Just Curious..Sounds Silly But...

[Potatohead]

I just picked up shooting at the beginning of the year, im one of the panickers that caused all of this i guess. Tell me- before all this panic thing, could you just go in somewhere and buy all the ammo you wanted? They would have it usually, with no limits and such? And if you wanted a gun (say a PPQM2 you could just go in and buy it, without having to scour the countryside? Or has it always been hard to get, say, a case of ammo?

 

[SuperNaut]

You used to be able to walk into your LGS and haggle over the price of one of the 15 or 20 AR's on the wall.

There also used to be things called "sales" and you could get ammo at discounted prices, CRAY-CRAY!

The limit was the amount of money in your wallet. Don't worry it will be like that again, it is already beginning to turn around.

 

[Potatohead]

Im starting to wonder if the good ol days will return. that would be nice, just stopping on the way home to get some 9mm ammo

 

[Sgt_R]

A year ago:

You could buy cases of 9mm FMJ for less than $0.20 / round, shipped directly to your door.

You could buy cases of Black Hills .223 factory seconds for less than $0.35 / round, shipped directly to your door.

You could assemble an AR15 in any configuration, in the caliber of your choice, from components readily available from a wide variety of well known manufacturers, at any price point between $599 and $5k. Or you could just press the "easy button" and buy a Colt 6920 or S&W M&P off the rack for around $1k.

You could buy any current production handgun from any major manufacturer simply by walking into the gun store, picking one out of the case, and filling out the paperwork.

Ah, those were the days.

R

 

[Potatohead]

geez. hope it returns. i'd love a case of 9s right now. i cant go to the range again until i replenish...

 

[beatledog7]

A year ago one could also go into many stores or on line and buy reloading components that are directly suited to one's shooting purpose--right primer, right powder, right bullet. Now we have lots of reloaders, mostly new ones, desperately trying to find a recipe for loading bullets meant for 9mm into .380 cases over rifle powders using magnum primers and other similarly crazy stuff, because these are all they could find.

 

[barnbwt]

"The elders told tales of long ago, when plentiful ARs roamed the land, harvests of ammunition were bountiful, and brass could found littering the ground. But that was many moons ago, and perhaps only legend."

TCB

 

[medalguy]

Yeah, back in the "good old days" I could order 100 pounds of rifle powder and have it at my door in three or four days. Seriously. One time I ordered 50,000 pulled .308 bullets for about five cents each too. No waiting and I could have bought more if I had wanted. Imagine that!

 

[Impureclient]

Here is my LGS before everything went crazy. They were well stocked then.

 

[Midwest]

Not that long ago it was possible to buy SKS Yugos for $99 and the ammo for it too. In 2002, Centerfire Systems was selling 660 rounds of 7.62 x 39 in a spam can for $49 no limits either. Dicks used to sell re-manufactured 38 special ammo for $5.99 a box of 50 in the mid 2000's.

Just last year, walk into any LGS and you were able to find whatever you wanted, some of the stores even ran sales if you bought ammo in bulk. I remember looking at some the well stocked display cases and saw many different pistols including the Glock 17. AR-15's and AK-47's and other goodies were well stocked across the wall of the LGS.

Stores like Dicks and Dunhams would run weekly sales on ammo, they would advertise in the Sunday Paper.

Edit:

Let me add here that until last year, the only time I remember the stores having a run on ammo was after the first scare in 2008. But the shelves were not entirely empty, some ammo was impossible to find like .380 for some odd reason. But I remember finding .22 LR on the shelves, .38 spl was available as was other common calibers. It also was hit or miss, go to one store they would be out of one or more calibers...but the next store could likely have that caliber.

But this recent panic is the worst I have ever seen.

 

[JVaughn]

Yes, it used to be that way, and it will again. But every time we have one of these panics, the prices never get quite as low as they were before. Ammo will be plentiful again, but some damage will remain.

 

[General Geoff]

I remember not long ago, when .22lr bricks of 550 rounds could be had for $7.99 each, no quantity limit, with hundreds of bricks lining the shelf. This was circa 2006.

I just went to Cabela's a few days ago and the only 500rd bricks of .22lr bulk they had, were going for $59.99.

 

[12many]

To the OP, it is getting better. There is lots of ammo on-line just still a bit expensive and the gun stores are full of guns now. The only remnents left are the box limits at stores but you can get large quantities online. (and still not much 22). I actually thing there are more guns available now then before.

 

[230RN]

I remember days of yore when I'd buy a new gun, select a box of ammo for it (usually around $5.00 for just about any caliber), run up Boulder Canyon, test it out, come back, and if I liked the ammo, buy another box and go home.

One box.

Knowing it would be available next time I ran through the one box.

If I didn't like that first one box, I'd buy a box of different ammo, run up the canyon again, try out that brand, and if I liked it, come back and buy another box and go home.

One box.

At a time.

Same for components. Primers? One box of 100. Powder? One pound. Bullets? One box.

One box.

At a time.

Terry, One of The Elders, 230RN

 

[Capybara]

We are in the insane days

I just returned from the Ventura Gun Show. I saw three people within ten minutes by a single brick each (500 rounds) of Aguila 40GR .22LR ammo for $150.00

As long as that's happening and people are dumb enough to pay .30 a round for .22 LR, we are in dark days.

 

[barnbwt]

You know you're in insane times when "the good 'ol days" were a mere 6 months ago!

TCB

 

[A Patriot]

Wouldn't it be humorous if the drug smugglers south of the US found it to be more profitable in the future to bring guns into the country and sell them instead of cocaine and pot? The "crackheads" would totally flip out.

 

[tryshoot]

I remember being mad when .223 and 7.62 x 39 went over $100 for a case of 1000. That has not been that long ago.

 

[BYJO4]

Just hang in there and things will get to normal. It was sure nice to put an order in for ammo or loading supplies and have it sitting on your door step in 3 to 5 days.

 

[Potatohead]

thx for your posts. wish i'd have been shooting then. i would hope i would have built up a significant stock of the better priced ammo. ive probably got 3 or 4 grand in my ammo-and still afraid to go to the range...1500 rds is my limit i wont go under, and im gettin close on 9mm

 

[Potatohead]

Just hang in there and things will get to normal. It was sure nice to put an order in for ammo or loading supplies and have it sitting on your door step in 3 to 5 days.

yea i'd like to get into reloading but i cant find anything. i just gave up for now..

i just cant imagine people are still buying all of this ammo up. where is it going?

 

[marv]

1943-1946 there was NOTHING to be had ANYWHERE; no guns, ammo, tires, batteries, most food and all gas was rationed. This is just a bump in the road.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Things are getting a lot better. Stores actually have ammo. 22LR is still a little hard to find and when the stores have 'em, there's usually limits. Online-wise, most calibers are available at a higher price level than a year ago.

The only caliber I'd stocked up on during this last panic was 12 gauge. I have enough of the SD calibers to last the next 5 years of casual shooting. I probably could have used more 22LR, though, but I didn't feed the frenzy. I did pick up a few boxes of 32 ACP & 25 ACP though.

Once everything is back to normal or some semblance of normalcy, I am going to pick up 10,000 rounds of 22LR and vacuum pack it brick by brick.

 

[Potatohead]

Good idea Onward. I guess its gonna take awhile to level out because everyone and their brother is gona be stocking up like a rat in a cheese factory to avoid this in the future, myself included...i wish prices werent so high, i really love shooting and feel like i need to shoot at least once per week...or i like shooting once per week-dont know if i can afford it though

 

[Schwing]

I have been shooting most of my life. While I have never seen quite the panic buying that I am seeing now, this is not the first time this has happened. It seems like, just about every election cycle, people panic and go on a buying frenzy. Then it will calm down and prices will be almost back to where they were before.... Of course, they always seem just a little higher than before.

I would add that there are a lot of longtime shooters/re-loaders who will try and treat you like a second class citizen or something for being one of the "noobies" driving up the prices an limiting the availability of everything. Don't buy into it. You are helping to increase the number of prospective shooters. The more of us they are, the less chance we will get shut down in the future and manufacturers are there to make money.... When demand rises, they eventually step up to meet it.

I love new shooters and encourage anyone I know who either isn't involved or is even opposed to do it. I seen peoples opinions shift from anti-gun to pro-gun with as little as one trip to the range.

Happy shooting!