Ammo shortage? Not around my place. Maybe a shortage of storage space. Don't mean to be rude but who on here couldn't see this coming and stock up last year when prices were low. We didn't know about the virus but we all knew 2020 was going to be an election year that made 2016 look tame by comparison. Right?
Even if you waited for the run on toilet paper to make some moves, things were available this year.
I had plenty of ammo in what I shot, before this year started. When the toilet paper and shutdowns started, I decided to get more.
2k of Herter's brass 9mm, 1k of Federal Aluminum 9mm, $180 a case, Bass Pro/Cabela's. This was when people were whining about backlogs instead of instant shipping. Mine came in a month.
1k of Tula steel 9mm, $154. Higher than it was, but range ammo, still low enough to get some for deep stash purposes.
$200 got me another 1k from Fenix reloads.
Bought a C308 in March, got some surplus brass 7.62 NATO for about 40 cents, got some steel cased 308 for about 35 cents a rd. Got a little over 2k total. Also added some loose brass special (Armscor brass 308) from Lucky Gunner or Ammo Man, $100 for 250 in vacuum sealed bags.
In May I decided I would get an AR (just to have one), later added a second. First rifle was $475, I think the second was $515 or so. Prices were climbing and getting hard to find any of them, I got the second in July, I think.
By then, I had picked up 1k of IMI brass 556 for $369. 2k of Tula steel 223 for $250 apiece. 1k Silver Bear for $279 in July.
Tula 7.62x39, $210 for 1k, to top off what I had there for the SKS.
End of May, someone posted about Targetsportsusa running a deal on Gold Dot, I picked up a case (1k) of 124gr JHP for $399.
I laugh when I think what that would cost today.
I also added more .45 acp, as I could. Defender ammo (even got some factory blemished, that ain't happening anymore!) 500 ct for want to say $140. Got some steel Hot Shot, it shoots, $135 for another 500.
Later I worked a trade with a buddy who had sold his 45's, did an even swap of 9mm for 45. Added oh, maybe 600 rds, using some of my old stash (stuff that cost $160 a case), so we both were happy.
At one point in July or August, someone ran a deal on 9 Makarov, $180 for a case of Silver Bear. As Mak shooters know, this was good even for pre-covid pricing. Earlier this summer, I picked up 10 boxes of PPU brass HP Mak for $11.99 a box, which was decent.
Most recently, I've spent more per rd, between 40-60 cents on some pistol ammo. Sounds high... I didn't own guns in them, but DID own guns that could be converted.
So I added about 3.5k of ammo (9mm Largo and 7.62 Tok) for about $700, and another $100 total for 2 barrels that allow me to shoot them both.
I did a little creative reasoning, and determined that had I bought pistols in those calibers instead of barrels, I'd have spent about $600 on just guns; so using this logic that put the "effective price" of the ammo at $200. Not so bad, when you look at it that way.
So yeah, I spent a lot of money on ammo this year, but seriously bolstered what I had, and added several new calibers to the mix. I don't have need to buy again, for years.
Like you said, you could see it coming, and once it really started to get crazy, it was time to prepare for some dry seasons.
Oh, and to add- I saw this coming, and I was fortunate enough to be "essential" so I didn't lose hours at work. So at some point in the spring, when Lucky Gunner was running a sale on used 50 cal ammo cans @ $7 apiece, I picked up a good amount of those and made sure they were sealing up tight. I got enough for just about everything, including what I had. Might have been the best investment of the bunch. I'm stocked and organized now.
