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  #1  
Old 06-03-2009, 12:59 PM
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Went to eat lunch at Subway in the local Wal-Mart today. After eating we walked back to the ammo case. Lo and behold there was one box of 380 for $15.88, several boxes of 9mm and some 45ACP. We had to find someone to open the case and while talking to him found out some guy comes in there regular and buys all they have. This was the first 380 I've seen in a Wal-Mart for some time. I grabbed the 380 and a 100 count box of 45ACP. Will this ammo craziness ever end?
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:01 PM
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And I bet that guy sells half of it for a huge profit and locks the rest of it away... He probably even buys cals he doesn't own.

Perhaps they should have a box limit (for him only)...
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:08 PM
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How much was the .45 ACP? I know my WW used to charge $29.99 back in the days when they had it.

If the "quantity buyer" bought out most of the stock, he may be able to sell the .380 for $50 a box. That's quite a profit margin.
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:24 PM
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The 45ACP FMJ was $29.99 for the 100 count box. They also had some 45ACP hollow points for about $30 a box of 50.
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:32 PM
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The Walmarts around here seem to be limiting handgun ammo to two boxes per customer. That seems reasonable to me.
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by USAF385:
And I bet that guy sells half of it for a huge profit and locks the rest of it away... He probably even buys cals he doesn't own.

Perhaps they should have a box limit (for him only)...
I don't mind people buying all they can for themselves but when they buy it just to turn around and sell it at a much higher price it just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe if I could afford it I would look at different but I don't think so.
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:34 PM
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Gander Mtn. had a box of 250 Remington UMC .38s for $99. I ALMOST bought it since I haven't been able to find any .38 special....

INSTEAD I bought a used New England Firearms Pardner 12 gauge 3" single shot breach action shotgun for $70 total.

I think I made the right choice.
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:35 PM
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bamabiker,apparently several Wal-Marts in the Birmingham area have daily visits from people or a person for the sole purpose of buying desirable ammo for resale.
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:38 PM
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Wallyworld has a six box limit per visit per day around here. I know some are opposed to it, but it makes sense really for both retailer and customer, especially if you walk in just seconds behind the a-whole that bought everything. There has been speculation that some smaller shops are buying it up to resell. At a mark-up or not, it may be the only way for some to get ammo to sell. The manufacturers are catching up...the shortage should be over soon if the emails I've been getting from online ammo places are any indication.
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Old 06-03-2009, 01:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by Milton:
bamabiker,apparently several Wal-Marts in the Birmingham area have daily visits from people or a person for the sole purpose of buying desirable ammo for resale.
That's just wrong. I also don't have a problem with someone buying a lot for their own use, but buying just to turn around and sell it... that aint right...
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Old 06-03-2009, 02:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by Milton:
bamabiker,apparently several Wal-Marts in the Birmingham area have daily visits from people or a person for the sole purpose of buying desirable ammo for resale.
Yes I know. I have not been able to catch any at the store in Trussville. The one I went to today is on the other side of town and have caught some 22s, 9mms and 45s there but today was the first 380s I've seen.
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Old 06-03-2009, 03:02 PM
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I checked the WW in Hueytown a day or two ago, almost nothing in the way of handgun ammo. A little bit of 40, no 9s or 45's or 38.
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Old 06-03-2009, 03:04 PM
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I doubt if the ammo shortage ends soon. I'm guessing it will continue for a few more years. The ammo that has been bought will remain in peoples closets. The little that has been resold will just get shot up, or be socked away, just like that purchased at lower prices.

What this little exercise has been teaching people is the supply chain isn't reliable. In the past folks were happy with a box of ammo, some of it shot. They'd just go to the local store and buy more when they loaded the last few rounds. Many people were comfortable with that process.

The election with a congress hostile to shooters has caused a lot of unrest. Suddenly new shooters are coming on board, and even more new gun owners. They don't remember the good old days of fully stocked shelves. They'll be buying.

I'm guessing as more people shoot a little, they'll perceive an even greater need for a few boxes of extra ammo. Old shooters have been thru this before. We're tired of the BS. We also mostly have more resources (read $$) to stock some extra ammo. Besides that, we're a lot smarter than we were the last cycle, and we know how to use the smarts (and treachery) to get the ammo we want (as opposed to need.)

Add on to that the idea that Homeland Security is pressing for more and better training for LEOs. Some can burn up a huge amount of the popular center fire calibers.
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Old 06-03-2009, 04:09 PM
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My stupid job takes me to the whole upper half of Illinois, as far west as Iowa, as far north as Wisconsin, and N.W. Indiana where I live. When I see a gun shop I stop in. All in this area mentioned have experienced "gang buster" business in the last 7-8 months. Reports are though, and I've seen it myself, things are dramatically slowed in the last 2 weeks. I got the same reports in 3 N.W. Indiana shops today. 6/3/09. Hopefully the ammo demand will slow. I fear manufacturers will react to less future ammo demand by slowing production and charging more.
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Old 06-03-2009, 04:11 PM
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Ahh, yearning for the good old days. About 12 maybe 13 years ago there was a WW not far from my office that was closing. They where selling everything down to the fixtures in the store. I walked in as they where pulling pallet after pallet of ammo from the back room. Most of it was shotgun and rifle ammo. I picked up a few cases of 12 and 20 guage in various lengths and shot sizes both lead and steel. Then someone pulled out a pallet with Federal Gold Medal Match 308 168 gr. I bought all 500 boxes for $1.68 per box. I used most of it as plinking ammo, though about 2000 rounds still reside in the ammo safe. Most of the people I shoot with thought I was crazy for shooting high $ ammo at tin cans, stumps, golf balls and other informal targets. Now the same ammo runs average retail about $1.25 per round. I wasn't hourding, I bought for long term use at a price that I knew I would never see again.

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Old 06-03-2009, 04:25 PM
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There is no disputing that there is greater demand. But I think the manufacturers are catching up.

Obviously, most domestic ammo makers are running 24/7. Additionally, foreign makers are stepping forward to meet the shortfall. I see a lot of MagTech, S&B, Wolf, etc. gracing the shelves of local dealers.

I think we are starting to see the end of the shortage. But if I'm wrong, well, it sure won't be the first time.
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Old 06-03-2009, 04:32 PM
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I was at the gunshow last Sunday. Some A-hole was selling Wally 550 packs for $40.00 per box. Same stuff as Wally sells for $13.99 per box when they have it.

THAT rubs me the wrong way.

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Old 06-03-2009, 04:42 PM
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I think you will see ammo becoming much more available around the end of the summer. Many of the folks who have bought more ammo than they've ever bought before are not volume shooters and are just squirreling it away, yes, some will got shot up, but not most. And it is true there are many new, first time guy buyers that have purchased guns, but I would bet the vast majority of these just bought guns in the frenzy and most will not become serious shooters. I know the demand for guns has fallen off sharply over the past several weeks, so I would imagine ammo will follow.

Who knows, though, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
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Old 06-03-2009, 07:36 PM
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Up until last October the gun stores that I frequent always had a good supply of new guns and (more important to me) used ones. Ammo and reloading stuff was also plentiful.

After the election I saw the stores get cleaned out and as of April they had yet to recover. I stopped going because there was nothing to buy. But I went back yesterday for the first time in about 7 - 8 weeks thinking the situation must have improved by now. Nope! The shelves were just as bare as before.

In one store I saw two guys almost come to blows over which one of them was first to lay his hands on that last box of primers in the store.

The store owners say whatever supplies they get from the wholesalers are only trickling in. They also say that a lot of what they do sell is going to people who don't know one end of a gun from the other.


When will this madness end?
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Old 06-03-2009, 09:26 PM
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Has anyone noticed a difference in ammo supply depending on the size of the WalMart store? Some of the smaller stores do not stock firearms, but seem to have at least as much ammo as the larger stores.
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Old 06-04-2009, 04:19 AM
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In my area ammo seems to be a bit more available.
Dunhams still has more than WallMart but there was more at Wallyworld the last time I was there.
Much of it was 12 and 20 gauge shotgun ammo but they did have some CCI .22s.
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Old 06-04-2009, 11:53 AM
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I have seen a lot of Walmart bashing around the forums. Has anybody noticed that when WW does have ammo they are not marking it up? Obviously this "ammo drive" is not an excuse for them to make more money.

We have police departments in our area who are short ammo!

Why is .38 Special ammo being hoarded by people who claim they need the ammo for their .45 ACP 1911s, Glocks and AR-15s for the "Great Takeover"? I just don't see the "People's Militia" hauling around J-Frames. (I do and I can't find ammo!)

It seems the only real threat to my RTKBA is fellow NRA members!
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Old 06-04-2009, 02:26 PM
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Finally glad to see that some of the members are fed up with the "cleaning of the shelves" and reselling that is going on. When I first joined the SW Forums I posted my disgust on a couple of threads and got my *** handed to me. I had no problems with limits etc. as it made ammo more readilly available to me in my area. It may not in all areas but around here it does. Also the local Wal-Marts got wise to the local range/gunstore owner buying them out and put the nix on him and his employees. That A-Hole was buying up as much as he could get and reselling at 200% markup.
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Old 06-04-2009, 05:58 PM
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As someone who just started shooting in October, (not due to politics, but money, I finally had some to spend), I would be very happy at finding ammo on the shelves. I would like to start my stash, but all of those buying it up to resell have made it next to impossible for me to find or afford when I do find it. Of course now that I've been bitten by the gun bug (and I blame some of you for helping that bug), I'm back to being broke again, but at least I'm happy. One of the people who helped me get started just had to introduce me to 10mm too. Isn't shooting great?
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Old 04-15-2013, 07:44 AM
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The govt got an agenda to dry up ammo supplies..I cant see any other reason for all this chaos...
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Old 04-25-2013, 09:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bamabiker View Post
I don't mind people buying all they can for themselves but when they buy it just to turn around and sell it at a much higher price it just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe if I could afford it I would look at different but I don't think so.
I recently bought a case of 9mm from a guy for $400.00, and was glad to get it because there is none in the stores. After we talked awhile, he finally admitted that he went to a nearby national chain sporting goods store every week (on the day they received ammo shipments) and bought everything they had. I found out later that he was getting the 9mm for under $300.00 per case. What bugs me is that the store allowed him to basically buy everything right off the truck!

Like you, I don't fault anyone for buying all they want/need for personal use; but the price-gougers are making it tough for the rest of us.
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Old 04-25-2013, 03:38 PM
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Default I hope all of the flippers

I hope all the people who are flipping ammo get stuck with 10,000 rounds of ammo they can't use and have to sell it at a loss.
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Old 04-25-2013, 03:45 PM
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That's terrible!

You actually ate at a SUBWAY!
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Old 04-25-2013, 04:15 PM
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To the posters near Birmingham, Alabama...Have y'all gone to the Gunseller? They suspposedly have ammo and even have .22LR from what I have been told. Or drop on by the Montgomery area and visit Walter Craigs on the Northern Bypass as they have tons of all ammo but the .22 cal. The other place in Montgomdery is Gulf States Distributors, but they are not open on Saturdays, and they also do not have .22 cal but do have most all of the other. You may or may not be able to buy in Gulf States, as sometimes they make it only for military and LEO and sometimes its anyone.
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Old 04-25-2013, 04:35 PM
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Buy when it's cheap....which ain't right now.

Give it about a year or so, we'll be back to a glut and dealers will all be beating themselves up to be the cheapest to get your $$$$ again.

It's a sellers market.

Get a flintlock, compound bow or an air rifle in the mean time. Diversify!
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Old 04-25-2013, 04:42 PM
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Boy this post brings back old memories.

Major flag being WWB 45 costing $29.99, picked up a box at Wally World a could weeks ago $43 and change/box. Something about repeating history. My brother-in-law spoke with a Wally World clerk about a month ago that says some guy comes in every morning for ammo, and apparently his store does impose the 3 box limit. They said they have seen his bill ring up at over $800 just for ammo.

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Old 04-25-2013, 05:45 PM
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Checked my store today High Point N C they had 3 oxes of 357 Sig 28.95 per. They only had three boxes. No other handgun ammo of any kind.
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Old 04-25-2013, 05:58 PM
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My Wally World only lets you purchase 3 boxes a day. A few weekends ago my wife and I walked into Wally World early Saturday morning got a few things and walked back to check the ammo counter, and BAM they had 9mm, 380, and some odd rifle/hunting ammo. I don't own a 9mm but my father in law does so I purchased 3 100 round value packs as a gift for him. Also my wife has been wanting to get into shooting she wants a 9mm so she purchased 3 100 round value packs for herself.

It sucks looking at guns for her and not knowing when we will be able to find ammo. So we pounced on it like a lionesses on a gazelle. About 2 minutes after I walked away from the counter some guy offered to buy the ammo from me, I declined. He said he wasn't going to re-sell unless it was to a friend and only for what he paid for it. I thought that was nice of him.
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