Survival Planning – How Much Ammo is Enough?
Dr. John Woods 10.14.15
It’s a very common question posed by survivalists, preppers, and others preparing for the potential likelihood of a SHTF event. Among all the lists of plans for your survival, things to gather, store, gear to buy, and skills to acquire are the huge concerns of security, self and family protection, guarding your property, and just maybe staying alive.
Survivalists and preppers are gun people. They believe in acquiring a variety of firearms for defensive purposes as well as offensive tactics if things take a turn for the absolute worst. For these purposes a host of weaponry may be stocked and used regularly in preparation for whatever might come down the pike.
The big question often posed by survivalists and preppers is exactly how much ammunition to keep on hand. There are many factors to take under serious consideration as you build up your prepping strategies.
First, how many firearms do you have that you will have to feed? Most will have multiples of handguns, rifles of various kinds, and likely several shotguns, too. These are a lot of guns to stock ammo for, so choose wisely, and above all try to consolidate where possible.
Besides having the firearms you need on hand for a bug-in, transit in a vehicle, or at a bug out location, think about the support gear needed. You will need magazines, carry pouches, gun cleaning supplies, optics, and other support accessories.
For semi-auto magazine fed pistols and rifles, you will need several back up magazines, maybe a dozen or more in each caliber. A minimum number of magazines to have on hand would be at least ten. What is your planning position on this issue?
Then, with having all these extra magazines, they need to be kept loaded and cycled in use. There is some debate about not keeping the mag springs loaded too long, but reality suggests for high quality factory magazines this is not a serious concern.
So, you have the guns and everything else needed. How much ammo? Input I have collected from numerous preppers seem to settle on the figure of at least 5,000 rounds per caliber on hand and ready to use. This quantity does not have to be bought all at once, but is a goal to achieve. Prepping takes planning, and having plenty of ammo is part of it.
