I Caved

[swsig]

I have a pretty good supply of ammo, and I feel sorry for those who have to buy in today's market. With current retail ammo availability at near-zilch levels and priced accordingly, I had planned to wait until prices returned to normal before I bought any more. I'm not doing any shooting until The Plague is over, so my supply is holding steady, and I have been feeling pretty smug about my ammo situation.

Recently, some Sellier & Bellot .357 SIG hollow point ammo became available at SG Ammo for 66 cents per round. While I don't need any more HP rounds, S&B has a good reputation, the price was semi-decent for HP in today's market, and in a pinch I could use them for target rounds. But I already had nearly a year's supply, so I passed. But I couldn't leave well enough alone. Just for the heck of it, I checked out these rounds on S&B's website. They have a rated muzzle velocity of 1476 fps, and muzzle energy of 597 ft/lbs. Yowsa! That's much greater than most other .357 SIG rounds, so I did what any dedicated .357 SIG shooter would do, I ordered a bunch. Yes, I Caved.

Any other Cavers out there?

 

[Eddie Southgate]

No . Not buying anything at inflated prices , ammo or components either one . Did make an offer on some ammo but the seller wanted more than I felt like it was worth regardless of current situation so I did not get it .

 

[kraynky]

Not here. If I don't already have it to load, I'm not buying until the craziness is over. If I ran across some 22LR at around 5¢ I might be tempted, but I'm not sure why, I think I have plenty.

I also might buy some primers if I ran across them at 3¢, but I think I'm good there too. No buying at nutty prices though.

S&B does make some good ammo and primers tho.......

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

I will cave when I find brass 9MM FMJ online for less than 36 cents or 22LR for less than .10. I have been in the right place at the right time and have been able to get Sig 115 FMJ and Federal 115 FMJ around that price in the past 3 months and 22LR as low at .07.
It does turn up from time to time.

 

[ContinentalOp]

No, at least not yet. I'm adequately stocked on 9mm and .38 Special for the time being. However, I have a couple of 1911s in .45ACP. I don't really carry them, and have never intended them to be anything but a couple of range guns, so not as high a priority for shooting as my carry guns. So, I don't have much ammo for them.

But my interest in 1911s has been rekindled in the past couple of months or so, and I was able to take them to the range for a little workout last month, which only strengthened my interest in them. I've even started carrying one of them around the house, loaded with 230gr HST. So I've been rethinking the possibility of carrying 1911s (I've always preferred DA guns). But I only have 50 rounds of FMJ for range use and 50 rounds of HST. While I can't afford to buy any ammo right now, I have been checking here and there for FMJ prices for more range trips. So if I can set aside the funds, I may look into getting a case if it's not too expensive.

 

[Green Frog]

I will cave when I find brass 9MM FMJ online for less than 36 cents or 22LR for less than .10. I have been in the right place at the right time and have been able to get Sig 115 FMJ and Federal 115 FMJ around that price in the past 3 months and 22LR as low at .07.
It does turn up from time to time.

Sounds like you are at about the same frame of reference as I am... I have “plenty” for my needs and will just try to replenish at prices I consider reasonable. Right after the big brouhaha surrounding Sandy Hook I was buying my first AR (don’t ask!) and paid $859 for a case of 1000 rounds of factory ammo. I’ve promised myself to never be in that situation again.

I even bought up a decent supply of 9mms before I really started shooting that caliber much, so at this point I still have enough I haven’t started casting and reloading yet.

Froggie

 

[JJEH]

Any other Cavers out there?

No, not for ammo. I rather hold on to what I have.

Some distributors have raised prices of certain items, then I'll have to adjust my prices as well, but most hasn't.

Also, Buffalo Bore doesn't take advantage of the situation and neither is Weatherby should you order straight from their website.

 

[MyDads38]

NOPE, not buying anything at inflated prices. Not shooting for the past 7 months has saved my ammo and components. In a few days, we'll all see where things stand or are headed.

 

[Richard Simmons]

Nope. I have plenty. I’ll leave what’s available to those who didn’t plan well or are first time gun owners. May start selling some though.

 

[Sevens]

Seems to me that if I were to swear off shooting until the gundemic or gunmageddon is over, it would be incredibly EASY to “not cave.”

I have no intention (currently) to take such a drastic stance. Still, no, I’m not caving.

As a side bar to the discussion, I fully understand that folks get caught in bad situations and how that happens, I am condemning noone. HOWEVER! I’m from the camp that says every time you pay some inflated price for something during a toilet market... you are casting your vote that supports high, rotten prices.

To reiterate, I understand that good folks are sometimes found in lousy positions, but it’s still a single up vote that says “your price is horrendous AND HERE IS MY MONEY.”

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

I have built up my ammo reserves to about 1800 rounds 9MM and 2500 rounds 22LR in the last 6 months. Reasonable prices are still out there it just takes searching and good luck to find it when it's available. Ammoseek.com has been my best resource for finding it.

 

[Geno44]

I started reloading in about 1962. I have a pretty good supply of Winchester 158 grain and 125 grain jacketed hollow points I bought probably 15 years ago for five cents each probably from Midway. I've got a bunch of primers I bought for one cent each by the 5000 and some 2400 around here I bought for five dollars a pound. I can roll my own .357 magnum for probably under ten cents a round and make any safe speed I want. I can do lead .45 auto target ammo for about five cents per round with Bullseye and three cent bullets purchased 20 years ago.

 

[cgt4570]

Thankfully my silos are pretty well stocked.
I did pick up a few boxes of oddball stuff like .327 (more than I've paid before but less than average going prices) while traveling through rural AL for work last week.
Rounds and components are going for up to 10 times what I have in them! Penney primers are going for 10 cents each!
I'm tempted to sell some, but I doubt it will ever be found for those prices again.

 

[smoothshooter]

I hear and read about people going out and blasting away 100 to 500 rounds of ammo at one outing, and then complaining about high prices and low availability. Makes me laugh.

I shoot less than 50 rounds a month nowadays, and some months, none at all.
I personally consider ammo too much of a precious commodity to recklessly blast away when usually 10 to 20 rounds a week or month is enough to maintain skill, once learned. I got pretty good many years ago, so very little additional ammo is required to “ maintain “ the skill level I am comfortable with.

 

[Delta Rose]

I do not shoot ammo faster than I can replace it. While I have a good supply, I still purchase ammo when I can find it at sane, pre-hysteria prices.

 

[Oldfrt]

The only thing I am caving on is getting set up for the 59 Beowulf. With it not being a inexpensive round to begin with I broke down and have a couple hundred rounds of loaded ammo and I just got the dies, cutter and chamber checker yesterday. Earlier in the week I got a 1000 primers and two pounds of powder and 50 bullets. I still need go go to the range with it to verify that the rifle will run, the last outing resulted in jams due to not modifying the metal 223/556 magazines enough, I have 4 new 50 Beowulf polymer mags and hit the 2 metal mags with the files a couple days ago.

 

[SweetMK]

There must not be much of a market for 10MM around here,,

A local LGS, just last week, had 50 round boxes of new 10MM ammo for $21 per box.

That $21 per box does not seem to be a penny more than the "normal" price for 10MM,,
so,, in this case,, I became a "caver",,

I bought it, because I only had reloads for my 10MM,,

I never considered the 10MM a SHTF gun (it is a Gold Cup),, but,, who knows,,,
It is NICE to have factory ammo for the 10MM,,,

 

[swsig]

OP Update

One benefit of Caving during the current ammo shortage is that when your (rare) order comes in, you can get prompt service. I ordered my ammo at 11 am yesterday, it was packed and ready to go by 12:30, and UPS Ground had it on my front porch at 10 am this morning. SG Ammo is about 350 miles from my home, and that was an all-time record for quick delivery. It's a small silver lining, but a silver lining nonetheless.

 

[sigp220.45]

It seems like not shooting is “caving” more than paying higher prices for ammo is.

I shoot at least once a week. That is why I have ammo. Its not for some imaginary shootout with the forces of evil.

I’ll check for ammo in the big box stores while I am out and about. The other day I found 100 round packs of WWB 115 grain 9mm ball for 22 bucks each. I got two, some 30/30s for 17 bucks a box, and a 500 round box of Aguila .22 LR hollowpoints for 26 bucks at Cabelas. I almost got some 32/20s but I passed. If I owned a .218 Bee I could have stocked up.

The hated big box stores seem to be holding the line on prices, while the beloved Mom and Pop places are charging a buck a round for crummy steel cased ball.

 

[Sevens]

The big box stores are not sticking to some heartfelt axiom by not raising prices, they are just out of touch and not very bright.