Ammo Stockpiling: 4 Reasons Buying More Ammo Is One Of The Smartest Things You’ll Ever Do before SHTF

by | May 13, 2019 | Emergency Preparedness, Headline News | 63 comments

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    This article was originally published by Mike Adams at Natural News.

    Ammoland recently ran an article by a fake prepper group that claims you don’t need to stockpile ammo since you can’t fight a national military invasion anyway. The group — which is obviously a front run by the anti-American intelligence community — claims to cite scientific evidence that “proves” you don’t need to stockpile ammo. Among this sketchy evidence is the claim that police officers in New York City “fire an average of only two point nine shots per [shooting] incident.”

    So there. You don’t need any ammunition. Cops only fire fewer than 3 rounds per shooting incident, see?

    Anyone who thinks they can survive an assault on their country home by firing merely three rounds of 9mm ammunition is not merely delusional; they’re dead.

    By the same argument, maybe these preppers think you should only have a 3-round magazine, too. I’m sure Eric Swalwell, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Biden would agree. Who needs more than three rounds, anyway?

    Ammoland also ran a rebuttal article to this, which explains why you can never have too much ammo. The rebuttal article is a good start, but I didn’t see it covering the far more powerful arguments for why stockpiling ammo makes so much sense to any thinking person. (Dare I say “rational” person?)

    So I decided to share these very compelling reasons here. What qualifies me to talk about any of this? In addition to being a published food scientist and patent holder, I’m an accomplished tactical shooter with thousands of hours of training and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition expended on the range and during training scenarios. I’ve trained with former special forces, former Navy SEALs and former law enforcement. I’ve trained in executive protection, clearing structures, “tubular assaults” (in airplanes and buses, for example), long-range target shooting, NV-equipped night shooting and much more. And even though I’m more accurate in my shooting than perhaps 99% of gun owners, I also know that even the best shooters are useless if they run out of ammo.

    If you don’t stockpile ammo, you’re a fool.

    Reason #1: In a world where everything is virtual bullshit, ammunition needs no software updates to function

    Everything in the world, it seems, needs a software upgrade to function. This includes your car, your DVD player and of course your silly mobile phone. Nothing works without constant software upgrades, and if you’ve seen the recent news about Boeing aircraft, in many cases nothing works even with the software upgrades.

    Software will probably be the downfall of modern society, as nearly every modern system is so dependent on a long supply line of sketchy code that the complexity itself is a recipe for disaster. I’ve seen the United States Postal Service real-time postage calculation systems go offline twice in the last month, and the FBI background check system seems to crater with disturbing regularity. NASA crashed an orbiter into Mars a few years back after writing bad software code, and one of their Mars landers couldn’t transmit photos without a remote software upgrade transmitted from Earth (because the geniuses at NASA forgot to test the code here on Earth… oops).

    Rest assured the U.S. military’s equipment is also heavily dependent on software updates and techno-crap that fails more often than it works. The average U.S. soldier has been turned into a walking battery transport burro, now carrying so much electronics gear that the original purpose of being a soldier in the first place seems to get lost in all the tech.

    But there’s one thing that almost never fails a soldier: Their rifle. Ever wonder why? Because rifles don’t need software to function. That’s because ammunition works based on the laws of physics, not based on some hare-brained programmer who showed up to work stoned and suffering from a sleep deficit.

    I don’t trust software to work. But I do trust ammo. It works almost without fail, and even the few “click” failures in pistols, for example, are usually slide cycling problems rather than primer failures. With modern ammo, primers have a failure rate of less than 1 in 100,000 if properly struck with a firing pin.

    In a collapsing world, stuff that reliably works has tremendous value. What’s the value of an iPhone in a grid-down scenario? Zero. What’s the value of a GPS unit after a devastating solar flare? Zero. What’s the value of insulin that gets too hot because the pharmacy refrigerators went offline? Zero.

    What’s the value of ammunition that goes bang every time? PRICELESS.

    Reason #2: Ammunition is EMP-proof

    For reasons explained above, ammunition (and firearms) work even after an EMP attack or solar flare / Carrington event. Sure, your super high-tech red dot sight might stop functioning, but you did zero in your iron sights, right?

    Unlike almost everything else in society that fails at the slightest disturbance, guns and ammo keep working during floods, volcanoes, superstorms, civil unrest, power outages, financial collapse events, nuclear war and even invasions of space aliens.

    If you don’t think that’s priceless, you haven’t really thought much about survival and prepping.

    Just wait until all those people who said prepping is a “waste of time” try to dial 911 on their dead Android phones to report that a gang of looters has entered their home. Dialing 911 doesn’t work when the power grid is down, you numbskull. But a handy dandy AR-15 doesn’t need public infrastructure to function.

    Just try to remember which end goes bang.

    Reason #3: Every human being has a body, and every person wants to defend their body, giving ammunition near-“universal demand”

    If I were in a barter situation, I would want to have something to barter that virtually everyone wanted. That’s called “universal demand,” and ammunition is about as close as you can get to the perfect barter item.

    That’s because ammunition has a multitude of uses, including gathering food (hunting) and defending yourself (or your family) against violent attackers.

    Since law enforcement is likely to collapse in almost any SHTF scenario, self-defense becomes a personal affair. And that means ammunition has near-universal value to any person who wants to live.

    Ammunition is even more valuable than gold in one sense because it is immediately practical. Gold is only a means of exchange in a SHTF scenario since there’s not much real-world practical use for gold in a collapsed society other than a store of value. But ammunition that’s acquired can be immediately loaded into a magazine and used to bolster personal defend, mere seconds after the barter transaction. Ammo is practical and real.

    If you don’t follow my reasoning here, ask yourself this question: If you’re sitting in a house during an EMP collapse, and three armed bad guys break down your front door, which would you rather have in your hand? 1) A gold bar. 2) A loaded AR-15. 3) A cell phone.

    If you didn’t answer #2, then you may need to have your head examined.

    Reason #4: Basing your ammo strategy on the tactical behavior of cops is sheer lunacy

    I don’t know anyone in the realms of tactical shooting or hardcore survival prepping who bases their strategies on the behavior of cops. With apologies to all the courageous men and women in blue, cops are almost universally considered the least proficient firearms operators around. It’s no fault of their own, as cops are given almost no training, no ammunition, no body armor, no range time and are usually handed crappy pistols with heavy triggers that are almost impossible to operate with finesse. This is especially true among East Coast cops where the guns are deliberately designed with super heavy triggers precisely to discourage cops from ever using them. And when those cops do deploy their pistols in crowded cities, they more often than not end up shooting civilians or each other. (See this story for more proof.)

    It’s also worth noting that U.S. courts have repeatedly ruled those police officers have no legal duty whatsoever to protect citizens from violence committed by others. This truth was recently reiterated by yet another federal judge in this recent court case.

    Cops, in other words, have no duty to protect you. That’s an irrefutable fact.

    Even worse, most cops (with a few exceptions, noted below) are barely capable of protecting themselves from violence, as they have very poor gun skills. When I’m at a gun range and cops are nearby, they almost always come to me asking for advice. “How do you learn to shoot with your left hand alone?” they’ll ask me. One time a highway patrolman asked me to take a look at his AR-15 and tell him how to improve it. I opened the action and the thing was bone dry, having never been lubed… ever. (I told him to buy some axle grease, for starters. And put a red dot sight on it. My current recommendation is the Sig Romeo series.)

    I rarely meet cops who demonstrate much in the way of shooting proficiency. The exception to this is former Marines, Navy SEALs, etc., who become cops. These individuals are very proficient. I’ve never met a U.S. Marine who wasn’t highly competent with a rifle and a pistol. The Marines will not “graduate” a soldier who can’t shoot straight, and that’s to their credit. If you are in a collapse scenario, hurry up and make friends with a U.S. Marine veteran…

    One of the things the authors of the original “you don’t need ammo” story failed to point out is that nearly all ammunition fired by cops MISSES the intended targets. I don’t know what the actual number is, but it’s almost certainly greater than 80%. One reason cops fire so many shots in actual firefights is because they almost never hit what they are trying to hit.

    If you study the numbers, you’ll see shooting incidents where cops fired 100+ rounds (in aggregate) and maybe hit their intended target with only 10 rounds. And a lot of those hits aren’t even center body mass or anything that stops bad guys. Shooting some doped-up lunatic in the arm with a 9mm round doesn’t stop them, by the way. To really bring them down, you have to aim for the pelvis and structurally halt their ability to ambulate. Good cops know this already, but poorly trained cops can’t even hit the pelvis anyway, so they just spray and pray.

    Don’t believe me? Watch this video of a Las Vegas cop shooting through the windshield of his own cop car, flinging rounds down a busy street where any civilian could be walking around or sitting in their own car, all while driving with one hand. The shooting begins at around the 1:58 mark:

    This cop is firing rounds all over the place, into buildings, other people’s cars, into the air, etc.  At one point he’s driving with no hands on the steering wheel while firing his gun through his windshield. If you have an IQ above 50, you’ll notice that almost every shot misses the intended target, which is the driver of the vehicle.

    At the 2:28 mark, this genius police officer tried to load a magazine into his pistol backward. As this is happening, the suspect is still driving away and appears to be fully functional.

    Eventually, after at least two full magazines emptied by this police officer, he apparently manages to nail the bad guy and shut him down. This is after dozens of other rounds were drilled into who knows how many other vehicles, buildings, pedestrians and tree squirrels along the way.

    And this isn’t even the most telling video. This next video shows L.A. cops chasing a suspect who flees into a convenience store on a crowded street. To the surprise of no one, a whole group of cops opens fire at the convenience store, completely oblivious to the fact that there might be innocent civilians working there or shopping at the store.

    See the 1:57 mark of this video:

    Just as you might suppose would happen, one of the rounds kills the store manager. The manager’s name was Melyda Marciela Corado and the store was none other than Trader Joe’s.

    What you’re seeing here is the genius L.A. cops opening fire on a retail store, completely oblivious to the other people inside. Why do cops engage in this behavior? Because they aren’t properly trained, that’s why.

    But these are the same cops that are going to respond when you dial 911 and beg for help. And even if they do respond — which is unlikely during a SHTF collapse event — they will probably shoot your dog while approaching your house.

    If you design a self-defense strategy around the shooting skills of cops, you’re just begging to fail

    My point is that anyone trying to reach an informed conclusion about the usefulness of ammunition by examining the horribly bad shooting habits of most cops is just wasting time chasing irrelevant statistics. SHTF survival scenarios and modern-day cop scenarios are wildly different, too. Trying to equate them in some way is worse than comparing apples to oranges. Cops have tough jobs, by the way, and I honor their courage and duty. I’m just being honest: Most cops are not very proficient shooters. And they end up killing a lot of innocent people because they don’t practice fire discipline or shooting skills.

    Interestingly, cops are held to a much higher legal standard than civilians when it comes to where their rounds go. You wouldn’t know it from the videos above, but cops are taught they they are legally responsible for every round that leaves their gun. (And technically, you are too.)

    But civilians who are being assaulted by criminals, armed gangs or apocalypse zombies need not practice the same sort of fire discipline that would be reasonably expected in a peacetime cop scenario. When being assaulted in a SHTF scenario, you’re basically in a “fire at will” scenario, and it’s a bad day to be named “Will,” by the way.

    In such a scenario, you will wish that you had more ammo, by the way. The good cops that I know carry four spare mags for their pistols. Some cities limit the ammo capacity of cops to just two mags, which is intended to encourage cops to shoot less. I think it’s a suicide rule, since cops should be allowed to carry all the ammunition they want, in my view. And you should have multiple mags and ammo cans available for your home defense, too.

    Soldiers very often carry 10 mags, each with 30 rounds. That’s 300 rounds of ammo, or slightly less if they’re loading their mags to only 29 rounds each. Ever wonder why soldiers don’t carry just 3 rounds of ammo? Because that would be suicide.

    Throwing rounds downrange with accuracy is the name of the game here. Even if you’re not hitting your target with precision, you’re probably causing a barrage of flying chunks of bricks, concrete, glass or whatever you’re hitting that’s near the intended target. Most likely, he’s not wearing eye pro, so he’s already half-blinded by the time you get to your second mag. And since most bad guys are morons who think car doors block bullets (since they saw that in a movie once), your second mag goes right into (and through) both sides of the car, taking out your target.

    Better yet, carry a .308 ultralight rifle that fires 7.62 NATO rounds. You’ll only get 20 rounds per mag, but all 20 of those rounds do a whole lot more damage than the 5.56 most guys carry. 2A Arms sells the XLR-18 ultralight .308 rifle, which I recently acquired (but haven’t put through the paces yet).

    The bottom line: If you want to live, stockpile some ammo… the RIGHT ammo

    In summary, I suppose you could conform to the anti-prepping advice circulating online and decide you don’t need guns or ammunition to survive. Or you can choose to be effective and alive. If you want to be effective, you’ll need a lot of ammo, a lot of training and some reliable gear. Your pistol is a joke compared to your rifle, remember, since force equals one-half mass times velocity squared. In other words, your puny 9mm that’s pushing 1050 fps is a spitwad compared to a 62 grain 5.56 round moving at 2700 fps. It’s the velocity squared that translates into kinetic energy. (Personally, I prefer the 168-grain 7.62 rounds traveling at closer to 3000 fps.) But of course that only counts if the bullet transfers the energy into your target, which is why you shouldn’t load your survival rifles with FMJ ammo.

    Try the “Controlled Chaos” or “Maximum Expansion” bullets machined by Lehigh Defense. Underwood Ammo sells loads suitable for AR rifles. This is what I load into my ranch defense AR rifles for the simple reason that if you’re going to shoot someone in self-defense, don’t be polite about it. If you’re not using ammunition that deliberately causes maximum trauma, then why do you own a rifle for self-defense in the first place?

    If you run suppressors on your rifles or pistols, a company called Discreet Ballistics makes subsonic, expanding rounds that are said to offer excellent expansion even at subsonic velocities. I’ve tried this ammo and found it to have a lot of trouble cycling in AR-style rifles due to the non-rounded shape of the bullet nose. Even after using a Dremel tool on the feed ramps of the barrel, I still couldn’t get the rounds to work very effectively, but you might have better luck. I’ve found a lot more success using rounds that have a polymer tip, such as the Barnes VOR-TX line, which is excellent. Their 300 blackout bullets are my current choice for subsonic 300 blackout rifles.

    See, it’s not just about stockpiling ammo… it’s about stockpiling the correct ammo. Tactical ammo. Ammunition that expands. If you don’t have that ammo — and if you haven’t made sure it cycles in your firearms — then you’re really just carrying around “practice ammo” that isn’t really very effective in a survival scenario. FMJ rounds go right through people all the time and do minimal damage.

    The shocking thing that a U.S. Army combat medic who treated over 20,000 gunshot victims learned about ammunition

    In fact, here’s an important article by a former U.S. Army combat medic who explains this in great detail. Take the time to read that article, because it will change your whole thinking about what sort of ammo you should be stockpiling for SHTF.

    FMJ ammo in the 5.56 caliber merely “punches straight holes” through people’s limbs, accomplishing nothing. Remember, 5.56 ammo is only the diameter of a pencil eraser. Poking pencil eraser-sized holes in people who are trying to kill you is a tragic mistake. If they’re trying to harm you, and you’re invoking your right to self-defense, you need to be punching massive holes that rip their bones apart and cause them to completely stop their attack on you due to the laws of skeletal physics. If you merely punch tiny holes in people, you’re only encouraging them to rethink why they decided to be there at that moment, but you haven’t forced them to stop. Yes, you might motivate them to change their mind and go away, but you haven’t really solved the problem until they’re involuntarily forced to stop attacking you.

    As the former combat medic explains in the above article — which you will find astonishing and perhaps unbelievable — shooting people with pistols almost never kills them. Here’s why:

    On the civilian side, I saw only one single-shot kill from a pistol ever, and that was from a .357 magnum, within a living room, probably not more than five yards. The round entered the sternum and exited the spine. In fact, within the US, the vast majority of people that I saw shot lived after receiving medical treatment. That includes attempted suicides. I even had a patient live after a self inflicted shotgun wound to the face. He died of the cancer he was attempting to flee from, months later.

    Beyond that, I do have recorded kills with a 9X19, but they all required multiple shots or they all took time to die.  Time enough to return fire or flee far enough to have to search for them. I don’t mean seconds of life, either — I mean minutes or hours. I have seen people shot that had to traverse long distances that still got away.

    I’ve seen a lot of pistol shootings, much more than US police would ever see, and much more than experienced by most medics deploying solely with US personnel. And yet, I have zero, not one single experience, where a single gunshot wound from a 9X19 NATO round killed someone prior to them being able to return fire or flee. This includes people shot in the chest, back, back of the head (one hit behind the left ear) the neck and the face.  None.

    He even explains that standard AR-15 rounds (5.56 NATO) aren’t very effective, either:

    Unfortunately, the same goes for the 5.56 NATO round. I have yet to witness a single shot quick kill with this round. I even recorded a patient shot from less than three feet away, square in the back of the head, who lived. The round did not exit his body. Yes, he was immediately rendered unconscious and required (might I say exceptional) medical treatment. He was comatose for at least six months after that, but he lived.

    But more importantly, in every experience, at ranges from zero (negligent discharges) to 35 yards (my closest, and worst-placed, shot on a person) to 400 yards (our average initial engagement distance in Afghanistan) individuals shot with a single 5.56 NATO round had time to fire, maneuver, or both. Did I see single shots that killed eventually? Yes. Does that matter in combat? Not one damn bit if you are the one they are still shooting at.

    In my experience, the standard NATO combat round pokes 5.56mm holes in both bones and flesh, shattering nothing. It creates minimal bleeding. I know people say it tumbles and yaws, but that isn’t my experience at all. I saw it poke tiny holes in humans and rarely induced hemorrhaging sufficient to cause unconsciousness or uncompensated shock, which is the only result that matters.

    On the flip side, having a patient who was shot by a 7.62X51 NATO or larger round was a rarity. Dead people aren’t patients, they are a supply issue.

    … Take from that what you will. For me, what I learned is, when it comes to combat, shoot the heaviest rifle round I can, shoot at what I can hit, and then shoot it again if I can. I also learned that, in general, multiple organ damage shortens the time a patient is able to compensate for hemorrhagic shock far greater than the effect of a larger wound track in a single organ.

    The bottom line? Yes, you need to stockpile ammo. But more importantly, you need to stockpile expanding ammo that will get the job done. This is especially for those of you who own AR-15s and you have nothing but standard 5.56 FMJ / NATO ammo, which flat-out doesn’t get the job done.

    Whether you’re rolling a 9mm pistol or an AR with 5.56 ammo (or something bigger), it’s the ammo itself that determined the effectiveness of shots placed on target. Yes, you can practice with FMJ ammo, but you should carry something that’s far more effective.

    Current firearms recommendations for people who wish to survive the chaos that’s coming

    Stay informed. I also publish Gear.news for up-to-date news on self-defense and tactical firearms. Ammoland.com is also a good website, and TheGunFeed.com is sort of like a Drudge Report for gun-related news.

    Here are my current recommendations for those of you who wish to survive the coming chaos:

    Best pistol: Sig P320 RX (compact) with ROMEO red dot sight and night sights. After running the Glock 19 for years, I switched to Sig P320 for a whole host of reasons. The link for the actual model I recommend (and carry myself) is: https://www.sigsauer.com/store/p320-rx-compact.html

    Best rifle for first-time rifle buyers: Sig M400 Tread. Don’t even think about it. Just buy it. There is no debate about a starter rifle.

    Best rifle for experienced gun owners: Bravo Company USA. I like the 14.5″ RECCE. The Sig MCX Virtus series is also outstanding for different reasons.

    For long-range shooting, I may do a review later about the best rifles, ballistics systems, rangefinders, etc., for defending your country home or ranch against long-range threats (500 – 1500 yards).

    Bottom line: Keep it legal. Follow all local gun laws. I personally do not own anything that is “fully automatic” (there’s no need) and don’t own any SBRs. Everything I buy is 100% legal, and I encourage you to keep it legal, too. If you live in a city that does not allow you to legally purchase and own rifles, pistols, standard-capacity magazines and thousands of rounds of ammunition, then you are living in the wrong city.

    Maybe you should think about leaving before the zombie apocalypse arrives at your doorstep.

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      63 Comments

      1. I must say that I agree with those findings as I have sold all of my ammo after the accident out on the lake when my canoe tipped over and all of my guns now reside on the lake bottom. Boy, am I bummed out about it.

        • btw, I do possess an eight foot seasoned hickory staff that has been sharpened at one end and makes me feel safe.

          • I think this stockpiling ammo is way over rated! If you have 5000rds. of 5.56 and the same of 7.62×51 and 7.62×39 and a couple thousand rds.each of 9mm, 45ACP and 40S&W and some 44mag and 357mag and maybe 5000rds. 22LR and a few hundred rds. of different hunting calibers along with some shot shells, anything over that is just a waste of money and space. His article was long and I’m not sure it was worth the read, seems he spent a lot of time bashing the cops and I also noted at the top of the article it said “Promoted Content” what ever that meant. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it. Trekker Out

            • Mountain Trekker, I think he makes a great point that many preppers may not be aware of, but they sure understand it in Central and South American Countries. That COPS are as or more likely to shot you than criminals!

              “To the surprise of no one, a whole group of cops opens fire at the convenience store, completely oblivious to the fact that there might be innocent civilians working there or shopping at the store.”

              I say, instead of getting EVEN MORE Omma (that’s code) buy KEVLAR! Defense wins championships!

            • How many people do you know who are “gun poor”?

              You only have two hands. You can only shoot two guns max at once.
              When media goes nuts over man who has 1000 guns, SO WHAT!. One person with one gun, who knows how to use that one gun, who gets the drop on you. THAT person is much more dangerous than someone with a 1000 guns.

              You don’t need all those guns. Don’t be gun poor/gun broke. In a shtf/grid down/civil war/invasion etc. there will be plenty of battlefield pickups from the dead.
              Hunker down the first week or three. Hide. Run. Then there will be more than enough firearms for you. Battlefield pick ups will be plenty.
              My guess is that many of you tactical tommy wanna be’s here will be furnishing firearms and goods to those with cooler heads.
              Notice also I used the pronoun “person” above. Not man. Those who have seen combat understand that anyone with a gun can make you have a bad day, Man, Woman, Child. NEVER underestimate a woman or child who is armed. NEVER. If you do you Die. Your family/friends, DIE.

              Ammo. How much can you carry? Have you ever acually loaded your vehicle for a “bugout”. You have only so much carrying capacity. Space/Weight fill up fast.
              That means all those guns and all that ammo you horded will be left for someone else.

              “I’ll defend my stores” you might say. I say If you do you will Die. I have been in action. Most of the time superior firepower, he with most guns on targets Wins. The lone shooter Dies. The lone 7 shooters die when they are outnumbered above about 5 to one. If enemy is trained and motivated.

              That is reality.

              Hungry starving people, with their starving children, will be HIGHLY motivated to kill you for what you have. You will be over run and die if you stay and fight. There is a reason castles are no longer built.

              Your best bet is to flee the area of disaster or conflict. Run. Hide. Run. Hide. Run. Flee and leave combat zone. Just as Millions of immigrants have done. You must see things coming. Leave immediatly. Do not delay. See it coming.

              By the way. Those stores and guns will make you a target. People will kill you for that stuff. Don’t die for stuff.

              Every poor person knows this if they have lived around other poor people. Shiney things and camo things that people want can get you targeted and killed. By locals, by military, by the cops. Yes they will all be gunning for you.

              Figure out ways to flee and run away from disaster and combat areas. That will keep you alive better than ten pallets of ammo.

              You need: Food-Water-Medical supplies.
              I would suggest you leave any city NOW. They are Death traps. Get away from ground zero blast zone of nuclear targets. Moron politicians want a war.

              Home in a rural are is better investment than guns and ammo. You need no more ammo than will fit in you vehicle along with food-water-medical-tools. You can’t fit much.

              Things you learn in poor areas:
              – Nice Things will get you Targeted, beat up and killed.
              – Blend in
              – No matter how tough you are. There is someone tougher. Get into conflicts enough times and you will meat that dude. So stay out of it. Avoid trouble.
              -Yes numbers matter. In a street fight. In a firefight. If you are alone and they are many. You will likely loose.
              – You don’t really need much to survive. You can be cold, wet, hungry, thirsty, injured, tired, and you can still make it through. IF you are mentally/emotionally, tough. IF you use your head. IF you pray and ask for God’s help. Yes this is True. I am living proof. Turn to God of Jesus Christ, not to guns and ammo, for security. Use your brains, Not emotions, Not fear, not cockyness. Think-run-hide-run-remove yourself and family from conflict area.

              • I understand some of the claims made in this article. In most cases they are not realistic for the average person. I agree that having a good supply of ammo is needed . There are others needs when SHTF. Being healthy physically and mentally. Becoming a refugee was not mentioned. What event may happen destroy your supply’s.. most of us are not police or military. Just ordinary citizens trying to make a good like and not obsessed white SHTF. Moderation may be the best approach.

              • Heres where “battlefield pickups” goes wrong. The US army has announced it will immediately make a propriety round, 6.24. It will own it, and will not allow it to be offered commercially. It will require a totally different gun, also only available to the army. The Army will install RFID in the guns to track down anyone who “picks then up”.

                The Deep State already thought of what you said, and is prepping accordingly. The only prep for all of this is buying a lifetime supply. Get your main battle rifle caliber. As far a 7.62, that definitely wont be available in SHTF, it’s eastern block, not a god choice.

                • wow…..quite a stretch there. 90% of the guns on streets owned by the PUBLIC will be 5.56 or 7.62….i aint worried about what the gubmint will own in 5 or 10 years…..this war will be much sooner than that.

            • some people seem to forget that when expending a hundred rounds of ammo, somebody will be expending THEIR hundred rounds at YOU……probly won’t need more than 500 rounds.

              • Also, if a person lives through the encounter, confiscate the wounded, deceased ammo and weapons and add to your stock pile.

                • Just be aware you must have enough ammo to live through the encounter, before you can think about scrounging someone else ammo. Trekker Out

            • Not quite sure how tongue-in-cheek that was…. but I agree whole heartedly.

              Yes, you can have too much ammo. If you’re required to move quickly you will wind up abandoning your cache to the wolves. You won’t be thinking of the dollar value, but you’ll certainly be sad driving off with a roomful of ammo in your rear view.

              I love the fact that you down vote the idea of stockpiling, then describe the level of stockpiling you currently adhere to!

              Like you, I shoot from my supply and rotate it often. I try to maintain just a thousand or so for each long gun and 500 for each pistol.

              Don’t get locked in your castle! If you can safely cache an equal amount elsewhere, do it. No guarantee you’ll get home when the SHTF. When you do, you might find you’ve been picked clean by your neighbors.

              Lots can happen. Plenty of scenarios for anyone with an imagination. Don’t be limited by this projection in your head of ‘how it will be’ because the only gurantee I can give you is, it will be different.

      2. I practiced over the weekend with several different calibers. Gotta replace the ammo now but if a man doesn’t shoot regularly and train correctly he is gonna get killed.

        • Not really. It WOULD definitely give you an edge. Didn’t help Chris Kyle and his friend any though. When its your time you can go screaming and kicking, but you will go.

          • I stand by my statement.

            • And I hope you remain standing for a long time to come.

              • Darn right! We need you to run that machine gun!

                • I’d be back where I belong!

              • You too reper sleepr

        • Menzo, I’ve been practicing on and off at the BOL and also restock. BTW, I’ve had a change of plans and will be here for 2 more weeks after all. This is one of the best articles I’ve ever read anywhere.

          • DR, It is good. Things are going to come to a head at some point soon and I hope we are both close to where we need to be.

            • Menzo, the way things are looking right now I could end up being here longer than I planned, if you get my drift.

        • That is wisdom.

      3. Put yourself in a Police Officer’s shoes.

        A guy is waving a gun in a Bar.

        The police show up.

        The guy waving a gun in the bar comes outside and starts waving the gun.

        Then starts to walk back into the bar.

        What would you do ?

        What happened was the guy got lite up by the police.

        Police have to make Split Second DECISIONS.

        Some are GOOD SHOOTS, and some are BAD SHOOTS.

        Either way I would (not) want to be in that situation, and deal with however you look at it a Life Changing Event that you have to live with.

        Remember every time a Officer puts on that Uniform he is immediately a Target on, and off the job, even his family in this day of age can be targets too.

        And you have the options with all the Conceal, and Carry Laws, and Open Carry Laws (you) can protect the Officers, and OTHERS too in certain situations.

        I am not taking sides with anyone, or what is right, and wrong.

        I am just putting it out there for all to Think About.

        Remember Police are out there to Serve and Protect.

        We can also do the same.

        • From One old Cop.
          Thank you. You seem to have a grasp on things.
          I wouldn’t have done anything different with my life. Being a Cop is what I AM, and will be till the day I die. You just can’t turn it off. Almost 35 years now and I would trade the last 35 for nothing.
          Sgt.

          • Sgt Dale

            My dad was a Cop from 1953-1978 in D.C.
            or should I say now THE DISTRICT OF CORRUPTION .

            Thank you for your service Brother

      4. Re-Load.

        Buy from Midsouth Shooter’s Supply.

        Then you can have a choice of 4 different 2nd Gen Hollow-points (Barnes Copper, LeHigh Copper & Brass, Speer Gold Dot, & Hornady GMX.)

      5. Posted this last week, ordered some 5.56 , the person who I ordered from said that they had seen a “very strong” upsurge in ammo sales in “very large” lots like 5,000-10,000 rounds.

        MSN is reporting two oil tankers were attacked in the Persian Gulf. War? Gas prices going up?

        • By the way, The Army Times is reporting that they are going to a new rifle that takes a 6.5mm round instead of the M4/5.56mm combo .

          • They need penetration. There is a lot of masonry of some form be it homemade uncured brick and stone in the Middle East. Body armor is more prevalent too.

            • If you need penetration there is a company that makes solid copper match boolits. I can’t remember the name but I think midway sells them. Git sum!

              • For me it won’t matter. I shoot for fun, there is always enough left over for an emergency. I’m thinking the military is finding the 5.56 deficient in penetration. I always thought the 7.62-51 too large and the 5.56 too small. Seems like 100 grain projectile, midpoint .27 diameter at 2800-3000 fps is about a good compromise on weight, recoil, power and penetration. Do the Soviet thing and have a steel core with a hollow cavity at the business end but a FMJ for legalities. On hard targets the steel core does its thing. On soft bodies the end bends over inducing a tumble. The Soviets were known for finding a cheap workable solution to what would be an expensive problem in the west.

              • Barnes Bullets. I use them in my 6.8 mm 5.56/223 7.62X51 &64.and even in my 30-30.
                Sgt.

          • USMC testing a 6.8 / . Moot. Shot placement is everything 2 thing destroy the advisory.. loss of blood or taking out the central nervous system .

      6. It has been talked about that the fighting in the Kandahar Province convinced the army that it was time to go to a faster and larger round. It is a known fact that the .556 round just could not reach the ragheads that always seemed to have the high ground during firefights.

      7. Nice ad for Sig disguised as an article.

        • How do you figure? Sig was mentioned what 2, maybe 3 times in the entire article, along with at least 2 other firearms manufacturers.
          Curious, did you actually get anything from the other 61 paragraphs of material, or did the 3 mentions of a manufacturers name blow your mind that badly?

          • thanks for saying it before i did!

      8. You have all the ammo you want.
        All the powers to be is let loose with a spray.

        • Sig makes some fine weapons but can be hard to deal with.

      9. While I have no real experience of combat I have seen photos of exit wounds from a 5.56 military ball. They’re anywhere from the size of a quarter to your closed fist. There is hydraulic shock and the projectile, quite long in comparison to its diameter tends to tumble. Do not discount its effectiveness.

        • All of my long range match ammo is hollow point, how nice is that? Combat rifles 60% hollow point 40% fmj (practice ammo). All handguns are hollow points. If you load your own hollow points are cheap. I have yet to see 5.56 bulk hollow points. One thing this guy didn’t mention is KEEP YOUR WEAPON LUBED! Well he did kinda mention the trooper and his unlubed pooper. Mil-Com makes the most excellent oil/grease MC-2500 I have ever seen. It’s a little pricey but hey, I want performance not mediocre.

      10. If you go to the range for the day you don’t bring 50 rounds. A few hundred is more like it. That case of a thousand doesn’t last that long.

      11. Speer 223 Gold Dot in 62 gr

      12. If you know how much ammo you have, you don’t have enough.
        My rule is at least 1,000 rounds stored per gun.
        I have a few .22 cal rimfire rifles, but most all my other rifles are at least 7mm. Most are 7.62 mm X 39, 51 and 63.
        While the Military “taught” me how to shoot, I knew how to shoot just fine before I went into the military. I have worn out rifles, to the point that head space is so large that the gun was no longer safe to shoot.
        The famous pistol argument, I won’t get into, other than to say I have several and you should carry what you are most comfortable with and practice with it so that it is second nature.
        I like .22, 9mm, .357, and .45ACP. A .454 Causll is too big(for me anyway).
        A long time ago two idiots in a white van virtually paralyzed several east counties, so it is technique as much as it is 1/2MV^2( kinetic energy).

        • “several east counties” should be “several east coast counties”

        • I just go by weight, 300+ lbs. is a start lol.

      13. Do some research on the Vietnam era 5.56 and it’s effect on VC and NVA troops. The original loading of 55 grain bullets with 1/12 twist barrels was devastating to flesh and bone. This was not lost on the Soviets who were observers in NVA medical facilities. It led to the USSR dropping the AK 47 for the AK74, which was designed to be as devastating as the US 5.56.

        The US and NATO decided they needed pennetration rather than the severe wounding and went to the green tip round. That round has failed us in Somalia and later escapades.

        For these low intensity wars against troops without body armor the penetrators are a waste. Bring back the “Meat Axe”.

        My opinion and you young snots should listen to the old guys.

      14. Ammo Stockpiling is Great, but let’s not forget to stockpile Mason Jar lids! It’s smart, not sexy!

        • People should have 1,000 lids per jar, minimum. LOL

          • only for the “high capacity” jars 😉

      15. Great article. Very good points.
        Think of it this way. It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. For me I don’t think you can have enough AMMO for when the Shit Hits the Fan.

        Far a weapons go I have two of everything. One is none and two is one.

        Now is the best time to buy ammo because the Demorats aren’t causing the price to spike and it looks like there is a bunch of different types of ammo out there.

        Now is a good time to learn how to reload and to stock up on components.

        Don’t forget the AMMO is almost useless in the AR, AK, M1A, FN rifles (and others) Your Glock’s S&W’s, Beretta’s, Springfield’s. H&Ks (And Many more) IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE MAGS TO GO WITH THEM. Get them now before the Demorats start banning them again.

        What the hell it is only money you can’t take it with you!!!

        Now as far as COPs shooting I can tell you most Cops can’t hit their ass with both hands when it comes to shooting. I know I TRY to train them. The problem is they DON’T practice. I can also tell you to that if you have a bad enough bad guy ONE round won’t put him down. I don’t care what you hit them with less that a 50 BMG. Some times it takes 4 to 10 rounds to bury their Dick in their Dirt!!!!

        Thanks Mac for a great article.
        Aim Small Miss Small
        Sgt.

      16. Don’t forget the value of dry firing. Many don’t have the opportunity to go frequently to the range particularly those who live in the East Coast cities. The best shooters maintain their techniques with a dry fire routine. If there is ever a WROL situation (hopefully not) it most likely will look a lot different than people think. I think protecting your family, friends and homestead is likely to be quick fire fights that happen infrequently. A soldiers mission and your mission under WROL are completely different. You won’t be kicking down doors and clearing houses. Even more dangerous will be the lack of sanitation which is much more likely to kill you in a prolonged SHTF scenario. Don’t misunderstand – having enough ammo makes sense. Anybody who target shoots knows it goes fast. Just presenting some ideas.

        • very well said. Totally agree, especially with your dryfire recomendation

      17. “If you design a self defense strategy around the shooting skills of cops you are just begging to fail.” True fact.

      18. whats sad is half the comments here seem to agree agree with the disinfo video that “you only need XYZ volume of ammo”.

        Seriously, none of you people making these generalizations can (or should) speak for anyone else. you need “just 500” rounds because you’re Rambo, good for you. I guess you do a lot of dryfire to keep up your skills, although I seriously doubt it.

        I fired just under 25,000 rounds of just .45ACP in 2018. I know because I keep detailed training and reloading logs. I’ve fired nearly 7000 so far this year. 500 rounds is LAUGHABLE, even for your average weekender.

        If you think you only “need” a couple hundred rounds, and you will never be separated from that stash and dont need even one single secondary cache elsewhere, well… good for you. I wont presume to tell you otherwise.

      19. I took a first aid course on treating gunshot wounds from a retired SF Combat Medic who disagrees with the Combat Medic referenced above. He was wounded 4 times by a 7.62×39 and lived to tell about it. He showed us pictures of wounds from a 5.56 round. They were huge wounds resulting from the tumbling of the round. None of those little holes with little bleeding referenced above. He stated he would much prefer being shot with the 7.62×39 than the 5.56.

        • I am by no means a gun expert, but I am an old sailor, and those 5 inch guns on our destroyer left a much bigger wound channel than a 5.56, all BS aside, it seems many people read a few gun articles and watch some videos and believe all this bologna about how ineffective the 5.56 is. Anywho, one thing the Government is good at, and that is spending tax payers money and the Military is one of the biggest spenders of all, that being said, I’m sure they spent many millions on research on what would be the most effective Rounds for warfare, and at one time it seems they decided that the 5.56 was the most effective round, is it my favorite, nope, but you won’t go wrong if you use it for your defense when the SHTF. Trekker Out

          • 7.62 weighs a LOT MORE than 5.56…..i suspect that had a bigger part in the equation than anything….

      20. If he’s intellectually honest with himself he’d realize that even in a grid down situation a smart phone is extremely valuable. Stupid comment on his part.

        Load it up now with resource books and PDFS and you have a library of information in your pocket.

        Load it up now with movies, shows, music and games to keep kids entertained and morale up. Solar charge it.

        Lastly the most important get an app like maps.me and have offline map use even without signal.

        So tired of people being ignorant thinking a phone is useless just because you can’t connect to a cell tower.

        • James ~ I can understand the advisory to consider a smart phone as useless baggage.

          First: If the grid is down due to an EMP, then phones will be fried.

          Second: Even if the phones still work, and people have solar chargers to keep them powered, the batteries will eventually die. I don’t know of any smart phones that have removable / replaceable batteries; the batteries are hard-wired in and can only be replaced by factory techs. (Doubtless another way to squeeze additional profits from the public.)

          Third: Phones are constantly lost, dropped onto pavement, dropped into water, stolen, and just plain stop working. One such incident, and you suddenly have lost all of that life-saving data upon which you depended for survival.

          Forth: Squinting at a tiny screen can cause eyestrain, headaches, and may not be practical in any number of situations. Desperately attempting to peer at tiny text on a phone screen in brilliant daylight or during a pouring rain is a lot different from casually scrolling through your phone while you relax on the couch.

          Fifth: If most technology is no longer available, you might find yourself stuck with reams of data locked inside this tiny, fragile, unpredictable device with no way to transfer it or print it out. Not being able to print off hard copies will be a huge disadvantage.

          So, while you do have a valid point that phones may offer some temporary benefit in a non-EMP grid-down scenario, the danger is that people may fail to store printed information and rely too much on fragile, unpredictable technology.

      21. Ucfk that. You can NEVER have TOO MUCH ammo. Don’t believe the liars. They want you eventually have only one bullet per gun. Ukce ’em!

      22. Nice to know the author has a xlr 18 .308. Maybe he can afford the $2,100 to $2,800 price tag that goes along with it. I would much rather spend that on more ammo. Not a whole lot of folks can afford the gold plated weapons.

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