Ammo stockpiles

[aspqrz]

An email from a correspondent of mine regarding a particularly silly apocalypse proposal thread on Reddit got me thinking about something that had sort of been kicking around in the back of my head for a long while ...

Assuming something like a 'Walking Dead' outbreak which largely overwhelms society before it can work out a solution, how much ammo is actually on hand at any given time (I'm mainly talking small arms ammo, not large caliber stuff) in military stockpiles?

I mean, a lot of Zombie or similar post- apocalypse fiction (not all of it, but a heck of a lot) seems to assume an almost unlimited supply ...

Remembering back to the first episode of TWD, when Rick wakes up and travels through the town seeing the overrun defensive positions etc. Or the last episode of the first season when they get to the CDC and find the army positions outside overrun because they ran out of ammo ...

Obviously, at some point, the ability to manufacture ammo breaks down in the face of the disaster ... but how much ammo would be on hand?

The best figure I have been able to come up with is the assumption that NATO (mainly the US) may have had 90 days stockpiles, and more (maybe another 90 days) in the Continental US ... but how long would it last against an enemy who can only be put down permanently by a headshot?

Anyone have any idea what sort of stocks of small arms ammo were held? Are now held?

(Yes, I know Zombie apocalypses are pretty close to being the least credible apocalypse scenarios out there ... but the question of how much ammo there is is ... interesting ...)

Phil

[aspqrz]

There's a line that comes to mind from H Beam Piper's 'Uller Uprising' where the commander of the Terran forces comments to the effect that 'Junior Officers think ammo comes down like manna from heaven when they pray for it over the radio to higher command ...'

There's only three things important in war ... logistics, logistics and logistics.

Phil

[Legbreaker]

Z Nation is another show where they seem perpetually out, or close to out of ammo. It's quiet common for them to have to pool their resources and find they've got three bullets, two paper clips and a winning smile left and little else. Mind you the show proper starts about three years after Z day. Food is often also in critically short supply with one episode almost seeing them die of starvation and thirst.

I can't speak much about overall stocks, but I know my original reserve infantry battalion (Australian) was allocated something like 10,000 rounds of 7.62N ball, about the same 7.62N belted, and an unknown amount of 5.56N (we didn't even have any weapons to fire it until the regular army switched to the F88 and their M16s got handed down), and 9mmP (for a total of 7 pistols in the entire battalion).
This was the annual training supply and could have been a bit less (20+ years ago). It was rumoured that although we were usually a bit short on rifle and machinegun ammo, the battalion had enough 9mm left over to last about a dozen lifetimes! I think we were still being allocated 9mm for the old F1 SMGs we'd handed in a few years before, so it just kept piling up.

[CDAT]

I do not know anything about total amounts, but I know the .50 BMG we were using in 2003 was made in WWII (Dated 44, and 45).

[.45cultist]

And Lake City Ammunition Plant has 4 times the U.S. commercial capacity.

[Blink_Dog]

I was thinking about this very topic about a week ago. This answer is in relation to the Twilight war not so much a zombie outbreak.

There was probably a two maybe even three year period of full tilt production by every ammunition manufacturer worldwide for producing military calibres and production of hunting and civilian use ammo would have ceased. So 5.56N or 7.62x39 would still be available even years after the nukes fly. More obscure calibres with no military use like .38 Special or .44 Magnum would be rare in comparison and only available in small lots.

I would imagine Neutral nations would cash in on ammo sales after the nukes fly due to the worsening global logistic system.

I found this article:
http://www.almc.army.mil/alog/issues...arms_ammo.html

[Draq]

Not quite. Civilian calibers would still be in production although at a lower rate than military calibers. The pro-gun american public will buy every last round, cartridge and shell at the slightest hint of war, invasion, or threat to the sencond amendment. And keep in mind, when the war starts (Nov 1997) most law enforcement agencies were still using a hodgepodge of weapons and calibers.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by Blink_Dog

More obscure calibres with no military use like .38 Special or .44 Magnum would be rare in comparison and only available in small lots.

When I was at White Sands Missile Range in the early 90's there was a National Match Armory run by the Post Command Staff.

National Match M1 Garands, M1Cs, M1Ds all in 30.06. National Match M1911s in .45ACP and .38 Super. Match M10s with bull barrels in .38 spl.


Thousands of rounds of match ammo on hand. Post never really did have a Team though. Two year rotations was the norm there.