9mm SHTF Ammo Stockpile Fix

9mm SHTF Ammo Stockpile Fix
I made a mistake in my ammunition stockpile regarding my go to 9mm magazines for SHTF. And, this is how I decided to fix that problem.

9mm is the most popular handgun round for a reason. It's lightweight, capable and has controllable recoil. But, it does need a little boost when it comes to ballistics compared to some of the larger rounds out there. For SHTF purposes, I have 10 loaded magazines stored away as a grab and go setup for if I ever suddenly have to leave. And because of 9mm's ballistic restraints, I decided that I needed to make those 10 magazines count.

#prepping #shtf #preparedness #midwayusa

[MagicPrepper]

I want my loaded, ready to go magazines to be stocked with the good stuff. Do you have any suggestions other than the Federal HST 147gr 9mm rounds that you think are better performance wise?
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[regularguy]

Hey brother like your channel. I will give you my opinion. I'm a regular guy that served in the USMC and LE. You can use the 124 NATO 9mm period. The fmj NATO 124 works perfectly fine brother for SHTF. I use this and it works BETTER than conventional ammo when the chips are down helping a dirty pistol to function and it STILL does what needs to be done. I hope this helps and great job!

[bully_hunter_]

People really downplay pistols but it always being available on your hip (or wherever) is a huge advantage even in SHTF, especially early in if youre still trying to get to your gear

[jsog]

The rule: carry what you shoot. Shoot what you carry. 124gr FMJ punches holes for a great all around SHTF. Price value relationship. 22 year Army retired.

[oaksparoakspar]

A century of ball ammo use in militaries around the world shows that it can and does work. That we have access to BETTER options always needs to be in that light - they are better options, not necessary options.

We would be fools not to take those options when we can, however.

So, in my CCW's, bump-in-the-night, and vehicle guns, I'm running JHPs, not FMJs (apart from the rifle caliber pistols - since my state is silly about carrying rifles in your vehicle, but anything the ATF calls a pistol this week is fine). The rifles are a mix - JSP in the .308's and other big calibers, but FMJ in the .223's, 7.62x39's, and .30car.

That said, I do tend to keep a few mags loaded with FMJ with the full sized vehicle pistols and most anything else in the collection - because while those guns are there for self defense and get-home situations, I've found that the most likely time I'm using them is for some unscheduled fun-time shooting. Not having to burn up pricier defense rounds just to tear up some targets with friends or family is worth the cost of having an extra mag or two of FMJ with them.

As for not stockpiling a million JHPs for a handgun - that is reasonable. There are four outcomes of a gunfight - you both withdraw, they die, you die, or you both die. So, in 50% of the gunfight outcomes, you are dead. Even if your training and skill weigh those outcomes to not be equal odds, NO ONE can play that game and never lose. Moreover, you can only shoot the ammo you carry with you. So, you can think of your stockpile as "how many times can I totally reload my loadout" and then compare that to "how many all out gunfights am I likely to have before I'm dead." I would have to survive 14-15 gunfights to burn through 1000 rounds - and my luck is not that good.

Most preppers tend to be far deeper than they will ever survive in defensive ammo and calibers and no where deep enough in hunting calibers and rounds. In an extended apoc, the defensive ammo would certainly be more important early on when the world is full of desperate people and the game and farm animals are being slaughtered to the edge of extinction. After the initial die off, however, the game will recover. Going years without shooting at people will always be the norm - while shooting at game will be a common occurrence. Consider any of the pioneer tales - plenty of shots at game and predators (wolves might not be the cause, but wild dogs will be a concern after a few years of going feral) - not many at people (natives, outlaws, etc).

So, just as you consider the number of defensive gunfights you are likely to be in and their needs, consider the number of hunting occasions you will likely have per year for however many years you plan to eat. 1000 rounds of hunting ammo is just one shot per week for 20 years.

[geraldmantanona]

As a US Army combat veteran, we used standard 9mm ball 115 grain ammunition while deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. 👍🏾🇺🇸

[danielandrews]

Do what I did. Practice with the fmj. Reload it with HP. I use the Sierra 124g hp.
A pack of 500 is 134.99 at mid-wAaaay.
If you go to the store they run about a dollar a round.

62gr Barnes TTSX is a great way to load a few magazines with because you can seriously hunt with that. Chuck said he’d feel comfortable if that’s all he had. That is not available in the stores.. reloading isn’t worth it loading fmj however it can save big money with specialty rounds ;)

[regularguyprepper]

PSA had a smoking hot deal for 20 round boxes of sierra jhp for like 7.99. The per round cost was roughly comparable to fmj.

I only wish I had more money to spend.

[concernedpatriot.]

You always bring out your best first. You want to give yourself the best chance of survival

[ColoGrayWolf]

Good of you to admit a less than ideal choice back then. Point is, you corrected it! Funny, but I just went thru the exact same thing. Sig also sells dual packs of target and defense rounds of same weight.

Keep up the good work!

[bobstaurovsky]

If you hit your target in a vital area, they won’t know the difference between a 115 gr., 124 gr., or a 147 gr. Round !!! The only thing they might know is something very serious just happened to their body !!!

[daimyo]

Honestly for any sort of SHTF im much less concerned with pistol ammo and much more concerned with rifle long gun ammunition

[amichaelj]

I keep a good stock pile of 3 types of 9mm. 124 grain nato, 115 grain fmj, and I've found 115 grain Sig Vcrown jhp very inexpensive and easy to buy in large quantities. It's not the best jhp but I find it for $0.37-$0.40 a round.

[LivingInColumbus]

Keep up the great content Brother!! We are all here for it.

[judgedredd]

Maybe I'm stupid, but I've been buying Hornady Critical Defense 115gr for the last several years. Keep in mind, its just a box at a time and maybe 1 every couple of months due to the price constraints. All other ammo will be ball ammo. Everybody has their preferences and this is just mine.
Thanks for the update!

[steveh]

Retired cop of 28yrs experience (20 as a rangemaster). Carry ammo for my Glock 19 is Hornady Critical Duty (NOT Defense) 135 gr Flexlock +P. Practice stuff is Browning 124 gr FMJ. Both seem to shoot close enough to the POA that my 70 y.o. eyes can't tell the difference. I try not to overthink things as much as I did in my youth. Actual door-greeter gun is my .300 BO.

[Mr_New_Vegas_]

Sig V crown is my favorite self defense round and I was able to stock a lot of it last year for a decent price.

[MB-jgtr]

Less stacking More racking. Practice more. Get better. Gain better Shot Placement. Don't get me wrong it's good to stock. But if you're not shooting every 2 weeks you should be.

Stick to buying 50rd boxes of strait +P HST HP's without the training rounds. Skip the 50/50 box. Use 9mm NATO for the range to duplicate your hot carry ammo and save $. Check your point of impact between the two in your particular gun. Close enough out of mine, and similar recoil.

There's some decent "budget" HP's that preform well also. I'm a fan of the PMC 9mm 115g JHP. They expand only medium-fair, but have great penetration depth in combination. They always go bang and they're inexpensive. The WWB 115g JHP expand more but don't penetrate nearly as far and they're more expensive than the PMC.

[just-some-dude]

For any gun (pistol or rifle) that I *might* use defensively, I keep 2 magazines filled with quality defensive/hp/sp/frangible ammo. I have tested at least a few rounds of the type in those 2 magazines in that specific gun to make sure they cycle properly and are hitting within an acceptable margin of where I'm aiming. And then I keep another set of magazines (3 or 8 usually) per gun filled with just-some-ammo. In a true SHTF situation, after those first couple of mags have been expended, I assume my concerns about over-penetration, effectiveness of single shots, etc., will have evaporated and whatever goes bang will be good enough. If I'm through my first two mags, I figure I will be quite happy if I accidentally take out a second zombie with one shot.

And then I keep any magazines beyond that together in an environment-resistant storage container in relatively close proximity to my ammo storage and speed loaders.

[steve]

Good article. My approach to food and ammo are similar. Both start answering the question of "how much" I should have at minimum and to meet those goal as rapidly as I can afford it. If you don't have it you can't eat, you can't shoot. Once I've met those goals I develop the " real nice to have" afterward, knowing I've already met my goal. Variety of calorie choices, higher end ammo. But first it's important to cross that finish line, imo. Vast majority of my current is ball and what people consider more range ammo, and am now working on getting more quality.