Is Shotgun Ammunition Worth Stockpiling?
Kevin Felts 02.20.19
After reading the title of the article the first thing someone may say is, “Kevin, settlers settled the frontier with a shotgun.” Or maybe, “All my grandpaw had was a shotgun.” There is no disputing the value of a shotgun.
The question is, “Should we stockpile shotgun ammunition?” For course that question is subjective to various opinions. To some people, stockpiling is 10,000 rounds per caliber. For others, it may be 5,000 rounds per firearm.
For the sake of discussion, let’s use 5,000 rounds as a starting point.
Should we stockpile 5,000 rounds of:
- Buckshot
- Small game shot (Pick one: #2, #4, or #6)
- Slugs
If so, that gives us at least 15,000 rounds for all three. Chances are the typical shotgun hunter will never come close to shooting 5,000 rounds in a lifetime, much less 15,000. A professional skeet shooter, yeah, they probably shoot a lot more than 15,000 rounds.
Let’s take those numbers and drop them down to 1,000 rounds for slugs, small game, and buckshot. That still equals 3,000 rounds for shotgun.
On top of that add:
- 5,000 – 10,000 of 22 long rifle.
- 5,000 rounds of 223 Remington / 5.56mm.
- 5,000 rounds of 7.62×39.
- 1,000 rounds of 30-30 Winchester.
- 1,000 rounds of 308 Winchester. For some people it is more like 5,000 rounds.
All of those together with the shotgun and we are at 20,000 rounds. We are talking thousands of dollars for ammunition that will probably never get used. That is unless there is a complete collapse of society and we do not starve in the first or second year.
Except for birds, ducks, geese, maybe rabbits and squirrels, when someone goes hunting, what firearm do they bring? Some people do not use a shotgun for small game but instead prefer the 22 long rifle. Even a pellet rifle is suited for squirrels and birds.
Doing a random price check, Lucky Gunner has bulk 250 rounds Winchester #4 shot 12 gauge for $65, or $63 is you buy two boxes. Let;s say we buy 1,000 rounds; that comes out to around $252 for 1,000 rounds.
Or, would you rather buy several thousands rounds of 22 long rifle, and a couple of boxes of deer hunting rifle ammunition with that $252?
Final Thoughts
Rather than stockpiling shotgun in bulk, say by the thousands of rounds, would just a couple of hundred rounds suffice?
For example, let’s say:
- 250 slugs
- 250 buckshot
- 250 small game shot
Maybe even bring those numbers up to around 1,000 rounds of shotgun ammunition; have two of thee shotguns with 1,000 rounds between them. That may not sound like a lot, but when coupled with 5,000 – 10,000 rounds of 22 long rifle, things balance out.
