Real questions that you would like to get an answer…

[sea2summit]

For discussion purposes, .30-06 bolt action rifle, .357 revolver and semi auto 12 ga.

I am asking solely regarding home defense rounds. Not for target or practice. How many should I make sure I have on hand in reserve. In this day and age?

Maybe you should define home defense for us. You’re talking break-ins or mostly peaceful protests?

 

[dstig1]

Heat rises so keeping the basement warm helps but not that much. It’s better to put the heat in your living space.

You see people say this a lot and it is not actually correct. HOT AIR rises, not heat. It is a distinction that matters at times, and not at other times. People in the US have become so accustomed to their home heat source being heated forced air (which of course DOES rise) that they make the shortcut to "heat rises". Yeah some people think you are being a smart-a$$ when you say it because a lot of times we are indeed talking about hot air, but there are times where it is significant.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics can be rephrased in several ways. Fundamentally, it says that heat always flows from hot objects to cold objects (unless work is exerted to make it flow the other direction).

And this is what heat actually does: Moves from areas of higher temp to those of lower temp. The "hot air rises" bit is convection, which is one mode of heat transfer but not the only one.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Maybe you should define home defense for us. You’re talking break-ins or mostly peaceful protests?

General home defense. Break-ins or more.

How many rounds of ammo are people having in reserve at home right now today.

 

[Semper Paratus]

For discussion purposes, .30-06 bolt action rifle, .357 revolver and semi auto 12 ga.

I am asking solely regarding home defense rounds. Not for target or practice. How many should I make sure I have on hand in reserve. In this day and age?

My rule of thumb is two complete reloads for what ever it is. For a .357 revolver that would be 15-21 rounds. For the 12 Ga about the same. My load out for an AR is 3x30 round mag down loaded by 1 in each mag so 87-90 rounds

 

[Eagle1]

General home defense. Break-ins or more.

How many rounds of ammo are people having in reserve at home right now today.

You don't want to know what I have.....

Your mix
Semi auto Shotgun, plugged I assume. So 1 in chamber 2 in the tube. I would want a side saddle for reloading (or speed loader). Keep a box or 2 of bigger shot and/or slugs

357 mag revolver 6 rounds , reloading can be fast with moon clips or speed loader and spare 6 (or 12) handy would be nice. I'd have 50 or so hollow points on hand just in case. FMJ is not for self defense.

30-06 bolt really only useful outside (or through window). Have what ever use for hunting handy. Not sure I'd have loaded unless I was expecting someone. Still would have a couple of boxes of ammo.

I'm a backups have backups kinda guy in everything. meaning I have at least 2 of everything I use, if not more. Like multiple tractors, chainsaws, mowers, etc.

 

[jaxs]

I have several rounds on hand for all my guns but if the police and/or D.A. ask how many were for home defense my answer will be none. I don't have gun(s) and amo staged to confront another human but I do keep some handy in case I need them quickly to dispatch an animal. No sir,I wasn't lying in wait I acted on impulse out of fright and self preservation. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[bigtiller]

For discussion purposes, .30-06 bolt action rifle, .357 revolver and semi auto 12 ga.

I am asking solely regarding home defense rounds. Not for target or practice. How many should I make sure I have on hand in reserve. In this day and age?

zero, zero and zero rounds. The odds of an armed break-in are less than 1 percent. Most armed invasions are are committed by someone the owner knows and usually happen during the day when no one is home.

if by chance your house is chosen and gun play happens, it will be over in seconds. If by chance you have a gun in your hands when it happens, pray it isn't plain clothed cops with the wrong address.

 

[jyoutz]

You don't want to know what I have.....

Your mix
Semi auto Shotgun, plugged I assume. So 1 in chamber 2 in the tube. I would want a side saddle for reloading (or speed loader). Keep a box or 2 of bigger shot and/or slugs

357 mag revolver 6 rounds , reloading can be fast with moon clips or speed loader and spare 6 (or 12) handy would be nice. I'd have 50 or so hollow points on hand just in case. FMJ is not for self defense.

30-06 bolt really only useful outside (or through window). Have what ever use for hunting handy. Not sure I'd have loaded unless I was expecting someone. Still would have a couple of boxes of ammo.

I'm a backups have backups kinda guy in everything. meaning I have at least 2 of everything I use, if not more. Like multiple tractors, chainsaws, mowers, etc.

My .357 is usually loaded with snakeshot. For shooting snakes. And during big game hunts, with hollow points for a backup gun. My .270 when not hunting game is ready for stray coyotes and lions. My 12 gauge for quail hunting. And my CCW 9 mm for two legged troublemakers.

 

[fatjay]

General home defense. Break-ins or more.

How many rounds of ammo are people having in reserve at home right now today.

Like how many cases of ammo in the cabinet? Or like your home defense weapon round capacity?

 

[kenmac]

Ok, level 2 question.

I have 1 shotgun, 1 rifle and 1 handgun. How many rounds of ammo for each should I have on hand for home defense? And “as many as I can afford” is not a valid answer.

I have 300 rounds for my shotguns, 2000 rounds for my hand guns, and 6000 rounds for my AR's.
I keep 10 15 round mags ea. loaded for my hand guns, and 15 40 round mags. loaded for my AR.
I'm sure others keep more than I. I know people that do

 

[fatjay]

zero, zero and zero rounds. The odds of an armed break-in are less than 1 percent. Most armed invasions are are committed by someone the owner knows and usually happen during the day when no one is home.

if by chance your house is chosen and gun play happens, it will be over in seconds. If by chance you have a gun in your hands when it happens, pray it isn't plain clothed cops with the wrong address.

I'm not stocking for a random break-in. I'm stocking for war. Military age men crossing the boarder number in the millions. I see mobs of hundreds of anti-semites praising palastein and ***** for the extermination of my people. We have been victims of genocide for the last time.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Like how many cases of ammo in the cabinet? Or like your home defense weapon round capacity?

Ammo available. How much should i own?

 

[fatjay]

Ammo available. How much should i own?

Firearm ownership is a responsibility. There's skill involved. Anything that involves skill requires practice. Each weapon is a little different, reloads to the point of muscle memory. I like to have at least 1000 rounds through each weapon to ensure that I am a) completely comfortable with it's operation and b) confident in it's reliability and that it won't let me down when it counts. And if it does jam, fail to extract, load, etc I can react in quick fashion.

I have 5k rounds through my ps90, it's my favorite home defense gun due to it's extremely small profile in an sbr form, minimimal recoil, lethality of the round, and magazine capacity. It has never had a malfunction.

My ccw that I had for nearly 20 years had about 10k rounds through it. It was the Ruger P89, and I still have it, but it's no longer my ccw. I can count the malfunctions on one hand, and I suspect it was due to ammo quality, and not a fault of the weapon.

My primary battle rifle I have about 3k rounds through, it's an AR. But I have many AR's, and I like to keep them in regular circulation to keep round counts from going through the roof.

I have numerous subguns in 9mm, scorpion, stribog, ap5, couple ak's, that are lighter and less recoil than AR's that the children can handle when they're looking to shoot something more substantial than a handgun.

So to answer your question, there's no one answer fits all. It depends on what you use it for. Did you buy a 9mm handgun and stash it in a fingerprint safe incase something goes bump in the night, 10 years ago, and nothing has gone bump in the night, so it remains there, undisturbed, and you hope that you'll remember exactly what to do years later if something does go bump in the night? Or are you shooting regularly, to retain your proficiency level?

If you've just got a 9mm and a 12ga, and shoot occasionally, I would say 6 boxes of each if you're not worried about anything coming down the pipes. If you shoot every week, have a few dozen rifles, I would say more. Ultimately, it is what kind of shooting you do. Hell, I have 5k of .22 for varmint's alone.

 

[scaredychicken]

- I have a single action pellet gun, about 200 pellets, mostly for rodents, or to sting the bear, coyotes
- I have a bear banger, 3 cartridges (had 4, spent one earlier when the bear was 30 ft from me, and moving closer)

I'm glad that I don't really need to think about this too much.

Be Safe

 

[Eagle1]

I would say it also depends on where and how you live.
For me response time for a sheriff is a minimum of 45 minutes.
We have livestock and are surrounded by National Forest. No neighbors within 1/2 mil.
We currently operate an RV park/campground on part of the property. So protect more than just my stuff.
I guess my potential problems are different than in many. Lots of tweakers and road hunters roaming the backwoods gravel roads looking for an easy mark. Road hunters never seem to never know what they are shooting at (shot a milk cow down the road last year and donkey in the front yard a few years earlier) and a response may be called for. My dogs handle the tweakers with me as security for them.
We also have a more than health population of feral hogs and coyotes to take into account.
I would say about 50% of my meat comes from hunting, the other half from what we raise.

 

[dougtrr2]

Given that you can't buy single rounds, and assuming ammo is available to replenish after an attack, one box for each weapon should be enough.

Doug in SW IA

 

[MoKelly]

- I have a single action pellet gun, about 200 pellets, mostly for rodents, or to sting the bear, coyotes
- I have a bear banger, 3 cartridges (had 4, spent one earlier when the bear was 30 ft from me, and moving closer)

I'm glad that I don't really need to think about this too much.

Be Safe

Would you really shoot a bear with a pellet gun? I am by no means a bear expert, but that would seem to just make the bear unhappy.

 

[fatjay]

Would you really shoot a bear with a pellet gun? I am by no means a bear expert, but that would seem to just make the bear unhappy.

I think he was specifying two different guns, one for pellets and one for bear.

 

[Eagle1]

Bear Bangers and Launchers

Scare cartridges (bangers, flares and whistling screamers) are practical, inexpensive, easy-to-use and very effective bear deterrents. They can be fired from pen launchers or pistols. Both systems are highly effective, so the system you choose is simply a matter of personal choice.

 

[sea2summit]

Ammo available. How much should i own?

Having lived through so many bans/scares/panics I'd figure out what you think you use in a year, add 10% and multiply that by four years. So if you use 50 rounds a year, that's ~220 rounds.