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

[heeter3]

I order .38 special on line from SGA or Freedom.Freedom is totally out and has been for quite some time .As soon as SGA posts new arrivals they are gone in a matter of hours. Everything that I had been buying at moderate prices is up as could be expected.

 

[CH4]

FWIW, I stopped by a small LGS and picked up a couple 300 rd bulk packs of Federal .223 at $177 each. $.59 per round. I also grabbed 150 rds of
.45 acp.

 

[max]

I don't see any improvement. I was at my gun club yesterday and one of the other shooters was going on about how impossible it was to find 9mm, but .45 was everywhere. I got online last night to check and could find no .45.

 

[uncleted327]

Couldn't get any worse here in upstate NY. I've been using the local Bass Pro as a yardstick. Handgun ammo has been gone for months, but looking just at 30-06 ammo. A month ago they had about 20 different options on the shelves. Two weeks ago they had 4 options. Last week they had 0 options. Not going to get better anytime soon.

 

[robrossk]

Local places here have little if anything. Only handgun ammo I have seen is 25acp, 32acp, and some 44mag. Lots of shotgun ammo, and a lot of rifle ammo. Firearm counters seem to have a little more in stock. Saw Silver Bear .223 at one local shop for $9.97 (tax incl) for box of 20. So 50 cents a round for that stuff. Incredible.

 

[Skeet 028]

In my area..blow away 9mm goes for 20 a box...if you can find it. Russian 223 was 8 bucks a box. Only available gone in an hour. I saw a fellow offering 45 auto 70s military at 25 a box, Even rifle ammo is getting gone in a hurry...but hunting seasons have started here. I had a fellow needed primers and powder for loading 308 ammo. He couldn't even find powder locally. Gave him some 4895 and a hundred primers. He told me he hasn't reloaded in 25 years and it was his only option to be able to go hunting. I had a fellow ask me if I had an AR 15 I would sell him(absolutely not). He owns no firearms. Scary to say the least Getting worse every day

 

[tops]

Last week I saw 9m/m bring $21. a box at an estate sale. This morning I saw 9m/m on the internet for $40. a box. It's out there but a little pricey. Larry

 

[Marshal Tom]

I was in one of our LGS's last week. They had just gotten a pallet of .9mm in. 200rds for 69.95, one box per customer!! The owner said that this was the third price hike that he has seen.

 

[andy52]

I'm good on most of the reloading components with the exception of 125 gr bullets for my .300 blackout. Was looking for some this morning and there are hard to find in stock.

 

[mdf9183]

I was in my local Academy yesterday and all the had was a few 308, 6.5 creedmore and 30.06 but plenty of 12 bird shot. Dove season starts today.
No handgun ammo at all.

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

AMMO ETC.

I am getting reports of pretty bad selection, if at all. Been out of town, but stuff keeps pouring in. One guy said he went into a store and they were selling Blazer .380 for $57.00 & change-- a BOX I dont think it is doing nothing but getting worse-- I wanted to order some boxes (MTM) to be there when I get home-- took me a week -- the old out of stock game. these were for 38 S&W/ 9MM. NO-- it doesnt look good. If one is unprepared one is going to be out of luck.

 

[ancient-one]

9mm is not available. When some is found online the price has been doubled.

 

[lrrifleman]

I frequent few brick and mortar stores, mostly because there are very few in South Jersey. When I am on the road, I try to see what is available, and the cupboard is empty.

Most of my loaded ammo is purchased online. Sportsmen's Guide is showing only 7 specific offerings of handgun ammo available: Remington 32 S&W and 32 S&W Longs, 44 Special, three flavors of 17s, and 8mm blanks, and prices are inflated. At OutdoorUnlimited, 9 mm appears to be starting at $0.80 a round for range ammo. Shotgun shells seem to be more readily available, but I haven't noticed the shot size.

For reloading components, there is some light. Primers are nonexistent. There is some handgun powders available, but not much of a selection. Black powder, many rifle powders, and shotgun powder seems more readily available, plus shotgun primers. I am able to find most of the rifle bullets that I use. Xtreme Bullets is showing stock available, but base price has jumped at least 25%. Berry's is showing limited offerings. Precision Delta has not shown bullets available for about 4 months. I am finding black powder and black powder substitutes to be more available. Just waiting for a shortage of roll caps that would limit my ability to make percussion caps (SERIOUSLY)!

Fortunately, I have all of the molds that I need to make handgun bullets. Good on .35 gas checks. The price of gas checks has even skyrocketed!

I would have to say that the situation is getting worse!

 

[ZGrand]

Can't remember where I saw it online, but saw 50-round boxes of 9mm FMJ for $54.95 each. I ordered 10 boxes. NOT!!

Edit: Found It.....

 

[Echo40]

Ammo prices have gone straight up into the stratosphere as ammo availability has gone down the toilet.

I have no idea who is even buying ammo at these prices, because personally I think they're above and beyond justification unless you have absolutely no ammo on hand whatsoever, and even if that was my situation, then I'd probably just buy a box of two of FMJ the call it a day, because the prices of ammo, especially online are completely absurd after S&H.

My only hope is that by the end of the year folks will have eased up on panic buying ammo and prices with go down to something more reasonable.

 

[moosestang]

I'd probably just buy a box of two of FMJ the call it a day.

Good luck finding even that in some areas.


Over the last week or so, I've stopped at 7 small gun shops in northeast PA and upstate NY. No .380 very little .38spl. Finally found a little guy going out of business and liquidating his stock. Scored four boxes of each at $22, three bux off the marked price to move stuff out the door. It will keep me going for a little while.

 

[Velle]

LGS has plenty of ammo but it's on the high side. Shelves are full of 5.56, .223 and 9MM. They have a rack for .22LR and magnums but anything else you have to ask for. This is what I paid last week for 5.56, 9MM and .38 Special. A month ago I was paying 12.00 for S&B 9MM.

 

[pasound]

Way worse. I'm glad I stocked some I don't think I'll see soon in the future - G2 45+P 230 gr ACP, 9mm 147 gr, 44 spl 165 gr FTX, Win Silvertip 38 spl 110gr, Federal 55 gr 223, Win 223 62gr HP. All shoot well in my guns. Glad I have backups.

Cheaper Than Dirt sent me an email two days ago that said their $59.95 50 round box of 9mm was a bargain...

 

[Jessie]

Worse.....

 

[waffles]

It won't necessarily get too much worse, but it will last a while. I'm on the younger end of this forum and have been shooting since 2009 or so, and since then I've seen the initial Obama panic, the Sandy Hook panic, and the pre-2016 election panic (plus of course this one).

Prices will eventually normalize, though I doubt we'll see the glut of dirt cheap ammo and ARs that we did after the last one as manufacturers don't seem to be gearing up to produce crazy amounts of guns and ammo this time. Once prices are down, just like last time, I'll make sure I'm stocked up on reasonably priced ammo and keep replenishing it so I can shoot reasonably during the panic times as well. I'm sure we'll see another two or three panics of this scale this decade as well.