Ammo shortage?

[Buford57]

My first experience with ammo hoarding was in 1968. Upon passage of the GCA my father went to the hardware store and bought a brick of .22 LR. It was the first time I had seen more than a single box in the house. As I recall he said something similar to the one-armed deputy.

 

[scoobysnacker]

If needed, with a 15-22, one can put 25, 40grain rounds down range as fast as a trigger can be pulled and have 5 more mags ready to go. Small caliber but alot of firepower!

I have a GSG 5 (imitation HK in 22lr), that when it runs right, can sling a lot of lead fast.

I have a lot of 22lr that I stocked up on, over the recent years.

For whatever reason, I'm finding this rifle doesn't like to cycle with the ammo I have. It's a single shot. Maybe HV or SHV would work better. It didn't used to act this way, it used to gobble the cheap stuff without issue.
I've taken it apart and cleaned it, and still no good. And occasionally (a LOT more often than any centerfire gun), I'm getting a failure to fire on a solid strike of the primer.

That's not something I want to trust my life to.

 

[jbtrucker]

FYI 38spl FMJ in stock Target sports USA normal prices, notice for delayed shipping

 

[kmyers]

One of the projects we did recently with all going on was do even if just a spot check an inventory.

Just under 60 firearms.

80 or so magazines for AR and AK, mostly AR and the bulk 20 round.

Every semi automatic pistol with at least 1 and mostly with 2 spare magazines.

50 M-1 en-block clips.
50 SKS stripper clips.

Does no good to have the weapons without the ability to reload the weapon.

15,000 rounds. Other than rimfire and shotgun, perhaps 2000, all the rest roughly evenly divided between pistol and rifle, mostly 5.56.

Plus bandoliers, shell holders and magazine pouches.

 

[pharmer]

I grew up expecting times to get worse... and we may be fast approaching that event........It's not just ammo, that makes one prepared. If you can't survive by being self-sufficient for several years.....you simply are not.......

"Self sufficient" has changed over time. 50 years ago I lived in NJ and could "survive" weeks in the wilderness with very little. Now at 67 and 40 years in Florida, the realities are very different. When I got here there wasn't much else but snakes, spiders, cattle ranches and orange groves. Pretty easy except for "potable" water. Now every critter with a house north of DC is selling out for $1 million and coming down to a "5/ 3.5 McMansion" for $400K and banking the rest (or buying a boat). Literally millions of 'em. Population was around 6 million when I got here, 22 million now. Doesn't help that no one speaks English anymore and ain't the least bit interested in helping anyone "different from us." I'm as prepared as I can be except I could use to be 40 years younger. Joe

 

[seldon14]

During the ammo "crunch" of 2012-13, there was no shortage of 12 gauge 'business' ammo: buck and slugs. Everything else had been bought up. Now, even the 12 gauge loads are unavailable. I looked online at a major ammo dealer's website: virtually everything out of stock. Same for Midway. This has been the case for weeks.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

This wave of buying is largely new buyers wanting to defend there home, so many are ending up with 12ga shotguns, and needing ammo to feed them.

 

[Stevens]

Around here at WMT, Academy, and local gun stores the handgun ammo shelves are bare. There is plenty of rifle and shotgun ammo available still.
.22 ammo of most sorts is available.
Steve W

 

[Igiveup]

Went to town yesterday, 30 mile drive, to go to grocery store. Next door is a Sportsman's Warehouse. Naturally I went there first, use the bathroom, and check out ammo. Well, the pistol ammo is essentially non existent. A few boxes of assorted self defense ammo, but I did find and buy a box of .38 S&W long ammo. I guess no one else in the area shoots it, as there were about ten boxes of it, Aguila brand. For plinking, it works.

 

[Dougaz]

This confuses me ..... I have a friend that has a FFL and works out of his home.

I recently picked up a new S&W revolver and he said "if you need ammo, let me know, I can get you whatever you need, in any quantity"

So what's up with that?

Plus GunCrack.com seems to have plenty of ammo for sale.

Is this just a cost thing?

Thanks

 

[smoothshooter]

One of the projects we did recently with all going on was do even if just a spot check an inventory.

Just under 60 firearms.

80 or so magazines for AR and AK, mostly AR and the bulk 20 round.

Every semi automatic pistol with at least 1 and mostly with 2 spare magazines.

50 M-1 en-block clips.
50 SKS stripper clips.

Does no good to have the weapons without the ability to reload the weapon.

15,000 rounds. Other than rimfire and shotgun, perhaps 2000, all the rest roughly evenly divided between pistol and rifle, mostly 5.56.

Plus bandoliers, shell holders and magazine pouches.

Don't think I would be posting information listing those quantities on a public forum. Never know who might take a "special" interest in that information, from either side of the law.
Lots of people can find out who you are and where you live in just a few minutes. Some of them aren't even old enough to drive yet.
BE CAREFUL.

 

[Dave Lively]

Lots of people can find out who you are and where you live in just a few minutes. Some of them aren't even old enough to drive yet.
BE CAREFUL.

The sort of criminals that have ability to hack or social engineer their way into database and retrieve unencrypted passwords, email addresses and user IDs are rare. And that is a lot of work to go through to find the email address of someone that is probably hundreds or thousands of miles away from you. Unless your email address is [email protected] there is the added step of going from the email address to your real name and then making sure you are not someone else with the same name. And you are assuming some random guy on the internet is not vastly exaggerating what they own. TV shows make it look like all you have to do is ask your friendly neighborhood hacker to break into a system and they can give you what you want in a few minutes. It doesn't work that way in real life. If it really was that easy we wouldn't have online commerce, let alone online banking.

The kind of criminals that try to break into computer systems are going to try to trick you into sending them bitcoin or apple gift cards, not break into your house.

The kind of criminals that break into houses are going to look for houses that look empty, easy to break into without getting caught and have some easily sold valuables inside. I would be much more worried about the kid next door noticing that gun safe in your garage they see every time you park your truck or the son of a coworker that is always hearing about "That guy at work with all those guns". Or just a random burglary.

If the government wanted to know who has guns they would start by asking dealer to hand over all their 4473s. Or have credit card companies turn over information about everyone that has done business with Midway, Natchez, SGammo, etc.

I do avoid posting too much information, particularly on places like Facebook or other places that use my real name. If you looked at every post I ever made there you would never know if I owned a gun or not. These days expressing your political beliefs as guaranteed by the first amendment on social media can cost you your job too. But the risk is associated with posting here is too low to worry about considering other risks. If I couldn't talk about guns I own here I don't know where I could.

 

[scoobysnacker]

Well, I was wrong, and admit it. I thought things were starting to turn the corner at the end of June, when we saw a couple Cabela's/Bass Pro deals on Herter's 9mm.

They turned a corner, all right- straight off the cliff. There's hardly anything available at all, and what's there is priced through the ceiling.

If you ain't got it now, I doubt you'll have it before December.

 

[TTSH]

Well, I was wrong, and admit it. I thought things were starting to turn the corner at the end of June, when we saw a couple Cabela's/Bass Pro deals on Herter's 9mm.

They turned a corner, all right- straight off the cliff. There's hardly anything available at all, and what's there is priced through the ceiling.

If you ain't got it now, I doubt you'll have it before December.

Ha!!!!! I couldn't help but chuckle when I read this. As I've said before, TSUSA is my barometer and my barometer is telling me that things aren't getting any better. In fact, they are getting worse.

Again, I'm in very good shape and this isn't a cry for help, but you have to wonder where this all is going. How does it end? When does it end? You think December? Oh good, just in time for Christmas gifts!

 

[kmyers]

Don't think I would be posting information listing those quantities on a public forum. Never know who might take a "special" interest in that information, from either side of the law.
Lots of people can find out who you are and where you live in just a few minutes. Some of them aren't even old enough to drive yet.
BE CAREFUL.

Thank you, I do appreciate the advice. I am like Dave Lively, yes there are people who may be able to do such, but I am not concerned. If they are that skilled they are likely to not care about a fairly modest gun and ammo collection than hacking a bank or credit card company or other businesses. A bunch of guns and ammo versus the possibility of a huge amount of money from a corporation...which to choose to spend my time and use my computer skills on?

 

[HorizontalMike]

Only In Rural Texas

The most recent prepping I have done is installing several Security CAMs & Alarms around all of my property, as well as inside my Reloading/ Mechanical/ Woodshop/ Harley MAN CAVE...

Got +33lb powder and 12-13k of lead & primers in my three favorite calibers. In addition, maybe half that ## already loaded. Starting to get a bit low on brass though... ~+1k. Have defensive equipment within reach in all spaces for the "...if & when..."

All I need to do now is freshen up the sand in my home range target and free up some brass!
Life is hard, but someone has to do it...

 

[gen3guy]

There is no shortage of ammo. There is only an over abundance of people who procrastinate and think(?) they need ammo because everybody else is doing exactly the same thing.

Buy ammo when you can, then you're good to go when nonsense like this happens.

 

[HorizontalMike]

There is no shortage of ammo. There is only an over abundance of people who procrastinate and think(?) they need ammo because everybody else is doing exactly the same thing.

Buy ammo when you can, then you're good to go when nonsense like this happens.

NO shortage HERE in MY cache. Others will have to evaluate their OWN individual environment.

 

[jc2721]

I was just at my favorite LGS to pick up more targets and cleaning supplies. They've been out of 9mm ball and 223/556 for a few weeks now. A young shooter came in and bought 2 cases of 9mm Gold dot--$1100+ without batting an eye.

 

[scoobysnacker]

Ha!!!!! I couldn't help but chuckle when I read this. As I've said before, TSUSA is my barometer and my barometer is telling me that things aren't getting any better. In fact, they are getting worse.

Again, I'm in very good shape and this isn't a cry for help, but you have to wonder where this all is going. How does it end? When does it end? You think December? Oh good, just in time for Christmas gifts!

Well, to be fair, Targetsports had come down too. At the same time I got a case of Herter's for under $200 from Bass Pro, I saw targetsportsusa had stuff at around $230, and in stock.
That was near the end of covid phase one, as we were going into phase 2.

Then, we went from pandemic lock-down to lawlessness and rioting, and everything vanished. Guns, ammo, reloading supplies, everything. I was able to snag an AR 15 for under $500, got some Tula 223 for $250 (end of June and early July), and that was the last gasp. Since then, the only things I've seen have been the one recent Tula sale the other day (sold out in minutes), and one online seller briefly had a couple ARs at $499. That same place now has a gun for $899, best price.

 

[TTSH]

Well, to be fair, Targetsports had come down too. At the same time I got a case of Herter's for under $200 from Bass Pro, I saw targetsportsusa had stuff at around $230, and in stock. That was near the end of covid phase one, as we were going into phase 2.

I must have missed it. On my last trip to Bass Pro, they were cleaned out (all except the hunting calibers). I was going to take a photo of the bare shelves, but some guy searching for .22 LR would not get out of the way.

I've signed up for alerts with TSUSA for all of the cheaper handgun range ammo in 9mm and .38Spl. When the Smartphone don't buzz, I know it's them not notifying me.