The Ammo Shortage. What is the real truth. Questions.

[Arik]

Fact is the ammo is going somewhere other than my local gun shops or big retailers like walmart or Academy. It just isn't there.

Yes!!! Obama is secretly storing all the 22lr in his FEMA camps! They are gonna arm all the UFOs from area 51 when Godzila emerges from the Hudson River!!

Common, it's simple. People see it, people buy it. If It's the most popular caliber in America then obviously every shooter is buying. And it's easy to buy a lot.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Warren Sear]

Yes!!! Obama is secretly storing all the 22lr in his FEMA camps! They are gonna arm all the UFOs from area 51 when Godzila emerges from the Hudson River!!...

Arik, now you've done it!!! The cat is out of the bag! You'd better be on the lookout for the black helicopters before they get you.

 

[Henry O]

Gander Mountain in Houston managed to get sufficient quantity of .22 LR ammo buckets of bullets (1,400) that they offered them last Saturday for two hours at their old price of $69.99. A gun show FFL friend of mine had a couple dozen buckets all but handed to him by his supplier a few weeks earlier at even a better price.

Rumors abound that the large Academy warehouse in Katy, Texas, just west of Houston has pallets of ammo they are shipping to stores in quantities which are less than what they receive. (Not sure if we have the WWII "Jeep in a box" theory at work with this or not).

There is more ammo around Houston of recent in just about all calibers than we have seen in a while. A new Academy opened here four weeks ago on the western edge of Houston with just about a complete selection. They seem to be restocking most calibers, but not all.

Four years ago I was advised by a friend who is avid about his firearms that I should be buying and stockpiling as much ammo as I could. Although I limited myself to a few hundred rounds, I believe he did exactly what he advocated and in quantities that can only left to the imagination.

There are forces at play in all of this but I have a strong feeling they are probably not the ones which make for urban folklore. Much of this we have done to ourselves as we do every time there is a hint of a gasoline shortage or other daily commodity.

I agree with those who advocate that there is probably a strong dose of manipulated supply against increasing demand. That is what fuels profit opportunity and that right is what we say we will defend.

Market price is often defined by what someone will pay right now for the item available in front of them. Purchasers determine when the market price drops simply by not buying something they deem over valued or priced.

I do not like what has happened to either ammo prices or availability. With that said, I will accept the calamities resulting from an open market situation. We actually have a far better situation now than we would have if all the conspiracy theories were validated.

 

[jmmitc06]

Although I haven't been shooting and therefore buying ammo for as long as some of the other contributors to this post, I think that what I have seen at the local gun shops adequately explains why ammo is/has been scarce.

Before I started reloading, fearful of not having enough 9mm for my next range trip, if I saw a box I bought it, regardless if I "needed" it or not. My thinking was, if everyone else is thinking the same way I am, I need to buy this box in case I don't find anymore. The scare caused a decrease in supply by causing an increase in demand. I do have to say though, around here in Louisville, Ky 9mm is pretty easy to come by now 22lr, not so much.

As for the 22lr shortage, I think its the same as above. I know plenty of shooters who get up at 7am to go to walmart and buy whatever 22lr they can find. I've seen no evidence what so ever that that it isn't hitting the shelves, everything i have seen indicates that it is hitting the shelves and very quickly going into carts or hands of frantic shoppers. This added to the decreased supply due to government orders I think adequately explains the situation.

 

[SMSgt]

Hoarding . . . no more, no less. Other than .22s, most calibers are in stock around here at pre-election/pre-Newtown prices. Some stores still have limits on 9mms, but the limit is raised and there's plenty on the shelves.

 

[kilroy2721]

There is little ammo to find at walmart here in NY. The NY safe act which will require background checks on all ammo purchases. Also the fact that we can't buy ammo online anymore and the NY State police can pay us a visit if we buy TOO much ammo and the amount of ammo which is too much is not defined in the statute makes NY'ers a bit nervous.

I have not seen any 22 ammo except 22 short at our walmart in about a year.

What happens if you go to Pennsylvania to buy ammo? Do you have to report it?

What happens if you reload? Does this include powder/primers?

 

[kilroy2721]

what I find hard to understand is why you can't get ammo at Wal-Mart, or most any other store for that matter, but the dealer down the road who is now turning his store it to an internet sales only, has every kind of ammo, piled 4 foot high, from 22's to 50bmg's and will only sell at the inflated prices that people are willing to pay on the net. it seems to me he has no problem getting all the ammo he wants.

Wal-Mart is one of Winchesters biggest customers. They buy in such a large bulk deal that they get good prices.

I used to be an FFL and even buying at my cost...I could get a better deal buying retail at Walmart. Then you have to add shipping, and then their markup.

A lot of the internet companies are really taking advantage of the high demand, and are making a lot of money...I hope that when the demand is over, the people will remember those places and not buy from them.

 

[Gyrene6891]

On a post I saw somewhere an individual stated he had acquired 54,000 rounds in the first 5 months of 2013. His intention was to continue to buy ammo. Reminds me of the gas shortage when an individual would start his car, drive to the gas station, waitin line for 30 minutes to get 2 gallons of gas...

 

[rwsmith]

The way I figger it...

Trucks full of ammo are coming out of the factory gates, and driving to a remote area in Nebraska where there is a huge hole dug in the ground and they drive their trucks into it.

 

[b727capt]

Who is John Galt?

Try this website. galt.io

 

[ladyT]

Hoarding . . . no more, no less. Other than .22s, most calibers are in stock around here at pre-election/pre-Newtown prices. Some stores still have limits on 9mms, but the limit is raised and there's plenty on the shelves.

Hoarding is not the answer and I wish it were. Hoarding means ammo is in stock so all I would have to do is show up at the store and buy it. Fact is its not showing up. An example was yesterdays delivery to my local Academy. They got 4 boxes of 22. Not 4 pallets,not even 4 cases but just 4 boxes of 22lr. Thats it. Of course more often than not no 22lr is delivered. So my question still stands. Where is it going because I and everyone else knows its not going to the retailers.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

The "truth" is that cheap HV .22LR was getting more difficult to find well before Sandy Hook. Economy was/is bad and lots of folks shooting more .22LR than ever before in HUGE numbers.

Look at all the new "black rifle" .22s that have come on the market in the last few years. S&W 15-22, Colt Umarex M4, Sig522, Ruger SR-22, Mossberg Tactical, H&K 416, Omni M4, ISSC Mk 22, Remington VTR, and GSG makes a dozen different ones from AK to MP5. NONE of these were around just a few years ago, and they all come with high capacity mags. Anyone look at Ruger's .22 handgun lineup lately? Every possible configuration... rails... threaded barrels... aluminum... you name it, they got it! And how about all the centerfire pistol replicas there are nowadays? Used to be if you wanted to shoot .22s from a 1911 platform you got a conversion kit. No more... everyone is making a 1911 .22 or slapping their label on one...

The manufactures aren't making them because no one is buying them... they have been flying off the shelves in recent years.

There has been an EXPLOSION in rimfire suppressor sales. Folks have discovered how much fun it is to shoot all the threaded barreled guns listed above with a can hanging from the muzzle. What was taking 2-3mo to get a tax stamp is now taking over a year. Trust me on this... I've been waiting on a tax stamp since Feb.

The "truth" is that demand for .22LR has skyrocketed. Panic buying the last 12 months after Sandy Hook allowed folks to exploit an already tight market, but it is far more an issue of demand. Tight markets are always going to attract those who will exploit it for profit, that is nothing new.

When you can't afford to shoot this 1,000 rounds per month....



You shoot this....

 

[the ringo kid]

The Academy here gets quite a lot of 22 in and in diff quantity as well as from different manufacturers. Trouble is, is most of the time, the same scalpers and other flippers are always first in line. The store manager and others tell me so. My question is: If they know who is in line and why? then they can nip that problem in the bud. You might not think they dont know who their real loyal customers are? they do. They can easily make it a store policy and not sell to them on a daily basis. Or another alternative that could easily be--is to stock the ammo at a later time (speaking only of the popular hard to come by) that way others will have their chance to get ammo at non scalped prices, and Walmart can easily do the same. Also in stocking at some other hour, would mostly stop flippers and other non loyal regulars, from doing that.

Someone can scream that that is capitalism at its best.....Bull..!!!! That is just their way of saying its OK, to be greedy.

 

[moosedog]

You can buy anything you want, at inflated prices. That means that the ammo showing up at the big stores is being sold to friends of friends in the know and then resold at the shows or online for a huge profit.
Which in turn creates another shortage as more and more people seek it out.

 

[jtcarm]

The Homeland Security contract had little, if anything to do with the situation.

Thanks for the informative post, Shawn.

I have my doubts about the reality of "Doomsday Preppers", but watch a couple episodes and you'll see where a lot of ammo and reloading components are going.

Like I said, I have my doubts about how real it is. Putting themselves on TV is contrary to they claim they're doing it for. I also wonder what these folks do for a living to have the time and money for there "prepping".

One guy kept talking about protecting his family in the event of martial law. Well, I got news for him, under martial law the govt can march right in, arrest him, and take it all. And it doesn't matter how big & bad his arsenal is, they'll always have something bigger.

 

[RussellD]

How do you explain chain stores using bricks of .22 ammo as leader items for Black Friday sales? Tells me its out there in the supply chain. I went to Dick's on Thanksgiving night to stand in line with my wife and son. each of us purchased one brick of .22 ammo for 19.97. Store went through ten cases of ammo in less than 4 minutes. When the manager went down the side walk..there were more people in line to buy .22 ammo than the guns that were on sale! LOL

 

[phenson]

There was plenty of 22LR ammo at the Dothan gun show… for $20.00 for a box of 50. They also had large pistol primers for $145.00 per 1000. That's it, I've gone to my last gun show. I'm done dealing with the lowest form of life on earth, I'll buy my ammo and reloading equipment from the old local guys around here, and I'll buy my guns from the folks I know and trust, some of whom are on this list.

 

[blujax01]

The "truth" is that cheap HV .22LR was getting more difficult to find well before Sandy Hook. Economy was/is bad and lots of folks shooting more .22LR than ever before in HUGE numbers.

Look at all the new "black rifle" .22s that have come on the market in the last few years. ... NONE of these were around just a few years ago, and they all come with high capacity mags. ...

The "truth" is that demand for .22LR has skyrocketed. ...

Aw Phil,

You know these folks aren't going to let facts stand in the way of a good conspiracy theory. Or their ability to blame some evil, anonymous "them"!

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Aw Phil,

You know these folks aren't going to let facts stand in the way of a good conspiracy theory. Or their ability to blame some evil, anonymous "them"!

Well yeah...

We all know that flipping is going on, and I wouldn't be surprised if some ammo retailers are moving product off shelves and their regular web sites to get higher prices on Armslist type sites, but that's just a reaction to the underlying issue of a tight market where demand has outpaced production/supply. You could take all the .22 flippers out of the equation and there would still be millions of rimfire shooters showing up at Walmart to see bare shelves.

 

[SMSgt]

One guy kept talking about protecting his family in the event of martial law. Well, I got news for him, under martial law the govt can march right in, arrest him, and take it all. And it doesn't matter how big & bad his arsenal is, they'll always have something bigger.

And, apparently, more of it!