The Magic Number

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NOTE: This post has been sitting in my “Drafts” folder for three years now. Figured it was time to finish it up.
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It seems like every time I mention to a friend that I picked up a gun they seem to respond with, “Don’t you already have a couple of those?”. Why, yes….yes I do. But, contrary to appearances, there really is a Magic Number that I am shooting for. It is the number at which I feel I will have enough to last me the rest of my life, which is, arguably, about 30 years.

The number is 10.

No, not ten guns total. Ten of each. Ten AR’s, ten 870’s, ten 10/22’s, ten 9mm Glocks, etc.

Its important to have goals.

By and large, when someone on a survivalist forum somewhere starts talking about ‘survival battery’ (whatever the heck that is), the result is something very similar to that. Throw in a ‘hunting’ or ‘precision’ rifle in there and you have pretty much 90% of the responses.

Many of us stockpile stuff on the PACE paradigm – Primary, Auxiliary, Contingency, Extra. I suppose I’ve added an R in there with Redundant.

That’s a total of five. Where does ten come from? Might be more than one person in the household, right? Hence, two times five is ten.

So thats it…once I have ten of what I feel is necessary, in regards to boomtoys, I can back the throttle down a bit in terms of acquisitions.

Those numbers, by the way, only represent firearms….my opinion on firearms accessories (like magazines) is a completely different number. And it’d be foolish to keep a buncha eggs in one basket like that so these things would get spread around a bit.

But thats the number.. five of each type of gun, per person, gives me enough room to keep one at the Beta Site, use one, loan one, sock one away somewhere else, etc, etc. I’m the fist to admit that comes out to a fairly large (though not by Montana standards) amount of guns but if I can afford them…why not? Plus, it’s really kind of an Alpha strategy…theyre just going to be more expensive later so if I just buy ’em all now I can be done with it and move resources elsewhere.

Is it a realistic number? Well, I think so. It gives me margin in case something gets stolen, broken,confiscated,lost, abandoned, etc. It’s rather foolish, I think, to believe that you can buy something and expect to keep possession of it, and have it in good working order, for 30 years. Sure, someone may have grandads Win 94 thats been in the family for 80 years but much of that 80 years it was just sitting in his closet, waiting for the one week every year that he hunted. And no one was trying to ban it.

This ‘Magic Number’ theory extends to non-gun items as well…the number may be different, but there’s still that goal-orientation. How many extra boots, socks, rolls of TP, etc, etc…..that sort of thing. (For example, 210 is the magic number for TP [ 30/package x 7])

Tappan, in his classic tome ‘Survival Guns’, advocated a mixture of guns that eventually added up to about 40 different handguns, rifles and shotguns. I remember thinking it was excessive at the time. Tappan differentiated between ‘working guns’ and survival/defensive guns. I don’t make such a distinction. The End Of The World stuff gets the layers and layers of redundancy…the Walking Through The Woods stuff can be much more freestyle.

Anyway, that’s the plan – ten each of the important thundertoys. Keep ’em identical, scatter ’em around, keep tabs on them, and hopefully thirty years from now I’ll just hand ’em off to someone I like.

ETA: I should also mention ten is MY Magic Number. You may have your own. Or you may have none at all. But, for me, I’m going with ten…you pick whatever number you think works for you. You go do your own thing, man.

28 thoughts on “The Magic Number”

  1. Commander:
    I REALLY wish I had your problems…
    Living in Britain it isn’t a case of how many firearms we can own, it;’s a case of we CAN’T own….
    Unless you own 10,000 acres AND are a friend of the local Chief Inspector (the one in charge of issuing the – very rare – Firearms Certificates issued here)…
    Forget it!
    You can break laws, or can go without…
    Even if you want to ignore the laws, you risk being accused of being described as a terrorist –
    You WILL be expected to spend many years in jail…
    Isn’t Justice wonderful….

      • How long would I be in America before I could LEGALLY own multiple firearms?
        I would be swapping one problem for many others…

        • I know resident aliens here who buy guns all the time. Presumably, as long as you’re here legally you should be able to buy whatever the hell ya want.

        • Legally move to (say) Texas, and you can buy a firearm as soon as you stop by the Drivers License bureau to get a temporary drivers license.

          Then, you go to a gun store, and buy a gun or ten. Schedule your license to carry class at the same time, they offer them at least weekly.

          So, about 60 days after you submit fingerprints and the paperwork for the license to carry, you can.

          Not so hard, is it?

          BTW, similar processes in a number of other states.
          In about 13 or 14 states right now, once you become a resident (get a drivers license) you’re able to carry…

          Try Freedom….you may enjoy the flavor. Just remember to drive on the same side of the road as everyone else.

          • “Not so hard, is it?”

            Are you being sarcastic or just uninformed?

            Ceejay’s options are the following:

            – Try for the Greencard lottery and win one. Chance: About zero.
            – Get a H1B visa and have the company vouching for him try to get a Greencard. Wait time: 6 to 10 years. Good luck not trying to get exploited by the company he depends on during that time.
            – be an internationally recognized genius/sports star / investor with over a million dollars

            “Check your privilege” may be a common phrase among SJWs, but hey, man, check your privilege, hmmkay?

        • Pretty much from day one. As i understan it, id you are there (in the reasonably free states) on anything more lasting than a Tourist visa you are allowed to get guns.

    • Ceejay

      You Brits have certainly culminated years of PC and anti weaponry to its ultimate conclusion: the common person cannot practically own a firearm to defend themselves or to rebel ( see American Revolution, circa 1776 ) against a tyrannical government. I feel for guys like you who want to own weapons, and cannot for fear of jail time. I hear if you guys even defend yourself with a knife from a common thug you may face incarceration! WTF? How did your counrtry come to this sorry pass?

      • Bwhtntr63:
        These left-wingers in Britain had good intentions.
        As has often been said –
        The road to Hell is paved with good intentions…
        And WE are reaching Hell on Earth.
        Prevent it happening in America.
        Good people (and there are a FEW on the Left) will lead you down the wrong road without meaning harm.
        It won’t prevent them from DOING harm.

    • 90 days after becoming a resident. You will need to get a driver’s license.. Live in a gun friendly state. No problem.

  2. When you say 10 of a type do you mean something like 10 identical AR’s or say 10 AR carbines? Etc

    I ask because I’m a collector of sorts and I do have multiples of some of my guns. While I do not have 10 CZ-75’s I do have close to that number in various CZ pistols with most being the same caliber.

    So then I ask… you say 10 Glock 19’s. So how many mags for that collection? I’m just curious as I’ve been re-thinking my stockpile looking at the potential need to outfit others when things get sporty.

    Thanks.

    • I would imagine the logistical advantages of having ten identical firearms hinges on them actually being identical. I mean, if I had “10 Remingtons” that’s not much of a logistical advantage if they’re an 870, an 1100, an 11-48, a 700, a 721, a 1911, an R51, and a couple 512’s, as opposed to, say, “10 Remington 870s”.

      I think I’ve covered mags elsewhere, but at least a dozen would be close to right.

      • Don’t like Glocks got 5 Browning HiPowers figure that’s enough of them, but I’d like a hundred more.

  3. The old adage comes to mind: how many is “enough”…
    Answer: One more than you already have!
    Yeah, one more of each, style(AR-bolt-lever etc), brand(HK-FN-Sako-Win-Rem etc), caliber, barrel length.
    IE: Enough to resupply the entire county in which you live(multiple times).
    And don’t forget ammo – 10,000 rounds for each should about cover it…….

  4. “Super-owner”!

    Seriously, ‘bravo’. You’ve raised the bar & given me something to aspire to.

  5. Having multiples (however many you think is appropriate) is a good idea…but remember to stock spares, the tools and the technical data (instructions) to carry out repairs.

    A gun is a quick replacement for a broken gun, but is a very, very expensive one.

    For ARs, for example, I keep a spare bolt carrier group for each, and then three spare components of the BCG. I also have lots of spare pins and springs…. just in case. Also for Glocks…they do break, occasionally.

    Magazines are the worst, imho…my magic number is 36 mags for each tactical rifle and 12 for each pistol. But I also have spare springs and followers..

    • Lets figure that you have only the one AR15 for the rest of your life and no possibility of buying spare parts, how much parts would you get for it?
      That is how much parts you should have for each of your 50 AR:s.

  6. OK you win Commander, I’m impressed. I don’t own a lot of firearms and the only multiple I have is 5 new modified Norinco SKS rifles. They all have been modified with rear peep sights, AK style front sights minus the bayonets, and they use modified* Tapco magazines. For each rifle there are 10 magazines and 2 cases of ammo. As the sales happen, I increase the ammo storage. I figure that these rifles and some ammo would make reasonable barter items at the very least. At worst, I could use them to equip new members, should we choose to expand, to our group who haven’t any firearms. And yes, all the rifles have been tested and put away for long term storage.

    * The duck bills from the magazines have been removed. Now fit in regular ammo pouches.

  7. Good Morning Commander, I don’t have ten or even five of each but I do keep multiple pistols, rifles, and shotguns in like calibers, in case my sons and their families need to migrate to my home in bad times. If they have to leave any of their own weapons behind then I can arm them at my house.

  9. Numbers that make you happy are whatever they are. Be it 2, 4, 5, 10, 20.

    I do wonder if it is prudent to stock core fighting guns deeper and tangent ones like say 10/22’s and shotguns a bit less. Say 1 Glock/ AR/ AK to .5 10/22 and 870.

    Just can’t see a Ruger 10/22 emergency.

    • There’s certainly some merit in that… but I rather like the idea of cracking open a Pelican case on some dark and stormy apocalypse and finding a perfectly preserved AR, 870, Glock, and 10/22….and knowing there are nine more identical cases at other locations if I need them. :::shrug::: Having been doing this sorta thing for thirty years, it isnt hard financially….you can squirrel away a lot of firepower over thirty years.

  10. That’s my goal as I get serious in my prepping. Have started it with two P-95s and two identical ARs. Need to get spares. And spares. PACER is the way to go.

  11. Commander,

    What is the brand and model number of the displayed rifle case?

    Thanks

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