) ).
Back on the old forum there was a thread about how much ammo to have on hand and we all got carried away with some members posting pics of garages full of ammo cans. But we can dream about owning a warehouse full.

So, in all honesty, how much ammo YOU should have on hand is up to YOU! and what YOU can afford.
 
Pink_Vapor said:
Is this gun a semi-auto? Or a hunting style that'll only shoot 4-5 a year?
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PV- It is s 204Ruger that I bought to play around with. Have wanted one since I first saw one on TV maybe 8 years ago. There is nothing to hunt around here with it and do not see me going out west to hunt ground puppies. I figure after the newness wears off it might get shot 80 to 100 round a year.
 
KnotRight said:
PV- It is s 204Ruger that I bought to play around with. Have wanted one since I first saw one on TV maybe 8 years ago. There is nothing to hunt around here with it and do not see me going out west to hunt ground puppies. I figure after the newness wears off it might get shot 80 to 100 round a year.
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Have at least a hundred ready to go so you can send them on short notice.
 
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SSgt75 said:
You should have a MINIMUM number of loaded rounds, not just in each Caliber, but also for EACH firearm you own.
Say to you own an AR in .223, an old M1 Garand in 30-06, and maybe a long range rifle in 6.5 Creedmore, plus that little Ruger 10-22 you got for fun.
Maybe you've got a nice .38 Special and a 9mm and a big old 1911 in .45, plus a Glock .40. You should have enough ammo on hand for each weapon but double that for the 10-22 since it's a "fun gun" and you'll shoot it more. I'd say about 10,000 rounds per weapon would be a good start. o_O
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Local media - "He had an arsenal and a gazillion rounds for real this time!"
 
I have a lot of loaded rounds on hand, but the more I reload the fewer loaded rounds I keep. It’s a function of loading for different purposes, sometimes I want 9mm for falling plates, other times for a suppressed PCC. Easier just to stock the components.

I don’t load for anything exotic, the least common are 45/70, 45LC, 41 Mag, and .38supernone of which are uncommon.
 
Depends on if it is a killing round or a defensive round.
Adequate #’s of the first, excessive #’s of the second.
 
I have no idea how many rounds I have. I do know that I will have to do a lot of shooting in my remaining years to use up all of them and the components I have on hand. I moved some of my ammo up to a barn on the farm last year before a hurricane hit. I had to make several trips moving 19 of those 5 gallon buckets and a bunch of 50 cal ammo boxes. Three of those buckets contained empty brass but the rest were filled with loaded rounds. I still had 15 buckets at my home. That may be a small amount to some of you folks but is enough to keep me shooting for a while.

Back in the '80's during one of the scare shortages I decided that having components around was fine, but keeping the right amount of each component in stock was tough. Cases did me no good if I ran out of bullets, primers, or powder. The solution was loading up as many cases as I had and buying more components if available when I ran short of one. Loaded ammo generally has a long shelf life, and I did not want to wind up with a bunch of powder, bullets, or primers that I could not use because I did not have one necessary component to make a complete round. I then started buying more cases. The thing snowballed. I shot some 45 Auto from the '80's this afternoon. They all did just fine.
 
I have three .30 cal rifles. 1 30-06, 1 30-30, 1 .308. Components is what I keep.

I try to keep 5k in each size standard rifle and pistol primers. I have enough powder to load what i need.

Brass minimum of 500 each. Would like 1k for some.

I also cast and powder coat for all my pistols and for 30 cal rifles. Never have enough lead.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk
 
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When things were scarce during the last big scare, I decided to start building up my inventory so that I have enough to last for several years. But I don't like to keep excessive numbers of reload ammo around, enough for maybe 3-4 trips to the range. I've read too many stories of estate sales where a reloader had thousands of loaded rounds and no one was interested in having to break them down. Components are much easier to deal with and more valuable to other reloaders.

Now factory ammo is a different story. I had collected a decent amount of factory ammo before I started reloading. I still have that on hand in case I need it.
 
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Whatever it is I like to reload a batch sufficient for 1 year of fun. When I get below half I’ll replenish it when I have time. I do not use up all components for any caliber. Just because I’m an engineer and I had to have some sort of structure to my madness: Ammo is on a 1 year plan, brass and projectiles on a 3-5 year plan, primers and powder exceed that as storage, availability and funds allow.

Then the question becomes ‘how much do I really shoot vs I *want* to shoot’.
 
Catfish said:
Just because I’m an engineer and I had to have some sort of structure to my madness: .
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Catfish you have the brains and I have the OCD about having stuff on hand. Different ways to get to the same point.
 
I reload and keep components for each caliber. Most pistol calibers I have a minimum of 2000 pieces of brass and revolvers I probable have about a thousand pieces.

Primers I try to have;
5000 of small pistol
5000 of large pistol
1000 of rifle primer

As far as powder I have enough to last several years and way to much rifle powders. Will never use all my rifle powder that I have. In fact I am thinking about selling some of it.
 
Thanks P_V.

I tried some Neck Dies from Hornady and RCBS (non-bushing) and the RCBS worked great but the Hornady I had a little problems with.
 
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