Friend wants to buy a pistol, asks "how much ammo do you keep?"

Timfoilhat

Timfoilhat

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I've been guiding a northern based friend through the process of getting a gun, a safe to store it away from the kids, and some ammo. He's been just asking the basic stuff about brand reputation and prices up until today when he sent over a message asking how much I keep on hand. He's so new at this that he doesn't understand that's like asking the fat lady how much she weighs while she's putting gravy on her taters.

I ended up with a long answer for him. Tell me if I missed anything other than not directly answering his question.

That’s a tricky question. Every time some dude does something condemnable and crazy that hurts other people the media drags the contents of his home out and uses them to convict the guy in the court of public opinion.
Read the tribune and you’ll see them talk about each bullet in a magazine as if it was a dead baby in his crawlspace.

A box of practice ammo is 50. You can burn a box in just a few minutes. You buy range time by the hour, if you want to use the whole hour you paid for you have to bring enough to keep you busy.
If you bring your wife too, and she has her own pistols, double that number. You start to notice that ammo is expensive so buying bulk by the case is the cheaper way to go. A case is 1000 pieces.
So having guns for a husband and wife, and keeping in practice while buying the most cost effective way means having 1000+ pieces on hand at any time.

Now if you diversify and pickup a gun in a different caliber that math starts over as you begin stocking for the new one.

It’s not at all uncommon or unreasonable for anybody who is a responsible gun owner that practices to buy in bulk and have a minimum of 1000 rounds in their house. Not because they’re “stocking up”, just because it’s cost effective. To that add any personal planning for supply interruptions if that becomes a concern you hold.

To all of this add the detail that Springfield is attempting to turn off the online sales for ammo in Illinois. They want a system like California has with a background check and a ban on bulk online purchases. They also keep trying to pass a serialized bullet bill. This would dry up most of the supply in Illinois. Plan accordingly. They have a super majority.
 
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My answer to "How much ammo do I need?", would have been "Yes"

As you noted, how much different people need on hand is dictated by the individual.
 
Because I’m all about getting the best deal, I’d also throw out an example of buying a box of 9mm at WM/Academy/LGS for $30 vs buying a case at $20/box… or normal times of $10 vs $13. You already touched on simple availability.
 
Buy as much as you feel comfortable,

Stack deep when cheap. You could never go wrong having too much brass
 
The amount is different for us all. It all has to do with it what they intend to do with their weapon.

If it’s just to sit on the nightstand and protect the house then a solid box of what they intend to use for defense, and then enough to practice with. 50-100 per month or so. But I always recommend a new shooter take a class with their new firearm so they need enough for that.

But I always put it in their mind that these things don’t really expire, so buy them as much and as often as they can afford as the price never really goes down.


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I get your approach, but on some stuff like that, I can be pretty straight up.

Commonly used firearms or pistols: Minimum of 2K rounds of each on hand for target, 500 rounds or so of HP/specialty. (Ex: 5.56, 7.62x39, 9mm)

Obscure or not often fired rifles: Couple boxes. (Ex: .45-70, .308)
 
I think you spent way too much time and words trying to avoid answering. If he is a friend, I’ll provide ballpark numbers with the caveat that the amount on hand is an individual choice. If it is an acquaintance, I just say it is an individual choice.
 
Between the range of one less than I want to never needing one more.

More realistically if they aren't going to be a "shooter" and only shoot a couple of times a year, 250 defensive rounds and 500 training is probably enough.
 
At a 1000 rounds per caliber, no wonder my boat sunk.....
Seriously buy all you can store. I recently shot ammo I bought 25 years ago.
 
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Like most have said, it depends on what kind of shooter he is. If it's just to "have" for protection, etc. a few boxes will do. If he's going to the range regularly , north of 2k per firearm is a good plan. That way he can better ride out the ups and downs of the ammo market and avoid having to purchase when prices are high or unobtanium.

How far north is another subject.
 
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Appears to me that you answered his question and then some. You included info that he didn't ask for, but in my opinion, as a newbie, he needs to know. Hopefully he picked up on it.
Only thing that I saw missing was a hint to the possible, if not inevitable, tragic boating accident in his future.
 
I'll buck the trend and say that I really like your answer. The "you can never have enough" or "all of it" flippant answers do nothing to help someone that is not a "gun guy" or is new to the fold. I think your answer provided excellent context and rational for what most of "us" intuit naturally. Well done.
 
To quote @BatteryOaksBilly , "How long is a string?"

People like us are not the ones to ask when it comes to how many guns, how many magazines, how much ammo. If he's not going to shoot much, 3-4 boxes may last him a lifetime. If he really gets the bug and uses all of his ammo every time he goes to the range, he'll figure it out.
 
I have a promotional tshirt from Federal. It says Invest in Precious Metal.
 
For fun ammo … buy back a box or two when you find it at a decent price … put back a case or two when you find a deal.

For SD/HD ammo … that to me is a real gray area. I like enough to vet a new firearm on its “liking” a particular SD/HD ammo. So I’d say always at minimum a couple boxes per firearm and at least another couple boxes for “vetting purposes” when you buy a new firearm and replace that after the vetting is done.

Also does he understand the difference between range/practice ammo and SD/HD ammo? Along with the fact many times they do not have the same POA-POI …
 
Geezer said:
To quote @BatteryOaksBilly , "How long is a string?"

People like us are not the ones to ask when it comes to how many guns, how many magazines, how much ammo. If he's not going to shoot much, 3-4 boxes may last him a lifetime. If he really gets the bug and uses all of his ammo every time he goes to the range, he'll figure it out.
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He's said he wants to take it up as a hobby and become proficient. He's got a list of the trainers I've used that spans from Ayoob to local NRA instructors. I think he's going to be pretty active. He's already looking at getting a rifle safe instead of a pistol safe because he's thinking AR comes next. Once the bug really bites him he's going down hard.
 
NCFubar said:
For fun ammo … buy back a box or two when you find it at a decent price … put back a case or two when you find a deal.

For SD/HD ammo … that to me is a real gray area. I like enough to vet a new firearm on its “liking” a particular SD/HD ammo. So I’d say always at minimum a couple boxes per firearm and at least another couple boxes for “vetting purposes” when you buy a new firearm and replace that after the vetting is done.

Also does he understand the difference between range/practice ammo and SD/HD ammo? Along with the fact many times they do not have the same POA-POI …
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He does. I brought him with to my Illinois FCCL (carry) class and part of the 16 hours is learning about this stuff. He came with because he wanted the permit even though he didn't have any intent on carry. Chicago going lawless has advanced his thinking on the subject of carry. Fortunately, he's already got the permit since they take over a year to get these days.
 
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No issues with your response. Pretty sound.
But, if youre trying to help educate the guy, he needs to know about some of the cultural faux pas also. I hope you also told him that asking that question is like asking the fat lady how much...ah, never mind, you know the rest. The next guy he asks may not be as kind as you in his response.
 
Add me to the "I like your reply" list. You didn't give him a direct answer to what most agree is a personal choice; instead, you gave him practical shooting philosophy, and he can adjust his quantity to suit.
 
Buy what you can afford.
There is no golden rule or standard that everyone should follow. You should have x amount of ammo and x amount of mags and x amount of guns.
Who says?
Get what you want, when you want and can afford.
Simple.
 
i imagine it depends on what you need it for. Ammo is expensive right now, so for a new buyer what he can comfortably afford is good enough.

Home defense? enough to keep your primary arm fed for a decent amount of time. i keep a couple 30 rounders and a few 20's for my AR and 3 mags for the 1911.

hunting? enough to ensure you have a couple shots available depending on weapon. i highly doubt you need more than 10-20 rounds for a white tail.

just blasting at cans? as much as you want to stockpile.
 
There is one question that needs to be answered for which there is no good answer at this moment. Will ammo become readily available again in the future? If it does become available, I would suggest that he keep a box or two in reserve and just replace what he shoots after he shoots it. If it continues to be difficult to find ammo or if it gets worse, he might want to buy just about anything he can get and afford.

I would also advise him never to shoot his last round except to save a life and never to come back from a range without some ammo.

I hope in the near future the amount he shoots determines how much he buys rather than having how much he can buy determine how much he shoots.
 
How many magazines do you need to fill? When you pay for range time, having spare full magazines is a good thing.
 
Perfect response for someone new to the gun world.

Somewhere between several hundred & a couple thousand per chambering is kinda my rule of thumb, with HD/SD being the priority. I also keep enough components on hand to reload an equal amount.
 
My favorite answers are always- More than i can count, but I'm bad at math... that one keeps em guessing.
Then there's- i got enough to shoot it out with the first bad guy that comes knocking. If i die i won't leave him much, if i live ill have what i have plus whatever he had and go from there.
 
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