Originally Posted by John in AR

Perhaps consider that having ammunition on hand isn't all about post-shtf Mad-Max fighting. Some people probably do stock up with those irrational thoughts in mind, but it would be a mistake to assume that's everyone's thought process. For some of us, it's basic economics, and acknowledgment of market forces & political realities.

A lot of people had problems finding ammunition after the sandy hook shooting; those of us with "too much" on hand didn't. Life was simpler for us.

A lot of people stood in line, sometimes for hours, trying to buy some. Those of us with "too much" on hand didn't. Life was less stressful for us.

A lot of people had to give up recreational shooting during the panic times due to shortage of ammunition; those of us with "too much" on hand, didn't. Life was more fun for us.

A lot of people made things worse during the panic times - actually worsening and lengthening the panic times for everyone - by panic-buying in unusually-high quantities during the shortage. Those of us with "too much" on hand, didn't. We stayed out of the market rather than adding to the panic-buying when others were panicked and scared. (You're welcome, btw. )

A lot of people paid WAY too much for ammunition during panic times, just due to lack of options. Those of us with "too much" on hand didn't. We stock up during good times, and more importantly, during promotional sales at store-openings & such. I'm still shooting remington thunderbolts bought for $3.99 per 500 (no, not per 50; per 500) during a promotion at gander mountain. I bought "way too much", but didn't hardly make a dent in the pallets of cases they had sitting there, so (unlike the panic buyers in bad times) I didn't negatively impact anyone in my doing so. For $8 per thousand, I bought years' worth of .22LR plinking rounds.

Even what used to be normal prices are 'great' prices if we think about it. Federal 525 packs of .22HP with $12.96 walmart stickers on them. Wasn't even sale prices at the time, but sure seems like a heck of a bargain in today's market.

And that's without even going into any political aspects. Potential purchase restrictions, $1 per round sales taxes that have been talked about; all kinds of things there worth thinking about.

Another, admittedly minor, issue is obsolescence or discontinuation of products by the manufacturer. My favorite AR load for deer was from winchester's "PowerPointPlus" line. It was a 64-grain JSP with moly-coating and cannelured bullet, running almost the same velocity as 55-grain M193. When it was discontinued probably ten years ago, I stocked up on what I could find of it simply because it would no longer be available. So I've got around 300 rounds of it left at this point - simply because I like it and there is no future restocking of it. (There are other loads that would substitute for it just fine - I like the 62-grain Fusion and the 69-grain PPU hp stuff. But at the time this load was discontinued, I wasn't familiar with the PPU 69 and the Fusion didn't exist.)

Short version - no, I don't have any delusions of needing thousands of rounds to fight brigands, MZB's, or some other kind of Thunderdome rejects. I just like to shoot, I like to pay low prices for things, and so that means I stock up when things are "cheap & easy".

I confess that I also like seeing the "$3.99" sticker on a 500-round brick of .22 shells. That does indeed make me smile.