Ammo shopping etiquette in this day in age

I buy by the case online and save the boxes at the range/LGS for folks who need it.

Anyone buying by the box (our of necessity) is boned already imo.

There is no such thing as "ammo buying etiquette".

That is just something made up by the snowflake generation of Jonny come lately who couldn't pass up a 6 pack, a pack of cigs, or another tattoo just to waste money on extra ammo. So now they are SOL. I'm all broken up about it to.

Unless its just a couple boxes left, I try not to take everything. That being said, I buy online most of the time so it really doesn't happen that often.

KY DAN said:

There is no brother hood no friendship, no unspoken pact between people they are terrible and will screw you over in a heart beat if it means their own betterment.

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And I thought I was cynical.

Sit and watch the storm clouds a rumblin', a comin' . Is't that pretty?! .... got wet. How did that happen? What did I do? How can I make this better the next time I think about now would B a good time to rollupthewindow

Gee it's awfully hot out today must B in the 90s and that all day allll bright sun! Sun burnt again! Where exactly is that sunblock at? Can't find any SOLD OUT!

1st snow/1st ice/1st few cars in the ditch. Again.

See a pattern?

Human nature perhaps, forget,to look at a problem and NOT do anything? Not everyone obviously (thank goodness!) on EVERY example. But, we've all let that steak stay on the grill jusata tad too long on occasion. Haven't we?



I'd give some more examples but I have to get the 1st aid kit out. Sting spray pen thingie, where did all these moskeeters come from?!

I reload ! Been many many years since I bought anything but rimfire ! I've got many many years of supplies for reloading and yet I find myself buying a case of something just because! I have never been affected by any shortages of rimfire or reloading supplies that have happened in the last 20 or 30 years Don't call myself a dooms day prepper but I do like to feel snug as a bug with my supplies. Amounts may vary from person to person

No sympathy for the unprepared.
How many crises have we been through in the last twenty years?
I have been ready since the eighties. I will not help anyone too stupid to be prepared and who all of a sudden "needs" a gun or ammo.
Pound sand Skippy and Karen.
Darwin has you on his list.

Mars5l said:

... Do you take it all and say "better luck next time" or leave 1 or 2 on the shelf for the next person? ...

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Years ago when I would take my dad grocery shopping (he & Mom went thru a lot of food with the grandkids and family/friends over all of the time) he taught me to always leave at least ONE on the shelf.

I taught him how to buy items by the CASE on much-used items and when the sale price was right. I recall when that began.

We were at the old, original Shoppers Food Warehouse and there was a canned item that he wanted to buy. He wanted 12 or more. I asked if it was a good price. He said that it was a GREAT price. I asked if it was something that Mom went thru quickly. Yes. I looked up ... he looked up ... I monkey-boy'd up the shelf system and retrieved a sealed case of the item. When I got back down I grabbed a single can from the shelf and explained, "So they can scan a barcode without breaking open the case." He loved it.

If I still bought boxes of ammo in a store, I would always leave one if there were several available.

With rare exceptions, for a couple of decades I have purchased my ammunition online, usually by the case. .

Old Dog said:

If I see ammo on the shelves when I'm out shopping, I'll buy a couple boxes just because. I'll even buy ammo in calibers I don't own guns in ... because then I feel good giving my friends a couple boxes as impromptu gifts. But even if it were a caliber I was getting short on (like that'll ever happen), I don't think I'd take it all.

Ordering on the internet is another story. I'll buy cases for a rainy day, because the suppliers I buy from I know re-stock very quickly, no guilt . there.

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Boxes of ammo are a handy trade commodity. I generally order bulk, online, but who really knows when a store is going to restock.
It's a two-edged sword, demand drives the price up, but backordered ammo also gets the manufacturers producing, at a higher capacity.

IMO, all the new gun purchasers and owners are going to have a big positive effect for us, in the near future, as fewer and fewer people and politicians stand behind the anti-2A banner, and toady up to gun control groups. Without getting political, this "ammo shortage", while temporarily inconvenient, could merely be a small minor effect of a very positive watershed event, for firearms owners, in general.

This may also be a good time to assist and foster new gun ownership, show the noobs, by example, that despite how abysmally we, as a group, have been portrayed, in reality, LAGOs are very reasonable, tolerant, and generous. Sharing a box or two of ammo, here and there, could go a long way, toward helping change the public's perception of us.

I don't have a lot of sympathy toward stupidity and generally feel like people are a product of their own decisions. I do wonder though...for the "I've got mine, screw everyone else" crowd, how'd you get so prepared? How'd you know you needed to? Someone tell you? Did you get caught uprepared previously? There are a lot of people new to this life that maybe never had any guidance or any way to know these things happen. Hell, some people on here only found out recently that Walmart quit selling handgun ammo nearly a year ago. I have a hard time blaming people that don't know any better. Most all of us were one of those people at some point.

Many us have known for a long time that this was coming. And what is even more surprising is how, still some people just seem to be asleep at the wheel.If you were asleep, then wake up and buy any ammo you can no matter what the cost. Think about protecting your home and family before it is too late.

@Howland937 it comes from experience and watching trends in life.
I can give the following example:
I have a somewhat specialty car, and got involved in various spirited activities with it. Doing so, I would watch what other people were going through as consumables, and what they were breaking. When I would see deals or opportunities for purchasing spares of those, I did. I now have multiple extras of those bits here, and now that that car and some of those spares have become rarer, I'm glad I have them if I need them.
The same goes for ammo (and/or components), as it does now for toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and other items. Certain things you can't really ever predict (bicycles? bird seed?!?!!) as becoming scarce commodities, but others like filling your gas tank and cans before a storm, stocking your canned goods and bottled water ahead of hurricane season, should be part of the general lexicon for dealing with life in general. As you get older, you add things to that list.
While I normally buy my toilet paper in bulk anyways, I happen to get caught with my metaphorical pants down this time, as we were due for a big lots shopping run right when the 'rona hit. From now on, I'll maintain a +1 bulk pack, instead of waiting for that pack to get low.
You live, and you learn. Hopefully the learning isn't too painful.

Jack Ryan said:

There is no such thing as "ammo buying etiquette".

That is just something made up by the snowflake generation of Jonny come lately who couldn't pass up a 6 pack, a pack of cigs, or another tattoo just to waste money on extra ammo. So now they are SOL. I'm all broken up about it to.

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Crapping on an entire generation doesn’t seem very “High Road”, but to each their own I suppose.

It’s especially odd to hold young millennials and zoomer’s feet to the fire when many of them aren’t even old enough to have been involved in shooting and gun ownership (assuming they weren’t brought up in it) during the last panic or two.

Again, you do you, but when we’re looking for ways to increase participation in shooting in general, but particularly with younger folks, perhaps a more understanding approach would be helpful.

Now, older folks who’ve owned guns, been through shortages/panics and failed to prepare? Blast away, they’ve earned it.

Howland937 said:

... how'd you get so prepared? How'd you know you needed to? ...

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I paid attention.

O'course, I have been around for longer than most, so I have experienced a lot (too many) of these cycles. Having the disposable income available when prices & supplies are right for stocking-up also helps.

To add to my previous post, I get the animosity that comes with people coming in and panic buying and causing the price of our hobby to double, I do. But I also think these “Skippy and Karens” who are late to the party are better to have as allies, even if it took them longer to get there than it should by our standards.

I think we’re all better off welcoming these people in and being accommodating when able. If that means leaving a box or two of 9mm on the shelf when I have cases stacked on one another at home, that doesn’t seem terribly difficult.

It just seems like a bit of a contradiction to have the stance “I don’t worry about saving anything for anyone, I buy what I need” while also “I’ve been prepared for decades and don’t have sympathy for those who aren’t”. If we’re all as prepared as we say we are, buying the last box or two of ammo at the LGS seems rather unnecessary. Anyone who’s been thought panics before and has prepared adequately isn’t buying ammo one or two boxes at a time at double the price of 3 months ago.

GBExpat said:

I paid attention.

O'course, I have been around for longer than most, so I have experienced a lot (too many) of these cycles. Having the disposable income available when prices & supplies are right for stocking-up also helps.

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This is much more than just a cycle. And this is not about the Virus or the coming Election.

Just as aside, when you move across country, you discover how much ammo you have. It just keeps coming out of the depths of your closets. I think it bred in there. Shipping it to the new home is a total pain.

So being caught short, not I.

I maintain a mix of commercial ammunition and reloading components.

I usually have a number of what I want in my head and I buy that amount regardless of how much is there. Its kind of a mute point because I mostly shop online.

On another note, I attend the Great American Beer Festival every Fall in Denver. I was browsing through a large bottle shop when a stranger came up and wanted to know where I had found a certain 6 pack of some highly sout after beer. When I told him that it was the last one on the shelf he acted very disappointed. So I gave it to him! It obviously meant more to him than it did me.

Ernie Bass said:

This is much more than just a cycle.

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Yeah ... and comments like that have accompanied all of the cycles.

I can see both sides. However I don't see the percentage in feeling morally superior by "leaving a couple boxes for the next guy" when the next guy is likely a panic buyer who will clean off the shelves of anything regardless of whether he even has a pistol in that caliber or not. It might make me feel superior, but the shelf is just as empty as if I had bought it all.

I try not to judge others or assume they have less urgent needs than I do. I also believe I am free to buy as much ammo as I feel the need to, without the need to justify it to anyone but myself. I try to keep that perspective about others, even "hoarders" or "scalpers." I believe in the free market and I believe in capitalism. We "gun people" tend to be all "none of your business HOW MANY GUNS I HAVE" but we also get uppity when people are buying all the ammo and we don't feel we have enough. Which is it? Do we believe in freedom or don't we?

For range ammo that I don't reload, I just buy what I want to shoot when I'm at the range. The prices there are pretty reasonable.

For working (SD, HD, Woods or hunting) ammo, if I don't use handloads, I like to keep a reserve of twice what I have loaded and ready in the gun and spare mags. As I don't shoot it all at once, I don't buy much at any one time. That means when my carry ammo needs to be replaced and there's nothing on the shelves, I can still replace it.

Then I've got some reserves of lesser quality ammo that I keep for "emergencies". It's not the best stuff, but it's better than FMJ or birdshot. And it doesn't need replacing often because it's stored in a cool, dry, dark place with a lock on it.

Only time I cleared an ammo vendor at a gun show out of one specific brand of ammo that he had a great price on. Had 10 boxes of it and I was so thrilled at finding it and at such a low price that I didn't even hesitate getting my credit card out to pay for it!

Howland937 said:

I do wonder though...for the "I've got mine, screw everyone else" crowd, how'd you get so prepared? How'd you know you needed to? Someone tell you? Did you get caught uprepared previously? There are a lot of people new to this life that maybe never had any guidance or any way to know these things happen. Hell, some people on here only found out recently that Walmart quit selling handgun ammo nearly a year ago. I have a hard time blaming people that don't know any better. Most all of us were one of those people at some point.

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"People that don't know any better." Like all the previously anti-gun liberals who suddenly had the group epiphany that maybe, just maybe, with everything going, that they needed to own a firearm? And were then totally shocked to find out that -- oh, my -- many states had actual waiting periods of 10 to 15 days -- and there was a butt-ton of intrusive government paperwork to fill out -- and that buying a firearm wasn't anywhere near as easy as the liberal media has portrayed, lo these past many years? And you couldn't buy a gun on the internet, no questions asked, and have it shipped to your front door? Oh, and that shooting a real gun just ain't as easy as the movies and television shows make it look? Oh, and then you got to feed the gun? It's sooo confusing! Why do they charge so much for this ammunition stuff anyway?

And all this occurs after guys like Beto O'Rourke say, "Hell yes, we're gonna take your AR-15s!"

There's a lot of people in this world who grow up never having any guidance or any way to know that "these things happen," yet they ultimately make out just fine. There's folks that take accountability for their own lives, learn the laws, keep an open mind, follow current events yet don't believe everything the MSM feeds them, learn responsibility and most importantly, pay attention. But then, some folks actually read and have some critical thinking skills.

I'm sorry, it's gotten difficult to feel sorry for anyone who can't be bothered to pay attention to the real (not the virtual world and what social media says is important), those who "follow" the "influencers," live in a bubble and can't start their day without their Starbucks $7.75 double blonde cocoa cloud macchiato, never felt it important to approach and open a conversation with us gun-owning rednecks, ask us some questions, learn some stuff, don't ever question what CNN or MSNBC is telling them (if they can ever understand it) ...

Too many people grow up nowadays and act like they've moved into a trailer park in south central Kansas and then are totally shocked that these tornado thingies occur ...