Having gone thru most of the trials and tribulations that most on this forum have been thru in trying to obtain ammo to practice with and some to build up a reasonable inventory for hard times, I think I finally found something that works -- after many trips to Wal-Mart, Academy and other places (of which many were unfruitful and some were moderatley fruitful), I realized that somehow I had to connect with the folks that could help me with the "search for ammo" -- i.e. the employees and managers.
I picked one Wal-mart (we have 4 Wal-Marts in a 10-12 minute drive from my home) and our local Academy as a testbed. I got to know 4 of the employees that worked Sporting goods at Wal-mart and 5 that worked Customer Service at Academy (which is where they now keep the popular calibers of ammo - up-front) -- I chatted them up and was always cheerful and in a good frame of mind when I saw them -- one young man from England (here on a work visa) had some questions about his visa that I was able to answer, I gave them each one of my business cards and told them if they had any questions ever about anything legal, to give me a call and I would try to help them -- traffic ticket, buying property, whatever.
Then after a few weeks (I would go to both stores 4 or 5 times a week, look for ammo, most were dry days, sometimes I would buy one or two boxes if something had come in, but I never complained, and always thanked them for their help), I wrote a letter to the manager of each store, thanking them for the kindness of thier employees, telling them that they often hear only the bad, i.e. customers complaining about employees, that I wanted them to hear the good -- I named the employees by name. I mentioned that often my ammo shopping trips were unsuccessful but that I knew the stores where trying were trying to get ammo for their customers and that I appreciated the help of their employees in a frustrating situation.
I hand-delivered the letters.
Acts of kindness, heartfelt, will do wonders. The Englishman asked for my cell number (unsolicited by me) and has called several times to let me know something I want has come in or will be in soon -- works better than any app. Academy folks have been super-nice -- one Sunday I went by at 1 PM, asst manager tells me truck will be in, in about 20 minutes, I wait and am able to buy 22 LR and 40 cal. Another day, same guy tells me truck is delayed by very bad weather in Texas, won't be in until after 8 PM (this is on a Sunday) but to come by at 7 AM next morning -- I get there and am 3rd in line -- bear in mind this is after many frustrating trips when I had no clue as to the rhyme or reason or when ammo would arrive.
By being gentle and gracious, I have been able to find ammo on a decent basis. Today, Academy got in a huge shipment,
with 250-pack of 40 cal, 45 cal, 333-packs of 22 LR, 100 packs of 9 mm, etc and lots of it -- perhaps the shortage is easing.
The real lesson is that we ought to spend more time telling folks when they do good and complimenting them on their efforts -- we don't spend much time writing to each other anymore in this society on real paper with real ink -- a written letter thanking someone, particularly addressed to that person's superiors is perhaps one of the nicest and kindest things you can do for someone these days. I was not showered with ammo nor was that my intent, but the search was made much easier by showing some human kindness, not just by spending my money. For what it's worth, I hope this thought helps someone find a kinder, gentler path to finding ammo.