doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What's the story on ammo?

I've been loosely tracking the availability of ammo locally and the metallic cartridge stuff is flat getting scarce around here. Shotgun shells seems to be fine (FWIW, I haven't been tracking primers or powder), but I've seen .22 long rifle at the shops going for $150 for 500 round bricks (when you can find it). I've put some stuff away for a rainy day, but I'm wondering if that will be enough. What's the consensus? Will this shortage eventually blow over or will it only get worse?

No answers? Afraid of having drones, Mraps and FEMA camps in your near future?

Think Beany Babies. When the hoarders realize the ammunition manufacturers can make more than they can buy the price will come back down.

Same thing with Bushmasters and other military style rifles.

it will blow over. this stuff has become cyclic. unfortunately the only way to avoid them is to stock up whenit does and sustain that stock until it happens again

There's been a huge increase in ammo buying since 2008 and downright panic buying since the 2012 elections. All types of ammo are in short supply. I was at the local Cabela's about a month ago and one of their salesmen told me they had received a huge supply of 22rf in last evenings shipment and it was gone in a matter of minutes after they opened.
Part of this is due to hoarding and part is due to unscrupulous individuals buying at retail thus cleaning out the store's inventory and jacking the prices up 3 times or so and making a big profit at others expense.
In my own case I've always keep a more than adequate supply on hand and don't really need anything at the moment.
My advice to everyone is to sit tight and supply will catch back up with demand and prices will be adjusted accordingly. This will certainly be the case when the "hoarders for profit" discover they have no customers.
Jim

Similar to the shortages after Obama's first election, but this is more acute because of the current gun control mania. Lots of panic buying by people who have never owned a gun before. I know one guy who never owned a gun until about a month ago, now he has four. He's buying all the ammo in sight, and even buys stuff he can't shoot (wrong caliber) just so he has trade bait. The WalMart that is closest to me gets small shipments about five times per week, arrives in the store about 4:00pm, sold out by 5:00pm. People just hanging around the sporting goods department waiting for someone to wheel out today's load. Also a lot of scalping going on, selling to the unwary or to the newbies by private parties. Those scalpers are probably buying at WalMart and reselling at 300% markup on CraigsList.

I also remember hitting up garage sales after the 2008 election around midterm(2010). I was able to buy up some ammo for penneys on the dollar. The story I'd usually get is we bought this because we though ammo sales would be banned. We didn't really have any use for it so now we just want to get rid of it.


Quote:
"He's buying all the ammo in sight, and even buys stuff he can't shoot (wrong caliber) just so he has trade bait. "

This is funny in one way and sad in another.

Jim

Primers, when you find them, are still very high. Lead shot is near $45.00/25 lbs. 22 ammo is as others noted two or three times last years prices. Lead is not coming down much in the near or long term. Primers have been high for years and most likely will not drop any time soon. The price of .22 ammo will drop back next year I am told. If you look at surplus ammo for military use it is getting to a buck a round. Going bang has never been so expensive. Nontoxic shot is getting to be more reasonable at three bucks a shot when lead is over a buck.

If you have a buddy who has stopped shooting you should offer to buy his unused inventory. Reclaimed shot if you can find it can save you 25-33%. I have all the used primers you need if you are looking for some.

Patience, the nitwits will have more ammo than they can hold soon and then normal future potential buying will be less and the prices will be down and supplies will be up.

Is there any truth to the story that Homeland Security has been purchasing large amounts of ammo for undisclosed reasons?

Roughly one year ago at this time, Cabela's was selling four 525 round bricks of Federal .22LR in a plastic ammo can for under $60.00 delivered. Adjusted for inflation, that was probably as cheap as at any time in my life, so I got four of those deals. The gun shows I've been to in the past few months have been an absolute madhouse, and one ammo vendor told me he had $31,000 in sales the previous weekend. As I look at the long lines of people lining up to pay a buck a round for .223 and similar inflated prices on everything else, I can't help but wonder:

1) Did they even vote in 2012?
2) Did they really believe Obama would not come after guns?
3) Have they joined the NRA yet?
4) Have they contacted their Legislators to tell them any infringement of the Second Amendment will not be tolerated?
5) Will they remember to vote out the anti-gunners in the 2014 mid-terms?

We can control our own destiny, or stand by and watch our rights and our hobby gradually disappear or become too expensive to participate. The situation may get better. It could also get far worse. It all depends on us.

Big Sis just stated the the lage volumes "are to take advantage of volume pricing". Read that on Drudge thisafternoon. What they plan on doing with it is anyones guess.

I actually got to pick up some ammo last winter from someone who had hoarded a big pile and then promptly went broke. Pennies on the dollar. Let's pray it happens again.

I bought 100+K 209 Winchester primers out of an estate three years ago for $17.50 a thousand. Late husband paid 10.95 and 12.95 per thousand according to his records. Told the lady what the current price was, $20+/K and offered to buy 30K at that price. She wanted to get them out of there and offered me the entire lot at his cost. We compromised in the middle. Bargains are out there if you look, are in the right place and act fast. Cash is king.

His shooting "partner" got the shot at $15.00 a bag. Kind fellow told her shot was "down" but he would pay what her husband paid for it to help her out. Do not know how many bags he got but estimate 40-50 bags based on the space they left when removed.

Guys if you do not tell your wife what stuff is worth she will get screwed by your friends every time. Leave a list of prices in a safe place. Instructions of how and where to dispose of your stuff will ensure money is not lost and things are liquidated in a fair manner.

Hmmm, classic story of the ant and the grasshopper. All summer long the ant stored up provisions for the coming winter while the grasshopper sang and played. Winter comes and the grasshopper went hungry. News flash guys--->Winter officially arrived with the 2012 election.

Quote:
"Guys if you do not tell your wife what stuff is worth she will get screwed by your friends every time. Leave a list of prices in a safe place. Instructions of how and where to dispose of your stuff will ensure money is not lost and things are liquidated in a fair manner."

I guess I could have pulled something last year with a widow from our church. Instead I sold the remainder of her husbands supplies and other related equipment here on Doublegun and I think I got her a fair price.
As an aside: I have my own collection catalogued on disk with current prices. I update this regularly and make a a DVD backup copy which I keep off site. My wife will have full access to current pricing should something happen to me.
Jim

Obama plain and simple!

Lloyd3,
They are not really taking"advantage of volume pricing", what they have done is a deceptive business practice.They never intended to buy more than last year, but seemed to have advertised an"indefinate quanity, indefinate delivery contract", for "up to 1.4 Bil" rounds.By having the vendors think they will have a chance(which they never had)to sell that much ammo, they were decieved into giving lower prices.Also, for the life of the contract( limited to one year when I was working contracts),the vendor has to reserve the capacity to fill "delivery orders" up to that amount. This makes it harder for others to get ammo.A legimate way to take advantage of volume pricing, would have been to combine her real requirements with other agency's and allow either agency to issue "delivery orders".
Mike

The answer to this "shortage" comes from a movie-- Wall Street- Gordon Gecko's classic line- "Greed is Good"!! Loved his nickname "Blue Horseshoe" too!!

Signs are .22rf. is getting short here in the U.K. I guess they are shipping out to the U.S. to satisfy demand there. We have our own domestic suppliers and also stuff coming from Europe. Shouldn't be a shortage really. My local gunshop is a bit short as supplies are not coming through. I have quite a bit on one side having just changed from an old BRNO rifle to a Sako Quad. The BRNO only liked high velocity and would not group with sub-sonic to save its life. The Sako has a sound moderator fitted and I want to use it with the quiet stuff. As a result I have surplus HV stuff; about 750 Winchester Rabbit Ammo (Australian made) 300 Federal and a few hundred rounds of Eley Tracer. Going in to swap it for 20 bore shotgun ammo. Lagopus.....

Gotta laugh Bi Sis's use of 1.6 billion rounds of JHP 556 ammo for practice. Never heard of JHP for practice and irresponsible use of tax dollars if true. Which of course it isn't.

Those rounds are meant for the real targets. Hint, us.

Like I said earlier, there's probably a drone, Mrap, and a FEMA camp in your future and mine.

Cheery thought, eh?

You are right about ammo being shipped to the States. Eley .22 RF showed up this week at the local gun/pawn shop. They never had it before the shortages started.

Interesting as to where the Eley stuff is going Beagle. Some of it can be heavily greased so may need extra cleaning in semi-autos. The Tenex brand is very high quality target stuff. Good stuff all round. Lagopus.....

I was talkig to the owner of a local gun store today. He is having the best year yet, $$$$. He said he sells more ammo in a week than he used to in a month. His biggest problem is obtaining replacement inventory. He said many wholesale prices are going up 15% to 20% -- ammo, components, shotshells, etc.

gold40