It's been a few years now that we are suffering through an ammo shortage, long enough that it has become the new "normal". I used to buy a few boxes of whatever I needed at the local MC Sports on my way to the range, and literally have gone over a year without finding any ammunition that I can use at this store. The local Gander Mountain has shelves full of 45acp, but nothing else in the way of handgun ammo.

I had stocked up pretty well in all of the calibers that I normally shoot, but over time my stock has gone down considerably. I'm almost at the point where I dare not shoot any 38 Special for fear that I will be done to the rounds I carry. I used to keep 4,000 to 5,000 22LR around all the time, and now I think I have one box of 525 on the shelf.

If things don't start getting better soon I guess the anti-gunners will achieve what they have been aiming at all along, just based upon shooters running our to things to shoot!

This has all gone on for way too long.

Yes. No. Maybe.

__________________
Forum consigliere

Saw this a couple of days ago:

U.S. Postal Service Joins DHS, Social Security Admin, NOAA in Ammo Purchases

I'm not normally a believer in conspiracy theories, but the increased Federal buying of ammunition sure seems like a deliberate effort to reduce available civilian supply levels. I wonder how many other government agencies are buying up the production of the manufacturers? I just recently became aware that the U.S. State Department has its own police force, with weapons, full body armor, etc. and SWAT-like teams to fulfill its mission of investigating passport fraud and theft.

Centerfire ammo of all kinds is plentiful around here. Maybe folks in Illinois are gobbling up handgun ammo because they able to carry a concealed gun for the first time in their lives?

Nope ... wont be over for a while.
it don't seem to take much to rejuvenate the crisis.
a lead plant, unrelated to ammo production closes, it starts all over.
the latest cup of gas on the fire is the Ukraine thing which will probably lead to sanctions against Russia.
The result, everyone is flipping out about 7.62 comblock .... never mind the fact that nearly every nation on Earth cranks this stuff out, to include our own.
Prices on this stuff are going nuts, because so many are too stupid to figure out its a mere fraction of the market share.
add to this the fact that some of the 5.45x39 was recently designated "armor piercing" and thus deemed unimportable.
Big deal ... Hornady seems to have it covered.

The trick to the solution is figuring out how to make the voice of reason loud enough to be heard amongst the unwashed masses, so that they can calm down. The moment that happens, the crisis is over

__________________
it just needs more voltage

I'm in IL and the only shortage is 22RF and reloading supplies (powder, pistol or handgun, and shot). There seems to be plenty of 38, 9mm, 40, 357, 45, 44, .223, etc on the shelves now. There is no .22RF and when it comes in a case at a time it is gone before it hits the shelves.

__________________
H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

It seems to me as long as there is a demand some company will be putting people to work to fulfill it. I cant understand why that hasnt fully happened yet. Must be there are certain ingredients that are hard to get? But even then, the same formula should work.
Along the same thinking is the price of anything else. Take gas. Now if they say some factor drives the price up, why is it there still is gas available as long as there is money.
Peoples greed take over. Whether its ammo or toilet paper, if all of the sudden there is news accounts that says there is a big shortage coming up there is always people that will look for it and hoard it. Even if they already have a garage full of it.
I have ammo, some of it is 40 years old. Yet once or twice I thought I would check if they had it when I was walking past the area at walmart or whatever, and they had some and I found myself buying a box I didnt need as I had opened my big mouth out of curiosity.

NO, I don't see a shortage on the ammo I use.

I have a LOT.

__________________
Rick
M&P 15-22, G27 Gen4, G23

Reloading is a must for most calibers. The shortage of 22's is what has me baffled. If it were a conspiracy the lowly 22 would be all you could find.

I find it interesting that the U.S. Postal Service is now stock piling .357 hollow points.

It used to be that mail carriers would use pepper spray on barking dogs...or maybe even just throw them a treat. Now I guess they're really going to show 'em who's boss. Better keep your Chihuahua on leash or some mailman is going to settle its hash with a 158-grain hollow point to the brain!

__________________
Pack light and cinch tight.

This is why some of us bought more back in the day. Because it was cheap and now days we dont have to look for ammo any time soon. We dont know what the new normal is because we are still living normal.

Rimfire shortage is due to demand. Tons of rimfire replicas have hit the market in recent years, particularly "black guns"with 30rd mags dangling underneath, that had never existed before. Folks are blowing though bricks in a shooting session. Add to this a poor economy which pushes more folks into cheaper rimfire shooting... and demand for rimfire has probably doubled/tripled or more. So it makes sense to me when I see centerfire ammo piled high and dusty rimfire shelves.

I figured the ongoing shortage of .22 was due to a national increase in the bear population.

__________________
I'm with the banned ...

Why can't we do a "don't buy ammo" week/month and let everything catch up. I believe that if most shooters could refrain from buying any ammo for a period of time, the shelves would be full again. Thoughts? Sorry, didn't intend to hi-jac.

Be glad you're not a reloader's trying to find powder!

Here in NM, I am seeing greater availability of center fire, 22 still not on the shelf.

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

Funny.

It wasn't that long that there were postings about Alex Jones and others hyperventilating over the Feds buying all the 5.56 to starve the market. FastForward a couple months... 5.56 is everywhere. SGammo is selling 55gr brass $339/k and M855 62gr with ammo can for $339/900. Tons of steel case too. When I was in Sportsman's recently they had pallets on the floor stacked nearly waist high with 5.56 (way overpriced)... folks just walk right by it. Alex, are ya out there?

Hopefully Alex has removed the paper bag from his mouth and his breathing has returned to normal. He better keep the bag handy though, the Post Office thing could cause him and his followers a serious bout of breathlessness.

__________________
John. SWCA #1586

I'm certainly not Nostradamus but I don't see the ammo issue getting better fast. I see it taking many more months (years...gulp) to catch up. Why? Because people keep panic buying and stockpiling. This goes for pistol powder as well. We all are smart enough to know that until demand softens, supply won't catch up.

I stopped looking for 22LR months ago, had to stop shooting it as well. I miss it, but I just got tired of driving all over the place looking for my one box allotment at increased prices. Gas prices didn't get any lower either and the expense of not finding ammo became glaringly clear.

I hope I'm wrong and the shelves are full of ammo with huge discount prices because no one is buying......oh ahh dang that dream seams so unreal.

With all the stockpiling going on. You would think that next time, not as many people will be buying ammo. But of course we all know this to be false.

Buy it while its cheap people. Because in 2016 its going right back up again no matter what happens between now and then. Dont say we didnt tell u so ahead of time. Buy enough to last u a few years. This way u shouldnt have a reason to complain about no ammo or high priced ammo when the time comes.

This country is no longer willing to get caught with their pants down.

My wal-mart has tons of .22lr on the shelf. Its been on the shelf for a few months and hasnt disappeared. It's basically normal for us now, except the little higher prices.

Handgun ammo is showing up again in the Philadelphia area. And I have been able to pick up 2,000 of .22lr this month. Could of gotten more but what I have is enough.

Some .22lr prices are reasonable, most bricks are $50.00, some as low as $29.00

I will remember which shops dropped their prices first. Loyalty has to be earned.

Locally, Cabelas has about anything I want, cept 22s and I catch them across the street at Palmetto State Armory... if I'm good.

Even picked up some 380s today at Palmetto...

PS- I can get target 380s all day long for about 17 something a box at the local range....

Two years ago I started buying in bulk. If I needed 4 lbs of powder I bought 8. If I needed a thousand bullets I bought 2. If I need a thousand primers I bought 2. 500 pieces of brass became a thousand. It adds up pretty fast and I still do it. Just double what you think you need.

Of course I can't always find what I want, but when I do I load up. I don't see it as hoarding anything as I will eventually use it all and I can get thru the periods when there isn't anything for sale. Powder is not a problem for me now because I have about 20 lbs of it.

This shortage will run right up to the election and continue. Powder and brass seem to be the big items now that are hard to find. That will end but something else will take it's place. Just buy it when it's there and be glad you did when it's not.

__________________
That's just somebody talkin.

Th info my dept range staff heard from the company that supplies our agency is as follows; the major ammo co.'s are focused on center fire & the huge demand there. The raw materials used in all ammo is being used for CF. Ergo the shortage of RF.

With the cessation of Iraq & drawing down A'Stan we are seeing 9x19 & 5.56 coming back. Now, as another member pointed out the deluge of new .22 LR guns, the economy & hoarders have made .22lr the proverbial Sasquatch of the gun world. Now that CF seems to be making a comeback, perhaps the big manuf. will ramp up the .22 so we can buy it $10.99 a brick again.....hopelessly optimistic I know.

Demand for all calibers of ammunition exceeds current manufacturing capacity. Primers and powder goes to manufacturers first. If there is anything left in the supply stream, reloaders get an "opportunity" to buy.

The Theory of Supply and Demand was first explained in high school economics class. Today, I have no idea when economics is first taught.

__________________
S&WHF 366

Imagine what our lives will be like when it’s food we are crying about and not ammo.

Ah but then the ones with ammo can just take the food

Sent from my SCH-S738C using Tapatalk

__________________
Using Tapatalk

Yeah, you go waltzing in with your ammo and run into someone who has food and guns/ammo and see what happens. They just acquired additional ammo.
Ed

Now that CF seems to be making a comeback, perhaps the big manuf. will ramp up the .22 so we can buy it $10.99 a brick again.....hopelessly optimistic I know. [/QUOTE]

Just my opinion but I don't think you will ever see prices near that again. The makers of ammo are not stupid. They see what people are willing to pay now so why would they return to the old prices? It's like when gas started to go up in price. Everyone cried about it but after awhile you just forget about the old days and pay what they ask. I realize you don't need ammo like you need gas but it's just an example how quickly we forget.

If that was truly the goal I would think it easier and far less costly to restrict the supply of ammo by doing things like buying up the supply of at least one of the raw materials used in their manufacture.

Or use legislation to do things like force the closure of plants - such as the lead smelting plant - which may or may not ultimately affect supply and or retail price of ammo.

The company's that make the ammo arn't charging the high prices it's the guy's inbetween, the local stores near me pay a different price for it everytime buy it, you can go in one week and pay 3.79 for a box of 50 and the next week the same ammo is 4.79, it all depends on what they have to pay, I heard of one store that has a trailer truck full of 22's and he only sell to other stores for what they are willing to pay.

__________________
Don

I will say that now when I buy reloading components (especially cast lead bullets and primers), I always buy in multiples of thousands, rather than hundreds.

I was down to forty-two (42) projectiles at one point, a year ago. I almost had to start shooting my factory ammo supply. The horror!

When Midway, or PV, has powder such as W231 in stock and it isn't gone that same day the shortage will be over. Not until.

In talking to our local postmaster, he said that the reason the U.S. Postal Service is justifying the purchase of ammo is that the U.S.P.S. has an enforcement arm. They're called postal inspectors, even though they don't usually go armed.

The one that's hard for me to justify is the U.S. Weather Service stockpiling .40 S&W hollow points. They don't have an enforcement branch, so what are they going to do?...arm the local weathermen in order to protect themselves from irate viewers who aren't happy with the latest forecast?

__________________
Pack light and cinch tight.

If you don't know by now the $75.00 dollar hammers were paying for the stealth air craft you have been in a hole with your head covered up.

Is the ammo shortage ever going to end?

Next presidential election it will get better or worse. Or you may not need ammo anymore.

The only place I've been able to get ammo affordably is my local gun show. I just bought 1k 9mm for $287.00. My local gun stores are way over priced and Wal-Mart never has any thing but 40 SW in stock. It's dad I remember going to gun shows up in Rochester with my dad and uncle and they used to buy case loads for dirt cheap.

No worries there. I know of a local specialty called: Treebark and Earthworm Soup.

Where is Robin Hood when we need him?

A guy in my town just opened a new store. 525 brick of Remington Golden Bullets is listed at $125. I was polite enough not to curse the guy but he saw my expression. He said "I have it right now. You wanna scour the earth for it for less?". I said "Yes, I do".

I have 5000 rounds of .22. I am a teacher and will be off in the summer. Those are the days I will join the old men at 7 AM at Walmart to increase my supply. There is NO WAY I am going to pay 25 cents a round for .22 Golden Bullet.

I still have 1300 rounds of Thunderbolt from 15 years ago. If I lasted that long not shooting it I will last another 15 years. These ammo gougers can kiss my ***.

My gun dealer buddy needed some help at a local gun show a couple of weekends ago, and asked me to give him a hand. Mostly this amounts to helping carry heavy stuff from the vehicle to the tables, and watching the tables for him when he wants or needs to walk around, make a head call, get coffee, etc.

He had three bricks of Federal for sale. They were the only bricks at the show. One brick sold by 50-round boxes, and the other two whole. They were $80 for the unbroken bricks, and $8 for each 50-round box. They cost my buddy $50 per brick wholesale. Both solid bricks went in the first hour, no questions asked. Most of the smaller boxes went by the end of the show.

Frankly, I was embarrassed to watch .22LR go for this much. Personally I will not pay more than $25 per brick, as at Wally World. I'm glad my buddy was able to make a little bit of money, because not much was selling at the show by any of the dealers. But crimminy! $80 per brick?

We have the freedom to not buy, and at least for a time we should probably exercise it.

As I am writing this the big C has Rem Golden's for 23.99/525.

__________________
Don

Wal-Mart in Bremen GA has everything but .22s and .308. As of yesterday at least.

By the numbers.

22lr production 30 million per day

365 days in the year

Production running 24/7/365

Over 100 million gunowners

2 bricks per shooter per year

If 25‰ of gun owners shoot 22lr

Years required to provide 25% of gun owners 2 bricks of 500 rounds of 22lr per year is 2.27 years. Thats over two years of 22lr production just to provide 1,000 rounds to 25% of American gun owners. Over years.

Deb and I have given up on finding .22s in the local stores. It's a waste of time. We have enough for occasional plinking for about a year and a half but it will mean cutting way back though. Our solution was to buy pellet guns. They have no recoil, are inexpensive, the ammo is cheap and plentiful, you don't have to go through an FFL to buy them, they can be shot in your basement, garage, backyard or range, they're quiet, you don't need brass or powder, they need virtually no cleaning and they are great fun.

I don't see the .22 shortage ever ending. By the time supply gets anywhere near meeting demand there will be another mass shooting somewhere and panic buying will empty the shelves again. Then the cycle will repeat ad infinitum.

I've never seen a more irrational shortage situation. No one saw this coming because people of sensibilities underestimated the narrow-mindedness of the 7:00 am Walmart morons and mean-spirited scalpers. It's a classic study of stupidity fueled by greed. To those folks I say: get a life (or a bigger TV). there's more to it than just guns. In the words of Thomas Carlyle: "The tragedy in life is not what men suffer, but what they miss."

At Wally World today and walked by the ammo counter as I always do. To my surprise they had the UMC 250 round Mega Pack in 9mm. First time in quiet awhile that they have had them. Also has the .40 Mega Pack. Brought home one of the 9mm Mega Packs. Stock was better then I have seen it in several months. Still hit or miss but there is ammo out there.

I have seen 22lr recently priced a little higher but still in stores. The two box limit is still in effect.

I asked a local gun shop today where the 22mag ammo was. They said the last time they had it a buffalo farm bought it all to dispatch the critters. Never underestimate the power of a 22 mag. I am sure that this was close and behind the ear shooting but buffalo are huge.

__________________
CA ban no sharp pencils ovr 3"

I agree. I am starting to reload for that very reason. I know I can't reload .22, but at least that will be my only ammo purchases for the foreseeable future. I got enough powder to load 1500 rounds of .38 and 3000 rounds of 9MM. I will continue to look for powder and primers, but at my rate of shooting, I will be set for 4-5 years with what I have.

People do need to get a life. A guy I work with has over 100,000 rounds of .22, and he rarely shoots it, because he "doesn't want to use them up".

In center fire it is mostly around now - it is just more expensive . 380 ACP is darn hard to find though .

22 LR is a problem . I like the analysis by Lady T there above . Once the inventory buffer was gone at the distributor and manufacturer level and guys got the idea that not only it was going to be unavailable but more expensive too, the run was on.

Most of the buying by the various Federal agencies is just about consistent with what they always buy. Maybe a few more here or there but overall about the same .

In asking the manufactures reps they say they are going full tilt . The dealers I know here that are BIG sellers just say that the guys that used to buy 50 or 100 or 250 rounds are buying bricks. Like Grandmothers and the like . And the guys who bought 5,000 are buying 10,000 or 25,000 when they can get it . So it really brings it in to focus on the change in buying patterns.

With more owners, more shooing, more guys trying to keep it in stock for 10,000 rounds at home vs 1,000 ,and everybody trying to get it, it really adds up in 22LR.