Ammunition stockpiles

[Pelagius]

Question for those stocking handgun ammunition. Is your stock pile mainly comprised of FLU or HP? And what is the reasoning for your choise?
Pelagius

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[jrswanson1]

I've stockpiled .357 Hollowpoints as I got a smokin' deal on a GP-100 and it came with 700 rounds of it. My main handguns are in 10mm and .40 S&W, so I have a cache of FMJs. Why? FMJs in .401" are flat points, and have really wide meplats. They feed reliably through my autoloaders, and while they aren't expanding, the flat points will do damage going through bodies, unlike 9mm and .45 ACP round nosed FMJs.

Jim

[Domino]

I stockpile both but mainly FMJ simply because its cheaper. Typically, I do a 2:1 ratio of FMJ to HP so if I have 1,000 rounds of FMJ I will have 500 rounds of HP. The FMJ is reserve for when I run out of HP because FMJ is a whole lot better than no ammo.

[AKFTW]

I'm planning on stocking a do-not-touch baseline of 500 HPs, then just buying the cheapest FMJs I can for practice. Going for Federal 9BPs for the stockpile, then shooting Brown Bear for practice since they have nearly identical FPS and the same weight, so they should shoot the same.

[Alpha-17]

My stockpile of .45ACP rounds consists entirely of Hornady TAP or Critical Defense, both a flavor of HP. They fuction reliably in my weapon, and while their cost limits the size of my pistol ammo supply, I want every round to do the most damage it can. 'sides, if I need more than 600rds for a pistol in SHTF situation, I'm either in trouble, or one helluva trader.

[phil_in_cs]

I'm planning on stocking a do-not-touch baseline of 500 HPs, then just buying the cheapest FMJs I can for practice.

This a good plan. Your duty ammo is for actual fights - how many do you really think you'd survive? 15 shots per fight times 10 fights is 150 rounds, and it is hard to see surviving that many pistol fights.

For your practice ammo, as much as you can afford and safely store. Prices vary, but generally go up.

[AKFTW]

I'm planning on stocking a do-not-touch baseline of 500 HPs, then just buying the cheapest FMJs I can for practice.

This a good plan. Your duty ammo is for actual fights - how many do you really think you'd survive? 15 shots per fight times 10 fights is 150 rounds, and it is hard to see surviving that many pistol fights.

For your practice ammo, as much as you can afford and safely store. Prices vary, but generally go up.

I'm basing my numbers around my line gear, which is 150rds of 7.62x39 and 50rds of 9mm, plus enough to keep the mags full initially. For stockpiling I'm building 4 "battle cans" with 2x my basic load of ammo on stripper clips in .30 cal cans, ready to grab-n-go.

[OldSchool45b]

Battle rifles and beltfeds get FMJ.
Pistols get HP.
Subguns get ball.
Shotgun starts with 00 or #4/#8 buck augmented with birdshot and slugs, even some less lethal.
Long range rifles get SP or HP.

[UndeadInfidel]

Like the others, I mostly separate my training ammo from my "business" shtf stockpile.

SHTF Stock:
ARs = BTHP (2,500)
Pistols = JHP (600)
22lr = Subsonic HP (12,000)
Shotgun = Various Bird, Buck, and Slugs (500, 225, 275)

Training Stock:
ARs = FMJ bulk/penetrator (5,000+)
Pistols = FMJ (1000)
22lr = Subsonic HP and the cheapest bulk (15,000 or so total)
Shotgun = Various Bird, Buck, and Slugs (same as above)

I try to take into consideration which ammo I tend to fire a lot in training, and also which will be valuable to have in surplus in the case of skyrocketing ammo prices or for barter purposes. I agree that pistol specific stockpiles are the least necessary as a pistol should only be a backup for your longarm.

I don't own any belt feds or subguns, so... If I did own a subgun that was practical, I'd certainly stock more pistol caliber ammo.

I also don't own a .308 or larger hunting rifle, since I haven't hunted deer in years. It will be my next purchase but will also require stocking another caliber of ammo, which I'd rather avoid since my AO only has small key deer and whitetail.

[tedbeau]

I'm planning on stocking a do-not-touch baseline of 500 HPs, then just buying the cheapest FMJs I can for practice.

This a good plan. Your duty ammo is for actual fights - how many do you really think you'd survive? 15 shots per fight times 10 fights is 150 rounds, and it is hard to see surviving that many pistol fights.

For your practice ammo, as much as you can afford and safely store. Prices vary, but generally go up.

Yep. I think most ammo budget should be spent on practice ammo that is used for practice. I don't see to many scenarios where you need 1000 rounds of hollowpoint to hold off a horde. If you do need that many rounds you better have 10 buddies with you to setup a 360 degree perimeter or someone's going to shoot you in the back. Hopefully your buddies are all bringing 200 rounds with them.

[Kelvar]

I've stockpiled .357 Hollowpoints as I got a smokin' deal on a GP-100 and it came with 700 rounds of it. My main handguns are in 10mm and .40 S&W, so I have a cache of FMJs. Why? FMJs in .401" are flat points, and have really wide meplats. They feed reliably through my autoloaders, and while they aren't expanding, the flat points will do damage going through bodies, unlike 9mm and .45 ACP round nosed FMJs.
Jim

[jrswanson1]

I've stockpiled .357 Hollowpoints as I got a smokin' deal on a GP-100 and it came with 700 rounds of it. My main handguns are in 10mm and .40 S&W, so I have a cache of FMJs. Why? FMJs in .401" are flat points, and have really wide meplats. They feed reliably through my autoloaders, and while they aren't expanding, the flat points will do damage going through bodies, unlike 9mm and .45 ACP round nosed FMJs.
Jim

Took you long enough to see that.

[Kelvar]

Took you long enough to see that.

So, are you saying you're writing things you don't actually believe and you're just baiting people?

[jrswanson1]

Took you long enough to see that.

So, are you saying you're writing things you don't actually believe and you're just baiting people?

No, it's just a typical response on this site. Eyerolls with no explanation.

[Kelvar]

I've stockpiled .357 Hollowpoints as I got a smokin' deal on a GP-100 and it came with 700 rounds of it. My main handguns are in 10mm and .40 S&W, so I have a cache of FMJs. Why? FMJs in .401" are flat points, and have really wide meplats. They feed reliably through my autoloaders, and while they aren't expanding, the flat points will do damage going through bodies, unlike 9mm and .45 ACP round nosed FMJs.
Jim

Took you long enough to see that.

So, are you saying you're writing things you don't actually believe and you're just baiting people?

No, it's just a typical response on this site. Eyerolls with no explanation.

First, simply rephrased, your quote quite literally says that 9mm and .45acp don't do damage going through a body. So you shouldn't feel unduly put upon.

Also, I don't think it is a typical response. It is a typical response to subjects that have been beaten to death, resurrected, beaten back to death, resurrected, beaten to death again, then sent through a wood-chipper, rinsed in holy water, wrapped up in a Hefty bag, buried in consecrated ground and placed under 24 hour, armed surveillance.

That being said, I'll see if I can research the issue. . .

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=%22Zombie+Squad%22+AND+9mm+vs.+.40+vs.+.45

We also have a search function:
http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=48099
http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=27272&view=previous
http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=110&t=81569
http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=7039

If these threads leave any questions, any of them would be good places to pursue this.

[zephir]

I have almost no HP (and other expanding point) ammo for my handguns. infact, I have almost no expanding point ammo, period. Except .22LR.

Almost all my ammo is FMJ, TCP, or some kind of RN. I have a tiny stash (a two boxes) of defensive handgun ammo for 9mm and 44 Mag/Special. I figure that's all I'd need. my reasoning is simple. In the world of law, I use the expensive defensive ammo. How many would I need? surely 50 (two boxes of 25) is more than sufficient.
In the world without law (WROL), I use whatever I want. there won't be any lawsuits or overpenetration issues to really concern myself with in the WROL situation. if someone attacks me and I determine I need to shoot to survive, they'll get shot. wither it's FMJ, LRN, FP, HP, or SP.

it costs so much more for those fancy defensive rounds over the FMJ/LRN I have, to where something like 6 solid point bullets = the cost of 1 defensive bullet. And it really is the cost of bullet's I'm comparing, since there's really nothing fancy about the case, primer or powder. I can easily stock 6k rounds of 9mm vs only having 1k rounds of Black Talon or something. plus I can use some of those rounds for training & practice no problem.
in WROL/SHTF situation where I need to shoot to live, I can probably afford (both money-wise & ammo supply) to shoot a bad guy 5-8 times with ordinary bullets in the place of one defensive bullet. In fact, the dude that got shot 8 times is probably more dead than the dude that to shot once, even if all 8 missed vitals.

having the same ammo for SHTF as for training/practice simplifies storage and inventory keeping. reduces cost, easier to maintain, and you become very familiar with one kind of load, since ammo tends to vary company to company, load to load.

So, my current ammo stockpile for pistols only:
.22LR
shared pile with the rifles, approx 92,000 rounds. you name it, I probably have it. Match, target, hunting, Walmart-grade, shotshells, blanks, varmint, subsonic, hypersonic, hypervelocity, defensive, BB caps, short, long, long rifle, extra longs, anything .22LR except Aguila.

9mm
Hornady Critical Defense - 25 rounds
Federal Hydrashok - 25 rounds
Factory FMJ TulAmmo/Wolf/Brown Bear, etc - 900 rounds
LAX Range reloads - 2000 rounds (115 grain FMJ)
my reloads- approx 3700 rounds

7.62x25mm
Polish Mil surp - 6 tins remaining (7560 rounds FMJ)
Czech mil surp - 2 tins remaining (1600 rounds FMJ)

44 caliber
44 Russian handloads 200 gr FP - 320 rounds
44 Special handloads 200 gr FP - 120 rounds
44 Magnum handloads 240 LSWC - 80 rounds
44 Magnum Walmart hunting - 89 rounds
44 Special defensive ammo - 2x25 round boxes

I don't have much ammo. the small pile for 7.62x25 is especially alarming, but since there's no cheap surplus nothing can be done...

[AKFTW]

The JHPs I got are older tech, but they were only $150 for a 1/2 case of 500rds. I think 50% increase in cost over steel case Russian FMJs is cheap insurance for having a little ammo you can count on to work if you ever need it.

[Badger24]

Question for those stocking handgun ammunition. Is your stock pile mainly comprised of FLU or HP? And what is the reasoning for your choise?
Pelagius

Wait, what is FLU ammo?

[BigBossMan]

Question for those stocking handgun ammunition. Is your stock pile mainly comprised of FLU or HP? And what is the reasoning for your choise?
Pelagius

Wait, what is FLU ammo?

A FMJ typing brainfart.

[Pelagius]

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[Pelagius]

More like my phone chiming in with its autocorrect.

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[DarkandShiny]

I probably have a few hundred rounds of HP ammo in 9mm and 45acp. I shoot the cheap stuff (reloads mostly) and they are always FMJ. I don't stockpile huge supplies of ammo like some do. I usually have a couple thousand rounds (again FMJ practice stuff) in the safe at any given time so I don't worry about my supply that much.

[sarky]

Since I reload, I tend to buy which ever bullets are on sale in the weights I want. I buy mostly once fired brass and my primers and powder I get at my local shooting range.

[thechin]

I stock whatever is available, cheap, and shoots straight. I reload .45ACP and buy .22LR in bulk because these are my carry calibers. Lately I've been buying nickel brass for testing purposes. I realized one day while going through my stock pile that I had a lot of 7.62x54r (3,450 rounds) but I only have one mosin

Thought process:
Average powder charge in one 7.62x54r is 50.9gr
Average powder charge in one .45ACP is 5.3gr

3,450 of 7.62x54r = 33,133 rounds of .45ACP
plus lots of already primed brass, and now bullets for reloading the 7.62x51mm