How Large of an Ammunition Stockpile Makes Sense?

 I hear from readers of friends with 3/4 million rounds.  My first thought was: The income that could be realized on that much invested capital is pretty impressive. Assuming this averages $0.50 per round (.223 and .308 are not cheap), this is $375,000.  Invested in an effectively risk-free Idaho municipal bond, this means forgoing $1800 per month in untaxed income.  This would allow you to buy 1000 rounds a month from just the interest.

My second thought: how will you use it?  The only TEOTWAWKI scenarios where really large quantities make sense are thermonuclear war and invasion by extraterrestials.  Even then, how much will you need for hunting, self-defense, or barter before you die of some illness or confrontation with a better fighter?  If you are 30, and live to 70 (a long life in a TEOTWAWKI scenario), this is 18,000 rounds per year.  Your guns will cease working reliably or accurately about ten years into this disaster at that rate of consumption.  

In the  thermonuclear war scenario especially, this is silly.  Our society would rebuild, I think, within about ten years.  A far poorer society than now, but with much of the most destructive elements of our society gone in the initial flashes.  (Are there any Poison Ivy League schools not in big cities?)

Other scenarios: 

Collapse of civil order with Blue mobs burning out Blue cities: this will be self-limiting.  Even with a Blue national government assisting, these mobs will not last long outside Blue cities.  Demand for blue hair dye and septum jewelery will collapse as well.

Financial collapse: Like the thermonuclear war scenario, this will correct within ten years as we revert to a subsistence agrarian society.  Ammunition will remain valuable even in the aftermath of recovery as capital to build ammunition plants and supply chains are likely to not be on the top of anyone's priority list.

Earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters short of planet-killer asteroids again will be short-term collapses.

Why, then, do people stockpile wealth-destroying quantities of ammunition?  

1. Slippery slope beliefs about security. "I need 5000 rounds to deal with Blue city rioting spreading to civilization.  I feel secure.  Maybe 10,000 rounds will make me feel more secure.  If I have 100,000 rounds, I will be immune!"

2. Failure to appreciate the destruction to wealth that results from investing too much capital in objects with no return on investment.  As much as I like my Cadillac, if I was not fairly rich, it would make no sense to own it.  As it is, because I am making payments and the capital that buying it cash would have lost a greater than 17% annual growth, it is really not any substantial loss of ROI.  Buying a $25,000 car would have been cheaper, but what is the point of being rich if you cannot indulge yourself?

3. A lack of faith that God provides even in such little things as decent fellow humans.  As my blog points out at the top: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." -- Rom. 8:28  Before becoming a Christian, I often worried a lot about the future.  My experiences since then have given me strong confidence that I have little to fear.