Ammo - "Buy it Cheap and Stack it Deep"

[Black Blade]

Ammo - "Buy it Cheap and Stack it Deep"

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll287/jhwarner1/SheridanGuns/Arg7652a.jpg

I have several calibres but try to not add any new ones.

My handgun calibres are:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll287/jhwarner1/SheridanGuns/TokarevAmmo1.jpg

9x17 mm (.380 only a few hundred rounds for the LCP)
9x18 mm (all varieties of Makarov calibre guns - a few dozen cases)
9x19 mm (several brands C&R and non-C&R - a few thousand rounds of LEO over-runs)
9x23 mm (Star Super Modelos and Star Spanish Air Force models - several cases of Santa Barbara rounds)
7.62x25 mm (Tokarevs - several spam cans of Yugo and Polish ammo)
.45 acp (several types but mainly 1911 guns - only a couple thousand rounds of FMJ and a about 50 rounds of JHP Corbon)

I also have a smattering of rounds for my revolvers S&W and Rugers (.357 and .44 magnum).

My shotgun ammo:

http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/ca3365e11fc6aec428631ee735e498281909bbce.pjpg

12 gauge - various loads for upland game and fowl - 800 shells (Obviously I need more)
12 gauge 00 buck - 500 shells (LEO over-run)
10 gauge - 150 shells

My rifle calibres are:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll287/jhwarner1/SheridanGuns/pix3858824421.jpg?t=1249067859

7.62x39 mm (SKS and AK variants - several cases)
7.62x54R (PSLs - several cases of Czech and Russian ammo)
7.65x53 (Argentine Mausers - about 6,000 rounds milsurp in wood boxes)
30.06 (various Mauser actions - a couple hundred rounds commercial ammo)
7x57 (Chilean Mausers - a couple hundred rounds commercial ammo)
7.92x57 (K98, vz.24, M24/47, M76 - about 3,000 rounds milsurp, maybe 1,600 rounds of Yugo M75 sniper ammo and a couple hundred armour-peircing WWII German ammo)

Also a few hundred rounds for the Steyr M95: 8x56R (Pre-WWII era ammo)

Obviously I buy a lot of surplus ammo by the case. I am looking to cut down and possibly eliminate the 7.92x57 guns since the surplus ammo is less than reliable (especially the Yugoslav). I may keep the M76 since I have cases of M75 sniper ammo for it and I may keep a couple very nice sporterized Czech vz 24 rifles for hunting with commercial ammo. The most reliable rifles for hunting have been the 7.65 Argentine and for general shooting the 7.62x39 for the ever reliable SKS and AK-47 rifles.

I am buying more of the imported milsurp since who knows how the political winds will blow going forward. One executive order and the supply could dry up fast. Even so, some calibres are not being made in quantity and the supply will eventually dry up leaving only reloading, special orders, rare commercial runs, etc.). So I am in effect "buying cheap and stacking deep".

The meek shall inherit the Earth, but not the mineral rights!

[willie pete]

Oh Yea BB....nice looking stash-o-la ;D

[Black Blade]

The political winds are always changing and I hope to have a lifetime supply for myself and another lifetime supply for family (next generation). I hope that ammo and firearms will be "grandfathered" in should more anti-gun legislation or executive orders come our way. For foreign arms and ammo imports all it takes is an executive order to be placed in the Federal Register to stop imports. I am taking advantage now to stock up on cheap Com-Bloc milsurp, east European bulk ammo and older warehouse liquidations of hard to find ammo. Still good to buy online and have delivered to my door.

http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/4e916614a42e1438984ca9efe001c9415ab3183b.pjpg

So far so good.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll287/jhwarner1/YugoM75a.jpg

For example I was fortunate to get a couple cases of M75 sniper ammo before the supply dried up and prices soared (above: M75 sniper 8mm Mauser for the Yugo M76 rifle).

http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/f2336e651274a8aa2970157c378e9e1e794914fa.pjpg

I also keep stray boxes from opened cases and broken boxes of ammo in spare .50 cal ammo cans (above: 9x18mm and 7.62x39mm)

I don't trust politicians to respect our Bill of Rights and the US Constitution, so I am being proactive and "looking out for number one" if you get my drift.

- Black Blade

[mightymanx]

My rule of thumb is:

SHTF reserve not used for anything period. Rotated and kept as fresh as I can.

500 for any long gun
250 for any shotgun
250 for any pistol

Other amounts are kept for recreation and training.

As to getting more specific than that it is not going to happen.

[illumin19]

Black Blade, I applaud you.........

Not only because of your stash of 2 lifetimes supply of ammo, but because of the title of this thread 8)



P.S.
About the "meek shall inherit the earth".......I just read that this morning too ;)

Psalm 37:11

[Rebel Yarr]

I love the surplus/commie stuff too - nice to know that you can stack a few calibers deep without taking out a loan. I really need a 7.62x25 rifle - I think I may have stacked a wee bit too deep for just the pistolas I have.

[CrufflerJJ]

Too bad that mil-surplus ammo is no longer dirt cheap. No more Turk 8mm for $0.07-0.10/round (thanks, Century!), or 7.62x54R for $0.10/round.

As with mil-surp weapons, for ammo, the time to buy is NOW. Even if the current price is not as cheap as "way back when", it's best to buy & set stuff aside now, while ammo is available.

Same with magazines....set some aside.

[vacuum]

Hey I've got a question....if you were to buy everything to make bullets except the lead, how much would the material be? If you had enough cases/powder/primer(is that it?) to make 50,000 rounds, how much would you save not worrying about the lead since you can always melt down batteries, fishing gear, etc?

[mightymanx]

Hey I've got a question....if you were to buy everything to make bullets except the lead, how much would the material be? If you had enough cases/powder/primer(is that it?) to make 50,000 rounds, how much would you save not worrying about the lead since you can always melt down batteries, fishing gear, etc?


Primers are the tough part of that. They are relativly expensive as of late, and they do have a shelflife where their reliability dropps off significantly when they get around 10 years old. Unless you can somehow find the corosive primers that everyone seems to fear. They last dang near forever but are impossible to find.


For storage ammo I seek out the corosive stuff for that reason it lasts much longer you can shoot stuff 30+ years old with dang near zero problems if stored correctly. I do not worry about the accelerated wear on my weapons if I am using my SHTF stash. In all reality your not going to live through enough firefights to wear your rifle out. Sorry to inject some reality to gun fights and burst a few Rambo bubbles but it would be like hitting the lotto 10 times in a row.

[Awoke]

I'm just getting started on my ammo preps.

700+ rounds of assorted 12 gauge (#4, #6, #9 bird, BB and BBB, Slugs, 00 Buck and 000 Buck)
300+ rounds of British .303
1200 7.62 X 39
200 9mm luger
200 .40 cal S&W

Need more pistol ammo for sure.

[Black Blade]

I finally got a few boxes of 7mm Mauser that I had backordered from Samco for a couple years.

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpg/c3916610dbc9dfbfd07b51fbae3d32f1151098d8_r.jpg

Not pretty but as long as it fires. It would appear that the supply of milsurp 7mm Mauser has dried up. I'm lucky to have gotten these few cases.

[Awoke]

Wow, it really took a couple years?

:o

[Black Blade]

Wow, it really took a couple years?

:o


Yep, it had been backordered for a couple years (maybe longer) and then about a month ago they said they found some. I guess once I use this up it will all be commercial 7mm Mauser ammo one box at a time (and whatever I reload). I didn't stock up as much of this ammo as I should have but then I didn't think it would dry up so quick either. Fortunately I did stock up a few cases of Swedish 6.5x55 and Argentine 7.65x53 Mauser milsurp ammo when it was available.

Currently I am adding more rifle ammo in 7.62x39 and 7.62x54R as I am able. As for pistol ammo I did just order two cases of 9x23mm Largo (4,000 rounds) that should show up this week. I have been adding more 7.62x25 Tokarev ammo (prices are dropping to about $80 + shipping per 1260 round case for Polish). I should be adding more 9x18 Makarov ammo as well.

[Libertarian_Guard]

A few years back I could buy a 500 rd. box of Federal 5.56 military ammo for $125 or less.

If anyone knows of the same 'brown box' Federal ammo, for even $225, please give me a heads up.

My problem is I didn't stack it. It all went downrange. But it was fun, and I know what my AR is capable of.

[Awoke]

Funny, I was showing my friend some of my preps last night, and showed him my ammo stash (Same as what I have listed above). My wife was hanging out with us while we talked.

I told him that I only had 200 rounds for each caliber of pistol I own, and made the statement that I wouldn't feel content until I was sitting on at least 1000 rounds for each caliber, not including my range lead.

...then I read BlackBlades posts and immediately feel like my stash is insignifigant. LOL.

Anyways, it all comes down to how much extra fiat I have to spend on preps, and right now I have none.

[willie pete]

I've got an assortment of different kinds and brands of Ammo, even some vintage stuff...

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/2680/000016300q.jpg

[madfranks]

Funny, I was showing my friend some of my preps last night, and showed him my ammo stash (Same as what I have listed above). My wife was hanging out with us while we talked.

I told him that I only had 200 rounds for each caliber of pistol I own, and made the statement that I wouldn't feel content until I was sitting on at least 1000 rounds for each caliber, not including my range lead.

...then I read BlackBlades posts and immediately feel like my stash is insignifigant. LOL.

Anyways, it all comes down to how much extra fiat I have to spend on preps, and right now I have none.


You and me both brother. I bought an Arsenal SA93 AK-47 a couple years ago when there was talk about reinstating the "assault weapons" ban, and I need to get a few of those sealed spam cans of ammo, but there's not enough money left over in the budget for me to do this. Gotta find more work...

[Black Blade]

Delivery Day!!!

The UPS lady got a good workout this week:

First up are three cases of 9x23 mm Largo (6000 rounds) for my Star Modelos, Guardia Civil and Spanish Air Force handguns. These are roughly equivalent to 38 Super ammo that can also be shot from these guns.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll287/jhwarner1/SheridanGuns/Ammo-9x235a.jpg

I like the boxes as they make for decent storage.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll287/jhwarner1/SheridanGuns/Ammo-9x234a.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll287/jhwarner1/SheridanGuns/Ammo-9x232a.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll287/jhwarner1/SheridanGuns/Ammo-9x233a.jpg

Each case has 2000 rounds. The metal tabs were a bitch to open. It look a good set of pliers and some twisting of the metal to open up the case. The ammo looks as fresh as the day they were packed.

That's not all!

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll287/jhwarner1/SheridanGuns/Ammo-Tok1a.jpg

I also got three cases of Polish 7.62x25 ammo. That's 3780 rounds (1260 rounds in each case). I will keep these sealed as I already have several cases and plenty of loose rounds at the ready.

I am concentrating on accumulating foreign milsurp ammo for now because this can be banned with the stroke of a pen because it's imported. I would not put it past our "Dear Leader" if he signed an Executive Order banning ammo imports. I should also note that supplies could run short as C&R firearms gain popularity. Then there's always the everpresent possibility of higher ammo taxes and inflation in our future. So for now I am "buying it cheap and stacking it deep".

- Black Blade

[willie pete]

^^^Nice Haul ;D

[Awoke]

^^^Nice Haul ;D


...big time.

[Book]

http://www.9mmlargo.com/cartridge/index.htm

http://www.9mmlargo.com/

[Argentium]

My purchases are mainly 7.62x39, as that is the system that I've built my defensive requirements on and 12 ga (never can have enough). Fairly well covered for handgun ammo, with the exception of .45 ACP and .380 auto (recent purchases). Probably 5 handgun calibers is too many!

[Argentium]

Evidently the shortage of .380 ACP ammo is over. Placed an order today with Ammunition To Go and they had a nice variety! Good prices on .380 Auto and .45 ACP, took a chance with the Brown Bear 7.62x39 for evaluation purposes.

After I placed my order, i remembered that I'm in need of birdshot (#4 ,5 &7) for my 12 ga. I really don't have much for hunting ammo, as i don't hunt now. That may change in the future!

What's the consensus on the amount of .22LR to stockpile? I'm thinking somewhere between 5000-10,000 rounds.

[Black Blade]

Just a heads up - some vendors are saying that they will be raising prices on some ammo soon. I suspect that this is due to a weaker US dollar and commodity inflation. I just bout a couple cases of 5.45x39 from AIM Surplus as they said they will raise the price slightly on Monday. May just be the beginning of a long trend for all I know.

- Black Blade