Originally Posted By: Astro14
Over the past two years, with prices dropping to the lowest I've seen, and with places like SGAmmo selling in bulk at very good prices, I've stocked up on ammo. Over 15,000 rounds of rim fire. An equal number of centerfield rifle and handgun. I buy a case at a time. No sense messing around with hundreds of rounds in an order. I've got a minimum of 1,000 rounds for every caliber I own. Over 5,000 for the popular calibers, like 9mm and 5.56mm.
No different than buying stocks on the dip. Ammo has been on sale for the past two years. I plan to enjoy my hobby and keep shooting through the next crisis/panic, so while I won't buy guns at inflated prices, I will have the ability to hit the range when I feel like it.
I started doing much the same for the last 10 years or so. I never bought when prices were high however. My reasoning was a bit different. I retired a little over 3 years ago, and I wanted to have a good stock of ammo and components on hand for retirement. As it turned out, my retirement income actually exceeds what I was earning when I was working. So it really wasn't necessary. Yet I'm still glad I did it, because now I'm shooting a lot more because I have more time. And because I have so much on hand, I can sit out these panic attacks until they subside.... And they always do.
Your stock purchasing analogy is right on. It's identical to ammo and gun buying. Do the exact opposite as everyone else, and you'll be fine. Buy stocks when no one wants them, and when ammo is priced at the basement, and still isn't moving. When everyone is telling you that now is the time to buy stocks and guns, you should already be sitting on yours, or else getting ready to sell them to the same people who are now chomping at the bit, telling you to buy.
It's like I keep telling my wife about her idiot sister. I keep telling her if anything ever happens to me, and she's not sure about what to do, don't do anything. Then ask her sister what she would do, and do the exact opposite. If she does, she'll make out like a bandit.