Livelife makes an excellent point. Do you know how much it would suck to be in a prolonged shortage and have your buddy so short they could not hunt with you? Yeah. If I am stocked up, that isn't happening.
When the shortage started, I got a frantic call from my sister/BIL way out of town because she shot matches and they found all the shelves empty of ammunition. I told them "No, problem" and to stop by on their next trip through town to pick up several thousand rounds of match ammo and 2000 rounds of 45ACP for BIL's occasional plinking loads.
Then my parents called and asked, "What happened to all the ammo?" I smiled and told them I would stock them up on my next visit with family.
And calls from friends/coworkers/neighbors started and fortunately, I was able to meet all of their needs (Other than my immediate family, my reloads can only be shot in my pistols with me present at the range for liability reasons, which they gladly accepted). During the shortage, I sponsored (provided all the ammo) many range trips with friends/coworkers/neighbors that otherwise could not have happened due to disappearance of ammunition (They helped by collecting brass and dropping them off at my house which I PIF to THR members in need).
And when fellow match shooters/reloaders were caught short between group buys, I was able to extend components to keep them shooting.
I PIF most of my old stock from previous shortages during the "Great Component Shortage" and when I dropped off many "gift baskets" of unobtainium powders and primers without asking for anything in return, some of them were actually in tears. And these were big burly men! Yes, things were that bad. (Fortunately my family was getting ready to move to our retirement location, so I was happy to offload heavy bullets and buckets of brass too but still ended up moving several thousand pounds of components)
Will another shortage happen in the future?
I am not sure but if you take some time to shop around and set aside some money each month, you will be able to stock up big when really good sales are run. Once you are stocked up, then you won't have to worry if another shortage will occur.
As to buying too much, don't worry.
Walkalong and many others will smile at this. When I was stocking up on Wolf primers for $14/1000, I thought perhaps I was buying too much. Fast forward to 2019 where primers are $28/1000 and I wish I had bought more.
I stocked up on S&B and Winchester primers when they were around $20/1000 and looking back now, wish I had bought MORE!
I don't think we will be seeing $20/1000 primers anymore ... or $78/8 lbs of Promo ... So, stock up when prices are low and items in stock.
I have a feeling like 10-15 years from now, we'll be looking back when primers are $38/1000 and powders are $250/8 lbs and post that we should have bought more when primers were $28/1000 and Promo was $115/8 lbs at Powder Valley.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/what-to-stock-up-on.855885/#post-11225563