Enough is not enough

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Before I started reloading and casting, I thought that 300 rounds of ammo was a plenty. I don't know if it is the scare of boolit shortages or what but I have 700 rounds of .38 loaded and 500 rounds of .357 loaded with 250 more brass cases to go. Thousands of boolits of different styles cast and siting around in coffee containers, 4,000 primers and just under 100 lbs of lead. I really don't think I have even enough of any of those items. MORE-- that's what I figure I need. It will be interesting to see (in a year) just what the totals are.:Fire:
Enough doesn't seem to be enough.

[RobS]

That's the funny thing...........when you didn't reload/cast it was that you bought this many rounds and shot this often due to a budget. So then the light bulb turns on and you think, "I will reload to save money and then cast to save more money"........only to be met head on with a hobby/addiction, if you will, that translates to shooting more, reloading more, casting more etc. while still staying in that original budget.

The good part is, you are shooting more and enjoying everything........nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong at all.

[BruceB]

I've referred to this quote from Jeff Cooper before, but it still fits: "There are two kinds of ammunition: ENOUGH, and NOT ENOUGH. There is no such thing as TOO MUCH ammunition." I agree.

Right now, I'm sure I have upwards of 4000 loaded .45ACPs on hand, plus many hundreds of 5.56 and 7.62 NATO rounds. Those are just the tip of the 'berg, because I'm loading around 25 calibers and I don't feel comfy unless I have at least several hundred cases for each rifle caliber I use .A LOT of those cases are loaded right now, including about 400 for each of .22-250 and .220 Swift. All together, probably a couple thousand miscellaneous rifle rounds, some with cast bullets and others with jacketed. All my handgun ammo carries cast bullets.

Security blanket? Maybe, but whatever happens, I is ready. Clint Smith quote: " If I get killed, it won't be for lack of shooting back!"Amen!

You're not paranoid, you're just getting a good start.

[462]

Charlie,
If you think enough is not enough, try adding a few more calibers.

[truckmsl]

4,000 primers and 100lb of lead? Holy cow man, you need to get out there and stock up! I get nervous when my lead supply gets below 1,000lb!

[Doby45]

A couple years ago I thought I was armed to the teeth with ammo because I literally had one bulk 500rd can of 40 in my closet. NOW.. It is in the thousands as to whats loaded and I have gone from 1 caliber to atleast 8. Approx 10K primers ands 20lbs+ of 7-8 different powders. Put it this way, a year ago I could have gone shopping in my closet that I have now.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I gotta go with Bruce B here. I have two spam cans full of HXP Greek Surplus 30-06 ammo in clips and bandoliers. Each can has 292 rounds and these I keep just in case of WTSHTF.

I cannot conceive of a finer weapon in my hands than the M-1 Garand and a large supply of loaded clips on bandoliers. From 10 feet to 500 yds it is a deadly and accurate friend. For those close up and personal social encounters I have a Model 97 clone in a 12 gauge pump and an ample supply of ammo ranging from #4 buckshot to rifled slugs.

I have a Llama .380 ACP for which you will find little ammo available recently. I have aquired over 1,000 cases and they are all loaded with cast and ready to go.

For my three weapons which digest 9 MM I have three surplus ammo cans full of loaded 130 gr HP boolits. For the Browning we have 5 magazines from the 13 rounders to the 15 rounders. For the EAA Witness we also have 5 mags but these are the 16 round variety. The Ruger BH convertible will have to eat the leftovers.

For my .38's I must confess that I have been remiss. I have not done much shooting recently with this caliber and I have probably only 500 rounds boxed and ready to go. However I do have at least 7 1/2 gallons of empties.

In .44 Special I have probably only 120 rounds ready to go. However I have another 380 empty but primed cases.

For .45 ACP I have at least 4 ammo cans full of rounds. Seven magazines, loaded of course, await deployment if needed.

In .45 Colt I have only one ammo can of loaded rounds and another of empties.

In .223 I have probably 25 or so boxes of 20 rounds in J words of factory persuasion just in case. I have another two ammo cans of cast loaded rounds and probably 1,500 empties.

AS for 6.5 x 55 MM Sweede. I know I have 500 new cases. About 150 of them are loaded with J word 140 gr HP that will group 1/2" or less at 100 yds and they will be ready. Another 100 or so are loaded with cast and the remainder are empties but primed.

30 Carbine rounds are boxed in MTM plastic and I have 150 ready to shoot.

Garand fodder: Besides the two spam cans I have another 200 rounds loaded into clips with cast and the empties fill a 5 gallon pail.

30-30's are all over the place. Probably 200 round ready to shoot in cast, 40 in two 20 round factory boxes and another 150 empties.

303 Brits are ready with 150 rounds loaded with cast and another 100 empties somewhere around here.

8 x 57 MM's are abundant. Probably 150 rounds of Turk Surplus from the 40's of which about 3/4 will go bang. Another 200 rounds loaded into clips of 5 in bandoliers with cast boolits and another 500 empties.

50-90 Sharps. 40 ready to shoot. And 50 empties.

12 Gauge rounds total about 400 or so in a variety of flavors. Some in bandoliers, some in boxes and most in a 5 gallon bucket.

.22 LR amount to abut 1,500 or so in various places.

Primers account for a huge investment in money and storage space but I do not want to run short again. At least 45,000 or so.

Powder in about 15 varieties varies from 1 lb cannisters to 8 lb jugs and must confess to not knowing how much in total but I would expect it to be over 100 lbs in total if not 200 lbs.

Putting it this way...if I am bored and have nothing to do....I either deprime empties, clean empties, prime empties, assemble rounds or cast boolits. I have very little down time around here.

[Johnch]

LOL

I realy don't like the process of reloading ( shooting Yes , casting and sizing is OK also )


So when I reload plinking ammo , I do it in bullk
Or when I have had one of those days , need to quit thinking about my problems and wind down

This spring , I needed 9 MM so I broke down and loaded a heaping 5 gallon bucket full with the Dillon
Not sure how many that is of 9 mm , 40 S&W , 38 spec or 45 ACP
But pushed under the reloading bench is close to a bucket of each loaded with Boolits

And the 223 and 308 bucket are loaded with Bullets

Add the few hundred to 1 K+ each , I have loaded for all the other like 357 mag , 44 mag , 44 spec , 45 colt

I could quit loading and have ammo for a few months

John

[Westwindmike]

The bad thing is, if SHTF, it only takes one bullet to take it all away from you.

[94Doug]

The sickness goes something like, pick up 2K of brass because it was a good deal. Now I can't have 2,000 empty cases laying around, can I.......

[BruceB]

Sure is nice to be among like-minded folks.

I'll bet that we all sleep well........but alertly.

[DIRT Farmer]

One of my favorite scenes from an old western, Jack Eland I think had ammo and guns spread out on a blanket, holed up on a rock pile. He would fire a round from a gun then tell the new guy what form of outlawery he had used that gun for. My dream, enough guns and ammo to recreate that dream. 45s, 38 spls, 30-06 and 308 are mesured in 5 gallon buckets.

[shootinxd]

some ammo,more ammo,NEVER enough ammo.Ain't casting great,more boolits to load,more boolits to cast.Winter is coming,more man cave time.

[sergeant69]

i just hit the 1000 lbs of WW mark (stored up) and have decided to start up again casting a few more boolits. sure hate to deplete my supply of WW though. its all a work in progress. to hell with what the neighbors think. i got a MINIMUM of 1000 loaded rds. each of 5 calibers loaded and ready to go to work. whatever turns ur crank, turn it!

[Wayne Smith]

I guess I'm dilatory. I only load for about 30 calibers but I have more empty brass than full. Need to cast more boolits, don't have enough on hand to fill all the brass.

Not enough time, not enough time. "Retirement" will only be a change of occupation, if it comes.

[Blammer]

I have one boolit, and one gun. I'm set!

[Houndog]

Not enough time, not enough time. "Retirement" will only be a change of occupation, if it comes.

The sad thing is when you retire and THINK you are going to have all that free time you will start to wonder how you ever had time to work! Between the "honeydo's" and everything you have put off doing, there's still not enough hours in a day.

BTW: Whats a boolet? All I've ever cast are round fishing sinkers!:bigsmyl2:

[uncle joe]

The sickness goes something like, pick up 2K of brass because it was a good deal. Now I can't have 2,000 empty cases laying around, can I.......
of course not, load them up.
then start looking for the next good deal on brass :-D

[XWrench3]

i know what you mean. there was a time when i thought buying more than 2 boxes of centerfire ammo at a time was rediculous. and if i had 2 bricks (500 ea) of rimfires, i was good to go. now, 5000 rimfires is what i want to keep as a stash, and a bare bones miimum of 100 rounds of every centerfire i own loaded and ready to go is a must. :holysheep with many many more either alraedy assembled and waiting to be tested, or just waiting to be loaded. jugs of cast boolits anywhere i can stash them, and 200 pounds of smelted ingots ready to cast. :redneck:and always a few buckets of wheel weights waiting to be smelted. it MUST be some kind of disease. one which we need to pass on to the anti gun crowd. as soon as i figure out how to infect someone with it, i will try to figure out a way to give it to ol Hillery C! [smilie=l: :bigsmyl2:

[bruce381]

I find myself at the range shooting and thinking this is good I'm making empties to reload
cause Im out of empties, It is a vicious circle.

[a.squibload]

I have one boolit, and one gun. I'm set!

Uh, do you keep that boolit in your shirt pocket? :razz:


I have one boolit, and one gun. I'm set!

Uh, do you keep that boolit in your shirt pocket? :razz:

I've been off of reloading for a while, building up again.

Ammo:
300 rounds store-bought 40S&W target, 200 rounds JHP,
3000 22 rimfire that were on sale years ago,
maybe 60 rounds of various leftover 44mag cast, including 315 gn WFNs, also store-bought j-words,
20 rounds 44 spl cast 250 SWC with HP drilled,
couple boxes of 38+p, plus a hundred rounds of SWC cast I loaded recently for "just in case", some with drilled HPs,
50 or so 12ga slugs and buckshot in bandoliers, 50 more in boxes,
400 12ga birdshot.
A few 303 Brit and 7mmMag (no dies yet). That's about it.
Oh, 20 rds 7.62x54 for a rifle my wife brought home from a flea market, don't even know what it is!

Lead:
2 buckets clipon WWs,
½ bucket stickons,
1 small bucket isotope container caps,
50lbs(?) lead sheet,
1 big ingot 26 lbs (saw it, had to have it!),
Maybe 200 lbs WW ingots under workbench, leftover from years ago.
400 rds different types 44 j-word bullets,
200 rds 38 j-word bullets,
300 rds 38 cast from gunshows, lubed,
couple big coffee cans of 315 gn 44 WW WFN cast,
200 rds 44 250K cast plus 100 rds lubed,
maybe 100 rds cast .433 round balls (for 44 fun!).
100 rds 7mm cast from gun show.

Brass:
3000 rds 40S&W fired, from this site!
4000 rds 9mm fired, ditto, for making 40 JHP boolits,
140 rds 44 mag new,
few hundred rds 44 mag used,
" " " " spl ",
" " " 38 spl used,
50 rds 357 used,
few 303 & 7mm mag used.
Primers:
about 7000 rds mixed brands LP, LPmag, SP, stored in bags w/ dessicant.

Dang, doesn't seem like much but maybe enough to show evidence of ADDICTION?


PS: during the "primer shortage" my best/cheapest purchase was from a guy in Germany,
labeled as button batteries!

[10mmShooter]

You guys are just like me, started with one caliber 10mm and I thought wow I have 200 rounds loaded, I'm set fast forward 20 years later, Now graduated to .38/357, 10mm and 44, somewhere over 20,000 rounds of total brass, I get nervous when I'm down to less than 5000 rounds of each caliber. I had to move from standard, .50 cal ammo cans to the 40mm grenade cans..much more roomy about 3 times as large as the .50 cans.:Fire:

[casterofboolits]

I'm sad to say I've let my 45 ACP's drop to a few hundred. But I've got 1,500 grn H&G 68's ( modified an eight cavity and four cavity old style H&G # 68 mold that had an .060 long bevel base by milling .045 off the moulds. Makes a perfect 185 grn 68 with just enough bevel to start the boolit easy) cast and lubed and ready to load. Just gotta clean up the old CH Mk 5A to load them.

Next will be the 38 Super bulk load with the Saeco 145-SWCBB. Got a couple thousand to do.

I've got about 50,000 assorted brass stashed and primers and powder to match.

Probably three to five thousand assorted rounds in 50 cal. cans just in case we gotta keep the zombies at bay! [smilie=w::Fire::redneck::redneck:

[Armorer]

Disease? DEFINITELY! Of the very best kind. I have taken to carrying around a 5 gallon bucket in the bed of my truck in case I happen to drive by a tire shop or scrap yard that I haven't noticed before. People are getting stingy with the WW though.

[frankenfab]

"MORE"


http://www.highposition.net/article/wp-content/uploads/matrix.jpg

[fredj338]

It always depends on your ammo needs vs wants. I don't stock pile much ammo, but since the 91-92 primer shortage, I have always kept 10K mixed pistol primers on hand & buy 5K more when I get to 5K. Bullets I can make, powders I can scavange, but gotta have primers.

[a.squibload]

... I have taken to carrying around a 5 gallon bucket in the bed of my truck ...

Yep, got 2 of 'em tied in the corners of my trunk!

I forgot to list my powders, old and new about 15lbs all together.
Trying to decide on what's best to get next for 40S&W.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Primers--- If you run out.. your OUT !
I keep 5000 each always and rotate stock. That extra 5000 each stays that way as a perminent reserve, rotated but never less.

[softpoint]

Too much to list. Lots of stuff cast and ready to load. About 2k pounds of ww. about 500 pounds of lino. Much of what i have cast inthe last 30 years is buried in a berm here on my place, so I can scratch quite a bit out of the ground if I have to. I am going to semi-retire in about 2 years, (self employed), and I want to have enough stash to shoot as much as I want without having to buy a lot. :redneck:

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I like the way you think Bruce381. That is EXACTLY what I was think last weekend as my wife and I were out shooting.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Bought four guns in the last year, but sold two. Of course that meant two die sets, brass, and two moulds. I have to stop buying guns! Now that my hoards of primers, jacketed bullets, and boolit metal are above the nervous level, but naturally not above wants, I am earmarking the next quarter's discretionary spending for a worthwhile order of powder. Doggone if my tumbler didn't reach its Chinese People's Liberation Army planned lifespan today! It'll just have to get in line. After more than fifty years of loading and casting, I'm really looking forward to the money savings promised by Dillon, RCBS, Lyman, Lee, Redding, Forster, C-H, NEI, H&G, Ohaus, Hornady, a company of component manufacturers, and a batallion of dealers and mail order houses.

[bbs70]

1000 lbs of ingots on hand.
4k primers (Low level for me)
Several hundred cast boolits sized and lubed ready for loading

Just loaded up 1300 rounds of 40 cal and 1000 rounds of 45 Colt yesterday.
I thought I was really doing something having that many rounds ready for the range.
I was kind of proud of myself.

Now after reading this thread I feel like a slacker. :bigsmyl2:

[FISH4BUGS]

I shoot submachineguns with cast bullets so my 9mm, 45, and 380 are thought of in lots of 1000 at a time. It is pretty easy to shoot 1000 rounds in an afternoon of full auto fun.
I normally buy 10000 primers of each type when I buy and a case of powder. 231 can stretch a loooooooong way. Jacketed bullets get bought in lots of 2-5000. The jacketed pistol caliber bullets get shot in supressed guns, otherwise it is cast all the way. 223 and 308 get purchased in 2-5000 lots.
Lead? Still not enough with 2000 lbs of WW's, 250lbs of ingots, 200 lbs of linotype and 200 lbs of pure lead.
They way I figure it, if nothing happens, then I won't have to buy components for a long time. My kids might well inherit some of this stash.
If something DOES happen, then I will be glad I did.

[a.squibload]

...Doggone if my tumbler didn't reach its Chinese People's Liberation Army planned lifespan today!...

Get you an old rock tumbler, with the rubber drum. Doesn't need to hold water
for tumbling brass, so you might find a leaky one pretty cheap.
And they just keep going, and going, and going...