Hoarding or "Fear Accumulation" When is it too much?

Awhile back during a more pronounced pellet shortage I had read a couple of posts with discussions of accusations of “hoarding” ammo, causing shortages for many of the rest of us.

But hoarding really isn’t the correct word.

Hoarding is defined as, “a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.” I don't plan on saving any of mine. I'm going to part with every one of them. 

But I digress and going forward, I’m going to refer to this perceived activity as “fear accumulation”. I believe if you’re going to accuse someone of amassing something you feel is in excess and you feel this activity has an negative impact on you, then you should have an idea as to what that limit should be. So, let’s hear some ideas. What do you feel is “too much”? Keep it civilized. Don’t be judgmental.

A couple of points to keep in mind, your favorite ammo supplier is currently experiencing unprecedented challenges getting the product to you because of the pandemic. Some points of distribution were/are limiting the quality you can purchase at one time, not to stem the tide of fear accumulation, but to provide peace of mind in their customer base.

So, let’s examine our own ammo bins before we start pointing fingers and crying foul.

What is the right amount a person should have based on the number of guns they have? 3K per gun? 10K per gun? More?

Do you base your buying decision on how many pellets you shoot over a certain amount of time such as a month, six months or even a year?

Know that a lot of competitive shooters will buy quantities of a certain batch code because they have tested to prove more accurate than the previous batch.

Is the accumulation based on something other than fear? Saving money in shipping cost for instance.

Slugs have seen an almost vertical climb in interest, but it doesn’t seem to be necessarily as a replacement for a shortage of pellets.

Personally, I have five guns. In .177, I have one I shoot FT at least once a month competitively, a backup rifle and a loaner. I have one .22 I shoot XFT and do an annual one week prairie dog hunt with and a .25 as a backup for both those activities which I haven’t shot in well over a year.

My ammo supply is, I have 32 tins (mixed brands and weights) of .177, 35 tins (200ct MRD) in .22 and a mere 3 tins of .25 Kings. This current quantity should allow me to shoot for at least two more years before running out.

Is this too much?

And BTW, I own no slugs.

What are your thoughts (and quantities) around ammo? How has the last twenty four months changed your buying habits?
 
I own no more than 2 tins of the same type of ammo. Maybe 2000 177 cal pellets, 400 slugs. 300 22 cal slugs, and around 5000 22 pellets. Less than 300 25 cal pellets and less than 200 30 cal pellets.

I dont understand the need to shoot incessantly. I have other hobbies. And many responsibilities. I try and keep my consuption at a minimum for many reasons.

What people dont get is that pellets can undergo hardening over time. What shoots well now, very well may not later.
 
Don't feel that it's up to others to decide when someone else has acquired "too much" of anything, particularly as it applies to a hobby... This question is overly subjective, as too much for some, is barely enough for others. That said I have at least 10K pellets, so I'm good for a year or more if need be. My pellets purchase were pre pandemic, just slowly built up some stock. Also my outdoor shooting goes way down during winter.
 
 I think you should buy as many as you want man. As long as the shop you are buying it from hasn't made a rule limiting how many you can purchase. I have well over 100,000 rounds when you count all the different calibers I have. I bought it all well before the pandemic. My reasons for buying that much were as follows #1 because I am a prepper and I feel like airguns are a perfect small game getter. #2 ammo of all types seems to go in waves of feast or famine and I got a great deal. #3 I was going through 500 rounds a week for awhile there and sometimes 1000. It's just smart to have ammo on hand when your shooting that much. Anyway lots of folks have a good reason why they need many thousands of rounds of ammo. Maybe your a boy scout leader and provide ammo to 20 kids on the weekends. Many stores had limits of two to 4 tins and prices were sky high. When manufacturers catch up and they can handle big orders I see nothing wrong with buying any amount you want. When prices are high and your logging on to 10 different emails accounts to trick the shop and buy ten times the limit they put on them that's a problem. They put that limit on them so everyone can get a chance to buy some and as long as your buying ammo at double the prices as normal they have no incentive to drop the price. Many have seen this before in the powder burning ammo market. This is a good thread I think we all need to think hard about what is the best practices so we can pass down this hobby to our kids. We want ammo prices to be as low as possible for them so they continue the sport. 
 
I have thousands of pellets of several types, at least 10k total (don't want to add it up). Nice to have a wide variety when bringing a new gun into the herd. I'll buy at least 2,000 when I find what the new kid likes, clean and lube it for future use. Occasionally I'll cut loose the extras to friends / family or on the classifieds.

Same thing on the powder burning side. I'm just starting to add 22, 9mm, 38/357, 223 as I find it in preparation for the next wave of insanity.

In 30 years there have been many times I have been glad to have a buffer stock of ammo. recent example - bought several cases of skeet / sporting clays loads ~ 10 years ago and replaced what I used (first in, first out). 2 years ago I was glad I did that; now slowly eating into my backup as I shoot, adding supply when I find a reasonable deal.

I'll buy another gun whenever I find one I really like, or that I think may be useful in some likely scenario.

As I try to explain it to my treasurer: for me shooting is 3 parts hobby, 1.5 parts investment, 0.5 part prepping, 0.5 part ridiculous consumption
 
When Fear Accumulation becomes your new hobby, that’s when it becomes a problem for others. Unfortunately once someone is in the fear accumulation mode, the last thing they care about is others. This is what drove me away from another lifetime hobby. There should never be a supply chain issue for non essential fun stuff if people only buy what they need. That being said, I’m not above fear accumulating something that works for me and I think it could go out of production. The only thing that’s changed with me is I usually ordered some pellets when I was down to my last tin. Now I will grab some when I’m down to 2 or 3 tins. I’ve had pellets get funky with age so I fear having a hundred pounds of useless junk in my pellet cabinet.
 
I just went and looked.

I have 4000 pellets in 22 cal. 2000 of one specific type, 2000 of another specific type. That's not counting the two open and partially used tins. 

Why 2000 of each? I tend to order 10 tins at a time. Made a fairly recent order and it's been either freezing, snowing, or I've been in Cancun for the past month so I've shot about 100 rounds during that time. 


 
I feel it is okay to nice and easy expand your collection of what ever, what i dont find nice is if people pick up massive loads, like in the case of airgun ammo, it is not like you have been out shooting a weekend and spent 10.000 pellets / slugs

My own collection of both pellets and slugs,,,, and slugs in .177 still being somewhat of a rare thing in general, well if shooting pick up this year as i expect i still do not have enough ammo to carry me thru the year, and so i am vigilant and always ready to order a few more tins / boxes.

Next time though i might order more than 4 tins of pellets, but i will probably stay in the one digit numbers, even if i very easy could go to double digits.

I have not felt ill or even fatigued a little in the covid times, so unlike most Danes i have not been tested a single time, not even before they started to stab me with needles.

But i would get tested of course as i am my old mothers primary care taker, and so would not like to be the one opening the door for the grim reaper at her house.
 
I buy four tins of pellets every time someone says they are in stock and leave the rest for others. I have been doing this for the 2 years of the shortages caused by the supply chain failure from of the China Virus and have never run low on pellets.

When I shoot usually three times a week, although I haven't shot much lately, I most often shoot at least five or six hundred rounds. So, on average a tin or two per outing depending on the caliber. So, that is like 6,000 rounds a month when I am into it.

I have six different calibers of guns so a months supply would be 36,000 pellets cuz I never know which gun I will be taking out. Also each gun has its own individual preference in pellets. So, that number can easily be doubled, just to have enough pellets, for a months worth of shooting per gun.

Someone practicing for a match will easily, shoot several times the amount I shoot. So, you can see where that takes us in what others consider hoarding or fear accumulation.

Some people just shoot more so with the supply chain being broken like it is they need enough pellets on hand to make it through to the next time they can resupply. That may be allot of pellets in some cases.

Those of you that don't shoot much should be thinking ahead a month or two as that is what it takes these days to not run out of your guns favorite pellet. Never buy a tin or two of pellets always make it four or five.