How Much Ammo Should You Stockpile?

At one time, the question of how much ammo to stockpile was only a question for survivalists thinking of ammo supplies after TEOTWAWKI, and of little concern to most gun owners. Thinking back to when I was a kid, I don't believe that my father, who was an avid hunter, probably ever had more than a few boxes of ammo on hand for any one of his firearms. He didn't shoot the volume that seems more typical today, and the attitude was that if we needed more ammo, we could hand load it or buy more. But since the ammo shortages--particularly after the Sandy Hook shooting--I think most any avid shooter tries to keep reserves of ammunition on hand.

    Which brings me to the question of how much ammunition do you need? As I said, this used to be a question that only survivalists seem to ask, so my first encounter of this question was in books like Bruce D. Clayton's Life After Doomsday or Prepare Today - Survive Tomorrow by a man writing under the name of Joe Harold, both of which seemed to be popular among the survivalist community in the 1980s. The amount of ammunition they recommended was modest. Clayton suggested something in the order of 1,000 rounds for each defensive rifle (of which ~150 to 200 should be in magazines), 300 rounds for each defensive handgun (~50 rounds in magazines), and 200 combat rounds for shotguns in addition to any ammo used for practice or hunting. Harold's recommendations were, I believe, something like two to three times that. 

    In Scott Witner's article, "How Much Ammo Should You Really Stockpile?" at the The Truth About Guns, he provides a method of calculating how much ammunition you need based on three uses/types of ammunition:

A functional stockpile isn’t just “whatever’s in the garage.” Organize what you own into three buckets:

1. Range Ammo

Your monthly burn rate. Used for regular range days, match prep, and classes.

2. Ready Ammo

Loaded magazines and defensive loads staged in gear, safes, or vehicles. This is your immediate-use supply.

3. Long-Term Reserve

Deep storage you don’t touch unless there’s a true disruption—political unrest, supply chain collapse, or extended shortages. 

 He looks at what this might look like for someone that is storing 9mm, .223/5.56, and 12 gauge shotgun shells with frequent or intense training. For instance, for 9 mm, he calculated out the amount as follows:

Range Ammo

If you train consistently, expect to shoot 250–500 rounds per month. High-intensity handgun courses can exceed 1,000 rounds in a weekend.

Ready Ammo

A reliable baseline is 6–10 loaded magazines per pistol (roughly 100–150 rounds).

Long-Term Reserve

A sensible long-term number is 5,000 rounds per shooter, covering practice, defensive use, and future shortages. 

Using the upper range, that equals 6,000 for annual training, 150 rounds of "ready ammo", and 5,000 for long term storage, or 11,150 rounds. He has a similar number (11,300) for 5.56, but because you won't expend as many shells training with a shotgun, he has a much small number (1,250) for the shotgun.

    Even for the casual shooter, he recommends 2,300 rounds for 5.56, over 1,650 rounds for 9mm, and about 400 shells for the shotgun. This is based on an assumption of 0 rounds for a monthly training budget, maintaining the recommendations for "ready ammo" and having a fairly decent long-term reserve. 

    And keep in mind that this would be for each shooter (although perhaps you have a mix of dedicated and casual shooters). 

    Anyway, what do you think?