How much ammo do you stock for your hunting rifle?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How much ammo do you stock for your hunting rifle?

Posted: 3/1/2015 1:41:29 PM EDT

As the title states, how much do you usually keep on hand?

I only have (4) boxes of 25-06, (5) of 30-30 and about (10) boxes of Hornady Superformance 53gr in .223 . I have finally found a round I like for my 25-06 (Hornady American Whitetail) so I think I am going to stock up a little in case it is discontinued for whatever reason. I have tried about 5 different types and brands of ammo for the 25-06 and this is the only one that has been consistently accurate out of my Savage.

Im just talking hunting rounds for your hunting rifles, not plinking ammo or however many thousands of rounds you have for your AR's / pistols.

Posted: 3/1/2015 2:17:32 PM EDT

[#1]

2k plus rds

Posted: 3/1/2015 3:15:01 PM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:

As the title states, how much do you usually keep on hand?

I only have (4) boxes of 25-06, (5) of 30-30 and about (10) boxes of Hornady Superformance 53gr in .223 . I have finally found a round I like for my 25-06 (Hornady American Whitetail) so I think I am going to stock up a little in case it is discontinued for whatever reason. I have tried about 5 different types and brands of ammo for the 25-06 and this is the only one that has been consistently accurate out of my Savage.

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I only hunt with a 30-30. I have 5 boxes of standard hunting cartridges. I had 7, but I used 2 boxes in the last 15 years. I shoot 3 rounds a year. 2 to confirm sights and 1 to shoot the deer with, if I take a shot.

Posted: 3/1/2015 3:22:56 PM EDT

[#3]

I usually buy three boxes for a new hunting rifle. I generally add a new rifle before I run out of ammo

Posted: 3/1/2015 6:05:35 PM EDT

[#4]

have about 1000rds of 303 with another 500 or so bullets/primers for reloading..doesn't get shot a lot..

Posted: 3/2/2015 8:31:54 AM EDT

[#5]

Since this is deer hunting sub forum, the guns I generally use are shotguns, and I think I'd be hard pressed to come up with more than 100rnds. However, at 5rnds to a box and $20 a box, it's a freaking fortune

Posted: 3/2/2015 9:41:29 AM EDT

[#6]

I have 4 hunting rifles so I tend to keep 2 or 3 boxes for each. I don't tend to shoot them a ton. However, I did just get dies for 3 of the 4 so I will be good on ammo here shortly.

Posted: 3/2/2015 9:52:54 AM EDT

[#7]

I am the proud owner of a new 35 Remington lever action to replace my m1a scout as my deer gun, it came with two partial boxes, and i subsequently purchased two boxes of hornady leverevolution. I would like to obtain five more boxes to put in the ammo closet, and obtain a box or two every year. I figure i'll probably burn off the odd-ball ammo it came with, sight it in with the "good" ammo, and shoot it less than ten times per year (2-3 sighting/ remainder shooting deer). That figures to 100 in storage, and 1.5 boxes accumulating each year.

Totally a different story from the m1a and ar-15, and represents a new paradigm in ammo hoarding for me.

Posted: 3/2/2015 10:31:25 AM EDT

[#8]

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Quoted:
I am the proud owner of a new 35 Remington lever action to replace my m1a scout as my deer gun, it came with two partial boxes, and i subsequently purchased two boxes of hornady leverevolution. I would like to obtain five more boxes to put in the ammo closet, and obtain a box or two every year. I figure i'll probably burn off the odd-ball ammo it came with, sight it in with the "good" ammo, and shoot it less than ten times per year (2-3 sighting/ remainder shooting deer). That figures to 100 in storage, and 1.5 boxes accumulating each year.

Totally a different story from the m1a and ar-15, and represents a new paradigm in ammo hoarding for me.

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This is a good idea with 35 rem. That ammo can be hard to find in the best of times. A buddy of mine bought a 22 hornet a year ago. He bought 10 boxes of ammo with it. A big output at first but he has ammo now when there is none out there to be found.

Posted: 3/2/2015 1:07:03 PM EDT

[#9]

Around fifty per sighted in, ready to roll hunting rig.

Posted: 3/2/2015 1:17:42 PM EDT

[#10]

I've only got about 40 6.8 cartridges right now. I've got 500 projectiles and 100 pieces of primed brass though. I need to sit down some evening and finish loading them.

Posted: 3/2/2015 2:01:41 PM EDT

[#11]

I have not hunted much lately , but ...

.270 - always had at least 100rds on hand

.308 - 200 rds

Shotgun - 1000rds of various types for all seasons

Posted: 3/2/2015 3:42:25 PM EDT

[#12]

I don't stock hunting rounds like I do FMJ. It's just too expensive.

For the AR I have probably close to 1500 rounds of misc ammo and about that many projectiles as well. About 20 rounds for hunting. I also have about 1200 v-max projectiles for hunting though, not optimal for deer but can be used in a pinch with good shot placement.

For my 308 AR, I have one half of a box of Barnes TTSX left, and a whole box of some very similar Federal rounds. Then I have about 40 rounds of FMJ too. I really should stock more for this gun but it doesn't get shot much except during hunting season and .308 is expensive lol

Posted: 3/3/2015 9:46:58 AM EDT

[#13]

I keep around 4-5 boxes for my deer rifle (6.5x55 Swede). Occasionally I run into a group of hogs where I deer hunt so I generally carry more rounds into the field than I would if I only expected whitetail, just in case.

Posted: 3/3/2015 10:13:40 PM EDT

[#14]

I keep about 50-100 hunting rounds loaded per rifle.

Posted: 3/4/2015 12:42:34 PM EDT

[#15]

At least 100 rounds of whatever hunting loads my main centerfire rifles "like". I probably have more than 100 on hand, because from time to time I'll pick up a box of something different to try it out. I have a few hunting rifles that are used mostly out of nostalgia, so they aren't taken out very often or in bad weather. For these rifles I try to keep about 50 rounds in the stockpile.

Rifled slugs for the shotgun are another matter. I keep about 25 on hand. That's 5 boxes. At $15 to $20 a box, as another poster said, it's not cheap.

Posted: 3/6/2015 10:05:27 AM EDT

[#16]

My 7mm mag I have 7 boxes of loaded factory ammo and two boxes empty. I'm planning on reloading for it. Also have a 270, I think I have about 4 boxes of ammo for it. I've debated reloading for the 270 I always seem to find ammo for it.

Posted: 3/6/2015 12:37:37 PM EDT

[#17]

I try to keep 1K of all hunting rounds for my rifles

Posted: 3/10/2015 6:20:28 PM EDT

[#18]

I try to keep at least 200 rounds of PPU 308 150gr SP on hand at all times and then 4K-5K rounds of 7.62x51 FMJ for my AR10 / LR308 A2 Carbine and Rifle. I all so try to keep the same amount of ammo for my AR15’s. I never know which I will be carrying around the farm. All of my rifles are my deer rifles. Like my father said if it is good enough to kill men with it is good enough to kill deer with.

Posted: 3/12/2015 10:16:47 PM EDT

[#19]

Quote History

Quoted:

I try to keep 1K of all hunting rounds for my rifles

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LOL what?! there is no way I could ever afford that. especially for my 300 weatherby mag

Posted: 3/12/2015 10:18:57 PM EDT

[#20]

For straight up hunting rifles I try to keep 5 boxes for each.

Posted: 3/13/2015 8:19:44 AM EDT

[#21]

I purposely choose hunting calibers around my shooting calibers.

For example, I don't even own a 30-30. My lever action is a .44 mag. My bolt action is a .308. Though I own .410 and 20 gauge, my mainstay a 12 gauge.

I guess I can't tell you how much because most of its also range or self defense ammunition too. I do those more than I hunt.

Tj

Posted: 3/14/2015 11:30:23 AM EDT

[#22]

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Quoted:
LOL what?! there is no way I could ever afford that. especially for my 300 weatherby mag

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Quoted:

Quoted:
I try to keep 1K of all hunting rounds for my rifles

LOL what?! there is no way I could ever afford that. especially for my 300 weatherby mag

try harder.

my 30-06's, 30-30, 308, 243, 7 mag and my son's 7mm-08 were easy.
my .444 not so much.
all factory loads.

I try to buy 1-2 boxes a week. over 30 years they add up.
I am sad though that my favorite 742 30-06 round ( the old school 180 gr Winchester silvertip ) is about to be finished and I'm now looking at new loads for it.

hell, I've got boxes of ammunition for calibers I don't even have....JIC.

Posted: 3/14/2015 2:51:50 PM EDT

[#23]

Very few. But I do keep components to load well over 200 rounds per gun.

Posted: 3/14/2015 5:20:47 PM EDT

[#24]

Once I find a load each particular rifle likes, I buy some as often as I can. I think bare minimum would be 100 rounds for each gun. I don't shoot my hunting ammo often. I shoot a group or two to verify my zero, then whatever shots I take at animals.

Posted: 3/18/2015 6:42:19 PM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:
Very few. But I do keep components to load well over 200 rounds per gun.

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10

Posted: 3/18/2015 6:55:07 PM EDT

[#26]

I have one hunting rifle, I have 50 boxes of 150 grain SP for them that shoot under an inch or so at 100 yards. I will never need to buy ammo for that rifle again.

Posted: 3/18/2015 9:47:31 PM EDT

[#27]

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Quoted:
I have one hunting rifle, I have 50 boxes of 150 grain SP for them that shoot under an inch or so at 100 yards. I will never need to buy ammo for that rifle again.

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you are a good man...

Posted: 3/19/2015 10:58:34 PM EDT

[#28]

300 or so .30-06, 100 or so .30-30, 100+ .243, 700 .223 for varmints.

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Posted: 3/21/2015 5:07:19 PM EDT

[#29]

between 5 and 10 boxes each

Posted: 3/23/2015 2:51:33 PM EDT

[#30]

Slugs for the 20 gauge - 100 +. 44 cal. XTP and 245gr. Keith" style for the Marlin 1894 and S&W 629 Classic - 300 +-. So if the deer ever try to invade us I should be able to hold my own. I do practice at the range as much as I can and will go through about 5-10 slugs and 25-30 of the 44 cal hunting loads on several trips before hunting season.

Posted: 3/23/2015 10:51:53 PM EDT

[#31]

223 ZMAX for varmints, I still have 2K, plus an open box of 500 with some missing.

When I break into the last 1K rounds of FMJ for the pigs, I buy another 1K.

62 gr TSX for deer hunting, I only buy them in 100's when I get down to 1 magazine, so I always have less than 130.

For the 6.5x55, it only shoots AMAX's at fur and steel. I have around 1500 pills for that one.

Still stalking some more powder though.

Posted: 3/26/2015 6:00:33 PM EDT

[#32]

I like to keep at least 200rds of hunting ammo per hunting rifle.

Just set this Win 70 up for this season.

Posted: 4/6/2015 5:50:31 AM EDT

[#33]

About 3 boxes per gun, before season starts. 30-30 & 243. After season I buy however many I need to make that 3 boxes again for the following year. I check zero the day before i go out, every time.

Posted: 5/29/2015 4:18:20 PM EDT

[#34]

If I find a particular lot of ammo that is accurate I'll buy everything I can get my hands on.
Years ago I shot a box of plain Jane Winchester .308 Winchester Super X 150gr PP that I got from local Walmart. That particular lot shot some amazing groups out of my 2 hunting rifles (1/2"- 3/4") and very good groups from my Ruger GSR (1") so I went around to every Walmart within 30 miles from home and purchased every box with that lot number I could find. I ended up buying 65 boxes and I still have about 18 boxes left. It has accounted for a lot of meat for my family in past years.

Posted: 6/10/2015 10:28:26 PM EDT

[#35]

.44 carbine, I have 150 pieces of brass loaded up.
.30/30, several boxes, but I have a gallon size bag of brass I need to load as well.

Posted: 6/18/2015 12:35:57 AM EDT

[#36]

Quote History

Quoted:
LOL what?! there is no way I could ever afford that. especially for my 300 weatherby mag

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Quoted:

Quoted:
I try to keep 1K of all hunting rounds for my rifles

LOL what?! there is no way I could ever afford that. especially for my 300 weatherby mag

At $80/box thats only about $4,000.

Posted: 6/19/2015 9:36:06 AM EDT

[#37]

I try to keep about 100 loaded per hunting rifle and components for another 200-300. I have several rifles so that adds up.

Posted: 6/21/2015 8:27:47 PM EDT

[#38]

More since I started reloading. But still only about 100 each at the peak of the reloading cycle. I am not worried until I am down to less then 10

Posted: 6/25/2015 10:59:22 AM EDT

[#39]

All my hunting rifles shoot my handloads. That is in 6mm Remington, .270 Win, .280 Rem. (my overall favorite), 7mm Rem. Mag, .30-30, .308 Win., .30-06, .300 Weatherby, and .45-70.

I do reload 5.56 for hunting, but consider it marginal for deer and only at modest distances with very good shot placement.

I make hunting load runs in 50 round batches, because my loading blocks and the storage boxes hold 50 rounds and bullets are typically sold in 50 round boxes. I work up a load, do a 50 round batch, and go hunting. When it starts getting down to 20 rounds or less, I make another run. Thus, I rarely have more than about 70 rounds of any hunting load on hand.

Except for sighting in a scope or verifying sight in before hunting, there is little reason for me to shoot up hunting ammo. In the field if you don't get your game on the first shot, you probably will not get it at all. Rarely, a second shot might be needed. Varmint hunting is the exception, but we don't have prairie dogs or groundhogs here, and this subforum is about deer hunting.

Posted: 6/25/2015 11:38:23 AM EDT

[#40]

Three or four boxes of 130 & 150gr Nosler Partitions for the .270; and 8 boxes of FMJ and JHP for the Beowulf. Both deer rifles. If I'm hunting small game, it means I'm hunting with my Father and I steal his .22 ammo. I've only used one or two boxes of each in the past two or three seasons to sight in and hunt.

I don't reload so I'm usually buying up ammo for SD pistols or boxes of 5.56. It's difficult and expensive to keep a huge supply of everything so hunting ammo is usually on the back burner, it lasts me the longest.

Posted: 9/29/2015 11:57:42 AM EDT

[#41]

Probably have 50-65 rds of hunting ammo for my rifle.
Bought it all from the same lot years ago.
It's consistent and accurate. I take 1-2 sighter shots just before deer season to confirm its not been knocked out of whack and use 1-3 rds for actual hunting.
.300 Win Mag hunting ammo isn't cheap

Posted: 9/29/2015 12:18:47 PM EDT

[#42]

I don't keep very many hunting rounds on hand for my rifles...

I still have 30-06 ammo from 15 years ago that I will never use other than to make sure my scope is still on...

I shoot 3 rounds to sight in every year...as long as those three at 200 yards are where they need to be, that's it till I shoot a deer...

MAX per year, I will shoot 6 rounds. So even with a box of 20, that's 3 years worth....Most times I want to change rounds between years....

So I typically only have 1 box of my current hunting rounds on hand...although I have probably 50-100 round for that rifle that COULD be used for hunting if needed.

Posted: 9/29/2015 2:55:09 PM EDT

[#43]

I buy 200 quality rounds at a time or reload 200 rounds at a time. When I get to fifty I repeat.

Posted: 9/29/2015 4:06:06 PM EDT

[#44]

Have about 6 boxes for my .30-30, 2 boxes each of 3 loads to find what it likes and sight in. Now once I burn through it I'll have 1-2 leverevolution and 1-2 soft points for range fun.

In the same spot with my .308, I'll wind up with range and hunting ammo for it but also low recoil ammo so my wife can shoot it some.

Posted: 9/29/2015 9:14:48 PM EDT

[#45]

I try to always have 4 or 5 on hand. Cartridges that is, not boxes. Almost never need more than 1 a week. .270 Winchester. Never had trouble finding a box or two of .270.

If I have a need for a bunch of bullets I have quite a few other rifles/guns/calibers stacked high.

Posted: 9/29/2015 10:23:29 PM EDT

[#46]

About 1k rnds. But my main hunting rifle is a 6.8 so it serves other applications as well

Posted: 9/30/2015 1:03:52 AM EDT

[#47]

RIght now I have 1.5k of 300 BLK, 300 7.62x51, and 800 of 6.8. All reloads, I start to reload when I get to 200 of each or when I have spare time.

Posted: 9/30/2015 3:13:51 PM EDT

[#48]

I reload for both my deer hunting rigs, 6.5 Swede and .300 Blackout, and I experiment a lot with different loads and projectiles. That said, I try to keep at least 50 rounds of my current favorite hunting loads on hand not including practice loads.
My 7mm mag elk rifle I keep four to five boxes of 175 grain ammo on hand since I shoot it so infrequently and am not yet set up to reload it.

Posted: 10/1/2015 11:01:07 PM EDT

[#49]

I reload so I have probably 100+ for each rifle.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How much ammo do you stock for your hunting rifle?

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