Hunting Bullet Inventories...

[Guy Miner]

Years ago I started laying in good supplies of my favorite hunting bullets, and some that I thought I might need "someday." Well, I'm 60 years old now, and pretty stuck on my current inventory of hunting rifles. Looking at the pile of hunting bullets... I honestly don't think I "need" to by any more, ever.

Figure that this was the most successful season for big game hunting I've ever had. Four animals. So, an average season is 2 - 3 animals, sometimes only 1. And I have to admit, I've had seasons when I scored zero. No bullets fired during hunting. Or, maybe two or three, or four... Six at the outside? Say 5, 'cause it's a nice number to work with. Five a year for maybe 10 - 15 more years? Maybe 50 - 75 more bullets downrange after big game in my life? Okay, put one trip to Africa in there, for say an extravagant ten animals... Now I might need 60 - 85 bullets, total. Unlikely though.

And another 50 - 100 for practice. Load development? Already done for the most part. Am curious about what others recommend for the .30-06 and heavy bullets right now, but it's not like I haven't happily loaded and tested 180's, 200's and 220's from that ol' warhorse of a cartridge...

I've got several hundred, 300 grain .375's... Mostly Nosler Partitions. Why? Dunno. Bison stampede? Dinosaurs make a big comeback? Cape Buffalo? I probably don't need ANY. Yet, there they are.

A box of old Hornady FMJ 300's of the same caliber. Elephant culling? Maybe shots on cape buff running away? I dunno. More than enough.

100, .30 cal 220 gr Nosler Partitions. Because I know I'm going to shoot at least 50 Kodiak bear with my .30-06 in the next ten years... :roll:

150, .30 cal 200 gr Nosler Partitions - for pretty much the same reason, though I might want to toss a dozen or two at massive Yukon Moose and also Woods Bison...

Another hundred of the Nosler Accubonds in the same weight...

180 gr Nosler Partitions. Oh good grief. I'm not sure how many. There's not that much big game in my future!

165 gr Partitions and Ballistic Tips... 600 or so remaining between the two? Perfect for several lifetimes of hunting. :grin: And a couple hundred of the 168 gr E-Tips in case somebody makes lead core hunting bullets illegal. They're trying...

115 gr Partitions and Ballistic Tip bullets for my .25-06 rifle... Enough to limit out on pronghorn and deer for 40 years or more... Fellows... I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make it that long! I've got hundreds of the danged things, all on sale from SPS... More than enough to wear out the barrel on my rifle.

Oh, and 200 of the 110 gr Accubonds for the .25-06 as well. Haven't even tried them yet!

So - it's kind of interesting... I've also got literally thousands of 155 and 168 grain match bullets left over from my .308 Win match shooting days. Those are excellent for target practice.

Who else is swamped with more hunting bullets than they could possibly use in a lifetime of hunting?

Guy

 

[Alderman]

I've got acceptable hunting loads for all of my rifles and most of the bullets but when the weather gets nice here I like to do some shooting off the bench. With the exception of 30 caliber I too could get by without another purchase but I'm sure there is something on the drawing board somewhere that will catch my attention.


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[ksubuck]

I guess I never thought about it that way. But yes, I have more than a lifetime of hunting bullets. Now when my wife asks me if I have enough bullets I won't be able to answer her truthfully... Shoot!

I always seem to buy enough to wear a guns barrel out. But I will probably never burn a hunting rig out.

 

[lefty315]

Guy, I'm not going to tell you my inventory for fear I'll be labeled as a hoarder. But if Jurasic Park ever comes to fruition....I've got your back, and your neighbors, his neighbor and most likely his neighbor too. :grin:

 

[DrMike]

I suppose I'm fortunate in that I did custom load workup for some years. Consequently, I currently have more bullets than my LGS, I suspect. It is almost embarrassing. I'm actually selling off bullets in recent months. Being of a somewhat advanced age (though the sound mind is perhaps in doubt) I assuredly have a lifetime supply. If I was twenty, I'd likely still have a lifetime supply.

 

[pharmseller]

I hope I live long enough to shoot the bullets I have in inventory.





P

 

[35 Whelen]

Guy,
It sounds like your larder is well healed with various projectiles, but since you never mentioned any 90 gr Blitz Kings for a .257 ? Sounds like your still low on inventory to me! :shock:
Never counted how much I shot the 25/06 last year, but am on the third can of powder! :shock:

 

[Silent Sam]

"We spend the first half of our lives collecting (stuff).. and the second half trying to get rid of it." - My Dad

 

[IdahoCTD]

It sounds like you need a 6.5 Creedmoor or something similar to expand your horizons Guy :mrgreen: . You seem to be caught in a rut with your current calibers :lol: .

I might have enough to just hunt with for the rest of my life but I like to shoot steel a lot too so I don't have near enough to cover that. Last year I put about 250 rounds through my 300wsm shooting steel and hunting. I also shot the 6.5x47 Lapua I built my wife about 150 times, around 100 rounds through the 300wm I built my hunting partner, and 75 rounds through the 300wm I built a friend. I shot several other guns throughout the year as well. All totaled I probably shot 900 to 1000 rounds for the year. At that rate I probably only have enough components to last me, at most, 2 years of shooting with those particular rifles/loads. I've bought over 1000 of the Hornady ELD-X and ELD-M's in the last year and have only shot about 50 of them. I'm sure a good deal of those will see some range time this year through some new builds. Plus I'll probably shoot another 100+ rounds just testing muzzle brakes this year.

I do have tons of old Sierra's, Hornady, Berger, Barnes, and Nosler bullets that I like to keep around to fireform or just in case. The funny thing is I probably have more .22 bullets then any others but I haven't shot a .22 center fire in 3+ years and don't have a huge desire to shoot one. Our squirrel population hasn't been great the last 5 years so the .22 CF's aren't calling to me.

 

[Elkman]

Your issue is not that you have to many guy, its that you shoot too well. You need to throw a few extra downrange for insurance, and the pile will diminish faster.

 

[salmonchaser]

Yvette entered the man cave yesterday to watch as I coached her son reloading his first box of 7mm.
As she looked at the stacks of bullets she said; we don't have a 243 in the safe. Picking up a box of 120 grain partitions, we don't have a 257 either. Without looking up from his work Kyle said " not yet"
I like this kid.


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[DrMike]

Yvette entered the man cave yesterday to watch as I coached her son reloading his first box of 7mm.
As she looked at the stacks of bullets she said; we don't have a 243 in the safe. Picking up a box of 120 grain partitions, we don't have a 257 either. Without looking up from his work Kyle said " not yet"
I like this kid.


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Now that's the spirit! That kid has real potential to become a certified gun crank!

 

[Guy Miner]

Your issue is not that you have to many guy, its that you shoot too well. You need to throw a few extra downrange for insurance, and the pile will diminish faster.

Ya, only went through a few hundred rifle bullets last year. A few thousand .45 pistol bullets though!

I do detect a change in the inventory coming though... The .308 Green Machine is likely to get a 6.5 barrel this time around...

 

[bdbrown66]

Guy, I know the feeling. Although my inventory isn't as extensive as yours, I also tend to buy "in bulk" when I see some bullets that I want to try. After all, I never know if I'll find them at that price again. It would take me a fair bit of shooting to use up what I have on hand now. This past fall, I worked up a load for my .30-06 with the 150 gr. Partition. Twenty rounds to run a ladder test, and another 20 once I found the sweet spot. All of that to fire...1 shot during deer season. At that rate, I'm good for a bit.

 

[BretN]

Yvette entered the man cave yesterday to watch as I coached her son reloading his first box of 7mm.
As she looked at the stacks of bullets she said; we don't have a 243 in the safe. Picking up a box of 120 grain partitions, we don't have a 257 either. Without looking up from his work Kyle said " not yet"
I like this kid.


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Now that's the spirit! That kid has real potential to become a certified gun crank!

Yep, it sounds like he's on the right path.

I recently bought two boxes of 8x57 Mauser ammo for a new sporterized Mauser I got cheap, in part because the caliber wasn't properly stamped on it. Turns out it's not a 8x57 as I assumed, so now I have forty rounds of non-returnable ammo. Only way to remedy that is to eventually acquire the gun for it I guess...

In some of my guns it feels like I have a lifetime supply, but if I'm shooting as much as I like all of a sudden I find I'm low on my favorite bullets. Also, I've been trying to set up friends and family with their own presses and loading set ups. So I've been giving away some of the bullets I no longer use. The problem with that is that I haven't always adjusted my mental inventory of what I have in my loading hoard. So when I go actually look at what I have it feels like I'm running low on bullets, even though I know those were bullets I probably wasn't going to use. So I guess I'll keep acquiring proven bullets as needed and try not to hoard too much.

 

[1Shot]

Guy I have your problem plus. I have probably got enough ammo loaded up to last me the rest of my life. I am 59. Then there are all those bullets on the shelves ready to be loaded.

 

[kraky1]

I live in town...about 15 miles from a decent public range....
I know a guy just outside town with his own private 440 yd range.
Damn...I'm jealous!
It's not that I have too many bullets in inventory its that I live in the wrong place!

 

[5shot]

I have piles of stuff laid in, and surplus powder that I'll have till I retire. Hunting bullets are not part of my surplus though. I do have 7K .224 pills though.

 

[Rol_P]

I am noted for overbuying, and being ready for the unexpected. My old buddy Jack says the Marines can come to me if they run short of ammo. :grin: I have a stash of factory '06 hunting loads, 180 Partition and accubonds "just in case" I feel doubt in my hand loads, or possibly run into some poor sole in need while on a hunt. At 70 years old I am set for life, but can not pass up a good deal, or the urge to try something new..

 

[SJB358]

I'm in the same trap as Guy and all you other hoarders. I figure I'll keep buying them. They don't get cheaper and don't go bad.