Has anyone ever, in the history of mankind, ever felt like he had enough ammo?
I am sure there are some out there that think they have enough, but I would guess they are minority. Or maybe we are the minority.
No, not hunting. You only need three dozen rounds for hunting, that's what my buddies spend for an entire year of hunting. Usually the game is dead with one shot and that's it. Add 5 rounds or so to confirm zero before the hunting season starts.
I intent to buy a boatload of ammunition and components since I expect severe shortages and after that a dramatic surge in ammunition costs for quite a long time, if not a total economic depression. Back when Obama was elected all that happened, and this was NOTHING compared to whats happening now. I want to be able to do a little bit of sensible target shooting to stay in shape after the crisis without going bankrupt in the process. Shooting is a skill that needs constant practice.
Also, I have no idea what is going to happen, this is the first time all of us have seen a major pandemic, all bets are off. Maybe there will come a scenario where I need a lot of ammunition? (Defense against marauding gangs etc.?) I sure as hell hope not and I'm pretty sure this won't be the case, but I also did not expect such an outbreak either. Lots of weird stuff happening which I did not anticipate.
Good answer.
Don't you think shooting at fake targets isn't a good use of ammunition right now and should let the people that are using it for more practical things like hunting and home defense have more of it?
If you're hunting I get it, you need it to last a long time since we don't know when we're going back to normal. But shooting targets is hardly an essential use of bullets if you wanna put it that way.
Again, I know nothing of the gun world so I don't know what I'm talking about. I figure any type of ammo is good enough for home defense considering you're most often firing at a non-armored target and human flesh is weak. I know different animals require different types of ammo.
I'm assuming .22LR and .22 in general are the cheapest types of ammo?
No. Shooting at fake targets is always a good use of ammunition. Shooting is a skill. Not practicing is a good way to lose that skill. Hunting and home defense need that skill maintained also.
In a pinch, any ammo is better than no ammo for home defense/hunting. However, actual designed home defense/hunting rounds are better for their specific application. Both are designed to expand, potentially fragment/tumble, dump all of their energy into the target, and not over penetrate through the target. Generally, rounds people use for target shooting are ball ammo that tends to put a little hole into and out of person and not necessarily dump all of their energy into the target.
.22LR is generally the cheapest type of ammo. It is usually anywhere from $0.05 to $0.10 per round for practice stuff. Some of the more specializing Olympic style shooting stuff can get more expensive.
Wow, that's really interesting to me.
I get that. 600 rounds in a single sessions seems like a lot to me though.
Realistically, what would you need a large amount of ammunition for? Give me a practical situation. I'm not trying to argue against it, just curious what you realistically see as a reason for such a large amount of ammo.
If there is time and a want to practice, then 600 rounds is nothing, especially when it is .22LR. It is easy to shoot .22LR for a couple hours and not even notice that 600 rounds are gone. Most of that time is going to be spent reloading magazines because .22LR is easy to rapidly fire.
Go to the range a couple days/weekends in a row with lower round counts and it disappears quickly. With shelves being empty, it can be tough to find stuff locally.
Some compete in various formats. I believe
@Xavier2342 has talked about 3 Gun or IPSC. Improving one's ability to compete requires practice, even if that improving is just against your own performances. Being timed makes things happen that do not normally happen and practice helps one deal with that better. For an extreme example, top competitors will blow through ten of thousands of rounds per year.
How much one needs is all dependent on what they want to get out of shooting. It is also why I have not bought any ammo in some time. I have not been to the range in a longer time frame than I would care to attempt to.
That's way beyond what sensible practice really is, I usually spend like 50 - 80 rounds max / week target shooting. Its also beyond what I can afford.
I do not blast away and dump mag after mag, I take my rifle or handgun, carefully aim in practical stances, shoot a few rounds, then I reset, go into stance again, shoot another 5 shots or so. That way I learn to quickly go from walking, standing etc. to shooting stance and acquiring a target quickly and hit it at varying distances. Practical quality training.
A good shooting practice session is not defined by the round count alone. Same with weight lifting, a good session is not solely defined by the quantity of repetitions or total weight moved, form and sensible exercises is most important.
600 rounds of .22LR is nothing for one session with a Ruger 10/22. Though, that is at the extreme end of what I have done in one session. At the range I am a member of, they have a couple different sets of steel targets at 25 yards on the pistol range and we can shoot them with a .22LR rifle. It is an absolute blast ringing that steel with my 10/22 and relatively cheap to do so with the rifle.
I don't know, first I think I would have to know what a ''lot'' is. Tens of thousands of rounds? Eh, without having a full auto MG42 I don't see a practical application for so much ammo unless it comes to the point I have to barter with it. Which is not necessarily an absolutely impossible scenario. But that's very unlikely.
3000-5000 rounds or so? Years of unrest and civil-war like situations caused by poverty, breakdown of law and unchecked immigration? If the pandemic was just the trigger of a series of bad things that comes like an avalanche in waves, if bad is followed by worse? That involves hunting, some target practice, bartering, defense shootings and giving guns and ammunition to neighbors, friends and family - for years to come without any kind of resupply? Yes, that requires a couple thousands of rounds.
I don't expect any of that to happen by a long shot (pun intended), but I have a good fire extinguisher despite being pretty sure that I'll never have to use it. and heck, ammo does not go bad and can be sold again for very little if any loss.
Your 3,000 - 5,000 rounds number is probably a little under where I am. However, the majority of it is .22LR. I bought a bunch of it because it was seemingly impossible to find for a period of time.
), but I ended up buying it for that. It was too good of a deal to pass up. I may never use it either, but I did load it last night.
