Gun owners of the Straight Dope: What is "a lot" of ammo?

In My Humble Opinion
21

There are 67 rounds in my house, including the 5 in the pistol.

22

Ammo is expensive, people who target practice with any regularity need a lot of it, and thus people save money by buying in bulk when they can. Unless there are laws against it, I’m surprised someone hasn’t opened a factory outlet chain or the equivalent of a Sam’s Club for ammo.

23

A lot of people don’t realize how long ammo lasts. In the late 90’s I shot some WWII vintage pistol ammo and it worked fine. Thousands of rounds isn’t that much if it’s going to be used over a period of years.

24

PSA: Yes, and part of the reason there’s a lot of old Communist Bloc ammo left over is because they built them to last. This also means they have corrosive primers, so clean promptly every time!

25

The only time you can have too much ammo is if you’re on fire!

26

Thanks for starting this, and everyone else for your answers! It’s not something I’d ever really considered, not being much of a gun person, so I appreciate have some context for news stories.

27

“Enough ammo” usually means more than the guy who is trying to shoot you. :slight_smile:

28

Enough ammo is so you don’t have to make the same apology Sheriff Judddid. :slight_smile:

29

Florida SWAT officers carry only 12.22 rounds? Presumably the Sheriff meant without reloading?

30

The largest stockpile thus far mentioned in the thread wouldn’t be sufficient to deal with your typical “night of the living dead” style zombies, let alone the more intelligent, agile, and cunning zombies of films like “I am Legend”

The highest number of rounds are in things like .22, which doesn’t have much stopping power, especially in a zombie scenario. The .50 BMG loads may take out zombies in a 1:1 ratio if you’re a hell of a shot, but the reality is you’re better off following the second rule of Zombieland and double-tapping.

In general people don’t know much about guns and ammo so they hear big numbers and think that it means something. If someone said criminals had stockpiled fifteen gallons of water we have the life experience to know that’s what the Ozarka guy delivers each week and that it’s not exactly enough to flood the town with. Ammo is outside the typical American’s life experience enough to be unable to make this judgment though.

Enjoy,
Steven