Rummer has it that cleaning patches are also going up so hang on to your drawers fellas even the stained ones will be worth gold.
I can always cut them out of old underwear. Are those the stained one's we're discussing here?
OK, folks have different means. We made different wages over the years and some of us saved more than others.
These aren't the bad times, yet. Price gouging has a place. It keeps ammo available for those who suddenly see the light and will pay the outrageous prices. This coming week there's a show in Southern Kentucky. I may just dig out a case of 1000 9mm and maybe 20 boxes of 550 Federals and see what I can wring out of them. Don't cry for me, I still may have a handful of 22s if things get even tougher. And if things do get better, I'll just re-invest in ammo. Or give the money to Momma for safe keeping.
We all need to learn our lessons. For me it was in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I was poor. But I had an old beat up Marlin bolt 22 and somehow was given a 4x tip off mount scope. It was ugly, but I could hit what I aimed at, usually. I mostly never had more than a box of ammo and a handful of odd cartridges. Me going shooting over at the dump or gravel pit almost never saw me with more than 30 rounds. And I always carried home 5 or 6 rounds. Never use your last shot, or shots if you expected wild indians to attack.
I had friends and other shooters (I didn't consider them all to be friends, some just useful idiots) who had semi auto 22s. God they had fun burning up the entire magazine throwing lead "at" a target. Often a panel of an old car, or an appliance. To their credit, they usually walked their shots in and scored a few hits. But they were rich kids and just enjoyed what they were doing. I couldn't. Rapid fire with a bolt gun wasn't one of my skills. One of the kids dads said something that I repeated many times. He told his kid and some others not to pick up the ammo they dropped. It picked up sand and would damage the action and chamber of their 22s. God I loved it. They'd just leave that gold lying on the ground! And yes, when they left, I'd pick it up. I'd even wipe it off on my T shirt and shoot it! If you invested an hour you could sometimes pick up another box of ammo. All of it mixed. But at the 40 or so yards, you didn't notice any ill effect from different ammo.
Even 50+ years ago, I could have a fun afternoon shooting 50 rounds, picking up 30 or so off the ground. Better still, I could usually hit what I aimed at even if it took me a few seconds to aim. Granted not as much fun as burning a magazine load. But I didn't have that capability anyway.
And I guess I've heard the end of kids at the indoor range ripping away a 30 round magazine of .223s. At one of the 2 indoor ranges within easy driving distance, I always looked at the owner of the ranges face when they did that. He always got a grin. They mostly bought their ammo from him. Now that its a $1 a shot everyone will think they're stupid.
I also wonder if the good old days of sweeping the range floor will be over. My youngest used to bring home bags full of empties. The problem was he'd give it to his older brother, not to dad. Cause and effect, he doesn't get free ammo to burn now.
Back to the shortages. The domestic makers already make over a billion rounds a year of 22s. Foreign suppliers probably make that much, too. Every maker is cranked up to full blast. What this little run on the market has done is empty the entire pipeline. There is still ammo rolling in at the manufacturer end. But as soon as it appears in a retail setting, it vanishes. Cry was we do about the economy, there is a lot of money and pent up demand. This shortage will continue until all the guys who are suffering have their 10,000 round stockpile. Or however much they feel is adequate. Then slowly the warehouses and store shelves will start making it from one delivery to the next without running out. The word from the SHOT show was it'll take them 2 years to catch up. The risk is when they finally do, shooters will begin shooting their stockpile, not buying more as they have in the past.
Suddenly there will be ammo on the shelves and more in the back room. So they'll have a sale. And you can bet I'll be there with Ben Franklin's waiting for it.
Remember the old saying "a fool and his money are soon parted?" That'll be my slogan next weekend. And I'll hope the shortage goes away and not get worse so I'll regret selling.
