SHTF - FMJ or JHP?

[Joe Williams]

I'm with you on that. I think a SHTF stockpile (ammo you never intend to fire) would be 200 rounds of pistol and 500 rounds of rifle. That actually seems excessive to me. I can't see any single person or 3-5 person group needing more ammo than that. If you imagine yourself in repeated engagements to the point where you think a 5000 round stash is reasonable, you're out of touch with probability. The probability of you or a small group surviving that is none.

As far as game-taking or subsistence, which would be almost mutually exclusive with needing to barricade yourself for a firefight, you can add to that a few hundred game loads and several bricks of .22.

Don't forget, some very plausible SHTF scenarios could be quite long term, such as a complete societal collapse due to any of several causes.

Your ammo may need to last the rest of your life, and you'll still need to practice. If you don't, you may as well not have the gun.

Also, in a long term situation, ammo will become quite valuable currency. I really don't think you can have to much of it. Especially .22s, since they are cheap, take up little space, and are useful for everything from bunnies to people.

 

[zebov]

I'd say stock up on lots of 22, who cares if it's hollowpoint or not? You could probably fit 1000 rounds of that just in your jean pockets. It's also extremely cheap to stock up on. For $100 you can get something like 3000 rounds.

I'm interested that some of you say ammo can be kept around for 7-10 years before it goes bad. Really? I was under the impression that if it was stored in anything outside of a dehumidified environment the moisture would get to it and make it unreliable at best after a while. I know from experience that some old 22 rounds were quite unreliable (a failure every 20 or so rounds) after they had been sitting around for a few years. How do you all who say ammo should last "forever" store yours?

 

[ThrottleJockey]

if it was stored in anything outside of a dehumidified environment the moisture would get to it and make it unreliable at best after a while.

Buy it in the can. Also, desiccant is your friend, it even keeps your guns from rusting.

I know from experience that some old 22 rounds were quite unreliable (a failure every 20 or so rounds)

Well, that's still 5 time more reliable than brand new remington .22

 

[Joe Williams]

I'd say stock up on lots of 22, who cares if it's hollowpoint or not? You could probably fit 1000 rounds of that just in your jean pockets. It's also extremely cheap to stock up on. For $100 you can get something like 3000 rounds.

I'm interested that some of you say ammo can be kept around for 7-10 years before it goes bad. Really? I was under the impression that if it was stored in anything outside of a dehumidified environment the moisture would get to it and make it unreliable at best after a while. I know from experience that some old 22 rounds were quite unreliable (a failure every 20 or so rounds) after they had been sitting around for a few years. How do you all who say ammo should last "forever" store yours?

Fairly recently, I fired off some really old Corbon 9mms that I bought soon after they started selling it. Before they had their own headstamp, actually, and were loading it into other manufacturer's brass. Had to be at least 20 years old. It all worked just fine. Also finished up some 20-25 year old .22 ammo, which also worked just fine. Didn't have it stored anyway special... actually it was still in the original boxes, buried in amongst a bunch of old holsters in a box. Coulda kept it longer, just decided it was time to go. Ammo will last a really long time, so long as you don't store it dunked in water or in extremely humid environments.

 

[SavageEagle]

Fairly recently, I fired off some really old Corbon 9mms that I bought soon after they started selling it. Before they had their own headstamp, actually, and were loading it into other manufacturer's brass. Had to be at least 20 years old. It all worked just fine. Also finished up some 20-25 year old .22 ammo, which also worked just fine. Didn't have it stored anyway special... actually it was still in the original boxes, buried in amongst a bunch of old holsters in a box. Coulda kept it longer, just decided it was time to go. Ammo will last a really long time, so long as you don't store it dunked in water or in extremely humid environments.

To go along with this, most of the surplus military ammo for calibers such as 7.62x54r, 7mm, 8mm, 7.62x39, and even some .223 I've seen with headstamps older than 1985. I'd say that if people are buying the crap out of it and coming back for more, there must not be a problem with it.

 

[kycrawler]

I store my ammo in usgi ammo cans . my stash consists of a mix of mil surplus commercial fmj and softpoints and even my own cast lead reloads .

If your shooting 30 cal or larger all fmj would be fine . If your using smaler i personally would prefer to have some type of expanding bullets thrown into the mix speciffically for soft targets