How much ammo should I have for each weapon in my BOB?
Lets say you have :
bolt rifle––- 50 rounds sound good?
Semi-auto rifle ––200 plus several mags loaded?
Pistol –– 200 hundred rounds plus a few loaded mags?
.22 rifle or pistol –– a block of 500 plus loaded mags?

Also I live in an non-airconditioned place and want to put my ammo somewhere neatly where humidity doesnt eat it away....

Would A locking safe with several dehumidifier packs work?
Or a  storage container with packs sealed around the lid?
Or get a food bag that you suck the air out of, would that work best?

Is this for foot or auto?

If this is your foot BO kit, then you need to load your pack and see how much you can carry.

How about both? I thought about putting a .50 cal container for each in the car

On foot you will be topped out carrying near 240 rounds of loaded 5.56 and 50rds of pistol ammo in mags, plus another 100 in boxes in your BOB.

Thats unless you don't care about water, food, navigation, comm, batteries, inclement weather gear, lighting, first aid and only want to be an ammo carrying killer.

Okay lets back up a minute...

How much experience Back packing do you have?

How easily can you slip into the surrounding wilderness and take care of yourself (when your BOV is no longer an option) with whats on you (walking).

What kind of tools do you have for renewable sustainability (temporary goods only go so far)...

After you factor lots of these things into what you will be carrying... You determine how much weight you can carry beyond that... and start to work figures for ammunition there.

Having a million rounds on your back and no way of staying hydrated does you no good.

You have much to consider before determining the size of your load out for a full scale BOB.

Each loaded 30 round AR mag weighs about 1 pound, and 9mm rounds weigh as much as 223 per shot.   So far you are wanting to carry 14 pounds of ammo for a semi-auto rifle and a handgun if you use 223 and 9mm which weigh less than some other choices.  Now add 8 pounds for the 22 and bolt gun ammo.  So you want to carry about 40 pounds of guns and ammo on a foot bug out.  Remember now that I have not included any optics in this weight.  


Sure you don't want to rethink your clever plan?

not sure, but depending on how you read that you're planning on taking wither two or three rifles and one or two pistols.

if you;re seriously planning on taking that much ammo, you need a supply cache or two because the weight of the ammo is more than what many people want to carry for their total loadout. and that's not counting the hardware and loaded mags.

on foot, one rifle and one pistol will be plenty to haul.

for many scenarios, you don't want to be seen carrying firearms. for other events it may be beneficial to be obviously armed. YMMV.

This.

I have seen it so many times when I take people Back packing for the first time...

I explain to them they should only bring what they ABSOLUTELY need...

They almost always have back packs they can't pick up off the ground.

This.  The only thing is that you are way low on the weights in red for the pistol rounds.  200 rounds of 9mm plus 2 glock 18 mags loaded (not sure what he meant by several loaded mags, so i figured 2 glock 18 mags would equal several loaded mags of whatever flavor) weighs 7.4 lbs.  I just weighed them on my scale....  So figure five extra lbs making it 45 lbs.

Patch5, the part in red of my post was for dry launch tubes––no ammo.  You may also note that I chose some of the lighter variety of the weapons in each class––no heavy barrel Ar, or varmint master bolt gun.

this is what I figured in my other post
bolt gun-8 pounds, ammo 2 pounds, for 10 pounds
Ar-7 pounds, 7 mags-7 pounds, for 14 pounds
pistol-2.5 pounds, 210 rounds 7pounds, for 9.5 pounds
22 pistol-2 pounds, ammo-2 pounds, for 4 pounds
total 37.5 pounds as I figured it.

I stand corrected:
AR mags are near 2.5 pounds loaded, so 17.5 pounds in AR ammo to get 210 rounds
Thanks for the g18 mag weight Patch5 3.7 pounds each, so 25.9 pounds in g18 mags to get 210 rounds
New total 66.9 pounds

and some people say you need a Rem 870 with ammo too.

You think I am going to carry all that crap! Heck no! If I only had my butt to protect I would just carry a pistol.
Anyway....
It would be spilt between two people. One rifle, one pistol each with other things divided....

I am all about renewability, ammo is the only thing that besides skilled labor goods, I cannot replenish out and about....

I am not a newbie, please dont treat me like one. Just curious of the opinion of everyone in the hive of what you should carry. If you are out for a few weeks, how much would you carry?

Well in my first post in this thread I did try to clear this up by asking on foot, or in auto?  In your second your second post in this thread post you replied to me with "how about both."  Please don't be upset that I took you at your word.

If I am walking out the door and heading for the woods for two weeks under enough duress to need firepower, I would carry 8 to 10 - 30 round mags. No extra ammo to refill them. I would carry 2 spare pistol mags (XD45) plus the one in the pistol. No extra rounds period. If I need them, they are in mags.

Ammo not in mags is silly. I am not going to waste time retaining mags and then playing with them later when my attention needs to be elsewhere. I am not going to engage in endless fire fights and most likely will not fire a shot, or maybe a few shots while retreating. Because I have 0 extra rounds, I don't not have to ponder keeping it for a micro second. I like my chances better than those who carry silly amounts of ammo and can barely move themselves with their gear.






If I am bugging out in a vehicle, all of it. As much as will fit and not break the springs on my truck.

This is better than I could have said it, but my thoughts exactly.  Carry loaded mags.  Leave spare ammo in vehicles, stashes or in your bug-in scenario.  I have an ammo reload cache in each vehicle in case I am away and grab a "pick-up" with little or no ammo.  Otherwise it's loaded mags in separate shoulder pouches, chest rigs or discreet carriers.

I said both, The car might run out of gas.....
Mainly on foot...
Cause as one has stated, gonna fit all the ammo possible into the car

This may seem a little crude and I must admit that I am NEW to prepping, but when I go to work I have to buy food to last for about a week or so in the field.

I purposely purchase the Sara Lee brand lunch meat products (1lb) because they come in a niffty plastic containers. The lids fit tightyly and they are of a low profile build, roughly 8 inches long, 3 inches deep, and 6 inches wide.

After the ham or whatever is gone, I clean them out and toss them in my travel bag.

Once back home I clean them again, dry them, and dump a 500 pack of 22lr or 200 rounds of 9mm into it, drop in a silica gel packet (that stuff that absorbs moisture) and then make sure it is fully shut and hit it with a couple strips of tape for good measure. Then I label it with the date it was packed.

They stack neatly in the closet, in a vehicle console, or in your BOB.

OK, much of this is dependent on scenario.  Bugging out from an urban area during complete societal collapse (why'd you wait so long?) is far different than bugging out because a wildfire is closing in on your home.

Situation dictates the kit.  For the wildfire scenario, your handgun should suffice.  For societal collapse, or similar, I'd want a long gun.  The type of long gun, I'd base upon my means of transportation and my environment.  Long gun could be a Kel-Tec Sub2K folded in a bag, or an AR at the low-ready.

In any of these scenarios, any ammunition you carry should be ready to use.  Why carry ammunition you need to load into magazines?  Also, my handgun is a primary firearm only in a situation where I don't have a rifle.  As such, I'm limiting my ammunition for my handgun to approx. 50 rounds (3 mags for my Glock 19).  That quantity of ammunition should get me to cover in order to bring my rifle to bear, serve as a secondary firearm if my rifle malfunctions, or allow me to arm someone else in an engagement, if needed. For my AR, I'll take a load of 200 rounds as a baseline (I like 20rd mags, so it works out that way instead of 210).

With all this talk of weight, take a look at your firearms themselves.  I have some ARs that weigh over 9 pounds, and others that are below 6 pounds.  My bug out AR with mini-ACOG and 20rd magazine weighs just over six pounds.  Three pounds may not sound like a lot from weapon to weapon, but much of the difference in how the rifle is carried.  At the end of the day, those three pounds slung/carried make a huge difference.

Kid waking up, gotta go.  I'll finish this later.

This question sounds more like an fantasy exercise to kill time during home room..................

I am of the opinion that anyone should limit themselves to two spare mags for any weapon they carry on a bug-out. Bugging out should be escape and evade, not blasting a huge gaping hole in a wall of opposing forces, or offing zombies along the way. Bugging out is about getting to a safer place, not hunkering down for a firefight. Let's face it. Most of us are not Rambo, as much as we'd like to think we are. Bugging out is about safely getting out of a dangerous area. Period.

My bug-out weapon plan is my go-to MBR, which is an AK, and my sidearm, which is a Beretta 92FS. A 30-rounder in the AK, and two extra 30's in a pouch. The Beretta has a Mec-Gar 20-rounder, with two more 20-rounders in a mag carrier. My wife's bug-out plan includes her Noveske, with three 20-rd mags, and her G19 with three 15-round mags. That's 255 between the two of us. More than enough. My goal would be to get to safety without firing a single round.

I'd also like to add that any argument for carrying anything other than an MBR and a sidearm is invalid because that's where a good cache or two would come in. If you feel that you will run out of ammo or need a .22 to gather game, etc, then you should plan accordingly, and cache these items.

The 7.4 lbs was for 200 rnds plus 2 G18 mags  Didn't weigh them individually.  Also, you were spot on with the first estimate of 1lb for a loaded AR mag.  It weighed out at 1.1 lbs for a USGI mag and 1.1lbs for a PMAG.

Now I think I'm on the same page with you, so 45 pounds total for mid to light weapons and ammo that would fill the list in the OP.  Sure would be nice to have some glass on I don't mind using iron sights, but there is a reason that glass has been a useful tool for a long time now.  That 308 bolt bun is gonna be a lot more useful with good glass say 3 pounds.  An AR will be more comfortable with dot site, you could actually lower the weapon weight here by dumping the irons and using one of the new micro red dots.  I'm gonna ad a pound for a dot on the AR though because micro red dots have not shown up at the garage sales yet.

So 4 more pounds of glass, for 49 pounds.

the amount of ammo you need to carry, kinda depends on how bad the shtf situation is. ...( and if you have supplies where you are going)


first, if your in a vehicle, load it until the bumper drags the ground............... if your on foot you gotta go lighter..... or steal a shopping cart, like on " the road".....

first, you dont need any more than a rifle and pistol, especially on foot...........go on a nice long hike with two rifles rattling around on your back... it sucks i know because iv had to carry my rifle, and my young daughters rifle when she started deer hunting... not worth the trouble.  either buy a .308 ar-10,or even easier equip your ar-15, with a quick detach aimpoint, that you can replace with a good scope in a good quick detach mount, you just dropped a entire gun, and added versitility to your rifle, your good for long accurate shots, or close ...a ar-15 is a battle rifle, its plenty reliable,very accurate,  its got plenty of power and range. ......no need for a backup rifle, just carry a extra bolt, its just a few ounces

also depends on how far your planning to go.... 10-20 miles not a big deal, light ammo.( this is assuming you have supplies where you are going)........ gonna walk to florida from indiana, better make a different plan.......

for a "general" bob, id say handgun, with 4 extra mags, and another box of ammo, broken down rifle, and 4-6 mags of ammo.... approx.

emp= you gotta walk and people are milling around looking lost. you probably wont need very much, a few extra pistol mags, 7 preloaded mags for a ar type rifle, ( keep it broken down in the pack)

economic collapse= people rioting, looting,  and running loose,  fuel unavailable, etc........ id want a little more ammo....maybe body armor.

multiple nuke hits, = total emp, no vehicles moving, no power, basically no government support. id be pushing a wheelbarrel, or something... and looking like i  was on patrol in iraq.




im also gonna throw in the rules of a firefight for free........ because they are good rules, and i like them....

Rules for a Gunfight
Rules For A Gunfight

1. Forget about knives, bats and fists. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns. Bring four times the ammunition you think you could ever need.

2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammunition is cheap - life is expensive. If you shoot inside, buckshot is your friend. A new wall is cheap - funerals are expensive.

3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.

4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.

5. Move away from your attacker and go to cover. Distance is your friend. (Bulletproof cover and diagonal or lateral movement are preferred.)

6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a semi or full-automatic long gun and a friend with a long gun.

7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.

8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running. Yell "Fire!" Why "Fire"? Cops will come with the Fire Department, sirens often scare off the bad guys, or at least cause them to lose concentration and will.... and who is going to summon help if you yell "Intruder," "Glock" or "Winchester?"

9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on "pucker factor" than the inherent accuracy of the gun.

10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

11. Stretch the rules. Always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

12. Have a plan.

13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work. "No battle plan ever survives 10 seconds past first contact with an enemy."

14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible, but remember, sheetrock walls and the like stop nothing but your pulse when bullets tear through them.

15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.

16. Don't drop your guard.

17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees. Practice reloading one-handed and off-hand shooting. That's how you live if hit in your "good" side.

18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. Smiles, frowns and other facial expressions don't (In God we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them.)

19. Decide NOW to always be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.

20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.

21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet if necessary, because they may want to kill you.

22. Be courteous to everyone, overly friendly to no one.

23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which starts with anything smaller than "4".

25. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. "All skill is in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the flintlock of your musket." At a practice session, throw you gun into the mud, then make sure it still works. You can clean it later.

26. Practice shooting in the dark, with someone shouting at you, when out of breath, etc.

27. Regardless of whether justified or not, you will feel sad about killing another human being. It is better to be sad than to be room temperature.

28. The only thing you EVER say afterwards is, "He said he was going to kill me. I believed him. I'm sorry, Officer, but I'm very upset now. I can't say anything more. Please speak with my attorney."



plus murphys rules of combat... they are good as well

1.If the enemy is in range, so are you.
2.Incoming fire has the right of way.
3.Don't look conspicuous, it draws fire.
4.There is always a way, and it usually doesn't work.
5.The problem with the easy way out is that it has already been mined.
6.Try to look unimportant, they may be low on ammo.
7.Professionals are predictable, it's the amateurs that are dangerous.
8.The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions:
1.when you're ready for them.
2.when you're not ready for them.
9.Teamwork is essential, it gives them someone else to shoot at.
10.If you can't remember, then the claymore IS pointed at you.
11.The enemy diversion you have been ignoring will be the main attack.
12.A "sucking chest wound" is nature's way of telling you to slow down.
13.If your attack is going well, then it's an ambush.
14.Never draw fire, it irritates everyone around you.
15.Anything you do can get you shot, including nothing.
16.If you build yourself a bunker that's tough for the enemy to get into quickly, then you won't be able to get out of it quickly either.
17.Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself.
18.If you're short of everything but the enemy, you're in a combat zone.
19.When you've secured the area, don't forget to tell the enemy.
20.Never forget that your weapon is made by the lowest bidder.
21.Friendly fire isn't.
22.If the sergeant can see you, so can the enemy.
23.Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can sleep.
24.The most dangerous thing in the world is a second lieutenant with a map and a compass.
25.There is no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.
26.A grenade with a seven second fuse will always burn down in four seconds.
27.Remember, a retreating enemy is probably just falling back and regrouping.
28.If at first you don't succeed call in an air-strike.
29.Exceptions prove the rule, and destroy the battle plan.
30.Everything always works in your HQ, everything always fails in the colonel's HQ.
31.The enemy never watches until you make a mistake.
32.One enemy soldier is never enough, but two is entirely too many.
33.A clean (and dry) set of BDU's is a magnet for mud and rain.
34.Whenever you have plenty of ammo, you never miss. Whenever you are low on ammo, you can't hit the broad side of a barn.
35.The more a weapon costs, the farther you will have to send it away to be repaired.
36.Field experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
37.Interchangeable parts aren't.
38.No matter which way you have to march, its always uphill.
39.If enough data is collected, a board of inquiry can prove ANYTHING.
40.For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. (in boot camp)
41.The one item you need is always in short supply.
42.The worse the weather, the more you are required to be out in it.
43.The complexity of a weapon is inversely proportional to the IQ of the weapon's operator.
44.Airstrikes always overshoot the target, artillery always falls short.
45.When reviewing the radio frequencies that you just wrote down, the most important ones are always illegible.
46.Those who hesitate under fire usually do not end up KIA or WIA.
47.The tough part about being an officer is that the troops don't know what they want, but they know for certain what they DON'T want.
48.To steal information from a person is called plagiarism. To steal information from the enemy is called gathering intelligence.
49.The weapon that usually jams when you need it the most is the M60.
50.The perfect officer for the job will transfer in the day after that billet is filled by someone else.
51.When you have sufficient supplies & ammo, the enemy takes 2 weeks to attack. When you are low on supplies & ammo the enemy decides to attack that night.
52.The newest and least experienced soldier will usually win the Congressional Medal Of Honor.
53.A Purple Heart just goes to prove that were you smart enough to think of a plan, stupid enough to try it, and lucky enough to survive.
54.Murphy was a grunt.

Thats how I see it.  I always wonder why people want to carry more than an infantryman's combat load to bug out.  I guess that's just my mindset though, if I am on foot, I am heading head home, not away from it.  Being able to bug in is priceless IMHO.  I still have a contingency plan of course, but I really hope to ride out whatever it is at home, and have worked hard to give myself the best chance of a successful bug in...

Maybe from the OP, what are your goals with your BOB?  Is it to get home?  to a BOL? or to forever roam the road?

at least enough for a full combat load (all the mags you would carry for a firefight) and 2 full reloads.

16 oz in a lb things to think about........



55gr Tap





In the box you wonder







Mags you say i love mags these are empty











22 ammo's gotta LOVE IT almost 8 lbs







This is a pretty basic STICK you gotta have a loaded stick........







You didn't mention a shotgun but this is for the yayo's carrying 500rnds of shotgun ammo get sum

Myself, if I had to bug out, it'd be fuuuuun. I have health issues (food allergies, need prolonged antibiotic treatments for my chronic Bartonella or I die) plus a toddler to bring along. We wouldn't get too far, IMHO.

Hypothetically though, if it were just myself and/or the wife, pre-kid:

20" AR Rifle w/Aimpoint, 8.25 lbs, no light as of yet.
Tasco Super Sniper scope w/Larue mount, 1.5lbs. (leave off the rifle unless needed for longer shots).
Tac vest w/7 loaded mags, about 9 lbs (210 rds)
Glock 19 w/3 mags + IWB holster, 3.5 lbs (46 rds), perhaps a little loose ammo to top off mags.
Misc cleaning gear, .75lb thereabouts.
Total: 23lbs.

The wife gets the M4Forgery w/Aimpoint, with a lighter load, say 120 rds max), no pistol yet. She's not much of a shooter, so hauling along a pistol isn't going to be very useful.

These weights are approximate, but I think I'm close.

I've carried a very minimal BOB before, and with a lighter weapons load than the above, the total gear weight topped 45lbs for a kit that would only subsist me for 3-5 days (it's heavy to carry enough food to maintain weight when hiking). I'm nowhere near in good enough shape to haul around a 50-60lb BOB - while my weight is reasonable (170lbs), I haven't done any hiking since the early 2000s.

For a vehicle bugout, I would bring alot more, in 50-cal cans. It's possible your vehicle might be disabled due to damage, or run out of fuel, so bringing along some trash bags/and a small shovel to help cache supplies that are too heavy to carry might be an option. I can't see lugging along an extra 50-cal can full of ammo on top of an already heavy BOB. But leaving all that ammo laying there for the goblins to pick up and use isn't a good idea either.

I think thats way too much ammo as others have stated. Ditch the .22 and the bolt gun. As for the handgun ammo, unless you are bugging out to a handgun training course that is way too much. If you have a plan on where you will be going then stash some ammo at the location. Maybe a couple hundred rounds at 2-3 locations. Mark the grid coordinates on your map(s) and travel fast and light. MUCH lighter. The idea is to slip to safety quietly. My current winter loadout for New York is around 35 lbs. Thats unarmed bare bones, save for a knife. I think you need to put more stock into food, water and shelter. Maybe even stash food etc along with your ammo. Just my .02