Finally found some ammo...

[Capt Steve]

Like most out there I have been trying to buy some ammo. I don't want to hoard, just add a few boxes of the various calibers that I like to shoot at the range, 32, .380, 38, 9mm, 44 etc.

The local Big Five gets a delivery and restocks their shelves every Monday morning around 1030. I stopped by at 1015 to find 15 guys sitting around on ice chests waiting to buy whatever they put put out on the shelves. Come back at 1045 and every box was sold and gone {no limits per customer}.

Fortunately the LGS gets ammo in bulk and while the prices are absurdly high from just a few months ago they do have it on the shelf with reasonable limits. Picked up a box of 500 rounds of 9mm for $300 {one box per customer}, 300 rounds of .380 for $130 {one box per customer}, a box of 44 mag for $45 and 5.56 was 150 rounds for $130 {2 boxes per customer}. Threw in a package of shoot and see targets and walked out for $872.

The 9mm, and .380 I will be splitting with my best friend and the 5.56 is for him as he just got a nice Colt AR and has been unable to buy a single round anywhere for the last 6 months {I bought him two boxes}. We get together every couple of months and head to the local range. Next month will be the first time he will be able to fire his new rifle and he just added a Glock 9mm to his collection so it should be a fun trip.

I try to keep at least a couple of boxes of every caliber in my armory but 32 and 38's are next to impossible to find at any price. I jumped on the .380 and was damned glad to find some more 9mm. I've given up on finding any 357's and 22 Mag's are just a distant memory. Shotgun shells are still somewhat available and still have a couple of bricks of 22's.

My understanding is that the manufacturers have not slowed production, if anything they are cranking it out as fast as they can. I doubt that will change as there is so much money being made so other than hoarding why is ammo so hard to find...regardless of the price?

 

[lihpster]

Simple answer? The guys on the ice chests.

 

[7tenz]

Wonder if this is showing up on craigslist or ebay. Looks like our own is doing it to us again.

 

[Jim1392]

Gunbroker and other sites is where these people are selling the ammo they are waiting for. I have plenty of 22 but I went onto GB and saw sales of 5000 rounds of CCI Mini Mags all the way up to $1400.00 per case. This is not for sale but sold so someone is buying it at those prices.

 

[Jack Flash]

"the prices are absurdly high from just a few months ago"

My guess is that they only get a small allotment of ammo, yet still have to pay the same overhead (utilities/rent/mortgage/salaries/etc.) out of the meager sales they are able to make.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

I encourage ever shooter out there to start reloading. Every
cal mentioned I load for and have a great supply of brass, powder,
bullets and primers. And for you younger guys, when you buy
components, push yourself and buy primers by the sleeve (5K) bullets
by the thousands and lots and lots of powder. When this is over, it will
happen again. Everyone gets advice. Only the wise profit from it.

 

[zeke]

Am glad you found some rounds at what might be considered a reasonable price now a days. However by learning through multiple previous experiences combined with planning ahead, am not worrying about availability..... yet. Given the record numbers of gun sales, possible future of regulations and changing population curves, the scarcity is not unexpected.

 

[SPEEDGUNNER]

Simple answer? The guys on the ice chests.

I agree with this statement. There are scores of ads for ammo on the local firearms forum, all quantity offerings at insane inflated prices. My first thought when this all started was that guys were taking advantage of the market to sell off ammo stocks surplus to their shooting needs. But with the quantities being offered it is obvious these guys are speculators profiting off the current situation. It pisses you off for sure, but it is the law of supply and demand and our economy has shown that capitalism works as an economic engine.

You just have to get there earlier...beat them at their own game.

 

[BeAnalog]

I found a small gun shop near me yesterday out in the country. Believe it or not they actually have ammo, guns and more! I asked for a box of 38 special which they had in stock at a whopping $90 for a box of 50! This is getting insane. No thanks, they could keep it at that price.

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[quikdraw67]

I found a small gun shop near me yesterday out in the country. Believe it or not they actually have ammo, guns and more! I asked for a box of 38 special which they had in stock at a whopping $90 for a box of 50! This is getting insane. No thanks, they could keep it at that price.

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With prices like that no wonder that they have ammo in stock.

 

[sigp220.45]

I found a small gun shop near me yesterday out in the country. Believe it or not they actually have ammo, guns and more! I asked for a box of 38 special which they had in stock at a whopping $90 for a box of 50! This is getting insane. No thanks, they could keep it at that price.

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Remember this the next time people start in with the "support your local Mom and Pop gunshop" stuff. I'd bet some of the ice chest vultures cited above work for smaller shops.

What a strange world where the big box stores are our true friends.

 

[muddocktor]

Sure makes me glad I reload and have a decent supply of components.

 

[Capt Steve]

Now I remember...

OP here and a couple of posts reminded me of something that happened about 12 years ago when Obama was first elected. Everyone went spastic, he was going to take all of our guns and ammo etc., etc. and much like now ammo was outrageously priced if you could even find some.

The local Walmart gun guy told me that every Tuesday when they got their ammo shipment the LGS would send every employee they had to be in line when their incoming stock hit the shelves. They each bought the max allowed, dutifully took it back to their shop where it was marked up about 150%. Funny how some things just never seem to change... sigh.

After a few months the market settled out as supply began to catch up with demand just as I am sure it will once again. Like the old Pogo cartoon... we have met the enemy and he is us.

 

[smoothshooter]

Am glad you found some rounds at what might be considered a reasonable price now a days. However by learning through multiple previous experiences combined with planning ahead, am not worrying about availability..... yet. Given the record numbers of gun sales, possible future of regulations and changing population curves, the scarcity is not unexpected.

The scarcity and high prices are permanent.
There will be some fluctuations year to year, as average prices and availability improve somewhat, but we will never see 2019 prices and supply levels again.
I have stopped all shooting of rifle and pistol cartridge guns, except for a couple of my carry guns which I shoot 6 to 10 rounds of ammo through every six months or so. Ammo has become too precious for me to burn up in target practice. What I have on hand I bought cheap years ago, and replacement costs are scary.
I have several black powder guns and an ample supply of powder, caps, and flints. These guns will do anything I am likely to need a firearm for, so they will be my " go to " guns for the foreseeable future.

 

[YkcorCal]

Sounds to me like they need to build more production facilities!

 

[Univibe]

The scarcity and high prices are permanent.
There will be some fluctuations year to year, as average prices and availability improve somewhat, but we will never see 2019 prices and supply levels again.
.

That's what they say every Panic. And eventually they're giving away ammo and guns again. Be patient. This too shall pass.

 

[scoobysnacker]

There are 5 basic groups of ammo buyers.

1. first group has a good stash built over time, and/or reloads and has components
2. next group owns a few guns maybe, has a couple boxes of ammo that lasts months to years, but they wanted insurance this year
3. 3rd group has guns, but not a deep stash of ammo, and they got hit by the panic, and now things are tight
4. 4th group are the new gun buyers, who need ammo for their guns
5. 5th are the flippers, who buy and sell to make a profit

Now, everyone is looking, but not everyone is buying.

Group 1 is watching, trying to find a deal, or just watching the market.
Group 2 has likely added their additional ammo, they feel good.
Group 4 has spent a couple hundred on their guns, likely that much on ammo for their new guns, and are now good... they will mostly join group 2.

Group 4 and 5 are out there daily, fighting each other for whatever hits the shelves. Group 4 hates group 5, but are the reason that group exists.

Federal is shipping ammo to Bass Pro and Academy. It's $14.99 a box of 50 on the shelf. That isn't far from pre-covid prices, Federal was never the cheapest brand.

I'm in group 1, I don't need any more. If you want to buy it all, good for you. But I'm not going to pay you double to get my share, so I will leave you to choke on it. I have $8 boxes of S&B and Fiocchi. Enough to last, last quite a few years if I have to slow down.
I can go to the range and shoot a magazine if need be, and then ease off. I don't have to shoot 200 rds just because I can, it doesn't necessarily do any good, and right now it isn't worth it.

I can wait you out, until you can't afford to keep buying it, and can't keep storing it.
That time will come sooner if a bunch of us join me in waiting.

And sooner or later, that increased production will fill the shelves, and then deliveries will leave stores overstocked. And they eventually have to run sales to move it, to keep things flowing. And then I will start buying more again.

 

[robertrwalsh]

I happened into a LGS today that actually had some ammo on the shelf. The only ammo that I seriously looked at was .45 ACP S&B ball. It was $39 for box of 50. Were I desperate I would have paid it. I wasn't, so I didn't. Maybe six months ago I did pay $30 for 100 .45 ACP reloads at the range, which I considered semi-reasonable.

 

[kbm6893]

The guys on the ice chests aren't the problem. The people stupid enough to pay their prices are. People stop paying those prices and the ice chest guys disappear. I don't want to hear about new shooters needing ammo. If I was a first time gun buyer, I'd be forced to buy ONE box of ammo so I could defend my family. I'd fire one magazine or cylinder to verify I could do it, load the gun and not fire another round until this madness was over. $30 for a box of target load 9MM? No way I'd pay that unless I had not one round.

I started reloading after Newtown. I'm low on primers but have thousands of primed rounds ready to load. But when this is over, components will be my new focus.

 

[uncleted327]

I went into my local Bass Pro Wednesday and they actually had some ammo for the first time in a long time. 50 rd boxes of 40 for $18.99 and 100 round boxes of 38 and most surprisingly, 380. Both for $49.99. They had a few 50 rd boxes of 10mm too. All range ammo, but it was the first 380 I've seen since this all began.