Louis L’Amour was a famous American author who mainly wrote in the Western Genre. He wrote of Cowboys and Indians, of the expansion westwards, of the men and women who made America what it came to be. I read his Sacketts series a couple of years ago, if you care to perambulate his works.
Last month I wrote about the Rifleman’s Creed and in the comments Mogsy was talking about the price of ammo and that brought to mind today’s subject.
In many of L’Amour’s books, the lone hero (for they are almost always A Lone Hero), near the end of the story, will walk into the Local Store and buy 10,000 rounds of ammunition. The shopkeeper always asks “You looking to start a war, mister?” to which the Lone Hero always replies “No sir, but I sure do aim to finish one”. I could always hear the drawl in the Lone Hero’s voice when he spoke those words. And it stuck in my head.
So when Mogsy began talking about the price of ammo (and it has doubled and tripled since November 2020 and become a scarce commodity) that little memory was jogged. It made me wonder how much 10,000 rounds actually is. That started me down this path and here we are today.
A few facts. Most of what was bought in the stories were heavier calibres than I use, which is 9mm. Hence the weight and space used would be greater. 10K rounds of 9mm ammo weighs approximately 300lbs (this is calculated from my order of 1K which UPS said weighed right around 30lbs). . Google tells me that 1000 rounds of 30-30 weighs in around 46lbs so 10,000 rounds would weigh in at at least 400-500lbs. A good mule can carry about 200lbs of dead weight. Same for a good horse. And a good cowboy always has spare horses on hand, because he knows he’s going to need them. So as long as Mr Ed can round up a couple of his relatives and talk Francis into the gig, our Lone Hero is all set. However, you won’t be throwing all that into a gunny sack and slinging it across your back. Unless you happen to be Batman on venom anyway ๐
As for what it looks like in terms of space, here’s a picture of 3300 rounds. Not exactly 10K (which is why L’Amour is ashamed of me). The paperback is there for size perspective.
Pricewise, I simply have zero idea what ammo cost then. Nowadays? Well, last year at this time it cost approximately 25-30cents a round. Today? I’m seeing 90cents to a buck fifty. A Round. Every time I pull the trigger at the range, it’s like I just shot a can of Rockstar energy drink down the lane ๐ฆ
And on that happy note, I think it’s time to end this post. Next month I hope to feature a couple of my walking sticks, which aren’t nearly as expensive ๐
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