A Sensible Plan to Ammo Accumulation

We gun owners/lovers are ever in a state of paranoia. Yes, I'm aware of the latest election win by "the Donald" which allayed the 2nd Amendment fears somewhat. But now, we're "on the clock", for the next election when another Obama or worse yet; a Clinton, could enter the White House and then it would be "ON"......again!

In all honesty, I can't say with any amount of certainty whether the last big scare of ammunition shortages was due to under-the-table meddling by the Democrats or simple market realities brought on by people hoarding from fear of Democrat meddling. I suspect it's some of both. The reality is, if you're a gun person who plans to shoot a fair amount, ammo shortages is as close as the next presidential election. What's a rational (I often describe myself as being radically anti-radical) person to do?

Some would run out and buy up a bunch of spam cans! OH NO.... I don't mean this kind of Spam......

I mean, this kind of spam can! Ahhh; the beloved of "preppers" all over! Cold War remnants from the other side. Essentially, vacuum sealed ammunition that can withstand virtually any kind of storage for decades. They can be found in any of the standard military calibers of the world's major militaries, and come in weird amounts like 420, 800 and 1080 rounds. In this case (pun not intended), they are great to stash away in case of situations like nuclear war, extended grid collapse, or the Zombie Apocalypse. At this point in time; it's a little bit extreme and expensive for me. I'll get back to you if and when I start building up a "bug out" compound out in the woods somewhere. So, what's a sensible person who has a healthy distrust of the direction that our country/government is going to do?

 

The next level is this; "bulk ammo". It can be found in a number of different forms. The main things is the amount, which is generally of greater quantity than the typical 50 round (pistol) or 20 round (rifle) boxes. They also are often cased in steel, aluminum, or military surplus brass where the primer is held in place by a little ridge which has to be removed if you plan to reload it. This stuff tends to come in anywhere from 150 rounds such as the Winchester USA Forged stuff (which I've shot and can recommend) to big boxes of the "mil-surp" stuff that can and sometimes, does come in the well known steel ammo cans. I tend to stay away from this category all together. Why? 

• If I want to long term store it for WW-Z, the "spam can" stuff is cheaper and stores better since it's already sealed for that.
• This bulk stuff isn't all that much cheaper than buying regular stuff (if you shop wisely). It's often between 15 and 18 cents per round. I buy the regular stuff for 19 cents per.
• It's usually found to be cased in either steel or aluminum which first of all, doesn't "form" in the chamber as well as brass, thus tending to be dirtier to shoot and most importantly to me, either can't be, or in the case of "mil-surp" a pain in the A** to reload requiring the little primer ridge to be removed.

Then, what's the solution?

 

My solution is both cheap; both in terms of bought price, and the ability to be reloaded later. I typically buy a box of whatever is inexpensive pretty much every time I go to Walmart. For the last 2 months, it's been this Federal 100 round per box stuff at $18.97. I buy it whether I'm going to go shoot it or not. After 2 and a half months, I have about a 1000 rounds stored away in a drawer. This is relatively painless, and importantly, something my wife can tolerate budget-wise! There's no sudden $200 hit on the account! Don't laugh, $200 is a lot of money to the parents of 2 teenagers.

I also don't put all my eggs in one shopping basket. Walmart generally has the best price, but they can sometimes be out of stock. I've also found that, other big box retailers ranging from Academy to Bass Pro, to Cabela's will almost always have sales. If they don't and you don't want to drive across the town to buy one or two boxes, they'll price match with any other "brick and mortar" store, so I just pull it up on my phone and show them the price. Problem solved. It's usually a dollar more than "the Mart", but it's still about 20 cents a round which is my buy ceiling. There's almost always some sort of "sale" by one of the ammunition "big boys", whether it's Winchester, Remington, or Federal. So, if you aren't an ammo snob, then you can play the system.

Recently, I've started applying my ammo buying strategy to .223/5.56 as well in preparation of getting my AR build finish (a forthcoming post). Walmart has the Federal 100 round value pack for about $33 which is a pretty decent price for AR ammunition. However, Academy has had the little 20 round boxes of Federal/American Eagle at $6 per, which is 30 cents per round. On top of that, it has a $1 per box rebate on it through December 31st. That is as cheap or cheaper than the bulk ammo deals out there. I've already bought 300 rounds of it and plan on picking up at least another 200 more before the deadline. In the end; all that will be 25 cents per round which is a really nice price. So, what's the "end game"?

No, I'm not going to become an ammo hoarder like a lot of those guys you see on Youtube who keep saying they aren't. My plan is to have about a 1000 round buffer per caliber firearm I own, that I plan on not shooting just in case. IN CASE OF WHAT!?! In case of natural disaster and there's an extended period of "grid down" and people are a little crazy. In case, I get invited to go hog hunting (that happens quite a bit in this part of the country). In case, the next election goes bad....... you think, Hillary and Barrack are the only ones of those out there? In case paranoid people buy up so much that the price goes astronomical. Waiting till then is not the time to buy! 'Cus if you do; then your AR and/or your 9mm will become so much modern sculpture!