Ammo shortage?

[heron]

I just ordered some .223, (Wolf or BarnOwl (Barnaul), can't recall which) and it's back-ordered until February. Is this happening a lot?

I also ordered some .357 for the revolver, and it was in stock, so maybe this is just rifle ammo.

I'm not worried, since I've got some on hand, but is anybody else seeing the same thing?

[swwyo]

Just walk into any gun store where I live, and it looks like an Etheopean grocery store.

[kingpin008]

Well, there was just an election. And we all know the stance on the pres. elect when it comes to things like guns & ammo. So yeah, there's probably a shortage right now, brought on by everyone running out and grabbing all the stuff they should have been stocking up on before Nov. 4th came around.

[Frog48]

I dont know if the shortage was caused by the election, but it certainly didnt help matters.

[GregGry]

Thats odd, I went into gander mountain yesterday and bought 1 20 round box of federal/lake city ammo, and I could have bought 30 boxes if I wanted. There was plenty of wolf too, atleast 40 boxes. They had numerous ar-15 rifles and other weapons aplenty.

[gazpacho]

The nation is having record AR-15 sales. It's not beyond imagination that ammo sales for that rifle would also be high.

[biggiesmalls]

i don't see a real shortage. i just see a huge price increase. my local walmart, academy, and cabela's ang gunstores all have rifle ammunition. the pricetag on them, however, is what bothers me... i just got my .223 order from palmetto state armory after a 2 week wait and my 7.62x39 from AIM and ammoman.com in that time too. pretty good if you ask me. where are you ordering from?

[heron]

I ordered it from The Sportsman's Guide . . . I looked at Cheaper Than Dirt, but as I recall, they didn't have what I wanted. Guide price isn't too bad, with member discount and additional coupon -- 500 rds Barnaul 62 gr. HP, $140 & change, about $.28/shot.

BTW, I've been shooting the Barnaul (in my Saiga), and have no complaints with it. Wolf is a few cents less, but they didn't have any with the bullet I wanted. I really don't know why Wolf is cheaper; it seems like the same stuff. The only complaint I have with the lacquered steel cases is that they're slippery and harder to load into the magazine.

I'm holding on to my small stock of Lake City XM-193, just in case . . .

[Thin Black Line]

Is this happening a lot?

Everywhere where everyone, their brother, their cousin, and their cousin's
2nd step-dad all of a sudden thought they needed an AR-15.

The ammo situation will come back to normal when you see the following:

1. A lot of "barely used" and "test-fired only" AR-15s begin appearing on
shelves next year after:
A) People can't pay off the credit card balance that was used to purchase it.
B) A bunch of mortgages reset next year.
C) Extended unemployment benefits run out.

2. The next conex of imported ammo leaves the docks contingent upon:
A) no import ammo bans.
B) or, big wars elsewhere where Russians and others focus production for it.

3. Domestic ammo is priced out of range of most shooters and it is physically
on the shelf due to a combination of factors listed under 1 and 2.

[j_charles]

My local Sportsman's Wharehouse is completely, and I do mean completely, cleaned out of 9mm. I've been in twice in the last couple weeks, and they have nothing! The .45 is almost gone. .44, .38., .357, anything for rifle, most shotgun, all very sparse. Walmart is better, but 9mm is down (last time I was there) to a few 50 rnd. boxes of WWB and Remington. The Value Packs of Remington were gone. That's my experience here, anyway.

[heron]

Okay, an update . . . I just got my .357 delivered, and the invoice in the package now says:
.223 . . . APPROXIMATE SHIP DATE 01/06/09

so, it should get here about a month sooner than they first indicated.

[hso]

heron,

This is nothing new. Prices have been soaring. The election caused panic buying. What little "overpriced" ammo there was got gobbled up. Therefore, shortage.

[karz10]

http://gun-deals.com/ammo.php?caliber=.223

I used this site to find many outfits with in-stock .223 at various price points and types of loads...

While not every deal in every load is listed here, you can see some of the sites w/ good prices for certain items, and then look for other types of casings or loads (steel vs brass, 55 gr, 75 gr, HP, etc.)

I just bought 1k rounds of wolf, 1k rounds of brown bear, from two different vendors, and am looking at various brass cased options...

Karz

[XD-40 Shooter]

No ammo shortage here, I've got a couple thousand 40 S&W reloads and about 1000 357 mag reloads. I'm pretty well loaded on powder and primers too. By the way, my 40 ammo is costing me 12 cents/shot.

[Furncliff]

Just walked into Walmart where I live, and it looks like an Ethiopian grocery store.

Sports Authority and our terrific local sports store had full shelves.

[Keb]

22 LR is scarce or Un-avil in Western Colorado.

[ohioshooter]

Good luck finding a gun and .223 ammo in the Columbus Ohio area. AR-15's are as scarce as bread crumbs in Iraq.

[louie19]

+1 for gun-deals.com

No shortage here in the Northern Virginia area of ammo. AR-15s are hard to find and the ones at the local gun show recently were way over-priced. Colt M4s were going for almost $2000. But hey at least they were there.

I think the Internet ammo sites have good supplies of ammo too. They go out of stock sometimes of certain brands/types but they get restocked quickly it seems.

[Just Jim]

I wonder, the credit crisis has stopped shipment of alot of products because people can't borrow the money to buy them and ship them overseas. If credit dries up then ammo shipments may be part of the problem too.

It cost alot of money to import all the ammo we shoot up. If the big guys can't get a loan to buy it then it ain't comming any time soon.

jj

[rmmoore]

There seems to be a lot of discussion about the shortage of .223 and .308 ammo for the various "endangered species" of rifles. But has anyone had trouble finding ammo for their favorite hunting rifle? My pet factory load for 30.06 has disappeared from EVERY store in town. And .243? I bought the LAST 2 boxes that Wally-World had, 2 weeks ago and have checked avery other day to no avail. All the gun shops in town are out of .243 as well, although I did fine that Sports Authority had some left, and ON SALE at 20% off. It wasn't my "favorite" load, but it does go bang and is fine for a second choice. I bought all they had. What's the deal? The last time I checked, militaries and LE Departments WERE NOT using .243 as a sniper or combat round. As for the 30.06, I can see why the shortage is there, even though it doesn't have the "usage" demand just like the .243 doesn't. I DO see why folks would be running out and snapping up 30.06, I buy it too when I can find it If O'bama and the gun-grab crowd aren't after our "hunting" rifles as they so proudly proclaim, then why are "hunting" calibers disappearing liike the others? I KNOW there's a LOT of hunters and gun owners who voted for him, some of my "friends" did, although I use the word "friend" very loosely in this context. Anyone else having this problem with hunting calibers?

[Just Jim]

Fact remains that the people don't trust the new socialist government of BHO. Even worse you add the fear over the politicions crashing our economy in an effort to make us all equal and security becomes the most important thing in life.

By April of next year you may not recognize America. Ammo may be all you have to keep you alive.

jj

[ScottsGT]

Saw a box of 50 .30 Carbine at Wally World yesterday for $47.47
Had the dept. mgr. double check and he said it ws correct, he even entered it into the dist. data base and came up right. Now this was a box in the side cabinet where they put old inventory they cannot sell. Told him they need to keep it so others can get a good laugh too!

[Ben Shepherd]

Any current or ex-military caliber(223, 7.62X39, 308, etc.) is a bear to get a hold of right now, for reasons already listed.

Three weeks ago at a gun show, it was an hour-and-a-half wait just to buy ammo. All the 223 except 75 grain stuff was GONE in the first few hours. Folks were litterally taking it out by the handtruck load.

It'll be that way for at least another couple months I think. Most likely 'til spring. And if the new President makes a big push in that direction right off the bat(doubtful, he isn't stupid, he has re-election and the economy to worry about) all bets are off. If he manages to get re-elected in four years? Hang on to your saddle boys and girls.

[ByAnyMeans]

Poconos Pa

Walmart has plent of 9mm $19 a 100 rounds and 7.62x39 $29 a hundred rounds (Winchester) but I don't know about rifles availability.

I got 125 rounds of Wolf for $20 from a dealer 2 days ago but it was loose not boxed.

I get Winchester 7.62 now because I'm going to be setting up a reloading system in the next few months so I need the brass.

[XD-40 Shooter]

I buy Wolf 7.62x39 from sportsmansguide, $200/case. I'm very happy with the ammo, its pretty accurate and not too dirty. Fortunately, I've loaded up on 2500 rounds last year, because now, its all backordered to at least Feb '09.