Buying ammo by the individual box will be the least efficient and most expensive method; your goal should be to avoid this scenario as much as possible.
We ran out of toilet paper just as the coronavirus outbreak started. My wife buys a lot of toilet paper so we never run out. However, my wife’s scheduled quarterly toilet paper excursion coincided with the nationwide toilet paper crisis of 2020. Although we avoided a catastrophe, the United States is currently facing a scarcity of ammunition.
This is somewhat shocking because I thought everyone had learnt their lesson during the 2008 presidential election. Do you still recall the severe shortages of ammunition that persisted until 2016? After President Trump was elected, the country entered what some in the firearms business referred to as the “Trump Slump,” during which everyone appeared to retreat into a safe haven and assumed that ammo will always be affordable and available. It looks that we simply used up the ammunition we had instead of purchasing more while it was still affordable.
So, here we are once more. Ammunition is being produced as quickly as possible by manufacturers, and some sellers are dramatically boosting prices. The main reason for this is that people, being as lazy as we are, never fully prepare for unpleasant situations. Additionally, it raises the question of how much ammunition you actually need to carry at all times.
With ammunition, it’s different. As demand increases, so does use. In uncertain times, folks begin shooting and training more so they will be better prepared. The more intense the shortage, the more intense the use. Given the current situation, which happens to be preceding a very important presidential election, the current ammunition situation has the potential to last for quite a bit of time. Are you ready for that? If you don’t have the ammo you need now, it might be the better part of a decade before you can acquire it without selling your soul or first born.
So, how much and what types of ammunition do you need? Obviously, it depends on your situation. According to my sources in the ammunition-manufacturing industry, sales always follow highs and lows. Savvy shooters buy ammunition when the demand is low because it costs less and more is available. I recently saw on social media where a guy went to the gun shop to purchase 9 mm ammo and the only thing on the shelf was a dozen boxes of .327 Fed. Mag. ammo.
Ideally, you should strive to always have about a 10-year supply of ammunition on hand. How much is that? Well, it depends on how much you shoot. Regardless, part of your cache should always be what I call “war chest ammo.” This is ammunition you might need if you really need ammunition—top-shelf, defensive loads for your primary handgun, rifle and shotgun. At a minimum we’re talking 200 rounds of rifle and shotgun, and about 500 rounds of pistol ammunition.
