How many and how much ?

David E

David E

Joined
Nov 10, 2005
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I'm curious what you folks think is a "minimum" to feel comfortable for a few things:

Firearms, the serious kind. How many? What type?

Magazines. How many for serious defensive pistols? Serious rifles ?

Ammo. Again, for the "serious" guns.

I'm hoping to avoid the "as much and as many as you can afford" or "thousands!" type of answers. I'm looking for a reasonable defined number.

Thanks !
 
Enough for the rest of your life? A hiking/camping/hunting trip? Daily carry?
Enough to feel comfortable at home? By "serious" do you mean self defense?

I'm really not trying to be a wiseguy but the question is a bit broad. If you can narrow it down it may help to get some reasonable answers.......without the "as many as you can" answer like you posted. That one seems to be popular but doesn't really offer a good answer or reason.

If I had to narrow my collection to only a few it would probably be one primary sidearm, one high power centerfire, one .22, and one shotgun.

My personal choices for those would be:

sidearm: Glock 21 .45ACP with about 10-15 magazines rotated out.

high power centerfire: my main hunting rifle is a Winchester model 70 in .25-06, second to that I would choose some kind of AR platform due to the diversity of the rifle. No magazines needed for the Win. and probably 10 magazines or so are enough for MOST people, especially if you have some magazine parts available.

.22: I like my Ruger 10-22. Reliability and lots of accessories available if you want them. I have a lot of the high cap. magazines for these because I feel like a ban will return at some point. I also keep several of the Ruger 10 round magazines.

shotgun: Remington 870 because it's what I'm most used to. I wouldn't feel at all undergunned with a Mossberg either though. No magazines needed.

SDS
 
My problem isn't with guns (it only takes a Glock 10mm and a Winchester model 70 in 30-06 to get the job done)...My problem is with camera equipment. I already have more camera equipment than some camera stores do, but I'm always looking for more.

...Damn...:eek:.
 
My personal philosophy is that one should have a firearm for each birthday. ;) I like to have a minimum of four magazines for each detachable magazine fed gun, or four speedloaders for revolvers.

But as Glockman pointed out, if you can't get it done with a Glock 20 and a .30-'06, it's time to call in an air strike.
 
SDS said:
Enough for the rest of your life? A hiking/camping/hunting trip? Daily carry?
Enough to feel comfortable at home? By "serious" do you mean self defense?
Click to expand...

Well, ok.

I meant to leave it open-ended, as what's "minimum" for one isn't for another. And yes, by "serious" I mean defensive firearms. (I have a couple .25 auto's that only have the one mag that came with it.) Also, hunting guns, if it applies.

But let's make this a couple of scenarios....

One: Let's say the elections go badly.........the world situation deteriorates.......a mass shooting or two prompt some pending laws....the worst of which is the "The 2010 Gun Ban for Children Safety." But it's early 2009, the current gun laws are still in effect. Any gun bought prior to the ban being enacted will be grandfathered in........whattaya get?

Two: No impending gun bans, but who knows about magazine bans? Ammo purchasing allocations ? (some countries only allow 50 rds a year)

Three: You're not a rabid TEOTWAWKI type, but you acknowledge that "things happen" and that you should be prepared for whatever "it" may be. What guns? How many mags ? How much ammo ?

.
 
Firearms...

a) Handguns: At a minimum I would want a total of 4, 2 in heavy defensive calibers, one in 9mm, and one in 22 rimfire. The two heavies would be my 625 and 325PD, probably a Browning HP, and my Browning Buckmark. The two auto would have ten magazines apiece (which for those two I already have as I feel it it the minimum you should have for any auto) Yes I do have quite a few more than that but that is what I would consider minimal.

b) Rifles: Minimum 2 main battle rifles and a 22 rimfire. The main battle rifles need not be the same model but one should be capable of long distance accuracy work. Personally I have 3 AR platform guns (soon to be 4), my FN/FAL with a QD scope mount that makes 500 yard hits simple, several different subcaliber carbines, M1 Carbine, and two Ruger 10/22s. Add to that a dozen or so additional rifles ranging fron 22 up through 450 Alaskan and I am ready to hunt anywhere in the world.

Magazines: At least ten for each firearm that requires them.

Ammo: I try to keep about 10,000 loaded rounds for most of my firearms. The exceptions are 22 rimfire...normally have several cases on hand, and my wildcats which normally will have between 200 and 1000 rounds loaded. In defensive ammo I keep enough on hand to load the guns I am carrying and 4 reloads. About every 4 months or so I buy fresh and shoot the older stuff in practice.
 
Your question was actually the basis for the little "arsenal" I have put together. A few years ago, I knew I had some spendable money coming in and while I was waiting for it (a couple years as it turned out) I started making a list of the guns I wanted.

At the time, all I had was a Ruger GP100 .357, which is still my answer to the "If you could only have one" question. Here's what I ended up with so far and why-

Wilson Combat CQB 1911 .45- as far as months of research could tell me, this really is the ultimate for reliable accuracy in a 1911. I wanted a 1911 and the "ammo" reason listed below.

Kahr P9 9mm- for concealoed carry and the ammo reason.

S&W 642 .38+P- with the laser grips I think this is the ultimate concealed carry personal defense revolver- just assume everything includes "the ammo reason".

M1A- Long range heavy battle rifle. Will soon have a 3.5-10x40 VXIII on a Smith Ent. mount. (allows co-witness of the iron sights)

Just bought a CMMG AR15 5.56mm which will wear my EOTech and BUIS. Short range light battle rifle and hopefully 3-gun competition.

Winchester 1300 Defender 12ga. pump - just ordered a Knox stock- these things hit hard! Close range, last ditch defense.

Winchester Tactical Practical 12ga semi-auto- more firepower than the pump and for 3-gun (and because I just loved shooting it and hit every clay!)

Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 (pre 64) with an old 4x Burris. Hunting rifle, hope to get to keep it if they ever decide to confiscate the others, with a better scope would also be my best "sniper" rifle.

I have a pistol, a semi-auto, and a bolt rifle in .22 for cheap practice- the CZ is amazing for the price and is my favorite rifle.

Obviously, I like guns, but I wanted to have a rationale for my choices. I believe I have covered every "task" (use the right tool for the job), but just as importantly, I have something that will use just about all of the most common ammunition, so I have a lot of versatility.

I also have a Ruger Mini-14 because I live in CA and needed something to shoot .223 in. I may sell this depending on how the AR shoots. Because of the number of guns I have, my pistols only have 2 magazines, and my rifles three (soon to be four), but if I'm defending my home I have plenty of "Chicago reloads" (changing guns). For the same reason, I usually only have a couple of hundred rounds for each- except for the M1A and the AR will both have 1000.

I'm sure that defense "needs" can be covered much less expensively, and I may eventually sell some of these (but I doubt it), but I just thought I'd share my thinking. Obviously (to me) if I ever even needed more than one of these, we would be in a war, but it gave me a good rationale to build a collection around and a good excuse to have a lot of different guns to shoot.

Oh, yeah- I'd really like to get a nice lever action in .357 (I don't have a lever action!) to go with the Ruger, and ...
 
yablanowitz said:
My personal philosophy is that one should have a firearm for each birthday. ;) I like to have a minimum of four magazines for each detachable magazine fed gun, or four speedloaders for revolvers.

But as Glockman pointed out, if you can't get it done with a Glock 20 and a .30-'06, it's time to call in an air strike.
Click to expand...

heh...heh..... If I had a birthday for each gun that I own, I'd have to be almost 400 years old....

"Minimum" serious weapons?

From smallest to largest :

1. S&W M442, .38 Spl Airweight revolver with at least one speed strip. (Always handy, can be toted concealed while wearing practically nothing, packs enough punch to get your target's attention.)

2. Glock 17, with at least four 17 round magazines. (Lightweight and relatively compact for its size and capacity, accurate, durable, reliable, easy to use and maintain. Ammo can be found almost anywhere.)

3. Ruger 10/22, with at least one extra mag. (Small game hunting, other uses. An accurate, small caliber rifle with a low noise signature has advantages for certain applications.)

4. AK or AR rifle, with at least 4 to 7 magazines at MINIMUM. (A whole bunch more at maximum. EVERYBODY should have one of these rifles, and preferably both. Some of the best short/medium range antipersonnel weapons ever invented.)

5. Winchester M70, Remington M700, Ruger M77, Savage M110, .308 or .30-06 scoped bolt action rifle. (Powerful, accurate, reliable. Either caliber will take down any North American game animal with a well placed shot, and ammo can be found almost anywhere. Can easily double as a "long range antipersonnel weapon".)

6. Winchester, Remington or Mossberg 12 gauge pump shotgun. (My pick is the Winchester Defender, but the others are just as good. Versatile and reliable. Uses range from hunting to home protection.)

Ammo? As much as you can afford, and as much as you can properly and safely store.

TR Graham
The Glocksmith
 
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For a defense pistol 8-10 mags . This assumes they are excellent mags normally factory NEVER cheap bargain mags.
 
I pretty much have enough, not that I won't buy more. I keep between 1-2k of ammunition for each of my rifles, although I have 3 .308's and two .223's that share.

A few hundred rounds of 45, 9mm, a little less of .357 and .38, a bunch of .22, lots of mags, fro my "carry" guns, most of the pistols are for the business, some I haven't ever shot.

You can only carry so many mags on your body at once, so I try to make up a rig that I can put with a rifle, bolt guns get a few hundred, magazine fed rifles get at minimum 8 mags, packaged together.

If I had to buy ammo because of a pending election, it's probably be about 5k of 7.63x39.
 
I hate when people post a question, then never participate in the discussion, so I won't be like those guys.

As far as guns go, my "minimum" for anticipated "serious" use and times would be:

AR-15, with 20 magazines, 1000 rds.

High Capacity Handgun, your choice of 9mm, .40 or .45. Ten full capacity factory magazines, 500 rds.

12 gauge shotgun with extended mag tube. 500 rds of 00 Buckshot and 100 slugs. I'd want mine to be semi-auto.

These types of guns would be affected FIRST, as history shows. The magazine and ammo quantities are minimums. Personally, I'd at least double them. It's not that I expect to carry them all at once. It's not that I need that many, but my concern would be "will I be able to buy one next year at normal prices?" I may have to make do for decades with what I had the forethought to buy NOW.

Where possible, I'd buy backups or duplicates. For example, if I chose the Glock 17 as my hicap pistol, a good backup would be the Glock 19, or even the Glock 26 or 34.

Scoped bolt action rifle, .308 or 30-06, 500 rds.

This has been painted with the "deadly sniper rifle" brush more than once. I think it would be difficult to outright ban it, but many people don't pay attention to laws as they're being debated. Too many wouldn't realize until it was too late that it was their gun they were talking about that was so eeeeeevil.

.22 Rifle, like a 10-22. Ten magazines, maybe some additional hicap mags if they're reliable. 5000 rds

.22 Handgun. If semi-auto, 10 magazines. Preferable to have 5000 rds for it specifically, but would likely share with the .22 rifle stash.

These guns probably wouldn't be affected anytime soon, but it's always good to have a .22 rifle and handgun.
 
An interesting question David and here in South Africa the new Firearm Control Act only allows the ownership of 4 firearms only 2 of which can be handguns. There are exceptions but I was not prepared to go down the paperwork nightmare of that so I reduced my Firearms from 20 down to 4 (a heartbreaking choice for me):(

No Semi-auto's are allowed and only one handgun can be designated for carry.

My choice to keep was......

Glock 17(designated carry gun) +7 mags
Browning High Power (the first handgun I ever owned at 18) +10 mags
Remington 870
Steyr SSG

Only 200 rounds of ammo can be kept for each weapon so I kept two 9 Para pistols to double my ammo cache and 9mm is always available.

I wonder David what you and others would choose if you had to carry only one gun for the rest of your life?
 
Alfaholic said:
An interesting question David and here in South Africa the new Firearm Control Act only allows the ownership of 4 firearms only 2 of which can be handguns. There are exceptions but I was not prepared to go down the paperwork nightmare of that so I reduced my Firearms from 20 down to 4 (a heartbreaking choice for me):(

No Semi-auto's are allowed and only one handgun can be designated for carry.

My choice to keep was......

Glock 17(designated carry gun) +7 mags
Browning High Power (the first handgun I ever owned at 18) +10 mags
Remington 870
Steyr SSG

Only 200 rounds of ammo can be kept for each weapon so I kept two 9 Para pistols to double my ammo cache and 9mm is always available.

I wonder David what you and others would choose if you had to carry only one gun for the rest of your life?
Click to expand...

It's things like the above that make me think its a waste of time to stockpile guns and ammo. If they want, the gov't will just take, or make you give up what you've got.

Why not just keep one or two guns for general target shooting or hunting, and a small concealable little handgun like a J frame .38. If the balloon goes up, just use the little belly gun like the French resistance did the one shot liberators pistols to get what you need. Let the enemy supply your guns and ammo. Besides, why have more than you can run with?
 
Alfaholic said:
No Semi-auto's are allowed and only one handgun can be designated for carry.

My choice to keep was......

Glock 17(designated carry gun) +7 mags
Browning High Power (the first handgun I ever owned at 18) +10 mags
Remington 870
Steyr SSG

Only 200 rounds of ammo can be kept for each weapon so I kept two 9 Para pistols to double my ammo cache and 9mm is always available.
Click to expand...

By "semi-auto" not allowed, I presume you mean semi-auto rifles. Bummer!

When I first read this, the rounds of ammo read "2000", but when I looked again, a zero was missing.....so please confirm, only TWO HUNDRED rounds per gun is allowed?

I wonder David what you and others would choose if you had to carry only one gun for the rest of your life?
Click to expand...

And that, sir, is the topic of another thread! Or even trimming it down to four, as you had to do. I encourage you to start it, citing the realities you actually have to deal with there.

.
 
jackknife said:
It's things like the above that make me think its a waste of time to stockpile guns and ammo. If they want, the gov't will just take, or make you give up what you've got.

Why not just keep one or two guns for general target shooting or hunting, and a small concealable little handgun like a J frame .38. If the balloon goes up, just use the little belly gun like the French resistance did the one shot liberators pistols to get what you need. Let the enemy supply your guns and ammo. Besides, why have more than you can run with?
Click to expand...

No disrespect, but it's posts like this that make me ill. Talk about a defeatist attitude!

First of all, the situation you describe is called "tyranny." That's one reason the Founding Fathers supported individual gun ownership rights.

Second of all, there is no protocol in place that requires you to report how many rounds you have on hand.

Third, it would take something seriously and grotesquesly wrong for the Govt, ANY govt, to come in and shake us down in our homes, taking anything "they" don't think we should have. If it ever came to that, it's past the time to start shooting.

Fourth, why would I want to rely on OTHERS to provide for MY means of defense? That's what lazy cowards and sheeple do.

And lastly, I own more than "one or two, plus a belly gun." Why? Because I have the RIGHT to do so.

By the way, the Bill of Rights recognizes a PRE-EXISTING, GOD GIVEN RIGHT to self defense. Any man or govt that would attempt to revoke that right does so at their own risk.
 
I think it might not be the best idea to post detailed lists of what guns you have online. If for some reason we do end up in a situation where the feds are rounding up our guns, there's no need to make things easier for them by giving them laundry lists of what to look for!

Maybe I'm just paranoid.
 
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