Agreed, we got 4 10/22 lr...with thousands of rounds. And, multiple 25 rounds magazines and 15 rounds mags...plus, a bunch of other high caliber rifles and handguns..
@@MagicPrepper I plan on shooting as much of that inheritance as I am able. I plan on continuing to buy what I reasonably am able to buy for the rest of my life. Let me say without exact numbers, my goal is to have as many 10's of thousands of 22 lr as I am able as well as the same for handgun. I maintain several thousand rounds of large caliber rifle ammo. The wife and I like to practice as often as we can at our outdoor range. We are both in our mid 60's and shooting sports helps us maintain many skills. Now that I'm retired, field stripping, cleaning, and lubing firearms keeps up my fine motor skills. ( I hear some snickers) One objective I have that many younger shooters do not, that is, I never sell any firearms. I never trade up. I will never barter my ammo, ever...even if everything hits the fan.
If you don't have kids, or if the only time you see your kids is when you see them is on Fox News wearing a mask and protesting (rioting) in Portland (which is the same as not having kids) make sure you have a plan to get that ammo to someone who deserves it.
@@MrInzombia perhaps, perhaps not. I do hope I never have to exchange rounds with another person ever again in my life. I am well aware of what a persons life expectancy is in a fire fight.
heres the thing...if you go through several hundred rounds without taking a hot one yourself then you're either really ninja or really lucky..... either way... if you go through 100's of rounds and need more than a mag or two then it is too late and you will need more help than the amount of ammo you can carry.....the ar type rifle and a 1000 rounds fantasy for the end of the world is just that... a fantasy....the likelihood of some old timer with a 30-06 hiding in his hay loft and giving you a new hole to breath out of before you go through your 1000's of rounds is a lot more likely.....
Yup no argument here. But, having more is never a bad thing in the grand scheme of things. Of course there are scenarios where the amount you have wouldn't matter. And if you have to bug out of course you can only carry so much. But, if it's a long term event and you want to train, teach and practice then having the extra rounds to take to the range might be useful.
michael p Says he couch potato in mamma’s basement. Ammo is not just for protection, it’s also just like money only when SHTF hits you can trade for food and necessities! Waiting until it’s too late to buy after the panic is not going to get you any ammo!
@@Iceberg050 Michael P is correct; "prepping" involves a lot more than ammo. For example ibuprofen, peroxide, bandages...heck even a can opener will be a valuable in a SHTF situation. You can have stock piles of ammo but it won't help you if you are about to die from a fever.
This is true. There never is enough ammo. But, giving yourself a goal to shoot for is a more effective way to put more away. At least it worked for me anyway
That’s one thing I haven’t thought about much, in a WROL serious SHTF senario excess ammo could be used as a bartering tool, currency if you will for other items. 👍🏻
@@michigunsanta8680 I would not do any bartering with my ammo, not even for food. You can still shoot your food. In any case, barter anything but your guns and ammo.
Mike Weaks I’m thinking more of a friend that maybe you cared about who maybe had more food stored and you’re running out and you have plenty of guns and ammo and they don’t have much or any...I’m not talking about giving it all away to strangers. 👌
Mike Weaks “You can still shoot your food “ How much deers and wildlife are out there to sustain country of over 300 million? Do you know how much cows get slaughtered ever year to feed this population ? Ok, I get it - not everyone is a hunter, but you guys ( and I don’t blame you for it in survival scenario) will decimate all edible wild life pretty soon You will not hunt only what you need at the moment - you will “ hoard “ it - just what you are doing with ammo at the moment
How much ammunition did you recently pick up during everything that is going on right now? And, how are you storing that ammo for the long term? If you need some basic tips on long term ammo storage, check out this video: ua-cam.com/video/WKRzWdMEtjY/v-deo.html
One thing you did not consider is that expending rounds in a SHTF scenario would mean that you went up against an adversary (and won) so you would take what they have (to the victor goes the spoils). So if you feel that you will have to engage a foe, most aggressors will not try an empty handed approach. No small group (
A thousand rounds per gun is just silly. 1000 rounds of .22 is absolutely nothing. 1000 of .44 mag is a lot. 1000 rounds of 12 gauge is a ton. There’s not a set number for each caliber
Well this is just a starting point. A lot of people have a hard time knowing where to start and when you tell someone to get 10,000 rounds of ammo when they don't even have 100 yet it seems overwhelming. So I was just hoping to help set a realistic goal for people who wanted to get started. And as you probably know, once you have 1,000, it will become 5,000 quickly
Magic Prepper I am just busting your... chops. I remember way back when I thought one box of ammo was enough. Then I heard that 1,000 was a good goal. Then I took a rifle class where we burned through 3,000 rounds in 4 days. Now my goals are a bit higher.
Magic Prepper Tactical Response Fighting Rifle and Advanced Fighting Rifle back to back. Each class is 2 days. 4 glorious days of running and gunning. It was really good. Worth the cost and the time.
Dana Loesch once said, and I modified it a little bit..There are three rules to firearm ownership: 1. You can never have too many guns. 2. You can never have too much ammo. 3. Refer to rule #'s 1. and 2.
Just my opinion- in a long term SHTF scenario ammunition becomes currency. I think this is one of the most overlooked considerations. 22lr will be one of the most valuable commodities. You will trade ammo for other goods. In a prolonged situation where food becomes scare large game will quickly be wiped out. Small game will be a much more reliable source of food. You will want to waste as little meat as possible and that means 22. Also if you want to attract less attention a subsonic 22 will get you noticed much less than a 223 or 308. Also more people will have 22 guns than any other making 22 ammo even more sought after. Then there is the fact that the small size and low cost of 22 make it easy to store and carry large quantities. IMO 22 ammo is something to stockpile in the 10s of thousands of rounds. On a personal note, that thunderbolt ammo is garbage in my experience. Get some CCI 40gr standard velocity if you can. It's clean, reliable, accurate, and subsonic.
I agree that .22lr will be extremely useful in a full blown SHTF event. I stock a ton of it for that reason. But, I will say it isn't always the most reliable ammunition. Which is why it isn't the best for defensive purposes. Almost everything else it is awesome for though.
@@MagicPrepper I agree with you. I definitly would not rely on a 22 for defense. I personally would carry my shotgun loaded with breneke black magic slugs and my 22 pistol with CCI standard velocity. Not being noticed from far away could be a consideration in SHTF and i think thats where 22s shine. A suppressed air gun is also a valuable tool. There are some modern air rifles that produce as low as 80db but are capable of taking game up to the size of a racoon (which might be on the menu). I think you're totally right about the versatility of a shotgun and carrying extra shells with different loads.
Rascal77s I’m very new to firearms, just this year. I keep hearing about how unreliable 22 rounds are. I I had some problems the first time I took my 15-22 to the range, but I think that was before I cleaned it. Since then I haven’t had a single misfire. Is it really that u reliable. I’ve got a m&p compact 22, it doesn’t misfire either. Not yet at least.
@@LKaramazov imo modern rimfire is pretty reliable. But like any ammo it depends on brand. CCI is know for excellent 22. Aguila has also worked extremely well. I purchased a couple of bricks of Winchester white box. I went through about 100 rounds and 25% of them failed. I checked the rounds to make sure I wasn't getting light strikes. I wasn't. I reloaded some of them to get to or 3 strikes on the primer and still they failed to ignite. Take my advice and stick with cci and aguila if you can. I've won 25m bullseye matches using CCI standard velocity 40gr. and it's cheap.
I honestly never understood the whole 1000 rounds per caliber recommendation. If you have to use even 100 to 200 rounds to defend your house or place of residence you should probably think about leaving and getting to a safer place as you are putting yourself family and loved one's at greater risk.
I would imagine that someone could or would, use a large share of ammo while hunting to feed their families or even to fend off wild dogs and animals. So I would still say there is never to much ammo.
My MBR (main battle rifle) is a .308 AR10. I have about 4,500 rounds for that total. Most being 147 gr NATO spec. The rest being hunting ammo and some high end match grade stuff I usually use in my sniper rifles of the same caliber. For the AR15's I like to have at least 2,000 rounds for each so I have quite a few (dozen) ammo cans full of it. For the shotguns I keep about 500 rounds of 00buck with each shotgun along with 500 rounds of bird shot for hunting small animals as well as 200 slugs. For the pistols at least 1000 rounds for each blaster of each caliber. I got about 3,000 rounds for my AK in Feb right before all this crap started and I got my first AK for Christmas. .22s are a target of opportunity and I buy as many as I can find when they go on sale. In 2013 I was down to my last 200 22lr rounds. Now I probably have 20k. As far as other calibers go like 30-30, 30-06, ect I keep about 500 rounds on hand because I don't shoot them all that often. I bought a case of '06 because it was on sale and I don't even own a rifle in that caliber. As far as mags go I have at least 5 to 10 for each rifle and pistol. This may seem excessive, but I could arm my own rifle squad if I had to. LOL Also this is a result of over 30 years of collecting and prepping. It takes a lot of diligence and patience but rome wasn't built in a day. Good luck out there on the wasteland.
I agree 100%. Many folks don't realize how many years and how much time has been put into getting prepared and storing ammo away. When people think about buying 10,000 rounds all at once it seems impossible. But as you have shown, eventually you can far surpass that if you just budget it out and buy while things are calm! Thanks for the input. Much appreciated.
@@MagicPrepper Thanks for the positive response. If you only dedicate $25 a week to ammo you can amass quite a stock pile over time. A case of federal 5.56 at PSA (BEFORE THE BEER VIRUS) was $300 with 10 MagPul Pmags. So if you ordered a case once every 3 months over the course of 3 years you would have accumulated 12,000 rounds. I bought out the entire stock of 5.56 and 9mm at about 5 different WalMarts in three different states last fall, while they were blowing it out on clearance when they decided to go all Mike Bloomberg and discontinue selling "assault weapon" and pistol ammo. The 5.56 was .25cents a round and the nine mm was as low as .13 cents a round for the American Eagle 115 grain FMJ stuff. Hind sight being 20/20 Im so glad I whipped out my Visa when I did. Now is not the time to stockpile ammo. Many of my friends didn't heed my warning when I told them it was time to buy. Now I'm waiting for UPS to pick up a case I'm sending to my brother in texas. I'm kind of pissed at him because he could have mail ordered as much ammo as he wanted. I live in NY and we can't buy ammo mail order any more due to the stupid Gov CHomo's "safe act" I had to pay top dollar for all my stuff for many years. If you live in a free state, follow the sales at PSA and when the prices come back down (or even when there is ammo available again) And if you follow my $25 a week formula you will be sitting pretty in a couple of years. Thanks Magic Prepper. Check out my channel. I think I'm going to do a video on my ammo procurement methods. I'll let you know when it is up. Happy good Friday and Easter. Jesus loves you (If you believe in that sort of thing.:)
Believe me, I'm just as bad about it sometimes... but it is best to keep some of the details 🤫.... at least in an open forum like this. I just say enough and maybe caliber.
Amen. I never let my factory 9mm get below 4000 rds. And I make sure I have the components to reload another 5000. When they cut off the ammo supply like they are moving toward in CA, to think they will overlook reloading is a fantasy.
@Cool Breeze look I am a Democrat and own 42 guns and have a shit ton of ammo but Republicans and the NRA will never let it happen.Though in case they do will be ordering more lol.
I’d say don’t forget size and weight for WROL/Bugging our. Also, for scavenging rounds the biggest thing to think of is choose what is more commonly used to be able to find the right rounds to feed your firearm.
I am one step above a novice when it comes to firearms, ammo,and SHTF, meaning I have watched a lot of videos, and that's all I'm gonna say about that. This is, by far, the most logical, relevant, clear-headed- thinkingist(is that a word?), easiest to understand, inclusive.........stop me anytime......video that I've ever seen on this subject. Fantastic video! Thanks Mr. Magic.
Not a problem at all Gene Matthews! Thank you for the kind words! If you ever have any questions about anything related to prepping, SHTF or firearms in general just leave me a comment and I will get back to you ASAP!
My worry has always been the “can’t use lead on the range “ ala Bradley from New Jersey who outlawed lead sinkers for fishing! Whatever I’m protecting my family that’s all I care about God bless you and us all
Really good video buddy! Great points and I like where your heads at. I like to have a few thousand rounds minimum for my main platform. I open a case and have 2 or 3 more. Each time I get to the end of a case I rotate and order a new one.
That's the hard part isn't it? It's so easy to head to the range and just grab some of the many boxes of ammo you have laying around the house but, best habits are buying more ammo specifically for range use.
I really wouldn't want to spend the amount of money and storage for how many magazines it would take to load up all of my reserves. Let's do math. A 25 round .308 Magpul Mag costs $24. At the cheapest, I can get 20 rounds of 7.62x51 for $13. So in order to fill the magazine, I would need two boxes. $26 plus the cost of the magazine is $50. Then, I can load 3 more magazines buy buying 1 box per magazine with the left overs of the first box. So $13 plus $24 is $37. Times that by 3 and you're at $111. + The original cost of the first two boxes and a magazine at $50 puts 4 Fully loaded magazines at $161. Or, I can buy 12 boxes of ammo by itself for $161 or 240 rounds vs the 100 rounds and 4 magazines for the same price. So honestly, Once you have enough magazines that you would be able to reload your weapon or leave your home to the point of comfort (6 per pistol, 10 per rifle minimum) it's probably better to just invest the rest in ammo. I have more than that many magazines right now but at a certain point, the amount of money you have to spend on magazines doesn't add up once you have enough for practicality sake. Does that make sense? If not let me know your thoughts!
I’m not arguing that you should load all your reserve, I’m at least 4 time over mag capacity, my argument is what good is 1000 rounds if your mag cap is 10 (sorry Cali) or 30? The original question has too many variables and requires a different answer for each individual. Some people will be confined by space, money or just the inability to find anything. I’m comfortable with the amount of mags loaded and ammo reserves. Do I want more, sure who doesn’t?
@@Futura_street Can't argue that! There is always room for more. What would you say your ammo to magazine purchase ratio is? (boxes to mags) Mine is about 5:1
How prophetic this video is.. ""are we worried about foreign invasion or pandemic?."" The pandemic was in wuhon and about to go global at this time. About a week later, my wife had a work trip planned and we were discussing whether she should stay home or not.. a week after that, flew to florida only to have the conference be canceled the next day. we were pissed. She made it home fine and is healthy but boy,, how quickly things went south.. The only thing I was wrong about,,,,???,,,, It was the toilet paper to disappear first... I hope this comment finds everyone safe and healthy. God bless.
Hey D A S I am not much of a prophet but, it definitely rang true didnt it? And I am 100% agreeing with you on the toilet paper prediction. I didn't see that one coming either.
We won’t go through a lot of ammo through gunfights. We go through a lot of ammo because of training. If one day we can’t buy ammo anymore then whatever we have is whatever we’ll get to train with for the rest of our lives. The stores of ammo I want is the same amount if I were not to ever able to buy another round I would still be able to shoot and train the same way for the rest of my life.
John Davis I’m not really worried about end of the wold type stuff. I’m worried about our country giving away our gun rights. I hope our world stays the same and keeps going like it is. If we ended up living in an episode of the walking dead then obviously you can’t shoot but if we can’t buy ammo anymore I can still shoot the stuff I have.
@SoulAnnoyed...well said...they are content to chip away a little at a time...elections are important...VOTE like a Constitution supporter this November!
Ultimately you need to cache your ammo in different locations. In a SHTF situation you don’t wanna be confined to one available space/area for all your ammo. If you have to leave you need to be able to get to a different source. Each cache should have a few hundred rounds of each caliber as well. Maybe it’s just me, but I believe this to be beneficial.
Atom Bomb, definitely a good idea! If you have strategic caches, especially along a bug out route, you are giving yourself a big advantage. Great advice!
It's always a good idea to have a second cach site but finding a cach site either hidden in a public lands or a very private place like hidden storage sight,ie hidden hunting cabin or private secluded private land.
Well I would think 1,000 shotshells is a great goal to shoot for. Just so you know, they can run anywhere from $.50 - $1.00 if you want 00 Buck or Slugs which are generally considered the more effective self defense rounds. However, you can get boxes of birdshot for $7 for 25 rounds! So if you go for a variety which I would suggest, getting to 1,000 will not be as difficult.
I’ve been looking online like crazy it is unreal with the shortage going on now but was able to find some from ammunition store they have hunting 223 full metal jacket and hollow points shipping was only $12 for 400 rounds not bad to stock up on some hunting ammo thx for your vids!
i want to add i have a TON of remington thunderbolts as well , they work great in my 10/22s, marlin 60 and m&p 15/22 and also my m&p compact pistol . no issues whatsoever . i have lots of cci stuff as well but the thunderbolts work great , just a little dirty
Thunderbolts are awesome. Mine are for my 10/22 exclusively though because my Walther P22 does not like to eat them. Which is fine because it gets the CCI Mini Mags instead
One of the better videos I've seen on this. I think of it this way. For me a realistic loadout for an AR15 is either 4 or 6 magazines (total) - four if I have to go somewhere on foot to procure some water from a nearby creek for instance, six if I'm in a vehicle or expecting trouble. I like to have two complete loadouts ready to go, so average it out to 5 mags per, call that 10 magazines. 10 magazines *30 rounds = 300 rounds Then I like to double that, 600 rounds. But I'm also the fall back point for a couple of my family members, I might have to arm them, so I like to be able to load them out too. That's another 300 rounds, keeps me at 900 rounds. So I tend to keep 15 magazines and 1000 rounds as a minimum. I have way more than that, but that's for other purposes. It's likely way, way overkill because I plan around a 72 hour event and not fighting. But I buy more than that because I sometimes go for as long as 2 years before I buy more. I buy cases of it when I think the price is as low as it's going to be for the foreseeable future. I just don't let myself go below that benchmark of 1000 rounds. Also I keep it down to two calibers, 5.56 and 9x19. I do throw a small amount of 38 Special in there because I might have to retrieve my mother, and that's the only ammunition she'll need and she won't need very much of it. I buy the cheapest thing that I trust (that tends to be the 62 grain M855 style loads in 5.56, I prefer Federal, and Blazer Brass 115 grain 9mm) that works good in all of my guns. Is that wise? I don't know, but you have to balance ammunition against other things you need, I feel okay so if I die because I don't have super good SHTF ammo you can tell me you told me so when I'm dead. And a complete exception, I keep 5000 rounds of bulk federal 22 LR (plus more than that in other brands), that's both to hedge the market and in some scenarios a .22 is coming with me. There's nothing special about the federal other than it works well in all of my various 22 LR firearms. For someone else it may be a different brand is better.
Thanks for the response Knottheory79220 I definitely agree on your math and reasoning here. I also agree on your ammunition choices. There is nothing wrong with bulk Federal or Blazer ammo for setting aside. It's great for training and will still do the job if there ever is a scenario where you might need it. There are a lot of people who will tell you to only stock premium ammo but, that isn't sensible for people who are on a budget and need to hit milestones! I agree with the .22lr choice as well. If you have a quality 22 rifle that will eat most anything, then why not?
I understand about having ammo , yet if /when SHTF , are you staying in place or bugging out . If bugging out can you effectively carry it all or decide what is most important of what you have along with , say sleeping bags , rope , medical supplies , clothing , foot wear , water , food , knife / machete , axe , etc . If staying in place is it defensible ? Or bugging out , is it safely feasible ? & who / how many are going with you ?& how far do you have to go ?
Definitely important things to consider when it comes to SHTF and ammo storage. Bugging out would mean access to very limited amounts of ammo. Which is why I suggested aiming for 1,000 rounds per caliber you own to start. That's more than you can efficiently bug out with but also enough to defend your home for a decent amount of time. Of course either scenario can fluctuate the amount you would need based on duration.
I like the vibes and enthusiasm. And you have some very good points. Subscribed. Might get some ideas for my own channel here. I look forward to watching in the future
Hey thank you for that! And definitely start a channel if you can. It's been a great experience so far and I'm learning a ton of good info from other people in our community. If you ever need advice on getting a channel going let me know!
If that's a legitimate offer, this account is my channel. Check it out and let me know what sort of improvements can be made. I'm doing this for the long haul, and I'm determined, so any advice is good advice.
I'm a little late to this party by a month. I just got my ar15. Ruger mpr 556. I never wanted an ar15 till people are saying that it will be hard to get one in the future, won't be able to get one. My dad reloads 223 for his bolt action rifle and now for my ar. I have dropped off more brass powder and bullets. I laugh as I type this. He should fill 3 or 4 ammo boxes. You should have seen the look on his face when I brought 2 boxes in and set it on mom and dad's kitchen table. Just a funny story though I would share it. But you said 1000 rounds is nothing for an ar15, 2 mags is 60 rounds and you can go through them so fast just in target shooting, wife who never even wanted to shoot likes shooting I guess it's our ar15 now. Lol so I am going to need to get her now. Which is awesome.
Congrats on joining the party! Once you have one, you'll realize you were missing out. I can't go back to having just a bolt action or lever action ever again haha! Thanks for the story!
That's awesome! Good to hear your wife has got the itch now LOL I got my girl a Ruger Precision Rimfire .22 last Christmas. Some may laugh at a .22 but it keeps nickel sized groups at 50 yards if you have the patience. Got her a 9mm Beretta APX this past Christmas, and since she likes the Infamous silhouette of an AK, just picked up an Arsenal slr95 for her. Got to find some blonde wood for that classic look though, and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to wait till Christmas to give it to her. Can't wait to see her reaction. 😁 Welcome to the family!
Congratulations on graduating from fuddery. Grow as far apart from fuddery as you can. Come to the dark side... 5 AR's, 60 magazines, thousands & thousands of rounds... You can do it!
Once you feel like you have enough ammo for yourself, what are your thoughts about buying more ammo to store for currency, bartering or trading purposes? After going through this pandemic, I've got friends that would have spent their life savings and emptied their pantries for .22, 9mm, 5.56 and 12 gauge.
Why would you barter ammo? You're arming potential enemies for later when things get real bad. Besides do you want to be known as "the guy with all the ammo" in the apocalypses? Leave your address below. Storing ammo, equipment, etc for friends is also a bad idea. Maybe an additional set of "security guard gear", because if my brother-in-law shows up during the end times he's going to work for his keep (that means fire watch and perimeter security) until he develops skills that are more useful. If you have money to spend on equipment for "friends" you have every prep you're ever going to need already? Think long term. That brother-in-law will need to be fed and housed for years potentially. Better to align yourself with like minded individuals who won't be leaning on you. My life is hard now, SHTF it's going to get a lot harder, and the last thing I want is to have to support the people that laughed at me while they all built their homes out of straw and wood.
@@daze4341 so I had a very humid basement before I moved. None of my brass showed any corrosion but, I did get a dehumidifier just to be safe. The military operates in all environments and their ammo stays usable for long periods of time. Luckily the components used are generally resistant.
Great video I feel ok with minimal 5k 22s, 2k 7.62 2k 5.56/223 2k9mm 3-k in supplies to load 9mm/45s 1k45s 400-12ga. 300-20ga. 200-30.06 500-8mm 20loaded Ak mags 20 loaded 223/5.56 mags 250 rds 9mm in mags. 300 22s in mags. Oh and a few drums 4,of 7.62 I’m comfortable starting with that. Did I forget anything 👊🏼
I like your style sir! I wouldn't hate having 100,000 rounds of each caliber I need but, I agree. I am very comfortable with much less than that. Do you rotate your loaded mags out? Or do you just keep them stored that way indefinitely?
Magic Prepper thanks the 22s and 9mm I use the others 223/5.56 & 7.62x39 mags store great in 50 mm ammo cans 10 mags fit snugly in those cans staggered. They stack great 👍🏻
Prepare for the worst and it will cover all the other bases. One of the worst possible situations is a permanent collapse meaning ammo aint ever restocking on the shelves. Stock as much as possible. You also need to have a stockpile for training purposes to maintain your skills.
A serious prepper would reload their own ammo. No dependency on current situation or political environment. With a reasonable up front investment (prepping) you can make custom ammo for multiple calibers and as much as you want for training. Cost per round is less than half of retail in some calibers like 45 acp or 38/357..
Well that's why I do reload! I want to make a video on it for beginners but, I don't want to give anyone any bad information surrounding the topic. Do you think a basic overview would be acceptable? Or would I need to do the nitty gritty of explaining every single step and all the terminology, etc etc?
I see what your purpose was now. Good call. As to a reloading video it is very detail oriented so my thought would be a very high level maybe touching on the cost savings or flexibility it offers. Thanks for posting good subject.
Primers will be the issue in the future. You can stock pile both powder and primers fairly cheaply and just pick the brass up at the range and your are all set. i am sure I could reload 25k rounds if the dems made the primers go away.
@@masterbroadsword3214 am I the only one that noticed when you buy the 100 ct boxes, its actually cheaper than buying the 1000ct boxes? What's that about?!
The way is see it is you don’t need anything more than an at pistol. If they’re too far to reach out and touch with it then they’re too far to be considered an immediate threat. 5.56 is extremely common and having a smaller lighter package is easier to carry 24/7. It also has pretty decent ballistics within 150 meters which like I said if they’re further they aren’t an immediate threat. And if you’re allowing yourself to be a target to someone that far away you’re doing something wrong.
AR pistols definitely have a purpose. It all depends on environment and expectation of threat. There is also the question of penetration if you're talking about armor, vehicles, cover and what not. I chose a 308 for my area because of niche environmental factors and the near non existence of anything resembling an urban environment. However, anywhere else an AR pistol would be a good choice.
I agree with your philosophy on staying with NATO rounds due to availability after SHTF. Only caliber I still need to add is either 7.62 or 6.5c for my "Reach out and touch ya" gun. Cant decide on availability vs accuracy at 1k yard. With the military heading 6.5 I think I will probably go that way for future SHTF events.
I am very interested and excited about the 6.5 switch. If it really is a do it all round then it could be the perfect survival caliber as well. I hope they design a weapon platform specifically for it too. Instead of just shoving things into the M4 platform over and over again.
Making my way through the back issue videos. My own choice is on either side of 7.62 x 51, being 30.06 and 5.56/.233. Most of the.223 is fmj but I’ve sourced some soft point in case it had to be used for hunting, its primary role would be self defense. The 30.06 went the other way: mostly soft point with a couple hundred rounds of surplus fmj. The gun’s role would be primarily hunting, the fmj for harder targets. With an in between (your .308), I’d make some attempt to have some soft point on hand. For hunting purposes, fmj just plain doesnt knock game down as effectively. As someone else mentioned, reloading is another good idea. The problem i have encountered with some surplus 30.06 that may apply to 7.62 x 51 is that its case isn’t really made for reloading, primers don’t fit or the neck won’t size down, so commercial “hunting” brass may be a better option than milspec. With basic reloading gear, its possible to salvage 30/30, 30.06 or possibly .300 winmag for use in a .308 (but not 7.62 x 39, the bullets are measured on a separate scale and actually measure .311 as opposed to .308). Long story short: some expanding soft point rounds as well as fmj diversify your portfolio.
Definitely something I have considered and have! My barrel has a 1:10 twist so it actually shoots the 180gr soft points really well. I stock some of the Remington Core Lok stuff for that reason. It is only about $15 a box of 20 but still has the soft point capability and heavier bullet. Seems to shoot well actually.
1000 friends with ammo, never happen, a few good friends with ammo is better. Only your closest friends you trust with your life are the only ones who should know what you have.🤫
Clearly stated comments. The insurmountable problem I foresee is that short of living in a bunker it is impossible to plan ahead for absolutely every scenario. Many folks tali about stacking thousands of rounds but never get into discussing "How many rounds can you reasonably carry?" (along with any other gear) in a pedestrian SHTF situation.
Yes that is definitely something people should consider. I guarantee you can't bug out with 1,000's of rounds of ammo. But, I guess in the event that you are unable to purchase ammo or forced to stay at your location for a long period of time, having the surplus of ammo would be beneficial. Great points!
If your first answer is "imma shoot whoever get's in my grill", you should not be allowed to have a gun to begin with, so answer is 0 You're also not a 1 man army, there is no way that you'll be killing thousands of people. If you're a good shot, you'll only need a couple rounds to kill your target (if you're a hunter), as a weapon should be a deterring factor for other people. So, put aside 300 bullets for people (you'll die well before you can shoot em all) and the rest for hunting. And even then, a gun for hunting is a bad idea ... it would be better to go silent (crossbow / bow) and profit from the fact that you have reusable "ammo", and you're silent, won't be attracting nefarious people to your location, or scaring away future food. Just look at statistics, most violent encounters have people shooting on average 2-3 shots, you're not in the military, you're not in a unit ... you ain't gonna be shooting at people 99.9% of the time. And in SHTF, you ain't really gonna be going to the range, shooting ammo, drawing attention. The time for training skills is before shtf, not when it's already too late. Just my two cents. Correct answer however to this question is simply: however many you want. Just don't be giving it away (barter), you really should not be equipping people who could turn against you. "Hey, here's a knife ... but don't stab me !! lolz" "get's stabbed".
Hopefully no one thinks of this as a reason to just go out guns blazing. The whole point is to have enough ammo to be comfortable for a long period of time without worrying about being low. SHTF could be as simple as guns or ammo being restricted to the point of no longer having access. Going to the range and training will still be possible but, refilling your reserves may not be. That is why I like to have extra ammo stashed away. Also, living in CA for 10 years might have made me this way. And yes, as many as you want is the answer most people will agree with. But 20 rounds is still the wrong answer in my opinion. Haha yes, please don't arm your enemies.
How much do I have vs how much do I need. You really don’t need more than you can carry. I have way more than that for training. Have all you need already loaded in mags. Plan on not making your way back to your ammo stash once the violence starts. Personally, I have 300 5.56 and 150 9mm ready in mags. 10x that much is stored.
Great way to look at the ratio. That's where a lot of folks get concluded. The idea that you won't be alive if "you have to shoot 1000 rounds" isn't the point. The point is to have enough ammo for training and any other purpose you might need it for in the long term. Especially if access is restricted.
@@michigunsanta8680 My ammo is in its own gun safe. One large safe hold a lot of ammo (that one is all hand gun) and my other safe holds all the rifle ammo (and the 50 cal rifle).
@@masterbroadsword3214 a safe can be opened in a couple minutes. you need ammo and gear stored somewhere else close to you....a small storage unit can be had for less than 50 a month....
I have one of the medium sized ammo cans filled with 22LR and it holds just about 3,000 rounds that are still in the boxes so if you were to dump them out and have them be loose you could probably fit 4000. The skinny ammo can will hold about 1500 of the 22 WMR still in the boxes, probably closer to 2500 to 3000 and a hell of a lot more loose.
Handgun is a backup weapon no one should have just a handgun for a shtf situation go with a 5.56 or .762x51 or you aren’t going to make it in any situation.
I agree but, if you are only going to own 1 firearm then, you're probably best off with a handgun. For the purpose of concealment, ease of carry and it's versatility during non SHTF times.
DRON PARKER if you have to stay low key and wanna travel and go get supplies walking around with a battle rifle or shotgun totally outs you as someone who has things people will want. Your gonna need concealable hand guns, I even have a backpack with a Sub2K with a few 33rd Glock mags if your out and things get crazy. 👍🏻
Magic Prepper oh they are great, they’re so light and stowable! People think they’re junk cause it’s Keltec but the truth is they’re as reliable or more so than many PCCs! 👍🏻
Yep that is a huge advantage and one of the main reasons that 7.62x39 is often not the best choice for North America. If you are in Eastern Europe then sure but here, it's much less prevalent. I chose the 7.62x51 NATO for the same reason that makes the 5.56 a good choice. Not as abundant as 5.56 but still carried by military units for M60's and all the SASS's out there so better than choosing some obscure caliber like 300 Blackout or 6.5 Creedmor (for now anyways)
That’s the reason .223/.556 is my SHTF WROL choice caliber, also we had to qualify on the M-16 in the USAF so I was already more familiar with the platform. I bought one in 2012 during the “Obama is coming for your assault rifles” scare and hadn’t shot one in over 20 years and picked it up right where I had left off just like riding a bike! 👍🏻
Can you please let us know where is all that government ammo laying around ? Are you planning to break into a police station or military depot ? Let us know how this concept of “laying around “ works ?
The same is true for 9mm luger. It's a NATO round that the US military stockpiles, both for its own needs as well as its NATO allies. So, if things got really bad and the military was deployed in the "zone of the interior," you would have some scrounging opportunities.
When it came to collecting ammo for my 12 gauge, the only affordable ammo was only number 7-1/2 and 9 birdshot! The only affordable way to get either Buckshot or slugs is to load them yourself. It's ridiculously easy to do and so cheap to buy all the equipment you will need! You can get 500 wads for around ten bucks. You can get 100 once fired hulls for $7 You can buy a used reloading press for under $50. You can buy a used lead Melting Pot for under $50. You can buy a buckshot mold or a slug mold for about $30. So for the price of 200 store-bought slug loads you can buy all the equipment to make your own, end up keeping the equipment when you are done, and you will have 500 rounds of slugs, ALL for the same price!
archangel20031 I have different size buckshot molds, slug molds and an Otis Shot maker with two sets of drippers . Where are you getting your hulls from? I’m looking for a reasonably priced source for good hulls with decent shipping and maybe even a military discount. PM me if you’d rather not put you source in public. Thanks
You can buy 250 rounds of 00buck for $85 rifled slugs I have found for $6 for 10. Reloading shotgun shells is like loading 5.56. It makes absolutely zero sense unless you just like doing it.
@@MagicPrepper winchester green hull 2 and 3/4 inch 00buck. I just looked and for the exact same shells right now is $243 WTF! I just bought mine not 5 weeks ago. I'll try to find where I ordered them from and post a link for when they become available. Bass pro has Herters 12gjage 00buck available right now,so they say. They are $4.95 for 10 rounds and 1pz. Rifled slugs. I have never had any issues with them either
When I first got into prepping I had to weigh the whole AR vs AK routes of what to stockpile - needless to say I went with AR as the ammo is more plentiful as is spare parts and so on. I invested into the main NATO rounds 5.56 and 9mm, but I also went to the other most common calibers like 12 gauge, 45ACP, 300 blackout, and most recently the 30-06.
Variety is important but I agree with your NATO caliber selection. And I also agree on the AR over AK selection for the same reason. I do love 30-06 as a caliber as well. What platform is that? Bolt Action? M1 Garand?
@@MagicPrepper Bolt action, it's a very lightly used Remington Sportsman 78 from the early 1980's with a Bushnell scope. The only downside is that it's an ADL instead of a BDL magazine but for $200 I ain't complaining.
@@MagicPrepper Same as BDL, the BDL, has a trap door to unload the magazine, without cycling the rounds through the chamber. It's a safer way to unload the rifle that's all. One thing I forgot to mention is that for some reason I can find 30-06 ammo easier than 308. Go figure.
@@ronstryker thats right the trapdoor is the BDL. I used to own an ADL and I did wish for something a little better. 30-06 isn't as sought after as the .308 just because of its limited presence on the semi-auto platform. I assume anyway.
There are affordable options for good SD munitions as well. I get Federal Train and Protect for my handguns. Reloading is also a good skill to learn and there is equipment that can be carried with you if you have to travel
Being able to cache along bug out routes or to alternate bases of operations would be ideal. I haven't dove in to the world of burying ammo yet... but one of these days!
I say keep at least 10k rounds per caliber and an additional 1k for each gun you own. So lets say you own two 9mm pistols and three 5.56 rifles, you should keep 12k rounds of 9 and 13k rounds of 556 as an example. It is a sound policy. Also, keep AT LEAST 10 full capacity LOADED mags per firearm, plus 1 dedicated test mag. Similar theory there too. Most people will never understand how crucial keeping ENOUGH ammo is and mags too. That supply will still be ran through, but at a perfect pace. You will see. ALWAYS keep in mind that Mags are CONSUMABLES. Even when you own 10+ mags per firearm, it is a good odea to consistently but another 1-2 mags here and there. AND ROTATE THEM!!! I am so on top of things this way. I try to buy 1k rounds per month for at least 1 firearm. Keep building up 1k rounds at a time until you have the required/recommended amount. It will build up so quick. Thank me later.
Well, I’d look it at this way. What’s more effective, 500 of trained rounds or 2000 of untrained stocked piled rounds? Reason being, most (not all obviously) never took the time to go and get actual tactical training for whatever their excuses. Because someone with tactical training Vs the untrained guy, can easily end a gun fight rather quickly and capture the other guys shit and ammo. So go ahead and stock pile, but if you’re not equally putting rounds down range and investing in training, you’re doing it all wrong.
Yup you can't argue with training and proper technique! I hope everyone understands that while you stockpile, you still have to spend ammo for training. It's actually part of stockpiling in my mind. You want to be able to train down the road if there is ever a shortage or long term event.
I commonly have this discussion with my Oldman I was in the infantry for 5 years lots of training my dad got me into guns never got extra training and he talks about using distance for his advantage which where we life yea but add the issue of close quarters and not practicing those engagement range how can he expect to hit that yes the round can but can you
We don't do as much live fire training as we used to, I have a smokeless range set up in my basement and a LASR set up in my upstairs apartment, we use those for most of our training. Saves a lot on ammo cost and time.
@@MagicPrepper One of my favorite parts of the smokeless range is the video scenario trainer, it has about 70 preloaded scenarios and you can make your own scenarios too. The house we bought used to be apartments, one in the basement, one on the main level and one on the 2nd level, we don't rent out the apartments, to much of a hassle in a small town. We use the apartment on the 2nd level as a guest room and a force on force/room clearing training area. I had thought about doing force-on-force training outside with my wife, but with the cops we have in town chasing my wife around with a training knife and her using an airsoft gun that wouldn't be a good idea if you know what I mean.
@@brianstein3146 haha I guess I would have to be slightly concerned if I were to witness that as well. The laser training scenarios are awesome. I have done one before where we switched from Afghanistan to Detroit and it was a blast!
At least 1000rds of each essential round, maybe more like 3000 of 22lr. That's the back stock that doesn't get touched. And then a separate pile for the stuff you actually use for practice. And you can swap out the oldest stuff from your stockpile as it ages and shoot the old stuff. Of course, more is always, always better.
Do you reload ammunition? I have a small gun Channel on UA-cam where I do a lot of reloading. It's a good idea to be able to reload the cartridges in which you have guns for. Thanks for the video and information, Echo.
Hey I do reload actually! It is a great time to be able to do so isn't it? I was thinking of doing just a basic overview, intro video for reloading. Especially now.
@@MagicPrepper yeah if you're interested in doing a live stream Hangout with stream yard or Zoom let me know. Be glad to come on and give you a hand. Just an idea. Echo
A military battle rifle loadout is 300 rounds, but only a few mags for your sidearm. That in mind, it stands to reason you need a lot less handgun ammo than battle rifle ammo
I see guys at the range reloading their mags while shooting. Me , I pay for an hour and never have to refill the mags while shooting. Is that enough? Not yet
my thoughts are a lot different i try to keep mostly hunting ammo the fmj is great for teaching people how to shoot im thinking i will be hunting game animals and if it is needed for self defense i want to stop them not just hurt them thats when the expanding bullets come into play i have put up 1500 rounds for each centerfire for each firearm i own and enough reloading supplies to keep them well fed as far a 22lr i dont really think you can stock up enough when sandy hook happened i had almost 12000 rounds of 22lr and before it came back in stock i was down to 2500 rounds but we plan to bug in as far as shotgun ammo i have a big mix of shells from 2.75inch up to 3.5 inch turkey loads and buckshot slugs and targets loads of 8 shot to 4 shot hunting loads
Understandable reasoning you have there. And I completely agree with you on the .22lr. People forget quickly how fast that disappeared. And 12ga does a lot when it comes to covering those different bases. So the main reason I stock up on FMJ's is cost. Otherwise I would love to just have soft points. But the quantities are so much different then.
since 2015-2016 ive made it a point to get a good stockpile. the 22 and other caliber shortages made a believer out of me . as of now i have 5k of 5.56, 60k rounds of 22LR , 7k rounds of 9mm and about 500 rds of buckshot , and 500rds of game loads. also have a couple hundred 380, 30/30. i have almost 1k of 40s&w for my EDC Glock 23, both ball and remington HTPs . i wish i had bought more 5.56 when it was under 300 bucks a case for federal stuff but it is what it is . i feel fairly comfortable . i have many firearms that include duplicates and a nice supply of spare parts.
I completely agree with you on that one. I remember the .22 ammo shortage well. That was a weird time period where paying $50 for 500 rounds of .22lr was normal. What?! So I promised myself never to be in that position again. And here we are again. This time with 5.56 and 9mm
1000 rounds per firearm, and they would be in this order. 22,223-5.56, 9mm, and 308. Start with that, then add more. Lead will be worth more than gold if it all dries up. I type this as I'm getting ready to load some 308's. Reload if you can!
"100 rounds of 9mm isn't expensive, maybe $20-$25 bucks" Ahh yes the good old days, I sure miss them.
Ikr
Oh it keeps getting better and better
Definitely....lol
$11 to $25 😥
Lol looks like this video was uploaded just right before the pandemic LOL
Just don't buy ammo from Cheaper Than Dirt during any sort of emergency. You'll go broke in about ten minutes.
I hope no one buys ammo from them ever again.
They need to be punished by the 2A community.
Though Price gouging is not necessarily illegal, it is most definitely immoral.
Thanks MP
@@PowderMill just remember these price gouging businesses, and make sure they never get another penny of your business.
their shady shipping rates on anything you order alone is a ripoff
They need to change their name from Cheaper Than Dirt to higher than hell
Don't under estimate the 22 LR, it will be better than throwing rocks!
Never underestimate the mighty .22lr! It really is an amazing little round. And as long as I own my 10/22, I will feel good about it's reliability.
It depends upon the size of the rock and how big your catapult is.
Christopher Hollister lmao^
Agreed, we got 4 10/22 lr...with thousands of rounds. And, multiple 25 rounds magazines and 15 rounds mags...plus, a bunch of other high caliber rifles and handguns..
@@YaoZerZ they are such an important part of any prepper arsenal. 10/22's are a perfect rifle in my experience. I literally won't buy anything else.
Buy as much as you can every year for the rest of your life. If you have some left over at the end of life, your children will praise your diligence.
Haha it is actually a nice heirloom isn't it?
@@MagicPrepper I plan on shooting as much of that inheritance as I am able. I plan on continuing to buy what I reasonably am able to buy for the rest of my life. Let me say without exact numbers, my goal is to have as many 10's of thousands of 22 lr as I am able as well as the same for handgun. I maintain several thousand rounds of large caliber rifle ammo. The wife and I like to practice as often as we can at our outdoor range. We are both in our mid 60's and shooting sports helps us maintain many skills. Now that I'm retired, field stripping, cleaning, and lubing firearms keeps up my fine motor skills. ( I hear some snickers) One objective I have that many younger shooters do not, that is, I never sell any firearms. I never trade up. I will never barter my ammo, ever...even if everything hits the fan.
If you don't have kids, or if the only time you see your kids is when you see them is on Fox News wearing a mask and protesting (rioting) in Portland (which is the same as not having kids) make sure you have a plan to get that ammo to someone who deserves it.
There is no such thing as enough ammo.
Haha that is definitely the right answer no matter who you are.
The Angry Canuck youll be dead before you get to use it all. Pray you dont ever need to use more than 10 rounds.
I agree. My better half does not, however.
@@MrInzombia perhaps, perhaps not. I do hope I never have to exchange rounds with another person ever again in my life. I am well aware of what a persons life expectancy is in a fire fight.
@@JohnDavis-im1oy hopefully all I'll need to do is practice. Fire fights are not pleasant.
heres the thing...if you go through several hundred rounds without taking a hot one yourself then you're either really ninja or really lucky..... either way... if you go through 100's of rounds and need more than a mag or two then it is too late and you will need more help than the amount of ammo you can carry.....the ar type rifle and a 1000 rounds fantasy for the end of the world is just that... a fantasy....the likelihood of some old timer with a 30-06 hiding in his hay loft and giving you a new hole to breath out of before you go through your 1000's of rounds is a lot more likely.....
Yup no argument here. But, having more is never a bad thing in the grand scheme of things. Of course there are scenarios where the amount you have wouldn't matter. And if you have to bug out of course you can only carry so much. But, if it's a long term event and you want to train, teach and practice then having the extra rounds to take to the range might be useful.
or worse yet , the 15 year old Call of Duty addict taking you out from 500 yds with pappys savage 99
michael p Says he couch potato in mamma’s basement. Ammo is not just for protection, it’s also just like money only when SHTF hits you can trade for food and necessities! Waiting until it’s too late to buy after the panic is not going to get you any ammo!
@@Iceberg050 Michael P is correct; "prepping" involves a lot more than ammo. For example ibuprofen, peroxide, bandages...heck even a can opener will be a valuable in a SHTF situation. You can have stock piles of ammo but it won't help you if you are about to die from a fever.
54 year old "Old Timer" here - love my 30-06. Even reload for it - single stage of course! :)
Saying “oh I have enough ammo” is like saying I have “enough gold”. Ammo is a poor mans gold
This is true. There never is enough ammo. But, giving yourself a goal to shoot for is a more effective way to put more away. At least it worked for me anyway
That’s one thing I haven’t thought about much, in a WROL serious SHTF senario excess ammo could be used as a bartering tool, currency if you will for other items. 👍🏻
@@michigunsanta8680 I would not do any bartering with my ammo, not even for food. You can still shoot your food. In any case, barter anything but your guns and ammo.
Mike Weaks I’m thinking more of a friend that maybe you cared about who maybe had more food stored and you’re running out and you have plenty of guns and ammo and they don’t have much or any...I’m not talking about giving it all away to strangers. 👌
Mike Weaks
“You can still shoot your food “
How much deers and wildlife are out there to sustain country of over 300 million?
Do you know how much cows get slaughtered ever year to feed this population ?
Ok, I get it - not everyone is a hunter, but you guys ( and I don’t blame you for it in survival scenario) will decimate all edible wild life pretty soon
You will not hunt only what you need at the moment - you will “ hoard “ it - just what you are doing with ammo at the moment
How much ammunition did you recently pick up during everything that is going on right now? And, how are you storing that ammo for the long term? If you need some basic tips on long term ammo storage, check out this video: ua-cam.com/video/WKRzWdMEtjY/v-deo.html
I got a spam can of 54r off sg ammo for like 200 bucks
One thing you did not consider is that expending rounds in a SHTF scenario would mean that you went up against an adversary (and won) so you would take what they have (to the victor goes the spoils). So if you feel that you will have to engage a foe, most aggressors will not try an empty handed approach. No small group (
A thousand rounds per gun is just silly. 1000 rounds of .22 is absolutely nothing. 1000 of .44 mag is a lot. 1000 rounds of 12 gauge is a ton. There’s not a set number for each caliber
But it's still good to have goals!
1,000 rounds? Wow, you really think SHTF is going to be short lived.
Well this is just a starting point. A lot of people have a hard time knowing where to start and when you tell someone to get 10,000 rounds of ammo when they don't even have 100 yet it seems overwhelming. So I was just hoping to help set a realistic goal for people who wanted to get started. And as you probably know, once you have 1,000, it will become 5,000 quickly
Magic Prepper I am just busting your... chops. I remember way back when I thought one box of ammo was enough. Then I heard that 1,000 was a good goal. Then I took a rifle class where we burned through 3,000 rounds in 4 days. Now my goals are a bit higher.
@@tom_olofsson I wont lie, I am jealous of whatever rifle class that was.
Magic Prepper Tactical Response Fighting Rifle and Advanced Fighting Rifle back to back. Each class is 2 days. 4 glorious days of running and gunning. It was really good. Worth the cost and the time.
@@MagicPrepper I,VE GOT OVER 10000 OF JUST 9MM,IM READY....
Dana Loesch once said, and I modified it a little bit..There are three rules to firearm ownership:
1. You can never have too many guns.
2. You can never have too much ammo.
3. Refer to rule #'s 1. and 2.
Haha definitely great words of advice. Especially rule number 3.
Damn can't believe 8 months ago 11.99 for a box of 50 9mm. I just paid $29.99 for a box of 50 due to circumstance....
I just pulled out some old boxes of 7.62X39 for $2.99 almost 10 years ago I got it at Walmart.
Just my opinion- in a long term SHTF scenario ammunition becomes currency. I think this is one of the most overlooked considerations. 22lr will be one of the most valuable commodities. You will trade ammo for other goods. In a prolonged situation where food becomes scare large game will quickly be wiped out. Small game will be a much more reliable source of food. You will want to waste as little meat as possible and that means 22. Also if you want to attract less attention a subsonic 22 will get you noticed much less than a 223 or 308. Also more people will have 22 guns than any other making 22 ammo even more sought after. Then there is the fact that the small size and low cost of 22 make it easy to store and carry large quantities. IMO 22 ammo is something to stockpile in the 10s of thousands of rounds. On a personal note, that thunderbolt ammo is garbage in my experience. Get some CCI 40gr standard velocity if you can. It's clean, reliable, accurate, and subsonic.
I agree that .22lr will be extremely useful in a full blown SHTF event. I stock a ton of it for that reason. But, I will say it isn't always the most reliable ammunition. Which is why it isn't the best for defensive purposes. Almost everything else it is awesome for though.
@@MagicPrepper I agree with you. I definitly would not rely on a 22 for defense. I personally would carry my shotgun loaded with breneke black magic slugs and my 22 pistol with CCI standard velocity. Not being noticed from far away could be a consideration in SHTF and i think thats where 22s shine. A suppressed air gun is also a valuable tool. There are some modern air rifles that produce as low as 80db but are capable of taking game up to the size of a racoon (which might be on the menu). I think you're totally right about the versatility of a shotgun and carrying extra shells with different loads.
@@Rascal77s glad we are on the same page Rascal! I still don't own a suppressor but I am working on it.
Rascal77s I’m very new to firearms, just this year. I keep hearing about how unreliable 22 rounds are. I
I had some problems the first time I took my 15-22 to the range, but I think that was before I cleaned it. Since then I haven’t had a single misfire. Is it really that u reliable. I’ve got a m&p compact 22, it doesn’t misfire either. Not yet at least.
@@LKaramazov imo modern rimfire is pretty reliable. But like any ammo it depends on brand. CCI is know for excellent 22. Aguila has also worked extremely well. I purchased a couple of bricks of Winchester white box. I went through about 100 rounds and 25% of them failed. I checked the rounds to make sure I wasn't getting light strikes. I wasn't. I reloaded some of them to get to or 3 strikes on the primer and still they failed to ignite. Take my advice and stick with cci and aguila if you can. I've won 25m bullseye matches using CCI standard velocity 40gr. and it's cheap.
As much as you can just keep buying and stacking it deep.
I can't argue that!
Most people need to practice more than they need to stack it deep.
Hit the nail on the head with this one. Great work brother!!
Thank you! Tried to put it in to some perspective. Now I need to start stockpiling Mana Crypts...
Great video! Lots of different scenarios that can happen so I keep multiple firearms in the same caliber for that reason. Thanks for all you do!
Thank you! Yes it's definitely good to have redundancy!
I’ve always been told to have a thousand rounds per gun.
That's a great start. And it can only go up from there!
I figured id just go one can per caliber. But i only have one gun per caliber, works for me.
I honestly never understood the whole 1000 rounds per caliber recommendation. If you have to use even 100 to 200 rounds to defend your house or place of residence you should probably think about leaving and getting to a safer place as you are putting yourself family and loved one's at greater risk.
I would imagine that someone could or would, use a large share of ammo while hunting to feed their families or even to fend off wild dogs and animals. So I would still say there is never to much ammo.
My MBR (main battle rifle) is a .308 AR10. I have about 4,500 rounds for that total. Most being 147 gr NATO spec. The rest being hunting ammo and some high end match grade stuff I usually use in my sniper rifles of the same caliber. For the AR15's I like to have at least 2,000 rounds for each so I have quite a few (dozen) ammo cans full of it. For the shotguns I keep about 500 rounds of 00buck with each shotgun along with 500 rounds of bird shot for hunting small animals as well as 200 slugs. For the pistols at least 1000 rounds for each blaster of each caliber. I got about 3,000 rounds for my AK in Feb right before all this crap started and I got my first AK for Christmas. .22s are a target of opportunity and I buy as many as I can find when they go on sale. In 2013 I was down to my last 200 22lr rounds. Now I probably have 20k. As far as other calibers go like 30-30, 30-06, ect I keep about 500 rounds on hand because I don't shoot them all that often. I bought a case of '06 because it was on sale and I don't even own a rifle in that caliber.
As far as mags go I have at least 5 to 10 for each rifle and pistol.
This may seem excessive, but I could arm my own rifle squad if I had to. LOL Also this is a result of over 30 years of collecting and prepping. It takes a lot of diligence and patience but rome wasn't built in a day. Good luck out there on the wasteland.
I agree 100%. Many folks don't realize how many years and how much time has been put into getting prepared and storing ammo away. When people think about buying 10,000 rounds all at once it seems impossible. But as you have shown, eventually you can far surpass that if you just budget it out and buy while things are calm! Thanks for the input. Much appreciated.
@@MagicPrepper Thanks for the positive response. If you only dedicate $25 a week to ammo you can amass quite a stock pile over time. A case of federal 5.56 at PSA (BEFORE THE BEER VIRUS) was $300 with 10 MagPul Pmags. So if you ordered a case once every 3 months over the course of 3 years you would have accumulated 12,000 rounds. I bought out the entire stock of 5.56 and 9mm at about 5 different WalMarts in three different states last fall, while they were blowing it out on clearance when they decided to go all Mike Bloomberg and discontinue selling "assault weapon" and pistol ammo. The 5.56 was .25cents a round and the nine mm was as low as .13 cents a round for the American Eagle 115 grain FMJ stuff. Hind sight being 20/20 Im so glad I whipped out my Visa when I did. Now is not the time to stockpile ammo. Many of my friends didn't heed my warning when I told them it was time to buy. Now I'm waiting for UPS to pick up a case I'm sending to my brother in texas. I'm kind of pissed at him because he could have mail ordered as much ammo as he wanted. I live in NY and we can't buy ammo mail order any more due to the stupid Gov CHomo's "safe act" I had to pay top dollar for all my stuff for many years. If you live in a free state, follow the sales at PSA and when the prices come back down (or even when there is ammo available again) And if you follow my $25 a week formula you will be sitting pretty in a couple of years. Thanks Magic Prepper. Check out my channel. I think I'm going to do a video on my ammo procurement methods. I'll let you know when it is up. Happy good Friday and Easter. Jesus loves you (If you believe in that sort of thing.:)
Believe me, I'm just as bad about it sometimes... but it is best to keep some of the details 🤫.... at least in an open forum like this. I just say enough and maybe caliber.
I view ammo stockpile more for when the Dems go after the ammo supply. So the Democrat's gun/ammo elimination schemes are my greatest fear.
Being that I lived in California for years, I have to agree with this sentiment
That’s probably a more likely threat I agree. Dems or anti-2nd Repubs either or.
Amen. I never let my factory 9mm get below 4000 rds. And I make sure I have the components to reload another 5000. When they cut off the ammo supply like they are moving toward in CA, to think they will overlook reloading is a fantasy.
@Cool Breeze look I am a Democrat and own 42 guns and have a shit ton of ammo but Republicans and the NRA will never let it happen.Though in case they do will be ordering more lol.
@@twinrivers6200 bye bye NRA, I think both sides are okay with that 😂🥉
I’d say don’t forget size and weight for WROL/Bugging our. Also, for scavenging rounds the biggest thing to think of is choose what is more commonly used to be able to find the right rounds to feed your firearm.
Good advice and definitely something to consider.
Sometimes I go back and watch your old videos. Still relevant still good.
Thanks!
I am one step above a novice when it comes to firearms, ammo,and SHTF, meaning I have watched a lot of videos, and that's all I'm gonna say about that. This is, by far, the most logical, relevant, clear-headed- thinkingist(is that a word?), easiest to understand, inclusive.........stop me anytime......video that I've ever seen on this subject. Fantastic video!
Thanks Mr. Magic.
Not a problem at all Gene Matthews! Thank you for the kind words! If you ever have any questions about anything related to prepping, SHTF or firearms in general just leave me a comment and I will get back to you ASAP!
Just a suggestion, get some training from a qualified war fighter. Congrats on taking the step to own firearms, you’re halfway there. 🙂
@@BretAllen1 Agreed!
My worry has always been the “can’t use lead on the range “ ala Bradley from New Jersey who outlawed lead sinkers for fishing! Whatever I’m protecting my family that’s all I care about God bless you and us all
yup they are making it harder and harder to acquire and use ammunition everyday. Another point many fail to consider! Thanks
Really good video buddy! Great points and I like where your heads at. I like to have a few thousand rounds minimum for my main platform. I open a case and have 2 or 3 more. Each time I get to the end of a case I rotate and order a new one.
That's the hard part isn't it? It's so easy to head to the range and just grab some of the many boxes of ammo you have laying around the house but, best habits are buying more ammo specifically for range use.
Thank you excellent I’ve learned a lot
Thank you very much for your videos I am learning a lot
The amount of ammo you have is meaningless if it’s not in a magazine
I really wouldn't want to spend the amount of money and storage for how many magazines it would take to load up all of my reserves. Let's do math. A 25 round .308 Magpul Mag costs $24. At the cheapest, I can get 20 rounds of 7.62x51 for $13. So in order to fill the magazine, I would need two boxes. $26 plus the cost of the magazine is $50. Then, I can load 3 more magazines buy buying 1 box per magazine with the left overs of the first box. So $13 plus $24 is $37. Times that by 3 and you're at $111. + The original cost of the first two boxes and a magazine at $50 puts 4 Fully loaded magazines at $161. Or, I can buy 12 boxes of ammo by itself for $161 or 240 rounds vs the 100 rounds and 4 magazines for the same price. So honestly, Once you have enough magazines that you would be able to reload your weapon or leave your home to the point of comfort (6 per pistol, 10 per rifle minimum) it's probably better to just invest the rest in ammo. I have more than that many magazines right now but at a certain point, the amount of money you have to spend on magazines doesn't add up once you have enough for practicality sake. Does that make sense? If not let me know your thoughts!
I’m not arguing that you should load all your reserve, I’m at least 4 time over mag capacity, my argument is what good is 1000 rounds if your mag cap is 10 (sorry Cali) or 30?
The original question has too many variables and requires a different answer for each individual. Some people will be confined by space, money or just the inability to find anything.
I’m comfortable with the amount of mags loaded and ammo reserves. Do I want more, sure who doesn’t?
@@Futura_street Can't argue that! There is always room for more. What would you say your ammo to magazine purchase ratio is? (boxes to mags) Mine is about 5:1
At least 4:1 currently looking for some .40 pps mags kinda hard to find this high up
There's argument that a loaded magazine stored for a fair amount of time may have a bad effect on the mag spring and cause feeding issues.
Some great things to think about and consider. Thanks for the thoughts on this.👍😊💖🇺🇸
If you ever need more advice on firearms just let me know Cheryl!
@@MagicPrepper I will thank you.
Some of these older videos are great👍
How prophetic this video is.. ""are we worried about foreign invasion or pandemic?."" The pandemic was in wuhon and about to go global at this time. About a week later, my wife had a work trip planned and we were discussing whether she should stay home or not.. a week after that, flew to florida only to have the conference be canceled the next day. we were pissed. She made it home fine and is healthy but boy,, how quickly things went south.. The only thing I was wrong about,,,,???,,,, It was the toilet paper to disappear first... I hope this comment finds everyone safe and healthy. God bless.
Hey D A S I am not much of a prophet but, it definitely rang true didnt it? And I am 100% agreeing with you on the toilet paper prediction. I didn't see that one coming either.
We won’t go through a lot of ammo through gunfights. We go through a lot of ammo because of training. If one day we can’t buy ammo anymore then whatever we have is whatever we’ll get to train with for the rest of our lives. The stores of ammo I want is the same amount if I were not to ever able to buy another round I would still be able to shoot and train the same way for the rest of my life.
Great reasoning here
John Davis I’m not really worried about end of the wold type stuff. I’m worried about our country giving away our gun rights. I hope our world stays the same and keeps going like it is. If we ended up living in an episode of the walking dead then obviously you can’t shoot but if we can’t buy ammo anymore I can still shoot the stuff I have.
@SoulAnnoyed...well said...they are content to chip away a little at a time...elections are important...VOTE like a Constitution supporter this November!
Ultimately you need to cache your ammo in different locations. In a SHTF situation you don’t wanna be confined to one available space/area for all your ammo. If you have to leave you need to be able to get to a different source. Each cache should have a few hundred rounds of each caliber as well. Maybe it’s just me, but I believe this to be beneficial.
Atom Bomb, definitely a good idea! If you have strategic caches, especially along a bug out route, you are giving yourself a big advantage. Great advice!
It's always a good idea to have a second cach site but finding a cach site either hidden in a public lands or a very private place like hidden storage sight,ie hidden hunting cabin or private secluded private land.
You would be ahead to sit your money aside each check then buy in bulk all at once for a better price per round vs a box each paycheck
Bulk is cheaper that's true. But, it wouldve sucked to be saving up for 5.56 right now I guess haha
Buying at gun shows I've found is the best option.
You must be in the basement brother! I can hear the kids running around! 🤣
me scanning the comments for the answer without spending 20 minutes in a video
Haha its true, YT can definitely be a good forum in many ways
@Gregory Gaspard haha
I started stock piling shotgun shells soon as I bought my shotgun. Would you recommend a 1000 shells for a 12 gauge shotgun or more,
Well I would think 1,000 shotshells is a great goal to shoot for. Just so you know, they can run anywhere from $.50 - $1.00 if you want 00 Buck or Slugs which are generally considered the more effective self defense rounds. However, you can get boxes of birdshot for $7 for 25 rounds! So if you go for a variety which I would suggest, getting to 1,000 will not be as difficult.
I’ve been looking online like crazy it is unreal with the shortage going on now but was able to find some from ammunition store they have hunting 223 full metal jacket and hollow points shipping was only $12 for 400 rounds not bad to stock up on some hunting ammo thx for your vids!
i want to add i have a TON of remington thunderbolts as well , they work great in my 10/22s, marlin 60 and m&p 15/22 and also my m&p compact pistol . no issues whatsoever . i have lots of cci stuff as well but the thunderbolts work great , just a little dirty
Thunderbolts are awesome. Mine are for my 10/22 exclusively though because my Walther P22 does not like to eat them. Which is fine because it gets the CCI Mini Mags instead
One of the better videos I've seen on this.
I think of it this way. For me a realistic loadout for an AR15 is either 4 or 6 magazines (total) - four if I have to go somewhere on foot to procure some water from a nearby creek for instance, six if I'm in a vehicle or expecting trouble. I like to have two complete loadouts ready to go, so average it out to 5 mags per, call that 10 magazines.
10 magazines *30 rounds = 300 rounds
Then I like to double that, 600 rounds.
But I'm also the fall back point for a couple of my family members, I might have to arm them, so I like to be able to load them out too. That's another 300 rounds, keeps me at 900 rounds.
So I tend to keep 15 magazines and 1000 rounds as a minimum. I have way more than that, but that's for other purposes. It's likely way, way overkill because I plan around a 72 hour event and not fighting. But I buy more than that because I sometimes go for as long as 2 years before I buy more. I buy cases of it when I think the price is as low as it's going to be for the foreseeable future. I just don't let myself go below that benchmark of 1000 rounds.
Also I keep it down to two calibers, 5.56 and 9x19. I do throw a small amount of 38 Special in there because I might have to retrieve my mother, and that's the only ammunition she'll need and she won't need very much of it. I buy the cheapest thing that I trust (that tends to be the 62 grain M855 style loads in 5.56, I prefer Federal, and Blazer Brass 115 grain 9mm) that works good in all of my guns. Is that wise? I don't know, but you have to balance ammunition against other things you need, I feel okay so if I die because I don't have super good SHTF ammo you can tell me you told me so when I'm dead.
And a complete exception, I keep 5000 rounds of bulk federal 22 LR (plus more than that in other brands), that's both to hedge the market and in some scenarios a .22 is coming with me. There's nothing special about the federal other than it works well in all of my various 22 LR firearms. For someone else it may be a different brand is better.
Thanks for the response Knottheory79220 I definitely agree on your math and reasoning here. I also agree on your ammunition choices. There is nothing wrong with bulk Federal or Blazer ammo for setting aside. It's great for training and will still do the job if there ever is a scenario where you might need it. There are a lot of people who will tell you to only stock premium ammo but, that isn't sensible for people who are on a budget and need to hit milestones! I agree with the .22lr choice as well. If you have a quality 22 rifle that will eat most anything, then why not?
I understand about having ammo , yet if /when SHTF , are you staying in place or bugging out . If bugging out can you effectively carry it all or decide what is most important of what you have along with , say sleeping bags , rope , medical supplies , clothing , foot wear , water , food , knife / machete , axe , etc . If staying in place is it defensible ? Or bugging out , is it safely feasible ? & who / how many are going with you ?& how far do you have to go ?
Definitely important things to consider when it comes to SHTF and ammo storage. Bugging out would mean access to very limited amounts of ammo. Which is why I suggested aiming for 1,000 rounds per caliber you own to start. That's more than you can efficiently bug out with but also enough to defend your home for a decent amount of time. Of course either scenario can fluctuate the amount you would need based on duration.
Rewatching most of your videos....love the kids...running in the house. Lol
I like the vibes and enthusiasm. And you have some very good points.
Subscribed. Might get some ideas for my own channel here. I look forward to watching in the future
Hey thank you for that! And definitely start a channel if you can. It's been a great experience so far and I'm learning a ton of good info from other people in our community. If you ever need advice on getting a channel going let me know!
@@MagicPrepper I've already got one going. Just hit 420 subs. Been here since 2017, though I'm always all ears for advice.
If that's a legitimate offer, this account is my channel. Check it out and let me know what sort of improvements can be made.
I'm doing this for the long haul, and I'm determined, so any advice is good advice.
@@MagicPrepper Oh wow, this was back before I hit 1k subs. The good old days of 20$ for 100 rounds of 9mm haha
I'm a little late to this party by a month. I just got my ar15. Ruger mpr 556. I never wanted an ar15 till people are saying that it will be hard to get one in the future, won't be able to get one. My dad reloads 223 for his bolt action rifle and now for my ar. I have dropped off more brass powder and bullets. I laugh as I type this. He should fill 3 or 4 ammo boxes. You should have seen the look on his face when I brought 2 boxes in and set it on mom and dad's kitchen table. Just a funny story though I would share it. But you said 1000 rounds is nothing for an ar15, 2 mags is 60 rounds and you can go through them so fast just in target shooting, wife who never even wanted to shoot likes shooting I guess it's our ar15 now. Lol so I am going to need to get her now. Which is awesome.
Congrats on joining the party! Once you have one, you'll realize you were missing out. I can't go back to having just a bolt action or lever action ever again haha! Thanks for the story!
That's awesome! Good to hear your wife has got the itch now LOL I got my girl a Ruger Precision Rimfire .22 last Christmas. Some may laugh at a .22 but it keeps nickel sized groups at 50 yards if you have the patience. Got her a 9mm Beretta APX this past Christmas, and since she likes the Infamous silhouette of an AK, just picked up an Arsenal slr95 for her. Got to find some blonde wood for that classic look though, and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to wait till Christmas to give it to her. Can't wait to see her reaction. 😁
Welcome to the family!
@@WhiteDwarfVR4 my wife is doing 2 inch groups at a 100 yards with the ar. With in her first 30 shots. I tell her she is a natural.
Congratulations on graduating from fuddery. Grow as far apart from fuddery as you can. Come to the dark side...
5 AR's, 60 magazines, thousands & thousands of rounds... You can do it!
@@wsaenotsock9486 D-AR-th 15 haha
Once you feel like you have enough ammo for yourself, what are your thoughts about buying more ammo to store for currency, bartering or trading purposes? After going through this pandemic, I've got friends that would have spent their life savings and emptied their pantries for .22, 9mm, 5.56 and 12 gauge.
Why would you barter ammo? You're arming potential enemies for later when things get real bad. Besides do you want to be known as "the guy with all the ammo" in the apocalypses? Leave your address below. Storing ammo, equipment, etc for friends is also a bad idea. Maybe an additional set of "security guard gear", because if my brother-in-law shows up during the end times he's going to work for his keep (that means fire watch and perimeter security) until he develops skills that are more useful. If you have money to spend on equipment for "friends" you have every prep you're ever going to need already? Think long term. That brother-in-law will need to be fed and housed for years potentially. Better to align yourself with like minded individuals who won't be leaning on you. My life is hard now, SHTF it's going to get a lot harder, and the last thing I want is to have to support the people that laughed at me while they all built their homes out of straw and wood.
@@Carnyx_1good points. Thanks
Love you. Love your channel.
Good informative video for planning beginners!
Thanks Dave! I was hoping it would be helpful to those who wanted to get started.
When your positive you have plenty, your just starting to get enough, like firewood, you can never have too much. He with the most ammo lives on
Haha that is true. There can always be more!
I will NEVER have enough
Haha same here. Even as a re-loader I feel as though there is never enough powder, primers or bullets you can have either. It's rough.
@Will Patriot haha I wouldn't expect anything less from you Will.
And what if you are in a humid area without air conditioning ? How long before humidity starts to corrode the brass etc ?
Make a cellar
@@daze4341 so I had a very humid basement before I moved. None of my brass showed any corrosion but, I did get a dehumidifier just to be safe. The military operates in all environments and their ammo stays usable for long periods of time. Luckily the components used are generally resistant.
You don't have enough ammo. You don't have enough hard-hearted friends, family, and neighbors.
probably true.
Good conversation, thanks!
Great video I feel ok with minimal
5k 22s, 2k 7.62 2k 5.56/223 2k9mm 3-k in supplies to load 9mm/45s 1k45s 400-12ga. 300-20ga. 200-30.06 500-8mm 20loaded Ak mags 20 loaded 223/5.56 mags 250 rds 9mm in mags. 300 22s in mags. Oh and a few drums 4,of 7.62 I’m comfortable starting with that. Did I forget anything 👊🏼
I like your style sir! I wouldn't hate having 100,000 rounds of each caliber I need but, I agree. I am very comfortable with much less than that. Do you rotate your loaded mags out? Or do you just keep them stored that way indefinitely?
Magic Prepper thanks the 22s and 9mm I use the others 223/5.56 & 7.62x39 mags store great in 50 mm ammo cans 10 mags fit snugly in those cans staggered. They stack great 👍🏻
Prepare for the worst and it will cover all the other bases. One of the worst possible situations is a permanent collapse meaning ammo aint ever restocking on the shelves. Stock as much as possible. You also need to have a stockpile for training purposes to maintain your skills.
Great points I agree! Reloading is great but you cant buy powder or primers either in a collapse
At 300-400 rds each week, it goes fast. Even with my ample stockpile, that is only a three month supply.
Simple Answer: "All of it!"
Two things I learned during my brief stay in the Republic of South Vietnam, 1, you can’t have too much ammo, 2, you can’t carry too much water.
A serious prepper would reload their own ammo. No dependency on current situation or political environment. With a reasonable up front investment (prepping) you can make custom ammo for multiple calibers and as much as you want for training. Cost per round is less than half of retail in some calibers like 45 acp or 38/357..
Well that's why I do reload! I want to make a video on it for beginners but, I don't want to give anyone any bad information surrounding the topic. Do you think a basic overview would be acceptable? Or would I need to do the nitty gritty of explaining every single step and all the terminology, etc etc?
I see what your purpose was now. Good call. As to a reloading video it is very detail oriented so my thought would be a very high level maybe touching on the cost savings or flexibility it offers. Thanks for posting good subject.
@@Rusty_ok Great points! I will try and make that happen.
Primers will be the issue in the future. You can stock pile both powder and primers fairly cheaply and just pick the brass up at the range and your are all set. i am sure I could reload 25k rounds if the dems made the primers go away.
@@masterbroadsword3214 am I the only one that noticed when you buy the 100 ct boxes, its actually cheaper than buying the 1000ct boxes? What's that about?!
The way is see it is you don’t need anything more than an at pistol. If they’re too far to reach out and touch with it then they’re too far to be considered an immediate threat. 5.56 is extremely common and having a smaller lighter package is easier to carry 24/7. It also has pretty decent ballistics within 150 meters which like I said if they’re further they aren’t an immediate threat. And if you’re allowing yourself to be a target to someone that far away you’re doing something wrong.
AR pistols definitely have a purpose. It all depends on environment and expectation of threat. There is also the question of penetration if you're talking about armor, vehicles, cover and what not. I chose a 308 for my area because of niche environmental factors and the near non existence of anything resembling an urban environment. However, anywhere else an AR pistol would be a good choice.
I agree with your philosophy on staying with NATO rounds due to availability after SHTF. Only caliber I still need to add is either 7.62 or 6.5c for my "Reach out and touch ya" gun. Cant decide on availability vs accuracy at 1k yard. With the military heading 6.5 I think I will probably go that way for future SHTF events.
I am very interested and excited about the 6.5 switch. If it really is a do it all round then it could be the perfect survival caliber as well. I hope they design a weapon platform specifically for it too. Instead of just shoving things into the M4 platform over and over again.
Making my way through the back issue videos.
My own choice is on either side of 7.62 x 51, being 30.06 and 5.56/.233. Most of the.223 is fmj but I’ve sourced some soft point in case it had to be used for hunting, its primary role would be self defense. The 30.06 went the other way: mostly soft point with a couple hundred rounds of surplus fmj. The gun’s role would be primarily hunting, the fmj for harder targets.
With an in between (your .308), I’d make some attempt to have some soft point on hand. For hunting purposes, fmj just plain doesnt knock game down as effectively.
As someone else mentioned, reloading is another good idea. The problem i have encountered with some surplus 30.06 that may apply to 7.62 x 51 is that its case isn’t really made for reloading, primers don’t fit or the neck won’t size down, so commercial “hunting” brass may be a better option than milspec. With basic reloading gear, its possible to salvage 30/30, 30.06 or possibly .300 winmag for use in a .308 (but not 7.62 x 39, the bullets are measured on a separate scale and actually measure .311 as opposed to .308).
Long story short: some expanding soft point rounds as well as fmj diversify your portfolio.
Definitely something I have considered and have! My barrel has a 1:10 twist so it actually shoots the 180gr soft points really well. I stock some of the Remington Core Lok stuff for that reason. It is only about $15 a box of 20 but still has the soft point capability and heavier bullet. Seems to shoot well actually.
I'd rather have 1000 friends w/ammo, than have 1000 rounds myself!
I don't know. For every 1000 people there is always at least one goofball that gets everyone hurt
How about a thousand friends with a thousand rounds? 🤔😉
Nunya Bizness
That is not friends anymore
It is a colony
1000 friends with ammo, never happen, a few good friends with ammo is better. Only your closest friends you trust with your life are the only ones who should know what you have.🤫
great topic and fantastic video thank you for sharing my friend
Anytime my friend! Hopefully we all have enough put away for the big one!
Great video MP! Keep up the good work! 🇺🇸
Thanks Radar! Always appreciated.
Clearly stated comments. The insurmountable problem I foresee is that short of living in a bunker it is impossible to plan ahead for absolutely every scenario. Many folks tali about stacking thousands of rounds but never get into discussing "How many rounds can you reasonably carry?" (along with any other gear) in a pedestrian SHTF situation.
Yes that is definitely something people should consider. I guarantee you can't bug out with 1,000's of rounds of ammo. But, I guess in the event that you are unable to purchase ammo or forced to stay at your location for a long period of time, having the surplus of ammo would be beneficial. Great points!
If your first answer is "imma shoot whoever get's in my grill", you should not be allowed to have a gun to begin with, so answer is 0
You're also not a 1 man army, there is no way that you'll be killing thousands of people.
If you're a good shot, you'll only need a couple rounds to kill your target (if you're a hunter), as a weapon should be a deterring factor for other people.
So, put aside 300 bullets for people (you'll die well before you can shoot em all) and the rest for hunting.
And even then, a gun for hunting is a bad idea ... it would be better to go silent (crossbow / bow) and profit from the fact that you have reusable "ammo", and you're silent, won't be attracting nefarious people to your location, or scaring away future food.
Just look at statistics, most violent encounters have people shooting on average 2-3 shots, you're not in the military, you're not in a unit ... you ain't gonna be shooting at people 99.9% of the time.
And in SHTF, you ain't really gonna be going to the range, shooting ammo, drawing attention. The time for training skills is before shtf, not when it's already too late.
Just my two cents.
Correct answer however to this question is simply: however many you want.
Just don't be giving it away (barter), you really should not be equipping people who could turn against you. "Hey, here's a knife ... but don't stab me !! lolz" "get's stabbed".
Hopefully no one thinks of this as a reason to just go out guns blazing. The whole point is to have enough ammo to be comfortable for a long period of time without worrying about being low. SHTF could be as simple as guns or ammo being restricted to the point of no longer having access. Going to the range and training will still be possible but, refilling your reserves may not be. That is why I like to have extra ammo stashed away. Also, living in CA for 10 years might have made me this way. And yes, as many as you want is the answer most people will agree with. But 20 rounds is still the wrong answer in my opinion. Haha yes, please don't arm your enemies.
How much do I have vs how much do I need. You really don’t need more than you can carry. I have way more than that for training. Have all you need already loaded in mags. Plan on not making your way back to your ammo stash once the violence starts. Personally, I have 300 5.56 and 150 9mm ready in mags. 10x that much is stored.
Great way to look at the ratio. That's where a lot of folks get concluded. The idea that you won't be alive if "you have to shoot 1000 rounds" isn't the point. The point is to have enough ammo for training and any other purpose you might need it for in the long term. Especially if access is restricted.
Right. If you’ve have 30,000 rds and things go incredibly sideways where you can’t stay where you live you’ve basically stockpiled for someone else.
@@michigunsanta8680 My ammo is in its own gun safe. One large safe hold a lot of ammo (that one is all hand gun) and my other safe holds all the rifle ammo (and the 50 cal rifle).
@@masterbroadsword3214 a safe can be opened in a couple minutes. you need ammo and gear stored somewhere else close to you....a small storage unit can be had for less than 50 a month....
What are the odds he got this video out right before COVID-19. He had prior knowledge, he’s in on it!
haha well I do get accused of flashing masonic hand signs regularly so who knows?
I have one of the medium sized ammo cans filled with 22LR and it holds just about 3,000 rounds that are still in the boxes so if you were to dump them out and have them be loose you could probably fit 4000.
The skinny ammo can will hold about 1500 of the 22 WMR still in the boxes, probably closer to 2500 to 3000 and a hell of a lot more loose.
Still a ton of rounds!
Handgun is a backup weapon no one should have just a handgun for a shtf situation go with a 5.56 or .762x51 or you aren’t going to make it in any situation.
I agree but, if you are only going to own 1 firearm then, you're probably best off with a handgun. For the purpose of concealment, ease of carry and it's versatility during non SHTF times.
DRON PARKER if you have to stay low key and wanna travel and go get supplies walking around with a battle rifle or shotgun totally outs you as someone who has things people will want. Your gonna need concealable hand guns, I even have a backpack with a Sub2K with a few 33rd Glock mags if your out and things get crazy. 👍🏻
@@michigunsanta8680 I want a Sub 2000 so bad for that reason haha!
Magic Prepper oh they are great, they’re so light and stowable! People think they’re junk cause it’s Keltec but the truth is they’re as reliable or more so than many PCCs! 👍🏻
Bryan Adams that’s my setup but I’ve added a G 17 to the bag.
An advantage of using 556 is it is what the govt uses. Alot laying around.
Yep that is a huge advantage and one of the main reasons that 7.62x39 is often not the best choice for North America. If you are in Eastern Europe then sure but here, it's much less prevalent. I chose the 7.62x51 NATO for the same reason that makes the 5.56 a good choice. Not as abundant as 5.56 but still carried by military units for M60's and all the SASS's out there so better than choosing some obscure caliber like 300 Blackout or 6.5 Creedmor (for now anyways)
That’s the reason .223/.556 is my SHTF WROL choice caliber, also we had to qualify on the M-16 in the USAF so I was already more familiar with the platform. I bought one in 2012 during the “Obama is coming for your assault rifles” scare and hadn’t shot one in over 20 years and picked it up right where I had left off just like riding a bike! 👍🏻
Can you please let us know where is all that government ammo laying around ?
Are you planning to break into a police station or military depot ?
Let us know how this concept of “laying around “ works ?
The same is true for 9mm luger. It's a NATO round that the US military stockpiles, both for its own needs as well as its NATO allies. So, if things got really bad and the military was deployed in the "zone of the interior," you would have some scrounging opportunities.
He tried to take them away. @@michigunsanta8680
Shit hit the fan lol nice
👍
U R Right ON!
I'm still stuck on 15 being an even number 🤣🤣
Jk good stuff
Haha nice and even ;)
When it came to collecting ammo for my 12 gauge, the only affordable ammo was only number 7-1/2 and 9 birdshot!
The only affordable way to get either Buckshot or slugs is to load them yourself. It's ridiculously easy to do and so cheap to buy all the equipment you will need!
You can get 500 wads for around ten bucks.
You can get 100 once fired hulls for $7
You can buy a used reloading press for under $50.
You can buy a used lead Melting Pot for under $50.
You can buy a buckshot mold or a slug mold for about $30.
So for the price of 200 store-bought slug loads you can buy all the equipment to make your own, end up keeping the equipment when you are done, and you will have 500 rounds of slugs, ALL for the same price!
I've never loaded shot shells but I am definitely interested! Are most shells decent for a few reloads? Or is the plastic pretty limited?
archangel20031 I have different size buckshot molds, slug molds and an Otis Shot maker with two sets of drippers . Where are you getting your hulls from? I’m looking for a reasonably priced source for good hulls with decent shipping and maybe even a military discount. PM me if you’d rather not put you source in public. Thanks
You can buy 250 rounds of 00buck for $85 rifled slugs I have found for $6 for 10.
Reloading shotgun shells is like loading 5.56. It makes absolutely zero sense unless you just like doing it.
@@FreedomInc Those are pretty good deals. What brand were they?
@@MagicPrepper winchester green hull 2 and 3/4 inch 00buck.
I just looked and for the exact same shells right now is $243 WTF! I just bought mine not 5 weeks ago. I'll try to find where I ordered them from and post a link for when they become available.
Bass pro has Herters 12gjage 00buck available right now,so they say. They are $4.95 for 10 rounds and 1pz. Rifled slugs. I have never had any issues with them either
When I first got into prepping I had to weigh the whole AR vs AK routes of what to stockpile - needless to say I went with AR as the ammo is more plentiful as is spare parts and so on. I invested into the main NATO rounds 5.56 and 9mm, but I also went to the other most common calibers like 12 gauge, 45ACP, 300 blackout, and most recently the 30-06.
Variety is important but I agree with your NATO caliber selection. And I also agree on the AR over AK selection for the same reason. I do love 30-06 as a caliber as well. What platform is that? Bolt Action? M1 Garand?
@@MagicPrepper Bolt action, it's a very lightly used Remington Sportsman 78 from the early 1980's with a Bushnell scope. The only downside is that it's an ADL instead of a BDL magazine but for $200 I ain't complaining.
@@ronstryker The ADL is the built in magazine correct? If so, at least you never have to worry about losing a vital part of functionality
@@MagicPrepper Same as BDL, the BDL, has a trap door to unload the magazine, without cycling the rounds through the chamber. It's a safer way to unload the rifle that's all.
One thing I forgot to mention is that for some reason I can find 30-06 ammo easier than 308. Go figure.
@@ronstryker thats right the trapdoor is the BDL. I used to own an ADL and I did wish for something a little better. 30-06 isn't as sought after as the .308 just because of its limited presence on the semi-auto platform. I assume anyway.
There are affordable options for good SD munitions as well. I get Federal Train and Protect for my handguns. Reloading is also a good skill to learn and there is equipment that can be carried with you if you have to travel
you can't have enough, the key is having it safeguarded in different places....
Being able to cache along bug out routes or to alternate bases of operations would be ideal. I haven't dove in to the world of burying ammo yet... but one of these days!
I have more ammo than that lost under my reloading bench.
I say keep at least 10k rounds per caliber and an additional 1k for each gun you own. So lets say you own two 9mm pistols and three 5.56 rifles, you should keep 12k rounds of 9 and 13k rounds of 556 as an example. It is a sound policy. Also, keep AT LEAST 10 full capacity LOADED mags per firearm, plus 1 dedicated test mag. Similar theory there too.
Most people will never understand how crucial keeping ENOUGH ammo is and mags too. That supply will still be ran through, but at a perfect pace. You will see. ALWAYS keep in mind that Mags are CONSUMABLES. Even when you own 10+ mags per firearm, it is a good odea to consistently but another 1-2 mags here and there. AND ROTATE THEM!!!
I am so on top of things this way. I try to buy 1k rounds per month for at least 1 firearm. Keep building up 1k rounds at a time until you have the required/recommended amount. It will build up so quick. Thank me later.
Talking about inexpensive.22lr ammo, Águila copper plated are fantastic and are $2.42 for 50. My favorite.22 followed by the cci
Well, I’d look it at this way. What’s more effective, 500 of trained rounds or 2000 of untrained stocked piled rounds?
Reason being, most (not all obviously) never took the time to go and get actual tactical training for whatever their excuses. Because someone with tactical training Vs the untrained guy, can easily end a gun fight rather quickly and capture the other guys shit and ammo.
So go ahead and stock pile, but if you’re not equally putting rounds down range and investing in training, you’re doing it all wrong.
Yup you can't argue with training and proper technique! I hope everyone understands that while you stockpile, you still have to spend ammo for training. It's actually part of stockpiling in my mind. You want to be able to train down the road if there is ever a shortage or long term event.
Amen to that.
This guy gets it. ☝🏼
I commonly have this discussion with my Oldman I was in the infantry for 5 years lots of training my dad got me into guns never got extra training and he talks about using distance for his advantage which where we life yea but add the issue of close quarters and not practicing those engagement range how can he expect to hit that yes the round can but can you
22 mag, 22 lr, 556, 25-06, 270, 308, 7.62x39, 30-06, 30-30, 35rem, 7mm rem mag, 300 win mag, 9mm, 357, 45acp ETC...
That's a good variety you have there! What are your personal favorites?
@@MagicPrepper ... He's not telling!
Me and my boy each had a squib round from ammo incorporated, just stay safe
We don't do as much live fire training as we used to, I have a smokeless range set up in my basement and a LASR set up in my upstairs apartment, we use those for most of our training. Saves a lot on ammo cost and time.
Those training tools are amazing to have. Better than nothing for sure!
@@MagicPrepper One of my favorite parts of the smokeless range is the video scenario trainer, it has about 70 preloaded scenarios and you can make your own scenarios too. The house we bought used to be apartments, one in the basement, one on the main level and one on the 2nd level, we don't rent out the apartments, to much of a hassle in a small town. We use the apartment on the 2nd level as a guest room and a force on force/room clearing training area. I had thought about doing force-on-force training outside with my wife, but with the cops we have in town chasing my wife around with a training knife and her using an airsoft gun that wouldn't be a good idea if you know what I mean.
@@brianstein3146 haha I guess I would have to be slightly concerned if I were to witness that as well. The laser training scenarios are awesome. I have done one before where we switched from Afghanistan to Detroit and it was a blast!
You're not surviving more than 3 skirmishes. Get over it, you're not Rambo!!!!
Probably not even 1. But, I still want to have plenty of ammo anyway! Maybe its trauma from living in California for a decade.
Especially if you’re a basic pog
Can’t even buy on a budget anymore Bc you can’t find anything
Lot's of shotgun ammo still around.
At least 1000rds of each essential round, maybe more like 3000 of 22lr.
That's the back stock that doesn't get touched.
And then a separate pile for the stuff you actually use for practice. And you can swap out the oldest stuff from your stockpile as it ages and shoot the old stuff.
Of course, more is always, always better.
I like the hard hitting 7.62x54r. Cheap and affective!
It sure is hard hitting. Mosin Nagant for the win!
I think you should only buy ammo for the types of guns that you have.
No arguments here!
Agreed. 1000rnds/gun not per caliber.
Yes that is what I meant to infer! Thanks!
Do you reload ammunition? I have a small gun Channel on UA-cam where I do a lot of reloading. It's a good idea to be able to reload the cartridges in which you have guns for. Thanks for the video and information, Echo.
Hey I do reload actually! It is a great time to be able to do so isn't it? I was thinking of doing just a basic overview, intro video for reloading. Especially now.
@@MagicPrepper yeah if you're interested in doing a live stream Hangout with stream yard or Zoom let me know. Be glad to come on and give you a hand. Just an idea. Echo
@@echosreloadingchamber7306 I will definitely keep it in mind! Thank you!
A military battle rifle loadout is 300 rounds, but only a few mags for your sidearm. That in mind, it stands to reason you need a lot less handgun ammo than battle rifle ammo
Yes I guess if you had to pick one to stock up on it would be rifle rounds. Although as a civilian I train with and carry my pistol much more often.
Everyone mentions volume of ammo.
Me volume of magazines ready makes more sense.
Stay safe
Its definitely good to have magazines. But how many is too many I wonder?
I see guys at the range reloading their mags while shooting.
Me , I pay for an hour and never have to refill the mags while shooting.
Is that enough?
Not yet
@@joebech9721 haha well I love the enthusiasm. And as we know, anything mechanical can fail. So the more mags the merrier!
@Magic Prepper...Lancer and Magpul are your friends...ex GI is damn friendly too 👍
@@bisleyblackhawk1288 So far I am a Magpul guy but I really want to grab up some Lancers
When do you have enough ammo? After the next box...
There is always another box you need
Great video
my thoughts are a lot different i try to keep mostly hunting ammo the fmj is great for teaching people how to shoot im thinking i will be hunting game animals and if it is needed for self defense i want to stop them not just hurt them thats when the expanding bullets come into play i have put up 1500 rounds for each centerfire for each firearm i own and enough reloading supplies to keep them well fed as far a 22lr i dont really think you can stock up enough when sandy hook happened i had almost 12000 rounds of 22lr and before it came back in stock i was down to 2500 rounds but we plan to bug in as far as shotgun ammo i have a big mix of shells from 2.75inch up to 3.5 inch turkey loads and buckshot slugs and targets loads of 8 shot to 4 shot hunting loads
Understandable reasoning you have there. And I completely agree with you on the .22lr. People forget quickly how fast that disappeared. And 12ga does a lot when it comes to covering those different bases. So the main reason I stock up on FMJ's is cost. Otherwise I would love to just have soft points. But the quantities are so much different then.
since 2015-2016 ive made it a point to get a good stockpile. the 22 and other caliber shortages made a believer out of me . as of now i have 5k of 5.56, 60k rounds of 22LR , 7k rounds of 9mm and about 500 rds of buckshot , and 500rds of game loads. also have a couple hundred 380, 30/30. i have almost 1k of 40s&w for my EDC Glock 23, both ball and remington HTPs . i wish i had bought more 5.56 when it was under 300 bucks a case for federal stuff but it is what it is . i feel fairly comfortable . i have many firearms that include duplicates and a nice supply of spare parts.
I completely agree with you on that one. I remember the .22 ammo shortage well. That was a weird time period where paying $50 for 500 rounds of .22lr was normal. What?! So I promised myself never to be in that position again. And here we are again. This time with 5.56 and 9mm
As much as you can store..
Hard to argue with that!
1000 rounds per firearm, and they would be in this order. 22,223-5.56, 9mm, and 308. Start with that, then add more. Lead will be worth more than gold if it all dries up. I type this as I'm getting ready to load some 308's. Reload if you can!
heard that! I am getting my dies all set up for another video here soon. Reloading is the next step!