I was at my local Academy Sports today to pick up a few boxes of 20 gauge target loads. The shelves were rather empty. There were some but mostly field loads. Even the rifle and pistol cartridges were slim and few.
I asked the guy if they were going out of buisness and he said people were just buying up everything.
Also they had few guns for sale. Most shelves were empty.
Is there an issue going on with firearms and ammo?

Saw the same thing here a few months back at the big box stores. Regular viewing on TV of the "peaceful" protests happening at the various "blue" run cities in our great republic has lead many to decide to fortify their holdings a bit. I got around it by breaking out my old rockchucker press and rolling my own.

Yeah, I was told today that primers were as scarce as hen's teeth?

Even better, try to pickup an AR upper or lower???

Have it on good authority that in the South that small lots of 9mm & 5.56mm ammo was approaching $1 a cartridge????


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Very serious shortages of guns and ammo in CA. Good time to sell, but it's now illegal here for a private party to sell off excess ammo without transferring it through an FFL, and for that transfer the buyer must pay a fee and undergo a background check. Some stores report that pistol caliber ammo sells out within twenty minutes of hitting the shelves. Stores that used to carry 500 guns in stock, now have only a handful, and even guns that were complete dogs go quickly at high prices. It will settle down, but not soon.

Yes, there is. The widespread rioting and looting, combined with the fact that most law enforcement agencies have had their hands tied by mayors of many liberally governed cities, has sparked a serious buying spree of ammunition. Law abiding people are realizing that they just might not better depend on law enforcement for protection, and are preparing to handle it themselves. It should not come as a surprise to anyone.

SRH

Thank goodness I shoot flintlock rifles. Hard to run out of flints and enough BP for a lifetime plus.

Down here in South LA the ammo shelves are pretty much bare. Shotgun ammo for clays, small game can often be found but buckshot is scarce as hen's teeth. Handgun and AR type ammo are pretty much non-existent.

That's exactly where I was told >>handgun & AR type ammo<< was bringing a premium, if it could be had.

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

It has been a roller coaster, but it seems some areas are better off than others. I picked up a couple of boxes of decent 9mm for $11 a box just because it was there, but it seems the balance of the stock flew off the shelf within the day. Nothing to get excited about, but I picked up a bunch of 4pk of 12ga Estate target for twenty bucks, so I was pleasantly satisfied with that. Another yardstick has been a bunch of "out of stock, no backorders" at the usual online places.

NICE rifle. But can you make your own powder?

Brownells has been bombarding me with junk email advertising uppers. Perhaps they sell out just as fast, but within the last week, they were bragging about them.

Yeah, I have been receiving similar from MidwayUSA but the chamberings were some odd 12.7mm and 300 Blackout or similar, which are obtainable.


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

That’s an incredible rifle. Who made it?

I cannot find the listing so I guess they sold. But 12.7X42mm, 300 Blackout & 50 Beowulf were the calibres. I don't believe they were Stoner products.


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

The primer and ammo shortage seems to be nationwide. Both retail and online suppliers are out of stock on most of the common calibers except for the high end self defense, hunting or match ammo.

I expect the ammo & primer shortage to continue until after the election and maybe even longer.

Mike,

I enjoy shooting my pistols weekly so I must constantly search for components as I also like to load my own ammunition. I cast bullets for many different calibers but prefer to buy commercially produced bullets, especially Berry's or other copper clad bullets.

Every day I search Brownell's, Midway, or Natchez for components. They are perpetually out of all common pistol caliber bullets, cartridge cases, primers, buckshot, and .22 LR. It is hard to find the plastic cartridge boxes to store finished rounds. Don't even ask about live ammo.

It was tough getting ammo and components during the Clinton years, tougher during the Obama years, but since Covid and the riots, it is much worse. Since Covid and especially the riots started, NICS background checks have set records each month. The word is that about half the purchases are first time buyers and these newbies want ammo for their guns.

After Trump took office ammo and components got easier to find but I should have bought more primers and bullets back in January and February. My mistake.

A couple of months ago there were stories about people calling the police and were told they couldn't come, so do what it takes to protect life and property. The city governments of numerous cities have made it clear they will not protect the lives and property of the law abiding. A prosecutor in St. Louis is trying to prosecute a man for defending his family and home. People are scared and trying to protect themselves.

If all this isn't bad enough, there are kooks in many places wanting to defund or eliminate the police. In my small city, this past Saturday, a group of thugs had a sizable shoot out a block from my church at ten in the morning.

A German friend told me a joke about the Covid scare; The Germans are buying toilet paper, the French are buying wine, the Americans are buying guns, and Dutch are buying weed.

This is what I know from my small corner of the world.

Oh, Joe, that's a beautiful flinter. I still have my Isaac Haines style .40 cal. flintlock, a Ruger Old Army, and an original Navy Colt I restored.

Speaking of black powder, all I've seen lately is the Pyrodex varient. Is anybody still making black? I know it's considered a high explosive now and is regulated differently.

I consider myself lucky in retrospect to have picked up a good supply of ammo and components last fall and early this year. The prices on many of those items were really outstanding, so it was easy.

I know several people with impressive stashes, but they tend to binge buy during shortages and price spikes. That I don't quite understand. With the exception of a few things, this is the kind of times I build up a cushion for, and I would be highly confident this will pass too.

Just wondering if all this is due to Covid 19 and factories being shut down or is it much more to this.

Black powder seems available and able to ship for a fee, maybe check Powdervalley? If you are still heading up to MT, you might look around along the way. There are a number of active muzzleloading clubs and shoots.

The manufacturers are reported to be cranking out all they can. It seems to be more of a run than supply shortage.

Not wanting to steal the thread but a couple have asked about the flintlock rifle. It is a very close copy of work done in the 1820 era by John Armstrong of Fredericksburg, Maryland. This copy was made for me by Jerry Kirkland (deceased) around 1985. It is a .40 with a Getz 42” swamped barrel. Hard sugar maple stock. Wonderful shooter. As with many makers, Armstrong developed his own style and his relief carving is easily spotted. The coin silver oval on the cheek piece is engraved In a folksy manner with the Federal eagle holding olive branches and arrows.

Gorgeous!

I don't think the current ammo shortages, or the demand driven lower supply of firearms, is anywhere near as bad as the dark days in 2013-2014 when Barack Husein Obama and Altzheimer Joe Biden were pressing hard for gun and magazine bans, and severe restrictions on gun rights of law abiding citizens.

Of course, this is just another very good reason why we should all fight very hard to make sure that Altzheimer Joe Biden never gets elected.

Joe Wood's flintlock is beautiful. I too have a good supply of black powder, flints, balls, lead and molds. And I laid in a very good supply of loaded rimfire and centerfire ammo and reloading components during times of plenty and low prices.

When people blame things like anti-gun Democrats and Black Lives Matter terrorism for shortages and high prices... they really should remember that those things are helped and supported by guys like rocky mtn bill, nca225, Queen Stevie, and BrentD when they vote anti-gun Liberal Left Democrats into office. Simple cause and effect!

Thats a beauty Joe! Does that have several wedge keys keeping the barrel in place or a combo of pins and a wedge key? And if it does have wedge keys only, does that have hook breach so that you can remove the barrel without having to remove the tang?

Real nice flintlock!

Life must be sooooo much easier when there is only one issue....

And why not, it only makes sense.

i spoke with a friend today in Vancouver WA (not BC, this Vancouver is just over the WA border from Portland). She and hubby shoot cowboy action and they are are having a very hard time finding powder, primers, and bullets. Looks like the shortages are hitting the small towns just like they are hitting the cities.

Smith and Wesson stock has risen from under $6 in March to nearly $27 today. Not that I had the sense to buy back then....

Beautiful rifle. Care to give us some details of it?
Thanks
BillK

I guess you missed the part about the US being on the verge of another cival war...

Keith, Your paranoia is showing. Face it, things will only get worse for you and the rest of the Trump fools. You brought it on yourselves, inflicted it on the rest of us, and now you get to see the outcome. RIP.

Hopefully, there won't be enough liberal fools to support your prediction.

Bill, you're skating on thin ice with me, you're down to around a hundred sumthin more chances until I won't hold out any hope for you, but here's a little olive branch. Did you read who you were responding to?. If so, I apologize and you can click on Lloyds link and watch it four times.

Same story out West. Here in Oregon, the rush began Mar 13 due to the virus. It got much worse when the rioters and anarchists got going. Liberal Portland has had 78 days in a row of riots. You would expect that since Portland is 88% Democrat. The feds arrived to protect federal buildings and the leftist politicians declared that as causitive of worse riots. They were replaced by state police who then abandoned the scene as the local district attorney released all the rioters with no charges. The state police were not going to stay and get killed or maimed by someone who would never do jail time.

Back to ammo & guns. We cannot order guns as the suppliers are generally out and are supplied by manufacturers by inadequate amounts. We cannot keep defensive guns in stock. Pump shotguns are hens teeth. AR's & AK's are rare. 223/556ammo is difficult to find, 308, Russian calibers all very hard to come by. Handgun ammo is difficult. We got in a shipment of 9mm after a 5 week wait. We got 2000 rounds Wednesday and it was gone in a day. We got another 1000 rounds in Friday and it is about half gone and we are a small shop with few customers. We are mainly collectable firearms. Lots of phone calls searching for guns and ammo.

This, too, shall pass, but likely not until after the election and a vaccination available. Good luck finding what you need. Don't wait too long to find hunting ammo.

The good news is I was able to find 7.62X25 in the somewhat harder to find anti-personnel version, a semi-jacketed 80 grain hollow point, that travels at 1400-1500 FPS. I bought 500 rounds of the stuff. I still had a good quantity of the FMJ 85 grain 1800FPS, that may be the worlds best can opener, pretty much designed for shooting through cars that are attempting to run a Soviet checkpoint.

I did see a few boxes of .357 at Cabelas, but, .38 or 9mm had been gone for a while. I have plenty of .38 and .357. Bought two flats of the Herter’s labeled game loads, cheap enough at $59 a flat. There was plenty of shotgun ammunition for clays or bird hunting.

I’m good on hunting loads, especially 16 gauge, I keep my eyes open all year long and buy it when it comes up at a discount at the ‘marts.

Best,
Ted

Not much ammo on the store's shelves here, but no problem getting what you need to shoot in 12 or 20 gauge at "my" sporting clays range. Kinda strange actually, you can't go into a store and buy much, but the range can still get all it needs from it's suppliers.

Shot a fund raising event yesterday for paralyzed sportsmen at which there was fifty-something four-man teams. That's over 20,000 shells gone through. I called ahead to make sure they had me a flat to pick up. They said not to worry about it, that they had plenty.

SRH

The Walmarts in PA yesterday have plenty of Federal promo loads in 7 1/2, 1 1/8 oz at 1200 fps at less than $20 for four box packs. Not what I usually shoot but worked well at sporting clays in more modern guns. They also had similar Winchesters for a few bucks more. Any port in a storm?

I picked up a couple of Winchester promo eight box flats of 20ga yesterday at Academy. Four hundred shells for about $80. They seemed to have plenty...Geo

Pete, Your stupity is exceeded only by Keith's. Keep watching QAnon for the latest conspiracy special. Keep us updated on your mental growth. We're holding our breath.

Billy, please tell us what part of Pete's post was wrong, or a conspiracy theory. I don't think that you will, because you are nothing more than a mentally sick Libtard Democrat sock-puppet.

I'm trying to think of just one thing that could be more stupid than a gun owner, hunter, or shooter who knowingly votes to elect anti-gunners... but I can't.

Well, you are too stupid to figure it out, but that would be being a single issue voter. Amazingly, just like you described above.

Aren't you the Einstein that took issue with pedophile priests? Where did the diverstity of issues mantra go when your veep suppressed kali investigative records for victim families, in consideration for campaign donations?

Nancy-boy nca225 is obviously too stupid to understand that I am hardly a single issue voter. I have repeatedly said that I support Trump because of his stance on Corporate and personal taxes, onerous job killing regulations, insane foreign trade deals, National Defense, getting NATO Nations to pay a more equitable share of defense costs, essentially destroying ISIS, Illegal Immigration, Border Security, incentives to increase employment and repatriate manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.A., defending against creeping Socialism, exposing Fake News and Liberal Left exploitation of the First Amendment, and many more things. That is hardly a single issue. Trump is doing exactly what we hired him to do, and he would have done much more if he wasn't also fighting a 3 1/2 year coup attempt to reverse the 2016 election.

But the Libtard loser Nancy-boy nca225 will keep returning to this tired lying mantra that I am a single issue voter. And idiots like Nancy-boy and Billy will still accuse Trump of treasonous behavior, even as they blindly support those who trample upon the 2nd Amendment, right after swearing upon a Bible that they will preserve, protect, and defend the U.S. Constitution.

You just can't get any more stupid or dishonest.

BTW, Billy has been back here and read my reply to his ignorant comment to Pete. Yet Billy will not answer my simple question, because he would have to admit that Pete was 100% correct.

I do take issue with pedophiles thrifty. Especially pedophile priests, so guilty as charged. However it seems from your tone that you don’t take quite as much issue with them, if at all. Hey, whatever gets you into heaven right?

Anyho... I hope Harris got as much money from them as possible thrifty. Better she gets the money than the legal defense fund. I know you see it the other way though.

Have you? Must get drowned out with the broken record diatribe on gun owners voting for Democrats.

Once again, you read it. How about that?

Now, sit boy! Sit!

A very nice rifle

Was in the Scheels super store in Johnstown, CO today and the only shortages I noticed were 16ga and a 2 box limit on pistol ammo.

every bit of ammo i placed on GB was whisked away. except for the .300 Weatherby Magnum...

Went into local Cabellas today. Gun room, for used guns, was empty. 35 total, with ten of those being shotguns. New gun rack was half empty. Ammo had a lot of blank spaces. Went to BassPro and saw the same lack of inventory. Ammo is in as short supply as I can remember. Glad I have enough reloading components for the long haul. I'll need them, it looks like.

Here's a tip....

Buy .223...9mm...45 acp and 12 ga.

I just picked up a case of 7x57R for my favorite German combination rifle that has so far killed several deer in the two years I have hunted with it. 9mm and .223 are so passe!