I’ve gotten a lot of questions lately about ammunition, even though the ammo shortage has been going on for months. More specifically, these questions have been about how much to store, what kind to store, and where to store it.
I realize that ammo is still hard to find in most parts of the country and that 10 minutes after it’s delivered to Walmart it’s already disappeared from the shelves. That’s why, if there was only one type of ammo I could get and one type of ammo that I believe everyone should be focused on, it’s .22.
First, you and I know that .22 is less expensive than 9mm, .40, .45, and other types of ammo, so we can afford to train more with it and enhance our skills. But price isn’t the only reason to stock up on .22.
It’s also a lot lighter and easier to carry. If you had to head out somewhere on foot or even quickly haul ammo to a vehicle, it’s a lot easier to carry 1,000 rounds of .22 than 1,000 rounds of .45.
What’s more, .22 has less recoil and is easier to shoot and train on. If things got really bad in your town and you had to arm family members who weren’t extremely well trained they could handle a good .22 rifle or .22 handgun better than an AR-15 or Glock 30.
In fact, when my daughter is old enough to learn how to shoot I plan to teach her using my Ruger 10/22 and also my Ruger Mark III. (In my opinion, two of the best .22s on the market.)
But what about the ability to stop an attacker with a .22?
Well, I think most people can agree that while it’s not the perfect self-defense round, it can still do the job. For my own self-defense round I use 9mm Speer Gold Dot. But if things got so bad that I’d gone through all of my 9mm rounds and I had to use .22 for safety and survival I would have no problem at all. The truth is, it would just take more rounds to stop the attacker than it would with 9mm, .40, or .45, but it would still get the job done.
And as I’ve mentioned in the past, for all of the people that claim the .22 is so weak that they’d never use it in a million years for self-defense, I’ve never had a single one of these people ever volunteer to be shot with one.
So how much .22. ammo should you stock up on?
Since it’s cheaper and easier to carry I’d get at least 5,000 rounds as soon as you’re able to. .22 comes in “bricks” of 525 so it only takes 10 bricks to get that amount of ammo. If you can afford more I would certainly do it, but 5,000 rounds of ammo is a decent amount to have for safety and survival purposes.
One thing I will mention is that I wouldn’t store all of your ammo in one place. You can split it up in different areas of the house, perhaps having a few thousand rounds in the basement and the rest in the attic. Even better would be to split up your ammo and keep some at your home and the rest at an office, storage unit or other cache location.
Wherever you end up keeping it, the most important thing to remember is to store the ammo in a cool, dry place. In other words, your home should be fine, but if you get a storage unit it will need to be a climate controlled unit as you don’t want the ammo sitting in the summer heat when it’s 110 degrees.
If you decide to bury ammo in the ground make sure and put it inside a Mylar bag with an oxygen absorber. Also, don’t forget to seal the Mylar bag closed (I do this with a hot iron.)
Of course, one last thing I should mention is the bartering ability of having .22. I pray that things never get so bad in this country that we’re forced to barter with .22, but if the situation ever occurs .22 could be a lot more valuable than the paper money in our wallets.
The bottom line is, get some more .22 when you can find it (I like Remington’s Golden Bullet Value Pack) and get out there and do more training, both by yourself and with your family members.
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I was able to stock up on ammo before the last election. I think I have at least 5k rounds of .22lr. It will get the job done, you are right on that one. It might not kill fast unless you hit a vital spot, but it will take them out of the fight in time if they take enough hits. Within a hundred yards, my 10/22 is very deadly accurate and can put as many rounds as needed on target really fast due to no recoil allowing me to stay on target and not have to reacquire. That’s a big deal….. People don’t think about that too much it seems.
Jason, I generaly agree with your opinions, I’ve occasionally disagreed before, but on this one, in the current situation, you’re just flat out wrong. Where the hell is everyone supposed to get these 5K rounds of .22LR? The only place I can find it at all in Houston, TX is at Academy sports stores, and they’re limiting people to 100 rounds at a time because people like you are spouting asinine opinions online. The ammo companies are barely making enough .22 to meet current shooting demand, and now you want your 50,000 readers to each go buy 5000 rounds and tell their buddies to do the same? The only good that will do is keep .22 unavailable at reasonable prices (4-7 cents/round) for the forseeable future. Very poor article, sir.
It is true that .22lr is almost impossible to find now. I’m sure glad I stocked up before the last election!
Oh me too. I still have a fair pile sitting around, I’m only shooting what I’m able to pick up.
Just paid $35 for a brick of 500, this is down from $50 a couple months ago at my local gun store. Possibly because it is freaking cold and few go to the range this time of year. Never the less the price is lower right now for .22 cal LR.
On line prices are significantly higher for .22 ammo.
Shotgun is often a bargain on line, but only if you buy two or more cases since the Hazmat Fee only needs to be paid once. Shotgun is a strange animal to keep on hand since there are several flavors, bird shot, skeet, buck and slugs in any common supply. A case of each (only 250 rounds) each weigh in at close to 30 pounds and take up a lot of space.
Large bore rifle and handgun are fine at lower quantities (under 500 rounds.
Much more and you fall into the horder category.
I saw a guy at the local sporting goods store, he apparently stops by weakly and has been buying all he can get for a year or more. Likely he has tens of thousands of rounds, possibly over a hundred thousand rounds. I hope he has some gold and food in similar quantities
I disagree. Walmart has been getting good stock of all ammo types. But ya need to leave your home or place of business and go search. Tell your wife/gf to give you the skinny when she’s out spending all your dough. I have spies scattered throughout my area that notify me when ammo is in. So far I have 172 lbs of .22LR.
Bro, all things in moderation…A 525 pack weighs about 4 pounds, so you’re sitting on 22,575 rounds?!?!?!
And I’ve been all over my area, Wally’s, LGS, Academy, none of them have any that is not quantity-limited.
Try shopping at all the online stores… they may not all have CCI mini mag but most have a supply of do-able .22LR. I’m in Houston too and feel your pain. Thank God for Freedom Munitions, for everything else…
I do love me some Freedom Munitions reloaded 9mm and .40SW. I live down on the SE side so it’s a bit of a drive but well worth it. I mainly use ammoseek and gunbot to scan online stores, and they check most of them, but maybe not the small ones. It’s not that it’s unavailable, but the idea of paying on average 16-18 cents per round when I can get steel cased .223, 7.62, or 9mm between 20-25 cents just makes me spittin’ mad.
I can’t spit no mo. No spittle left. So why bother.
It’s .22LR you nee some cheap price fo u!!!
So maybe I was off a few 5 or 10K rounds. Here’s what ya do. Walmart or Academy always has one of them tents set up. just sneak in one and be real quiet like. The minute you hear “We got ammo?” you pop out on the counter cash in hand. Mondays and Thursdays are good. Have mama pack u a lunch.
sounds about right…. before all this insanity started, I began to stock up on .22 WRF. Partly becvause of myb involvement in a marksmanship training programme, thought it would be kind to make sure I’ve a brock or two every shoot in case someone shows up without enough. But, without even trying, I gathered about 14K rounds of good stuff…. at $15-17/brick. I don’t regret it, and if prices dropped and availability rose again to that point (near $20/brick) I’d start buying it again. And no, I don’t have either the hoarder or scalper mentality. I also have beans, grains, coffee, toilet paper, etc…… so what’s the big deal? OH, not much. Just seems a smart thing to do. If nothing else, I’ll eventually end up using it or giving it away.
Just scored 550 rds at Walmart. $27.50
and there ya go. WallyWorld is hit or miss but when they hit they hit big. The good thing is the demand has seemed to slow somewhat. Used to be a yr ago the shelves would be empty. Now I do see ammo of various calibers available even though .22 & 9mm are still scarce.
I wouldn’t say that this is a “poor” article. But, yes. If we were to all try to buy 5000 rounds at once, that would be 1)damn near impossible and 2)certainly contribute to the current .22lr shortage. I’m going to look at it like investing/buying stocks. I might not be able to buy 5000 shares of a company at once, but I can buy small amounts over time until I have that many accumulated.
So you’re advocating that everyone reading this article should continue to hoard and buy everything in sight, furthering the shortage that is a direct result of the behavior you advocate for? Thanks for adding fuel to the fire.
My philosophy these days is to buy a brick (500) and shoot half at the range. Buy another brick and repeat. My personal stock is continuing to increase with purchases well spread out letting other people get their share.
Don’t overlook a high quality air rifle. Very quiet, very effective against vermin, and you can set up a range in most basements or backyards. Best of all the ammo costs a fraction of what even .22 cal costs.
On a side note: I always wanted to see what a 12 gauge load filled with airgun lead pellets did to a target, but I digress?
Wow. I like your strategy of training and saving ammo.
Musta bin teeched ta read at wunna them gummint skewls…… dint unnerstan whut he wuz a sayin too gud. Rare back an try readin it oncet more. Ya might larn a thang er too.
This article will serve no purpose other than to keep the rabid hoarders on their current path. This article is shite, as are most of the articles that Jason writes.
uhh, the rabid hoarders will stock no matter what. And most of those who have sat on their thick ends will continue to do so. A very few will actually DO something different because of this article, and I’ll wager most of them have already been thinking about laying in a stock of the stuff. So, this article really won’t change anything significantly.
I agree with your assessment of the 22LR being a good caliber to stock up on but it is hard for most of us to accumulate 5,000 rounds when we have reports of some folks hoarding 100,000 or more!
I think there are a lot of people who are in the business of selling .22lr at inflated prices, as much as there are hoarders. I see ads in the local paper where I live advertising .22lr for sale for as much as 90 dollars a brick! I’d never pay that, but apparently some do or the ads would stop running. I have a hunch that these stores employees might be in cahoots with someone to come buy up the stock then resell it. Just a hunch, but I think I’m not far off the mark.
So what we ALL need to do, is not buy any 22LR ammo from anyone anywhere. Then they’ll start to lower their prices and the stores will begin to have product and they’ll lower their prices. Supply and demand, right? So let’s ALL quit demanding it for the next 3, 4 or even 6 months and see what happens?
That really works!
In theory. Democrat told me that.
Personal opinion – I can sit and reload 45 ACP all day long – haven’t figured how to reload a .22
How can you state the following after just having advised people to store ammo in their attic?
“Wherever you end up keeping it, the most important thing to remember is
to store the ammo in a cool, dry place. In other words, your home should
be fine, but if you get a storage unit it will need to be a climate
controlled unit as you don’t want the ammo sitting in the summer heat
when it’s 110 degrees.”
I had the same question. It easily gets 110 in an attic in the summer and what about a house fire? Could get dicey for the fire fighters.
ammo in house fires is more scary than dangerous. Need a barrel or equivalent to contaiin the explosion to make anything go in any direction. I’ve seen test fires videotaped and analised. Yeah ya want to stay a few feet away, but hardly anything spit anything signficant more than two or three feet. There are ways of protecting from heat even in an attic…. get creative and/or resourceful. And he didn’t ORDER everyone to store it all in the attic. His point was to store it in a few different places…. attic being only one. Where I live, the attic never gets nearly that hot, so if my house were built to make it practical, I’d store it in my own attic.
Exactly. I know in my area people don’t store stuff in the attic for one because of HEAT and they have limited access as most are low pitch roofs.
Basements here are almost non existent as well with most homes being slab on grade.
Same hear in Houston. I’d love to have a basement but they are almost non-existent.
A basement would sink in Houston. You’d end up in Beijing. The good news to that is the #22 is delicious there.
Jason . . . I have to agree with the majority here on this one. While pretty much all you have said has some truth to it . . . you shouldn’t have said it. Everyone in the industry is desperately trying to calm things down from the mania of fear that has swept this nation. This caused the hoarding and the current ridiculous prices. Then you author an article here that advocates people “and their friends” to continue to purchase in enormous quantities. Oh great . . . what are you doing man? Just when things were starting to lighten up, you do this to us all. Please rethink this Jason and ask Luke to pull this article. Just because something is valid . . . doesn’t mean it’s always helpful. The timing of this article is indeed detrimental to our industry and sport right now.
Having personally been shot with a .22 LR hollow point in the leg… the shit hurts and I was shot with enough of them I am sure it would take me down. Now the big question is WHERE CAN I FIND IT for less than the cost of a 5.56 round.
Also unless your attic is climate controlled I would not store ammo there either. Burying it… want to put it down below 36″ if not deeper to prevent it from being damaged by cold or being found easily.
Poor topic of discussion Jason, especially when you have just added “how many more?” 22 LR seekers for 22 LR ammo that just isn’t available. I recently traveled coast to coast, and not one box of 50 of 22 LR was available wherever I stopped. Major chains, including Wal-mart, gun shops, feed stores, hardware stores…… Please, let’s not add fuel to the fire Jason!
As usual, the Jason haters run amok. In this, as in most of his articles, Jason makes good points. He doesn’t say run out and buy 5k now. He doesn’t say to put ammo in your attic if you live in Phoenix or Houston or Timbuktu. He doesn’t say to dig a basement for ammo storage if you live in a swamp. Cost averaging works with stocks and savings plans and it works with buying ammo. Sir TuberKopf has the right idea. Use some common sense folks!
“I’d recommend getting 5000 rounds as soon as you’re able to.” Does that mean something different where you live? As I previously stated, the net result of this article is that people are going to run out and buy ammo at the inflated prices, which will keep the prices inflated for longer. Right now, buying steel cased .223 in bulk for 25 cents/round and 9mm for 21 cents/round makes more sense than buying .22LR at 17-18 cents/round. That’s the article that should have been written, about how the once cheap plinking/survival ammo of .22 has been eclipsed by the Great Ammo Shortage of 2013-2014 and how, right now, it’s no longer the best option.
I have to agree… this article is just making the ammo shortage even worse…
As long as people such as yourself, keep running articles telling people to hoard 22LR ammo, there will be a shortage and when you are lucky enough to find product, odds are it will be overpriced; thanks : (
Ya know, I cannot even remember the last time I saw a brick of 525 in a Sporting Goods or Gun store. I did see bricks of 333 and 250? a couple times before Christmas, they were overpriced at like $25; more than I used to pay for 525 bricks 2 years ago. At the local gun shows, the going price for (what were low cost ) 525’s has been from $35 (overpriced) to $95, with most asking around $50 – $65. On the low buck side, I have the best luck with Federal Champion and the worst with Remington Golden Bullet & Winchester brand. Luckily I have about 6000 rounds left from when I was buying 4 -525 packs in bulk from Cabela’s 3 & 4 years ago. On average I paid about $18 a brick or 3.5¢ a round. My older brother has some ammo from 1978 (still works fine) it was about 2¢ a round in bulk and 50 packs were about 3¢. Right about now, 525 packs for under $12 including sales tax sure sounds nice!
Availability and effectiveness, the .22 is neither. I can shoot centerfire ammo for less than is being charged for rimfire.
It’s crazy paranoid freaks like you that are the reason it’s so hard to get this ammunition in the first place!
Wow! All you 2nd Amendment advocates are suggesting that Jason NOT exercise his 1st Amendment right to Free Speech. Seems a bit hypocritical – no? While I tend to agree with many of you that some of Jason’s opinions and/or suggestions appears a bit extreme, if the s**t hits the fan, who will have the last laugh? My suggestion: if you like what you read and think it has some utility for you – do it and thank Jason. If you don’t like what you read or think it has no utility – don’t do it and don’t attack the author for offering a suggestion. Now, all you argumentative types who have to bad-mouth somebody just to build your own self-esteem, go ahead and attack me. At least it may take the heat off Jason for a while (however brief).
He has all the right in the world to say it.
Then we have all the right in the world to call him an idiot.
What someone needs to invent is exploding tipped .22. Wouldn’t that be fun? Nothing like a really bad blister to take someone out of the fight.
Another day, and Jason’s still adding fuel to the fire….. I think it’s time to unsubscribe!
You
I’ve been using airsoft pistols and rifles to train for about 2 years now. The ammunition is cheap, and my pistol is an exact replica. The muscle memory from holster to firing is amazing and I’ve been able to increase my draw time, and accuracy along the way. I highly recommend looking into airsoft as a training tool. Many law enforcement agencies are swapping over as well, because of the ammunition price. Make sure to check out a local store instead of buying online, as the local stores can steer you away from the absolute junk guns.
Keep buying up ammo America. The way the powers that be are running our country scares me. There is much reason to believe that the day will come that we will either have to protect ourselves from foreign or even possible domestic enemies(Gov’t Tyranny, the effects of hyperinflation, or some other problem)
Who would have thought? If your hair goes past your shoulders, it’s more fragile and you’ll want to protect those ends with conditioner BEFORE shampoo. This will ensure that they stay healthy and moisture becomes locked in, in order to avoid breakage.
Who would have thought? If your hair goes past your shoulders, it’s more fragile and you’ll want to protect those ends with conditioner BEFORE shampoo. This will ensure that they stay healthy and moisture becomes locked in, in order to avoid breakage.
You had me until you recommended Remington 22 ammo…Thunderbolts and Golden Bullets are a terrible choice.
Anything by CCI or Federal is a much better choice.
Other than that, good article.