The most I ever bought at once was about 600rounds... a brick of .22LRs, a box of .223, and a box of 00 buckshot.

Though they do offer tin and zinc bullets now for areas where lead is banned, like California condor country.

There really is little danger in a few lead bullets or airgun pellets burying themselves in the garden soil. When exposed to air and water, lead forms an oxide that prevents much leaching of lead particles into the soil. Of all the things I worry about, lead poisoning from a buried .22 bullet or pellet ranks pretty far down on my list.

may have been the soil in our vegetable garden, which was not far from a busy street. (It wasn't our pipes or our paint.) We never figured it out. Her level was elevated but not high enough to require treatment, and we eventually moved. A few years later, her level was only a third of what it had been.

That's why I'd have a concern about this. From what you'd written, I thought you were deliberately putting bullets in the ground for pest control. Anything that could actually control pests is probably not very good for small human beings.

I found this online: http://www.ledizolv.com/LearnAbout/LeadHazards/leadsoil.asp

The point is that the lead could have contaminated the soil (we didn't have it tested but we stopped growing vegetables back there.) So I was wondering why lead bullets would have been safer in soil.

Which basically encapsulates the bullet and prevents leaching on a molecular level. The only way you'd ingest the lead would be if you actually swallowed the slug itself and let your stomach acids eat away at it. Lead from burnt leaded gasoline that's precipitated out in rain, though, would be small enough to be absorbed by the roots of the vegetables or cling to any dirt that comes into the house with you.

What's funny is that I grew up eating wild game at Thanksgiving, and it was no big deal spitting lead shot out onto your plate as you ate your turkey or pheasant! Sometimes you'd even find a bit of lead bullet in your venison steak.

Which has made me wonder if my toddler got her elevated lead level from me . . .

I'm sure I have over 5,000 rounds in the house right now.

I have over 10,000 for my AR alone.

Probably never use it up since I really don't enjoy shooting them since I got a Kar98k. Now that gun is a pleasure to fire.

My limit on my Mosins is about 20 rounds at a time.

The damn thing kicked like a mule, so I gave it to my brother.

Valmet Model 76, chambered in .223. Very well built, shoots execellent.?v=8CE3CDC7FA4D840

you just opened a hole in my collection that wasn't before now. .....

are less then 1%.

Nothing to base that off of, but I know of no one who owns guns that buys that much at once.

You can buy 500 rd boxes at Walmart for less than $20. Up until a few years ago it was only $10/box.

And US manufacturers make two billion rounds of .22 rimfire ammo per year, so someone's buying it in bulk.

that roughly 5.5 million .22 rounds are being bought a day?

I find your numbers highly suspect.

Not totally unreasonable.

I own a .22 and haven't fired it in years.

Matter fact, the last time it was shot is when I was teaching my daughter to shoot almost 15 years ago.

I buy in lots of 1000 that way to save $$$.

In a 5 day trap shoot, I would go through 2000 rounds, as did every other competitor.

I went through 500 rounds of 22 a week in high school on the rifle team

I shoot IDPA matches every Sunday between March and November. I shoot with the boys every Wednesday, with dinner after and Shoot IDPA practice every Tuesday afternoon.

My Dillon presses sure do get a work out.

you might expect others to disagree.

What's "reasonable" amount of gasoline to buy?

For someone who doesn't own a car presumably less than someone who commutes 2 hours per day.

I'm not a gun owner, but I have been gun owner-adjacent for most of my life. People who shoot as a hobby blow through ammo.

Now, two of the most avid shooters I know do their own reloading. But there are plenty that just don't bother and buy racks of bullets for shooting (and, of course, by "shooting" I mean target shooting at a range, or similar).

Also, when I had the time and money to shoot frequently I think my largest single purchase was somewhere in the 5000 rounds range spread across 3 or 4 calibers.

an active sport shooter, recreational shooter, competitive shooter will use 1000 rounds in a couple of weekends. Serious money can be saved by buying in case quantities. A lot of shooters buy a case, then reload the casings.

Bought gallons of it.

For my Army Reserve Unit

I am, however, surprised that they think it is "normal".

See an episode of "Hoarders", or any other show about compulsive obsessions, and their links to mental illness.

non-perishable item is extremely rational...

Hey, what's weird about buying a pallet of dish soap?



edit: palette/pallet

any form of clinical hoarding or mental illness, right?

Buying a bulk amount of TP to save a bunch of money would also be perfectly rational, as long as the storage or possession did not adversely affect your life or health. You ought to pay closer attention to those hoarding shows, because I don't think you're grasping the concept or the problem...

I get the concept just fine.

...I stockpile canned food, water, toilet paper, candles, and various other sundries...am I fucking mental too?

In short, I would guess, yes.

This is not a judgement, I grew up as a "survivalist", but I also learned why it's a mental variation.

Which is actually not that uncommon.

I'll bet you buy a month or two worth of dish soap at a time, too.

1 bottle.

I've never bought a thousand rounds in one trip. But I've certainly bought 500 on more than one occasion. Ammo is not like a casaba melon -- it's got a pretty long shelf life -- and if I'm going to use it, I may as well save some money.

For people who are regular shooters, having a thousand rounds of ammo in the house is just not unusual in the least.

I can burn through 1-2,000 rounds when at the range. It's also cheaper to buy in bulk.

Arithmetic. How does it work?

1,000 9mm and 1,000 45ACP. Still have about 3/4 of it left.

~2,000 rounds 5.56
~1,000 rounds .45
~500 rounds 12 gauge
~800 rounds 9mm


Whatever statements can be made about gun ownership, it's not simply about hunting. They are the last choice of a free people in the face of Government tyranny. I am in favor of stronger regulations to attempt to keep powerful weapons out of the hands of nut jobs. But the job is simply too big for todays technology. And there are too many other terrorist tools out there that can be cooked up with a trip to WalMart. Confiscation is not a good alternative.

Same with pipe bombs, they cannot possibly be eliminated, ever, but we don't have to sell them pre-made, at Wal-Mart, to people who cannot make them on their own.

Can use a keyboard and read.

So we're talking about a time factor? A delay while people build a weapon? Rather than pre-assembled? What problem is this designed to address?

Anybody with a keyboard, a mouse, and an internet link, can get the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon, a pipe bomb, a firearm.

And yet, we don't have much of a problem with those (save firearms), because as soon as something becomes even slightly challenging, predatory psychopaths try to find something easier to do.

168 dead. >800 wounded.

But hey, I'm always willing to learn something new.

Link to research on work ethic, or labor intensity of psychotic criminals please?

Hitler did that in his tea-time. Daily. For years.

I have no link, though, to proving a negative. ("Lazy people don't kill&quot

The mere ethical review of such a study... ugh.

Yes, I almost forgot, they tried to give us healthcare. Do you seriously believe that our government is run by tyrants? You need to visit other nations more. Like North Korea or Syria for starters.

We do NOT have Tyranny in this nation.

As quickly as we're moving to a fascist state, a priviledged state, and a Oligarchical state, we don't have one now. Our masters realize that it's not possible. A true dictator would be facing too many impediments. Not that they're not trying to slip it in sideways, but a direct approach isn't feasible. THAT'S for a reason.

BTW- I've spent the last 4 years in 3rd world nations. Many (most?) Americans are unaware of the true nature of other countries lifestyles. We are very (unsustainably so) spoiled and in some ways, insulated from the suffering that supplying our lifestyles produces.

So it's your position that if it's not in our faces right now, that it's not worth cautioning against?

And that I'm narrow minded for thinking it's possible?

spitballs. Probably around 1000.

Sales are sales.

Depending on disposable income at the moment, I'll definitely take advantage of a discount on a product that I use on a regular basis...be it toilet paper or ammo.

.

Last edited Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:36 PM - Edit history (1)

That would have sucked, chasing down all those stray shells.

On edit: re-reading your post, were you concerned it would have exploded or something? Because that's physically impossible with ammo like this. I can remember one time a worker at Gander Mountain dropped a box of primers (used in rifle reloading to set off the cartridge) and she was just freaking out like she was surrounded by miniature land mines! The manager came by with a dustpan and broom, swept them up, and told her to calm down and finish the transaction.

I teach, so my volume is higher than many.

When I was actively competing, there was no online sales and very little catalog sales. I would have saved a great deal of money if there had been.

please don't ask about the cheese, it's something I'm not proud of.

I buy 7.62X39, and .223 in bulk, usually about 2,000 rounds per. I like to keep about 1,000 rounds each for my handguns.

Every time you buy ammo you should buy as much as possible.

He probably goes through 1,000 rds. of .22 a week or so.

I shoot 50+ .22 rds. a weekend for fun target shooting, and have bought in bulk at gun shows and local stores, because it's much cheaper that way. The most I ever bought at once was 750 rds. of FMJ for target practice -- great sale. I would have bought more if I had the extra money.

I also shop at Costco and buy my Tom's of Maine deodorant in packs of six on Amazon, because it's much cheaper that way.

Although being able to buy inexpensive steel-case .223 at Walmart now makes the cost difference less drastic than it used to be.

Bought 1000 rds of 5.56mm NATO Lake City AP when it was on sale locally. Later picked up 500 rds of reloads to see how well they will run. I buy .22 lr 1500 - 2000 rds at a time because i'll use up 1000 at a time just plinking. Generally buy .45 ACP and 12ga ammo only a few hundred rounds at a time since I shoot those the least.

Serious and/or competitive shooters who don't reload (or, in my case, don't reload their handgun ammo) usually buy ammunition this way, as there are very significant bulk discounts...and you go through a lot.

I would like to see some sort of background check in place for ammo purchases, though...something tied in to the current NICS system used for firearms. It's no panacea (the common criminal responsible for the vast majority of firearms homicide would just turn to the black market), but it could do some good. Given the system is already in place, extending it to ammunition should be reasonably cost-efficient, too.

or at least I was there when my dad did. My brothers birthday party at a skeet range. He paid for about twenty people to shoot at least four founds each. So that is a a couple of thousand rounds.

I bought a few cartons of .22 target long rifle...for my High Standard 22 Semi Auto...my dad bought a case or two of 12 and 20 ga. AA Skeet...we shot alot of skeet obviously...

Apart from skeet and target anything else was small amounts...for any of the high velocity deer rifles or bench rifles, much of which we hand loaded.

I don't own any guns now....

Buying 1000's of rounds of .223 or 9mm without any competition type shooting history or track record of shooting hundreds of rounds per week at a range might be cause for alarm...

I probably have more than a thousand rounds at home but at least 65% of it is in .22 LR.

Do you think you are going to be able to kill all the pests in your garden if you shoot enough of them? Do you stay up all night waiting for pests to munch on one of your tomatoes?

Don

I work overnights, so I'm getting home in the morning just as the sun is coming up, and dawn is the ideal time to see garden pests. There have been plenty of mornings where I'll grab either my .22 or my magnum pellet rifle, open the window in the second-floor guest bedroom that faces the backyard, and shoot a dozen gophers before going to bed. Since they can't see me and I use subsonic ammo, they don't run from the shots. The other big problem is finding starlings in my cherry trees. A low-power .22 or air rifle works equally well against them.

One time, we had a friend over for dinner, and as we sat down at the table I looked out the window and saw a skunk trying to get into my chicken coop (skunks love eggs, and will kill hens at times). I excused myself, went outside, shot it from a distance so as to not be sprayed, and came back inside. I apologized to our friend, but she was cool with it and it was promptly forgotten.

I understand I can't kill them all, but it has made a substantial dent in their populations to the point I don't need fencing anymore.

What do you do about any of the ground squirrels, skunks and gophers that you just wound and they scurry off into the field, woods or neighbors property?

Do you track the blood trail until you find them and put them out of their misery?

Or do you let these wounded critters run off without tracking them and allow them to die a slow painful death somewhere?

Don

The gun I use most is a target-grade, bolt action rifle with a 10X scope. I can hit a quarter at 50 yards with it consistently from a rest, and the maximum range from my house to the farmer's cornfield is only 40 yards. I also use hollowpoint ammo to make sure the animals receive lethal wounds. A ground squirrel is basically a long-bodied chipmunk, so it does't take much to kill one. My garden is located about 10 yards from the hedgerow along my property line, with a mowed strip of lawn seperating the two. On the rare occasions when I've wounded one, I have plenty of time to shoot again since they are badly wounded and moving slowly.

Plus, I always walk my yard afterwards to collect the dead animals and throw them into the field. If I find one still moving, I shoot it again to stop it's pain. My dad raised me on the family farm to believe that killing is not something you do for fun, and if you have to kill an animal, you do so cleanly. If I'm not reasonably sure of the shot, I let it pass. I know this probably doesn't sound too appealing to most people, but I value the produce my garden puts out very highly. My goal is to eventually start my own mini-farm/CSA, and pest control is a vital, if unsavory, aspect of food production. The only alternatives are rows upon rows of fencing, frequent trapping, or poisons (ugh).

5.45x39 is 1080 rounds to a tin.

2 tins to a case.

I bought two cases.

That would be 4320 rounds at once.

I don't recall how many were in the box, but it was some sort of promotion deal in which a nice wooden box was filled with loose 22 rounds, probably 2,000~3,000 if I had to take a guess, I think it cost me $25 or so.

I usually buy ammo in bulk and on-line. 9mm, .45 ACP, 5.56, .308, 7.62x39, .22LR, and others I've forgotten. I usually buy in 1000 rd lots, as that's where the price breaks kick in. And also the tens of thousands of bullets for reloading. The little girl that was my UPS delivery person for awhile used to hate me. She had to use the little handtruck in the van to bring the packages to my door for signature.

I can easily shoot 700-800 rds a month just in the three competitions I usually shoot in. Multiply that by 30 years or so and it's a lot of rounds.

As you said, a $20 box of .22 rimfire has 500 rounds in it. I also used to buy 9mm pistol, 12 gauge shotgun and .223 rifle by the CASE. If one shoots competively wwekly or bi-weekly, you could be looking at 100/rnds per match... not to mention maybe 200-300 rounds to practice just a few hours per week. I would say someone who shoots "regularly" once a month probably expends about 1000-4000 rounds per year.

For some reason, ignorant people are astounded by the amount of ammo regular people will shoot.

Cheap to shoot and great for small target matches.

Washing machines don't go down easy.

I still have quite a bit of it left. I found a real good deal on surplus British ammo packed in ammo cans with a seal for 160 dollars/1000 rounds.

It's hard to find .308 ammo now for under 500/1000 rounds.

Free shipping too....