Regular Shooter. Not all, but at least some, will shoot monthly — or even weekly. The above ammo-chart reflects this activity. Avid Shooter. Many of the people in this category trend toward competitive shooting, if only competing with themselves. These individuals have an annual or sometimes monthly ammo consumption measured by the case. Another, more accurate way to calculate your training needs is to take the amount of ammo you shoot per month and multiply it by 12 to give you your yearly training ammo requirement.
The figure that follows is, perhaps, optimistic regarding commitment, especially with expense factored in. And, of course, training ammo of the same caliber could cover more than one gun. In a pinch, you could even press it into service for defense! Note that recycled defensive rounds more on those in a moment can become part of this inventory. The idea is maintain an ample supply consisting of well-proven and uniform types.
Buying in bulk not only saves money. It also prevents a mish-mash of unproven brands and bullet-weights which shoot to different points of aim POA. The reason? Most LEOs only shoot when paid to do so, which boils down to qualifications. Believe it or not, plenty of departments only shoot annually, expending, maybe, — rounds. In his experience, area semiannual qualifications are fairly common max. Some law enforcement departments with larger budgets in more temperate regions shoot quarterly or more often.
However, one thing they all have in common is in-depth initial training, typically at an academy level, involving hundreds of rounds. The same approach is strongly advised for civilians. Meanwhile, the above levels can help frame private citizen activity. As we discussed, definitions matter.
Is it the jacketed hollow points you carry in your defensive handgun, or is it larger quantities of ammunition for a prolonged crisis without the rule of law?
Basic Home Supply. We figured a standard rounds each of handgun and rifle ammunition. This is ver conservative. Some people feel the minimum is rounds per firearm. Extended Collapse. This number, as you can imagine, is guesswork. Zombie Apocalypse. We then added the 52 rounds described above for handgun, which should be standard for all. For the rifle we topped it off with another rounds for good measure, because — zombies!
Again — guesswork. Can a zombie apocalypse really happen? Steve noted that one of his instructors was a highly-ranked skeet shooter. He shot through 30, shells each year cases , which were stacked throughout his house. By the end of it there could be 30K horizontal zombies strewn around his property. Bugging Out Note: If your plan is to bug out, you will be on the move with the goal of getting to safety. You could figure the standard 52 defensive rounds. SUVs and pickups can carry a decent-sized load of ammo, so if bugging out to you means a cross-country road trip, up your count.
You may need to account for additional rounds to have at your BOL. Whatever you leave at home could wind up being an expensive gift for a very undeserving recipient raiding your vacant home. We can begin by looking at the ammunition expended in different situations.
He notes that even a squad of soldiers can burn through some serious ammo. Because his old military team operated in the boonies, their loads often exceeded the norm. Still, he have run out of rifle ammo — not a good situation! He also burned through multiple Hit probability has decreased as pistols have replaced revolvers, but total rounds expended remain low — typically just a few rounds.
A military squad equipped to travel light could have relevancy for civilians in serious bug out mode. For many of us though, the law enforcement examples may be more pertinent. Steve notes that in his days, everyone in his small recon-squad lugged rounds plus a spare round belt of M rounds. The extra firepower was a lifesaver deep in the bush but its weight, combined with other essentials, made for tough going.
Many basic loads probably mirror law enforcement; one full magazine in the pistol, plus two spares in a double-pouch. The basic load for a trusty. Some troops lug more but, again, weight matters. Steve seldom carried a pistol by itself, but when he did, thirteen spare magazines usually came along in a Claymore Mine pouch, slung over his shoulder. They added up to 99 rounds. Although doable, this heavy and floppy payload was not well-suited for an energetic retreat.
At that time revolvers still ruled and the nearly-universal basic handgun load was 18 rounds of. Six were in the revolver and 12 spare rounds were carried in two speed-loaders. Ammunition varies, depending on the situation. This formidable close-range firearm still has a legitimate place. Tactical LE Notes Many operators carry more magazines via special vests, in part thanks to tougher fitness standards.
They fall more in line with military leg-unit examples. Use the above as a guide. If we look beyond simple ammo count for prolonged collapse situations, we can narrow in on higher-end defensive rounds that — for most people — are going to be too expensive to stock in large quantities. Practice requires more shooting but equivalent training loads cost much less. We could run dry though via piecemeal purchasing.
Adjust as necessary to reflect your basic load. The idea that preppers will just go shoot wild game to survive after an apocalypse is foolhardy at best. Every hunter will be thinking the same thing, creating fierce competition for game and quickly depleting the stock of free range critters. For the ammo calculator, we assumed an average of 3 rifle rounds per large game animal and one large game animal per month used this as our source. We also figured 3 shots per small critter, which would likely mean lower-cost rimfire ammunition hunting gray squirrels or whatever , and one small critter per day.
For good measure we also assumed 10 birds per month at 2 shots per bird. Assuming a two-year extended survival situation, that equates to 2, rounds of mixed ammunition.
This brings us to the final consideration of how much ammo you need. How much are you going to need for reserves? How much will you need for barter?
Anyone that has been shooting long enough has experienced the swings in the market, often associated with political swings or major global conflicts. Nothing is more frustrating than a desire to hit the range for a bit of fun only to find ammo excessively expensive or altogether unavailable.
It happens too frequently, and the only way around this cycle is to buy it cheap and stack it deep — when you can. Steve, for his part, was tasked with procuring ammunition for a large state agency. Remember that Training is different from Practice. When you are training, you are learning new skills or learning to apply them in different ways. You need a high number of repetitions to begin to ingrain the performance of those skills. This is the starting point that I and my team of certified instructors have successfully used with students for over 15 years.
Practice is the act of ingraining and improving your already established skills. After practice, you should be able to perform your skills intuitively and fluidly even while focused on other things. If you have utilized different techniques in the past, it is especially important to get a high- number of repetitions to re-write your muscle memory. Under the conditions of a defensive gun use, you want your skills to be performed in an automated way.
You should expect to expend more ammunition in ingraining your skills than you did learning them. Optimally, you will get frequent practice sessions over the first couple or few months following a class, shooting at least rounds in disciplined practice each time. Once you have established and ingrained defensive shooting and gun handling techniques, your ammunition expenditure should be reduced dramatically.
After the first few months of practice to reach what you consider to be an acceptable level of skill and ability to apply your skills, you can cut back your practice sessions so that you are just maintaining your skills. Shotgun shells : rounds of practice ammo per shotgun, 50 rounds of specialty ammo per gun. Practice ammunition for both rimfire and centerfire guns usually means lower-cost bulk, full-metal jacket FMJ ammunition.
Lower-priced birdshot rounds are good for practice and for both hunting and defensive purposes. Specialty ammunition covers rounds like jacketed hollow point ammo JHP , which costs more, but is more effective for defensive and hunting usage. Specialty ammo for shotguns can vary depending on the reason why you own a scattergun. For bird hunting, there are high end target loads. For deer and other game, there are slugs and buckshot loads. If your shotgun is primarily for defensive purposes, load up on slugs and buckshot.
That recommendation is the bare minimum. If hunting is your reason to own a rifle, rounds of hollow point ammo should be enough to start with.
However, if you own a rifle for defensive purposes, rounds of dedicated defensive ammo translates into just over three full magazines for an AR Well, it has happened in the past and it just might happen again. Will coronavirus be that pandemic?
Will a pandemic affect your ability to stock up on ammo? How much ammo is enough for a pandemic or SHTF scenario? I know a lot of people who have been in serious situations, and to date, not one of them said that they had too much ammo with them when their life was on the line.
Or something like that…. Prior to joining the team at Ammoman. Kevin has been a gun writer since , writing articles on the new reality of gun ownership in the U.
Learn More. Pandemics can ruin lives and ruin economies. About The Author. Kevin Creighton Prior to joining the team at Ammoman. Search for:.
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