Is the 2020 ammo situation getting better or worse -- Your Observations

I went to three of the larger gun emporiums yesterday, and found exactly three (3)boxes of ammo on the shelves of one store. 2 .22 shorts, and one WMR. I guess one could say that defines grim!
 
I'm not worried about ammo since I have been stocking it for over a decade but the situation is definitely getting worse. I walked into a gun shop today that had a whole shelf full of 9mm 50 round boxes. They had sticker prices at almost $40... Unbelievable. Right now is a good time to start collecting knives.
 
I got some Blazer Brass 9mm at Scheels in Billings MT at $14.99 a box with a 2 box limit. My wife got 2 and I got 2. This was about 5 days ago. About 3-4 months ago they were going for, if my memory in right, $10.99 a box of 50.
 
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I got some Blazer Brass 9mm at Scheels in Billings MT at $14.99 a box with a 2 box limit. My wife got 2 and I got 2. This was about 5 days ago. About 3-4 months ago they were going for, if my memory in right, $10.99 a box of 50.

I almost bought some of that in Billings the other day...but just didn't need it...then...bought a Sig 365 on Sunday...wish I had bought some now...but still don't NEED it
 
Revisited my local Bass Pro today, selection is even worse. They did have 6 boxes of Remington Core-Lokt 30-06 and a few boxes of Herters. Even saw 6 boxes of 40 S&W Winchester WB. But overall everything on the shelves combined wouldn't fill carry on bag...
 
here in southern california it's worse than ever. haven't been able to buy anything locally for ages, and now every online dealer that ships to california is sold out too. signed up for "notify when in stock" messages weeks ago and haven't received a single notice, even at places where i have a membership that should get me near the front of the line.
 
Worse through 2020

With the civil unrest, and potential for political turmoil, I believe that the ammo shortage will get worse -- for all calibers. I have talked to dealers, shooters and friends and all say the same thing: ammo shortage is going critical and regardless of what the gun magazines say-- the ammo availability will become more severe. Resupply from the ammo factories is highly unlikely. I go to gun shows and people are buying anything by the caseloads. I see lines of people buying components to reload.
 
I don't get out much, so don't know much about the supply at my LGS's. I'm reluctant to shoot up anything I have for fear of running out and never being able to replenish. I have wondered if shooting enthusiasts are migrating down to black powder arms, then air rifles and CO2 guns, then archery. Our options just keep getting more expensive and limited. I hate to think our hobby will become pure collecting, not shooting.
 
Just another good reason to keep a .40 in the collection..... When 9mm, .45, .38, .357, and just about everything else was out of stock, I was buying quality .40 JHP for $15 per box. It may not be as popular right now but a .40 will get the job done.
 
Just another good reason to keep a .40 in the collection.....

I was about to post that there is no 40 to be found either so that argument is no longer true.

But I checked sgammo and they have some Magtech FMJ at $.52/round with a 5 box max order. As well as several types of HP ammo. Magtech 9mm FMJ also shows up when using the "Only show items in stock" filter but is priced at $.60/round and the quantity on hand is listed at -9. And only one type of HP ammo is listed.

Its not just 40. If I was desperate for self defense ammo and didn't have enough in 9mm they had quite a bit of 44 special for my S&W69. They FMJ I like was up from ~$.52 to $.72 a round but there was no limit and they had quite a bit of HP available too

So having guns that shoot a wide range of calibers still helps even in this shortage. But a much better solution is to pick the calibers you want and buy enough ammo to get through the next shortage.
 
Mid August the Dicks in Rutland VT had good shipments Blazer 147 fmj 9mm at $14/50. I was able to buy 20 boxes over 3 days.
They also had .45 and .38 for $21/50.
I use to avoid Dicks for ammo as they were too expensive, now it seems they have stuck to their old prices which are now good.
They also have Rifle ammo.
 
Mid August the Dicks in Rutland VT had good shipments Blazer 147 fmj 9mm at $14/50. I was able to buy 20 boxes over 3 days.
They also had .45 and .38 for $21/50.
I use to avoid Dicks for ammo as they were too expensive, now it seems they have stuck to their old prices which are now good.
They also have Rifle ammo.
Dick's still sells dastardly evil pistol ammo??? :eek:

Who knew??? :confused:
 
Just another good reason to keep a .40 in the collection...
I was about to post that there is no 40 to be found either so that argument is no longer true.
I remember clearly that back in the dark days following Newtown, .40 S&W was the only common range ammo left on the shelves in my local Bass Pro (and there was plenty of it). Back then, the advice was good: Have a .40 in the collection if you want to keep shooting. :)

Today, it is still true to a degree. As we speak, the only handgun ammo I can find in-stock to buy on-line is .40. The difference is that it is all self-defense ammo and very expensive. :o

I was also in a shop last Tuesday and what do I see left on their otherwise bare pistol ammo shelf? :confused: Sure 'nuff... four 50-round boxes of .40 range ammo at $20/box. :eek:

So it still holds true, but probably not to the same degree as it did during the 2013-2014 post-Newtown ammo crisis. :cool:
 
I'm fairly well stocked on the more common calibers since I've been too busy to shoot much for the last several months and have typically ordered ammo in bulk over the years. Yesterday, I had some free time and decided to try and hunt down some .357 Sig JHPs, a caliber I don't shoot much. I was surprised at how bare the shelves were at the 3 stores I visited since I hadn't been looking for ammo lately. I ended up finding two boxes of V-Crowns for $25.99 each, which probably isn't bad for .357 Sig hollow points. One of the stores had a guy selling ammo on consignment. He was asking $60 for fifty-round boxes of cheap 9mm range ammo (forget which brand). People were buying it. The only chain store I went to was Academy. They had absolutely no handgun ammo in stock. I don't recall the last ammo shortage being as bad around here.
 
.40 S&W is just as scarce as anything else at this point, presumably because most of the first-time gun-buyers scooped up all the cheap .40cal pistols that lined the shelves of every gunshop.

The only reason why .40 S&W remained readily available during past ammo shortages is because the only folks buying ammo were existing gun owners, most of whom favored 9mm Luger or .45 ACP over .40 S&W, but now we have an influx of first-time gun-buyers who just wanted cheap pistols for Self-Defense, and there was a surplus of .40cal pistols on the market both from police trade-ins as well as folks who merely followed their lead, so it was basically the perfect storm for .40 S&W ammo availability to tank.

Declaining popularity of .40 S&W cartridge + influx of first-time gun-buyers + cheap surplus .40cal pistols + decreased .40cal ammo production = no more .40 S&W ammo.
 
.40 S&W is just as scarce as anything else at this point, presumably because most of the first-time gun-buyers scooped up all the cheap .40cal pistols that lined the shelves of every gunshop.

The only reason why .40 S&W remained readily available during past ammo shortages is because the only folks buying ammo were existing gun owners, most of whom favored 9mm Luger or .45 ACP over .40 S&W, but now we have an influx of first-time gun-buyers who just wanted cheap pistols for Self-Defense, and there was a surplus of .40cal pistols on the market both from police trade-ins as well as folks who merely followed their lead, so it was basically the perfect storm for .40 S&W ammo availability to tank.

Declaining popularity of .40 S&W cartridge + influx of first-time gun-buyers + cheap surplus .40cal pistols + decreased .40cal ammo production = no more .40 S&W ammo.

Probably a lot of truth to that. I have long been a fan of the .40 S&W and when you could not find other calibers I bought a fair amount of .40. We have 6 pistols here in the caliber. I did stock up a bit on more than a few brands and also Speer Gold Dot short barrel since SWMBO doesn't care as much for the snappy(which seems to be the most used term) recoil. She like those a bit.
 
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