Ammo "Shortage" of 2020 -- November Update

[MTC(SS)Ret]

I use Ammoseek.com as a search resource for online retailers and set up to receive alerts when ammo falls below a price I set into their search parameters. In the past month I was able to get Federal 9MM 115 FMJ for $24 a box and Aguila 22LR HV 40gr for $30 a brick. Sure it's more than pre-panic prices but those are much lower than averages prices these days IMHO.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

When I get 9mm/38/357/40/45 brass. I just run them through the Dillon's and I'm GTG.

 

[Erv]

Worried about not being able to shoot? Last winter the squirrels were working my bird feeder over and I was surprised at how many I killed with a $45.00 pellet rifle from Walmart. The little steel BBs even killed a couple.

 

[otis24]

I have three new to me handguns. I have a limited supply of ammo and availability is pretty nill here. I am reluctant to use up what I have and will definitely stock up for "next go around" when/if we recover from this!

 

[Winder31]

Hey if you are a CMP member, they have ammo at reasonable prices. Lots of 22 and rifle calibers. No 9mm that I saw. 40 and 45acp HPs. Got some cases of 45acp FMJ last week but they appear to be gone now.

 

[bushmaster1313]

I am reluctant to use up what I have and will definitely stock up for "next go around" when/if we recover from this!

Thoughts like the above—l share them—make me think that this ammo shortage will be longer than any of the prior. I will contribute to the "problem" because, when prices get back to sort of normal I will buy two or three extra cases, and not merely the one extra case like the last time.

 

[Fanner50]

I stopped in the local Gander Outdoors yesterday to browse while running other errands. No center fire ammo except lots of cases of shotgun shells. Had some Aquila .22 shorts. I have a couple of rifles that will shoot them but didn't buy any.

Overheard an out of state guy (Florida) at the gun counter tell the clerk that the further south you went the better supply of ammo. Said Florida had the best supplies he had seen. (The Gander has a big RV sales/service and I assume he was on the road getting his RV serviced.)

Does it appear to others that the shortage is geographical? Here in SW Va. it is bad as I have seen it.

Believe me, Florida doesn't have any ammo either, or what it does have is just as high as anywhere else in the country. We're just like everywhere else.

 

[scoobysnacker]

I don't recall the 2008/2009 shortage being this bad, but maybe the old memory is fading. I remember the 2013/2014 post-Newtown shortage being extremely bad, but at least we had Walmart and that made all the difference after the worst of the initial insanity passed, at least for me.

This time around my options are scary limited and awfully expensive... too expensive, in reality, to buy anything right now and it only seems to be getting worse.

I see no signs at all that things might improve.

This is actually getting worse, instead of better.

I went to a big gun store in town today, first time in a month. And I mean, a big shop.

They normally have hundreds of handguns on display, almost every make and model. A month ago I looked at a Sig P210 there.

Today, the place was almost barren, it looked like the last days of a closing/going out of business sale. They had maybe 30 handguns total, probably 3 quarters of which are the higher end ($2k+) 1911's. 3 or 4 Sigs. A couple CZ's (a Rami, a regular, and a compact). They did have a couple Berettas, including a 92X Performance. That, like the Sig P220 Legion, I think just still too pricy for folks. Didn't see a Glock or M&P, no HK's, and probably only 4 revolvers. Ha, did see a Zastava M57, they wanted $460 for it.

Used rifle rack, I saw one Mini 14, and a couple of Winchester 92's. All for a grand or more.

Rifles behind the counters- I saw a few AR-10s, and it looked like a Tavor was there. Didn't see any complete ARs, and they were selling Anderson lowers for around $90 or so.

Ammo- I saw 308, and then other rifle rounds. A couple of 40 S&W, off to one corner they had some less-popular stuff left- a few 32 acp, some 7.62 Tok, 7.62 Nagant, 7.63 Mauser, some 38 Super, that was it.
Reloading area, they had about 1k of CCI #34 primers, and some powder and bullets. The primers were $5.99 per 100.

I commented to one of the guys working there, and-not to get political- he said after the election, people came in like locusts and cleaned the store out.

 

[littleriver1]

I think the shortage is more to defunding the police than politics but that's just me. If you can buy ammo for less than a $1.00 a round and you don't buy it today. You won't buy it tomorrow. I do not think this is just another ebb and flow. This one is here to stay. The unprinted signs have the most information.

 

[kbm6893]

I think the shortage is more to defunding the police than politics but that's just me. If you can buy ammo for less than a $1.00 a round and you don't buy it today. You won't buy it tomorrow. I do not think this is just another ebb and flow. This one is here to stay. The unprinted signs have the most information.

Unless you're a first time owner who needs ammo to protect his home or to carry, there is no reason to pay that much for ammo. Either this will eventually pass or it won't. If it doesn't pass, skip the range and keep the gun cleaned and ready to fire the ammo you have. Some guy who tries to carjack you isn't gonna know if you've been practicing or not and we all know that range time is more about leisure then actual training anyway. I have thousands of loaded rounds and the components to load thousands more. I'm hanging back for now to see how long I have to stretch it out. I intend to shoot the 3953 I just bought within the next week or so, and when I'm done with that I doubt I'll shoot any center fire ammo until the spring at least.

Well, I do intend to shoot one of my Garand's around Christmas. It's sort of a tradition I have. Shoot 100 rounds then clean until next year. But I'm still shooting surplus ammo from the CMP that I've had for years and stocked up on when it was cheap. At my rate of shooting, my kids will be shooting that ammo and maybe even my grand kids.

 

[TTSH]

... people came in like locusts and cleaned the store out.

Sounds like up here except that the COVID restrictions here in MA are slowing down the selling rate (i.e., gun sales/hour) at the highest sales shops to the point where they are reported waits of up to 3 hours and telling folks via e-mail to stay away. A while back, I waited at least an hour at that shop and the line didn't move at all (except for 'delayed' buyers). Eventually, I had to leave empty-handed.

Now, that same shop just got in a load of vintage S&W revolvers... must be somebody's whole collection... and I want to head back up there badly, but I know it will be pointless. I'm too old and too busy to spend a whole day of driving and waiting in a parking lot just to get a look at some sweet acquisition possibilities.

To be honest, the whole collecting/shooting sports thing is not much fun right now. In fact, it is frustrating as Hell. Maybe the good wife is right: It's time to take up bird watching.

 

[cmj8591]

Either this will eventually pass or it won't.

If it doesn't pass, the gun and ammo manufacturers will go out of business. I don't know what you guys are seeing but people are scraping to make the rent around here. Never mind spending $100 or $200 or more to shoot on the week end. The civilian shooting world will not support $1 a round for range ammo. At that price, recreational shooting will come to an end.

 

[kbm6893]

If it doesn't pass, the gun and ammo manufacturers will go out of business. I don't know what you guys are seeing but people are scraping to make the rent around here. Never mind spending $100 or $200 or more to shoot on the week end. The civilian shooting world will not support $1 a round for range ammo. At that price, recreational shooting will come to an end.

I agree the current prices can't last. If anything, people are gonna go into debt to get their stash and then sit on it. I remember right after Newtown, no name AR's were going for $2000. I laughed at those who bought them. 6 months later they were back to normal. In the six month after Newtown, components were nowhere to be found. When I found some, the store owner was opening primer bricks and selling the individual 100 primer trays for $7 each, with a limit of 5 trays. 6 months after that they were back down to normal.

Will it be back to $20 for 100 9MM any time soon? Nope. I'd say by this time next year we're approaching normal. But this $300 for primers and $1 a round 9MM will be over within 3 months. Those who are willing to pay those prices will have gotten their fix and then the ammo will sit in shelves at that price.

 

[stansdds]

Eventually, the firearms and ammo markets will reach a point of saturation, where the demand has been met and people stop buying. At that point, prices will tumble. Basic economics.

 

[bushmaster1313]

Eventually, the firearms and ammo markets will reach a point of saturation, where the demand has been met and people stop buying. At that point, prices will tumble. Basic economics.

^^^True

But one thing slowing the return to lower prices is the fact that it is more difficult for a consumer to sell ammo than to buy it. Because of this, consumers tend to sit on ammo bought at low prices even though they would sell much of it at a higher price if they could. If it were easier for a consumer to sell ammo there would be more ammo in circulation and prices would come down faster.

 

[Dave Lively]

But one thing slowing the return to lower prices is the fact that it is more difficult for a consumer to sell ammo than to buy it.

I see a lot of ammo for sale on the local trading forum.

But in general I agree. If people could post a listing on eBay and stuff it in a USPS flat rate box for shipping there would be a lot more people selling cases they do not need than there are now.

 

[BC38]

I see a lot of ammo for sale on the local trading forum.

But in general I agree. If people could post a listing on eBay and stuff it in a USPS flat rate box for shipping there would be a lot more people selling cases they do not need than there are now.

Is there a hazmat charge to ship ammo in a flat rate box?

I'm seeing the same thing you described happening here too. On our most prominent local gun forum there are a number of people offering 9mm/45ACP at 55-75 cents a round. Also plenty of them offering steel .223/5.56/7.62x39 at 60-75 cents a round and brass in those same calibers for $1.00-$1.25 a round.

Funny thing how many of them are new members too - strange how the profiteers come out of the woodwork when there is a shortage of a commodity, isn't it?

 

[truckerdave397]

I see a lot of ammo for sale on the local trading forum.

But in general I agree. If people could post a listing on eBay and stuff it in a USPS flat rate box for shipping there would be a lot more people selling cases they do not need than there are now.

There are a couple of auction houses around me where ammo and primers are sold at. Local pickup only. It sells for a high dollar but the auction house keeps around 30%.

 

[Wyo]

I thought that the shortage was regional until recently. Up until about a month ago we still had most ammo available at semi-reasonable prices. It has become apparent, though, that once the stores sold off their in-stock inventory they have been unable to replace it. So now the shelves are bare. I went in two stores yesterday. One is a regional chain store and the other is national. The first one had a little rifle ammo for some oddball calibers. The only pistol ammo they had was 6 boxes of 32/20 at $59 each. No .22LR at all, of course. The other had no pistol ammo at all, no rimfire and virtually no rifle ammo. 30/30 has gone extinct around here. A few dealers I know are keeping enough 9mm under the counter so they can sell one box with each 9mm pistol they sell. Same with .45's. So, while I thought we might be spared, it turns out I was wrong. I'm pretty well stocked for now but I might have to start cutting back if this goes on another year or so.

 

[Dave Lively]

Is there a hazmat charge to ship ammo in a flat rate box?

You cannot ship ammo USPS period. Can't sell it on eBay either. But if you could there would be a lot more of it being sold.