Went to the SA gun show for the first time since the pandemic started. Seemed a little smaller than before (less tables) and not too much in S&W revolvers.

The surprise was that I have never seen so many ammo tables at that show.

There was NO shortage of ammo, and just about every caliber was to be had. And the quantities available were anywhere from 20/50 round boxes to full cases of 500 or 1,000 rounds.

Prices were, as expected, outlandish. Ball ammo was running a minimum of $1.00 per round and mostly higher than that. Box of .38spl 130 gr, FMJ was $85.00.

I will also add that at least two stores I frequent have a very good stock of ammo in most all calibers, but at the current market price of $1.00+ a round.

I live here... so...Don't take the bait, IMO! Sorry, I know that this is judgemental.

And as far as I can discern, the "buck-a-round" is a marketer's dream price-point. I truly believe that ammo is not going to pre-pandemic levels, however there are way too many panic induced new buyers in the market.

To each his/her own ammo panic.

Don't pay these prices and let them choke on it..

Fortunately I always have had a good supply of ammo, so no real need to buy any now. I also have reloading capability for most of my really popular/used calibers. Therefore I will not be paying the prices that currently are in place.

Part of my main point here is that the ammo is out there, just at a very high price.

My LGS is getting more ammo, more often. The prices are coming down too. Always good news.

__________________
No baby we aint

...unfortunately there are several MILLION first time gun buyers who have no choice...either buy at the "going price" or have a paperweight...

I haven't been to this show in more than a year due to the pandemic. It is hard to get up any enthusiasm right now.

It was a rare event when I found a S&W revolver I wanted for a reasonable price. Lots on M-10s and M-36s for $600 or M-14s and 17s for $1200!

__________________
6/23/2022

If you bought a gun BECAUSE of the epidemic, then shame on you. You should have had one all along. Its just bad planning. Its like buying a genny AFTER Y2K.

So, now just wait your turn and go shooting when the prices go back to normal. The sky isn't falling now so don't worry about it.

If you still insist on paying obscene money grabber prices, then just be informed that YOU are the source of the problem.

I can see it now....by the time the prices go back to "normal" all the new gun owners will have found out that they really didn't want a gun anyway, and the pawnshop shelves will be loaded.

And BTW, and most important of all, how many of you newbies joined the NRA?

I try to look at the brighter side of life.

The panic buyers went out and bought there firearms and bought the 2 or 3 boxes of ammo that will see them through the coming Zombie Apocalypse.

The get rich quickers are all stocked up and will be loosing places to sell at the higher prices, so they will start dumping in a few months.

The ammo manufacturers are gearing up for increased sales that may not be as profitable as they are hoping and planning.

The rest of us that have been stocked up can ride it out until whatever the new normal pricing will be. I'm expecting about 25-30% at the register so the previous $10 sale box of 50 9mm may go to $12-14. Rebates will bring it back down to what it once was.

Or not.

[QUOTE=GypsmJim;141116549

And BTW, and most important of all, how many of you newbies joined the NRA?[/QUOTE]

Probably ZERO! There are also a bunch of old time gun owners that are not members. If is wasn't for the NRA guns would have been outlawed many years ago. The world is full of free loaders that want too dance but not pay the fiddler. Larry

I havent been to that gun show is over a year. Last time I went, I got a great deal on a colt gold cup. I have been too afraid to go due to covid. A friend of mine said that there were fewer tables and fewer people attending. If the prices were as bad as you say, it gives me a bad feeling about the long term viability of this gun show. Were people buying this overpriced ammo and guns?

[QUOTE=tops;141116642]Probably ZERO! There are also a bunch of old time gun owners that are not members. If is wasn't for the NRA guns would have been outlawed many years ago. The world is full of free loaders that want too dance but not pay the fiddler. Larry[/QUOTE

I was an NRA high power service rifle shooter for many years and I faithfully maintained my membership up until the revelations of the wasteful management of their funds. I decided that I would not support that mismanagement any longer and i did not renew my membership. I suppose that many ex NRA members feel the same way. I appreciated what they did, but I just wish they would clean up their act.

P.T. Barnum

That didn't happen after previous panic buying caused by Y2K fears or the big push for gun control after Sandy Hook. It will not happen this time either.

Some people may realize they didn't really need or want a gun. But most of them are not going to want to deal with GunBroker or sell it at less than half what they paid for it at a pawn broker or LGS. Its a lot easier to let the gun sit in a closet than admit you panicked and paid way too much for something you did not need.

The massive flurry of new buyers is a mixed bag.

On the one hand, it could show that any attempt to push through a ban would be very unpopular, and politicians tend to avoid things like that.

On the other hand, new buyers have no stock of ammo to begin with, and usually no sense of pricing- what they find now is going to be their baseline. So there's a lot of incentive for the market to remain high-priced; even coming down to 30 cents a rd for steel-cased 9mm FMJ will seem a bargain to them, while it's double (at least) what we're used to.

I had the same "moral" dilemma regarding the misuse of our membership fees. After much soul searching I came to the same conclusion about supporting the NRA and re-upped for another 5 years($100) If the NRA is holding "charlie"(Biden) at the wire, I felt the need to help maintain the fight!

I'm a life member who had some problems with them several years ago and stopped sending any additional support money... But recently started sending money to the ILA.

That said I send more money to the Second Amendment Foundation as they are 100% for filing lawsuits as well as Judicial Watch...

...keeping them off-balance is the only way to keep them off our backs...

Bob

So, what happens to all these guns in the long term? Every time I'm looking for a particular gun and can't find it, I get frustrated thinking the gun I want is probably sitting in someone's closet or dresser drawer forgotten about, not being used.

I too am a life member who had slacked off on sending extra , but have also reconsidered and am supporting ILA........

__________________
dd884
JMHO-YMMV

A friend than has a table said Saturday was very busy with lots of sales.

Sunday, when I was there, it seemed really slow and I didn't see much movement on the ammo.

Yes lapiere needs to go. The NRA needs to clean house. And factually the NRA is really the best (only?) powerhouse to fight gun control/bans.

Lets not cut off our nose to spite our face. The left loves that people are dropping the NRA because of lapiere. Each lost membership is a win foir them.

My suspicions might tell me the anti citizen fed gov will drive up the price by buying all it can find then send it south (to track it). Is that fascism? When govt manipulates business? When govt bought millions of rounds of .40 cal hollow points for the USPS?

__________________
"Don't Give Up the Ship"

As distasteful as it is there is no other group with the strength, numbers. influence and war chest of the NRA.

Each member lost is a plus for the anti 2nd Amendment zealots.

Yeah, ummm ...

Attached Images

584CB89A-9D23-437E-9CB7-B7D738002D57.jpeg (74.2 KB, 89 views)

So was your friend selling ammo, guns or both? I suppose as long as people are willing to pay these ridiculous prices on guns and ammo, that these prices will stay high for the forseeable future. Unfortunately!

He was selling guns.

I checked all the ammo tables and saw only two purchases wile I was there.

Ok. Selling guns is good. If i had known he had some good deals, maybe I would have gone. I just did not think that there would be any good deals to be had there.

Many of you have forgotten or chose to ignore the Terms of Service you agreed to uphold when you joined this forum, namely this one:

__________________
So many S&W's, so few funds!!

The gun shows in my part of Florida have been pretty much a waste of time even before the panic. I have not been to one since covid but may go to the next local one for something to do since I am vaccinated.

On my last job I worked with some guys that told me the only acceptable answers to "How many guns do you have" are:

1 - Not enough!
2 - I'm not sure.
3 - I have no idea.
4 - Let me check my spreadsheet.

They practiced what they preached too. One of them decided they had to have a 686. When he brought it home and was trying to find a place for it in his overstuffed safe it ended up right next to the one he bought several years earlier, never shot and forgot he had.

I sell any gun I have not shot in a few years . But I know a lot of people that never sell a gun, even if they have to buy another safe. And really enjoy having them. Those guns you are looking for probably are sitting in their safes, maybe right next to its identical twin. Until they get sold at an estate sale.

This is paranoia. The feds aren't buying up all the ammo. (We are). The feds buy many rounds every year, under contracts.
Do we really think that "feds" whoever they are, are buying the entire output of all US ammo factories? No. This will get better. 9mm ball will eventually be $11 / 50 again. Hang in there.

Fully agree. No organization is perfect, as it's made up of human beings.

But the NRA has been and continues to be a powerful and vital force in the preservation of our 2nd Amendment rights.

AFAIC if you own a gun, you should be an annual member at minimum.

__________________
BTDT, Got The T-Shirt

My theory- the newbies have no idea what ammo prices should be, since they never bought any pre-pandemic. So they'll pay $1 (or more) a round and count themselves fortunate.

We who have been in the game for a while know better. $85 for a box of 130gr FMJ .38Spl? I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Either way I'll eat kale before I pay those prices.

__________________
BTDT, Got The T-Shirt

^^^^^^^^^^^^This!

__________________
5906tsw,MP15,Shield9/45,39-2

If the theory regarding the feds were true then there wouldn't have been cases and cases of 9mm, 5.56, 40S&W, etc. at the show or the LGS I mentioned.

Wish I could give two like to Toms post.

Locally, all the tables were stuffed to the gills with dollar ball ammo.

The vendor who had 75c-80c/round ball didn’t carry much home.

__________________
- Post No Bills -